Growing So Fast...

I can't believe that not only has 2012 begun, but that January is already practically over.  I've been sick with shingles* all week so I stayed home from church with Candace. 
(*Shingles are TERRIBLE!!!  I'm finally turning the corner and feeling a little better but WOW, it was definitely the worst pain I've ever experienced (childbirth included!).)

I took some pictures of my beautiful little girls this morning.  Picture taking is always an adventure.  Megan was pretty willing to have her picture taken, but she kept making goofy faces and looking away from me.  Brooke was NOT as willing and mostly ran away or looked crazy.  Candace definitely was the easiest--just drooly, but I guess that's true to life!  But we got some pretty decent ones (decent enough to update our frames on the mantel that are 1 1/2 years old now).

Oh yeah, and both Megan and Brooke had their first haircuts in the past week.  I did both and am pretty happy with how they turned out.  Brooke just got her longer wispy hairs in front trimmed to bangs.  Megan's hair was pretty v-shaped in the back, so I trimmed off the bottom of the v and just evened it out a little.  

Jan. 29, 2012
Megan, 4 years 3 months

Brooke, 2 years 6 months

 

Candace, 6 months

Candace, 6 months old/January Randoms

At 6 months, Candace:  loves to smile, laughs a lot (especially at her sisters), starting to scoot around on her tummy (slowly), sleeping through the night most of the time (7pm to 7:30 am), 2-3 naps every day.  She is rolling tummy to back and back to tummy.  She started eating solids this month too--first bites on Thurs, Jan. 5, 2012.  She is eating rice cereal once a day for now and loving it.
She's such a happy, easygoing baby, we are so thankful to have her in our family!
At her 6 month check-up on Jan. 31, she weighed 14 lbs, 12 oz and was 25 in long.

Candace throughout the month...

When my brother-in-law Trent came into town for the day on Jan. 6, we had a nice dinner at Dad's to say hi and then Shad showed off his new projector-in-the-garage setup.  These were some adorable and happy cousins :).

I just love seeing my kiddos in footie pjs.  Especially when they snuggle each other.  Megan and Brooke on Jan. 13.

Brooke finally had enough hair for french braids (also on Jan. 13)

Playing in the hot tub at Grandpa's on MLK day (Jan. 16)

 
Snuggles with Daddy after work!  Jan. 18

Cutie girls before church on Jan. 22

Horsey rides (ha!) on Jan. 25

Surfside

With New Year's Day on Sunday, Dan got Monday Jan. 2 as a day off of work.  So we invited our neighbors, the T family to head to the beach with us.  I love Surfside.  It's always less crowded than Galveston and on this day, it was almost empty!  It was windy and cool, but we had fun watching the surf and enjoying the sand.  It was such a fun little day trip to start the new year.

Maddie...

Dan and Beckett enjoying the horseshoes...

Our darling almost 6 month old.  She snuggled into the chair and took a nap.

Brooke dipping her toes in.  It was cold!!!

Megan dipped her toes as well...

Building a sandcastle with Daddy...

 The T Fam...

Our family minus sleeping Candace...

The girls were in HEAVEN when these guys rode by.  They were kind enough to let the kids say hello.  

New Year's Day 2012

Like so many things since Mom's death, starting a new year was bittersweet.  How could there be a year that Mom would not be in?  I missed her.  And celebrating with our old friends both reminded me of her in happy ways and made me miss her fiercely.  But I suppose that such is life after loss.  It still goes on. 

We celebrated New Year's Day with some lifelong friends of my family, the Talbot family with a fun dinner and games at their home after church.  It was fun to catch up with everyone, talk, laugh, eat, and let the kids play.

Megan, Brooke, and Kaden...

My childhood best friends--reunited!   Amber (27), Jenn(27), Kat(28), and Kate (29)

Post-Christmas and New Year's Eve

I had been wanting to take a trip to Ikea on one of Dan's days off, so on the day after Christmas, we headed there with the kids in tow.  Plus, that week Ikea was offering free kids' meals, so we figured we'd take advantage of that.

I know what you're thinking.  5 pictures from an Ikea trip?  But ha!  It's my blog and I'll document whatever craziness I want.   Like this little gem of Brooke.  It needs a little word bubble that says, "My parents are making me wear this dumb lion hat.  And I'm so embarrassed, I can't make eye contact with anyone.  EVER AGAIN."

But hey, she recovered quickly enough when we put her free lunch in front of her.  She even let us snitch fries when she wasn't looking.

Megan enjoyed her mac-n-cheese.  Dan and I preferred the chicken :)

 

And our angel baby napped.  Sweet girl.  That Ikea trip was Dec. 26.

We didn't take any pictures, but on Dec. 28, we had a little dessert party with friends from the ward.  There were close to 40 people over, a bunch of kids running around, and loads of delicious desserts.  We got out the chocolate fountain again and had a great time with our friends!

My Dad heated the whole pool on  Friday Dec. 30.  We had a blast.  Megan and Brooke LOVE the water and were thrilled to be able to swim in the middle of winter.

We left Candy inside where she practiced her scooting by trying to steal cousin Molly's bottle.

Dan honed his cannonball skills...

 Brooke's favorite jumping rock...

Megan stayed in the big pool til she got too cold (it was a mere 90 degrees in that pool).  Then she switched to the hot tub (kept to a toasty 98).  Smart girl.

For New Year's Eve, we spent the evening with my siblings at my Dad's house.  He invited some neighbors over too and we enjoyed chatting, playing games, and celebrating my sister-in-law Amy's birthday.

Megan found something chocolatey to enjoy.

We had some intense rounds of Monopoly deal.

And the birthday girl!  I made her cake.  Thanks Jane (Dan's Mom) for the recipe.  It's a chocolate pudding cake with chocolate frosting.

And just like that, 2011 (the most difficult year of my life thus far) ended.  It felt good to have some distance from Mom's passing, but it was so strange to think that I was entering a year that she'd never see.

Christmas 2011

It was kind of fun to have Christmas fall on a Sunday this year.  Our kids were up early enough that it wasn't too bad to open presents and still get ready for church.  I liked that it helped keep the focus on the Savior.
In an effort to make the most of our time, when the girls woke up I asked them if they wanted to open presents first or eat breakfast first--to which Brooke said "eat bwekfast" and Megan said "presents!".  Classic. 
The presents prevailed and Brooke was pretty satisfied with the candy in the stockings (we did have a yummy breakfast later).
Our big present this year was a dollhouse from my Aunt Tami to my girls.  They LOVED it.  And Grandpa and Tyler brought home their favorite princess dolls from Disney World--another favorite. 
As usual, this terrible picture was the best pic we got of all three girls.  It was about 6:45 am (which is pretty good for my early risers).  Waiting to go see the tree!

Brooke with her beloved "I Know You"

Megan and Ariel

Candy got a sweet little rattle doll.

Here we are, dressed and ready for church--they moved the princesses right into the new house.

 
After church, Candy snuck a few zzzs before my family descended on us :)

Aunt Carrie with the babies (Molly and Candy)

Opening presents from my Dad--socks for us girls (from my Mom's stash of little gifts) AND--a wheat grinder.  Which actually meant more to me than my Dad knew.  He said Mom told him to get those for each of us for Christmas.  What made it meaningful was that I wanted one last year.  And last year Mom got us the Safety Kids books and cds instead and told me that she could get me a wheat grinder ANY year, but she loved that book series and they were going to stop making them.  And for some reason I didn't want to make my Dad feel like he HAD to get me a wheat grinder, so I didn't tell him.  I just chalked it up as one more thing that stinks because Mom was gone. I'd even decided I'd just save up my Christmas money and buy one soon.  And then, there it was.  Just as she would have done.  It made my day.

 Shad and Amy got us a ping pong net and paddles to go with the ping pong table we rescued from the side of the road over 2 years before.  We finally got to use it!

After we played for a while, we headed back down to my Dad's house.  We all stopped at Mom's grave and left flowers.  We didn't stay very long, but it was so nice to pause and do that small thing for her.  I just remember marveling at how different things could be in one short year.

Back at my Dad's, we ate leftovers and tried out Headbanz--a new game Shad and Amy got.  Unfortunately the kids (and adults) were getting a little tired and grumpy by then, so the game was short lived and we headed out pretty early to put our tired kids and selves to bed.  All in all, it was a great day. 

 Merry Christmas, Everyone!