First Things First...

I have been blogging about Fin's birthday for awhile.

She is ONE!!!!!

Time has flown by. Finley is sassy and devilish, which is totally different from Gabbie, but we love it! She starting acting older the day after her party. She loves her new toys and plays so nicely with them.

This is Fin's own little cake! Her party theme was very "SUMMER-Y"...Lady bugs, butterflies and bumble bees. The red frosting actually came out of her clothes!

(PS Piece of Cake made the cake. It tasted good and looked cute but they NEED to get organized!! Don't count on them to get you order correct!)

After the cake, came the presents. Finley is not timid. It was good practice for Christmas morning.


We had a small party, but the kids had fun and look how cute they are!

CLASSIC!

My baby is growing...

I also have to give a mention to all of you that have holiday birthdays...It sucks!

I will always try to make Finley's birthday a SEPARATE event, so I hope she does not resent it.

CHEESE!!

We went to see Amy, over at Legacy Photo and Design. We had a laid back family photo session. There is something about the camera that brings out the craziness in Gabbie, but Amy always pulls through with some great pics. Check out the sneak peek here.

The Holiday Season

These are the BIG TICKET items that we are asking Santa for this year. Can you guess who wants what? :) I think mom will be the only naughty girl, because that picture DOES NOT mean that I want to clean the house for Christmas, but I think I will be doing just that.

This item is actually in our basement right now. He is "just trialling it."

This is sooo cute!

Barbie MUST have 3 stories!!!!

As the countdown to Christmas gets serious, I have started to FREAK out a little.

Birthday party, Christmas program, Christmas dresses, Christmas pictures, Christmas cookies, Christmas decorations, Christmas tree, Christmas presents and the list goes on and on.

I have always had a theory about starting all of this early (like in the summer): I think that if I started that early, I would still continue to shop, decorate and plan up to the 25th, which does not mean less stress or less cost. I also really love "The Spirit" of the holidays. I like to shop with the Christmas music up above. I feel like I get more creative as the days in December go by.

After saying all of that...I am going to try to plan for next year starting December 26th. I am not sure what has changed this year to make me feel a little more stressed. I have added more stuff to our family commitments, but I am not willing to let anything go. I guess you can say...I WANT IT ALL!!!

This post is not meant to be negative. I really love the holidays and the girls have brought a whole new level of anticipation. If you can relate to this at all, I hope you have time to ENJOY a few of your own things this season!

Here are a few of the things we've been up to.

Gabbie and Finley's childcare center have a Christmas program every year. The kids get all dressed up and the older ones sing. They sit with Santa and play a few games. It has become a tradition! (Fin was not crazy about the big guy in red.)

This is the first of 4 Christmas functions for Jason's company.

Gabbie's class went to the public library for a field trip. She's getting so big!

Gabbie had her second gymnastics awards night. She really enjoys this activity and she got her balance beam award. PRESENT!