So to close out 2017, Mike and I headed to the Gaylord National in Maryland for the ICE! Exhibit. Note–the ICE! Exhibit is 9 degrees. But Sugar Bear has a sugar bear suit so we decided to give it a shot and do something fun. Like Christmas fun in general, we were both pleasantly surprised by how much she actually enjoyed it! We started off the morning of the last day of the year in our matching Chistmas jammies, which…
So Christmas morning came bring and early for us all in Florida. Before we headed downstairs for all the excitement, I snapped this quick picture of me and Caroline to remember the magical moment of her FIRST CHRISTMAS! Some of us wore our matching jammies (others didn’t have theirs arrive in time, grrrr) but we looked our merriest anyway. The adults headed down first so we could see the four-year-old’s reaction coming down the stairs and it was oh so…
There is a lot of hype around Baby’s First Christmas. And to be honest, I wasn’t expecting Caroline to really “get it.” I mean, she is only 9 months old. But I was so surprised how much fun we had with her. We definitely set the stage for some Christmas wonder in the years ahead! Christmas Eve we spent visiting my brother’s neighbors, relaxing on their porch enjoying some good ol’ wassail and champagne, and putting Caroline in her adorable…
Mike, Caroline, and I were lucky enough that we got to spend eleven beautiful, blissful days in the Great State of Florida for a long Christmas vacation. This year definitely made up for last year, when I was six months pregnant with Caroline and banned from the state because of the Zika threat. We had a lovely, albeit quiet time then. But this year, we were ready to introduce Caroline to how our family does Christmas. We kicked off the…
So each year it’s a mad scramble to get done ALL THE THINGS before mid-December, when we fly to Florida and spend 10 days with my amazing family. This year was even crazier because I had found tickets to a concert I wanted to go to that just so happened to be the night before we left. July Laura said, oh how fun! Let’s buy the tickets. We’ll go for my birthday celebration. This will be a great way to…
Happy 9 Months, Sugar Bear! Today, this little lady went and turned 9 months old on us. She’s officially been outside longer than she has in. She will take her SEVENTH (roundtrip) flight tomorrow. Pretty impressive if you ask me! Here is a snapshot of Caroline at 9 months: Eats everything and anything. We still give her purees because we are too chicken to try anything else. But we should! She’s a-scooting all around. Not crawling per se, but can…
So Saturday, December 9th was my 5th Annual Favorite Things Party. I cannot believe I’ve hosted five of these. I absolutely love this party and really enjoy having it between Thanksgiving and Christmas, even though that is a crazy time. I love the giving spirit that people are in and I love the great idea sharing for Christmas gifts and stocking stuffers. We had 12 ladies come, including my new neighbor and my two great friends from college who drove…
Each year, the neighborhood where Mike and I met has a tree lighting ceremony to kick off the Christmas season. There are live musicians. There are carolers in matching sweaters. There are horse-drawn carriages and hot chocolate and light up toys and balloon animals and magic in the air. There is a gorgeous Christmas tree that they light up after a (poorly-executed) countdown. And most importantly, there is SANTA. Which means that littles come with their parents from miles around…
My mom is always talking about letting little ones into the kitchen cabinets and letting them bang around on pots and pans. So I let Caroline have at it: And it did not disappoint. The pots and the lids were huge hits: The colander also became a quick hit: There were even some attempts at crawling, under the careful eye of her supervisor, the esteemed Mr. Finnegan. It did leave her wondering what else she could get into: But after…