as per usual, december has been absolutely busy busy busy. we have so much planned, especially on the weekends, and fitting it all in along with continuing to get rooms prepped for our newest bundle of joy is just a bit overwhelming. gone are the days where i would sit & obsess over every last detail of the freshly painted pink nursery :) the girls are loving all of the new & exciting events happening around them & lucy has taken quite a few naps over the past few weeks alongside eloise, which has been really helpful for all of us. i don't know if it's a growth spurt, if she's all of a sudden simply exerting more energy, or if God just knows what this mama's in need of, but she's been napping 1.5-2 hours in the afternoons if we're home! i'm 32 weeks today- 8 weeks to go, which completely makes my head spin! grateful to be getting through the holidays with betsy nice & cozy on the inside before the inevitable chaos to come in the new year :)

some overflow pics from thanksgiving-

the dandurands

lucy & her 4th cousin, cavan. cavan's sister, callie, was the flower girl in our wedding-

cousin alice-

uncle jack, jon, rob & uncle doug [jon's look-alike!]

gingerbread house construction last week. lucy consumed more frosting than i'd like to admit & i won't tell you how long it took me to get those gingerbread walls to stick together :)

hello, december!

on december 1, the photo on the left popped up as being from december 1, 2014. i about died when i looked in the mirror at my same hairstyle & sweater 365 days later. 'tis the season i'm living in :)

lucy's old-school paper chain advent calendar. there's something special written for her for each day. we also have 2 other advent calendars we're turning to each day, but this is the one she looks forward to the most :) somedays it's just a love note from mom & other days, it has a fun activity like "have a christmas dance party" "eat a candy cane" or "curl up & watch a christmas movie" :)

christmas crafting- lucy is SO proud of her 3-eyed "gingerbread lady" :)

eloise has surprised me with how much she loves to craft. she'll happily sit in her high chair to glue & color for 30 minutes or so-

auntie amy surprised lucy with matching jammies for she & ariel- lucy's reaction was priceless! she so loves her dolly & because we've told lucy that mommy & daddy made her ["who built me, mommy?"], she's now saying that she built ariel. i just LOVE this age!

miss cinnamon, our elf on the shelf, has been sneaking around again this december. lucy's talked about the pink milk cinnamon brought her last year ever since last year, so of course, this was her favorite cinnamon surprise thus far this season, too :)

we had an interesting experince at the dentist last week :) lucy was in heaven & is pretty proud of her new "spicy" toothpaste [she went from non-fluoride to fluoride & the kind they gave her is mint flavored], while eloise threw an absolute FIT. i knew she would :) the last thing my 18 month old is going to do is let a stranger have a peek inside her mouth. she's always down to brush her own teeth though & even imitates lucy spitting into the sink :) let's just say, i could have used a real wide-based glass of wine following that toddler episode...

christmas bean bag toss waiting for the girls after naptime-

inching closer-

christmas tree sandwich for lunch! peanut butter, banana, coconut snow & a chocolate chip tree trunk :)

my dollies ready to see santa! jon's work sets up the nicest winter wonderland for the kids & one of jon's co-workers plays santa. we had pre-filled out forms about our kids that he read, which made the experience extra special for lucy. eloise, of course, was clinging to me for dear life :) lucy excitedly asked for an easy-bake oven-

i'll post the high-quality pics once we receive them :)

lucy went to the sugar plum fairy's cookie party at her dance school this past saturday & LOVED it! i was so proud of how she marched right in & told me that she'd see me afterwards, and when i picked her up she was so very excited to share everything that had happened with me. she got to color, eat a pink & purple sprinkle cookie, watch ballerinas & give hugs to clara :)

lucy's in the bottom left corner with the sweet girl who plays clara in miller marley's production. lu is head over heels excited to see this clara dance in a couple of weeks when the studio puts on their version of "the nutcracker" :)

my darling little mouse, ready for the neighborhood holiday hayride saturday night- such a fun tradition, although there were 4 middle-school aged boys screaming carols in our ears & lucy accidentally spilled jon's hot toddy all over his jeans about the time one of the horses relieved himself :) jon & i literally laughed until we cried talking about it that night after we'd put the girls to sleep-

christmas cookie cutter science experience [with vinegar, baking soda & food coloring]. i have a very serious little scientist on my hands! this kept her entertained for thirty minutes & counting...

candy cane hunt around the house-

someone quite possibly found them all & kept them for herself :)

& yesterday was so special. lucy, meme & i went to an early dinner followed by the nutcracker at the kauffman center downtown. i've been prepping lucy for the past few weeks, teaching her the story & the characters. the look on her face when the ballet began was priceless & she had to have been the most enthusiast clapper in the audience :) she wanted to know why the sugar plum fairy wasn't dancing inside a ballerina box & she says she can't decide if she wants to grow up to be clara or the mouse king :) i cannot wait for the day that we get to bring all 3 of my daughters for this christmas tradition. i still remember going with my mom as a little girl. lucy's clung on to her own little nutcracker that meme got for her since we left the theatre last night. when she woke up this morning, she told me that she had slept well last night, and when i asked her if she had visions of sugar plums dancing in her head, she told me "no, i didn't sleep with the sugar plum fairy on my head- i slept with my nutcracker" :) 

we had fabulous seats & lucy could really see the beautiful dancing. thank you, meme!

eloise has become quite the book worm, following in the footsteps of her sister, and lucy's newest phrase is "i hope!" whenever we ask her if she thinks something's going to happen. 

these girls & their daddy are my light. happy monday!

-ivy