Bright and Shiny? A 2016 Wrap-Up

It's a good thing I did most of my work on this post last night, because I woke up today with a raging head cold and not much ability to function as a human.

Here you go.

I chose words for 2015- CHANGE and BRAVE. There was (way too much) change.  And I had to be (way too) brave.

At this time last year I chose a phrase for 2016- SHINE BRIGHT. I don't really know how to feel about those words a year later.

2016 was a year that was pretty rough for humanity in general.  Lots of people on social media are posting things like "#2016sucks."

But to end the year in a SHINE BRIGHT-Y way, I thought I would look back at my pictures from each month and choose ones to share.  All the bright shiny ones.  Because there were many.

First up, I have Callie- my bright shiny girl #1. She has grown so much this year.  And lost lots of teeth.  And is a super reader.  And a great friend. She is so observant and asks lots of great questions.

Next up, I have Maya- my bright shiny girl #2. She has also grown up so much this year, moving from toddlerhood to preschoolhood.  She is the nutball of our family, and embraces the role with gusto.  When I look at her I still see my baby, my love bug, and I don't think that will ever change.

And you have probably noticed that I spend a lot of time with my bright shiny girls, just the three of us.  And I document it a lot. I feel very lucky to have a job that allows lots of time with these two.

And then there is my bright shiny husband. He is the best partner in parenting a girl could ask for.  He is caring and gives back to his family, friends, and community.  He thinks he is hilarious, and I do too, if I'm in the right mood. He gets me, more than I get myself most of the time, and I'm thankful for that.

And our bright shiny family. Just straight up gratitude right here.

We are so thankful to have such a wonderful bright shiny extended family as well. I can't even begin to explain how thankful we are for our families. They give so much of themselves for us, and the love they pour over us and the girls is amazing.  Each one of them is one of my personal heroes.

And the best thing about our families is how much they enjoy spending time together and hanging out together and including each other in fun things. I think it is the best in-law match up in all the land.

And you guys.  Our friends.  We have so many bright shiny friends! It has been so fun having kids with our friends by our sides and going through the same joys and difficulties that we do.  It is a bond like none other.

But my favorite bright shiny thing (and the most aggravating at times as well) are these two girls as SISTERS.  I'm so thankful they have each other, and I'm so thankful every day I  get to watch their relationship grow.

After spending a substantial amount of time looking through all of the pictures I have from this year, I can conclude it WAS a year full of bright and shiny moments, despite more difficult ones like losing our dog Kona.  I'm thankful for the pictures to remind me of all the things I have to be grateful for.

Shine Bright.

So cheers to 2017, and let's hope that there are many more bright shiny moments to come.

A Picture Update

And just like that, 2 weeks have passed! I go back to work on Monday (though Chris and the girls have it off) and can't believe that it is already nearly January.

Normally by now I have my yearly wrap-up at least half written, but this year I haven't even thought about it. How do you wrap up a year like 2016? I'm not sure. But come back tomorrow to find out.

On to our adventures of the week. We kept pretty busy again.

We woke up early. We played at Boom's house.

 

We got to see the Stolles and Helds and hang out til late(r than normal) (like 11pm)! And meeting baby Weston was the best!

 

Maya was crazy. Callie went out to lunch and got a pedicure as a birthday gift with Auntie Yoda and Auntie Mari.

 

Both girls got to sleep over at G-ma and Pa's with their older (3rd) cousins Arieanna and Annelise. Maya was crazy.

 

Chris and I got an evening to ourselves, so we built Callie's birthday bed, and then enjoyed a leisurely dinner.

 

I got a whole day to myself. I went to Target and cleaned and sat quietly with coffee. I also went on an outside run- the first one in months! Both girls love playing up in the new bed. Maya was crazy.

 

We went on a downtown adventure with Boom on the light rail.

 

We went to Rainbow Play Place and it was a crazy busy.

 

Callie is going to her first drop-off birthday party tonight (for her BFF at school), so she picked out a present and card all by herself.

 

And finally, Maya and I spent 1.5 hours at Urgent Care last night because the poor girl has a bad ear infection. She feels better today, but is still not quite her *crazy* little self.

I hope you have an enjoyable end to 2016.  Come back tomorrow to see what kind of thing I come up with for wrapping up the year.

Timehop Tuesday (on Wednesday)

Oops! I'm on break and have no concept of what day it is and missed Tuesday yesterday. Also, Timehop did and update on my phone and totally changed and I can't figure out how to do the Then/Now frames anymore! So these look a little different...

First up: Girls in PJs on Christmas.

 

Then: Baby Callie!!

Next: Henderson sisters on Christmas.

 

 Then: our family on Christmas.

 

Lastly, Chris and me with our friends Jenna, Andy, Brent, and Bethany 8 years ago. And now, all our offspring!

 

Weekend Wrap-Up: The Merry Christmas Edition!

Merry Christmas everybody! We have had a busy and wonderful weekend with family and friends. I hope that you all have had the same.

Our weekend started off chill on Friday night- with another lost tooth and some Troll poster coloring.

 

On Saturday morning, Christmas Eve day, our little family opened presents. The girls were excited and crazy and happy.

 

We also decided on Christmas Eve morning that our poor Christmas tree wasn't going to make it to actual Christmas. The amount of needles falling off  (or "beetles," as Maya calls them) were ridiculous. It looked like green snow, all the time.

 

So it has spent Christmas laying out on our front lawn.

We went to 2:00 church and then had Boom, Auntie Yoda, Uncle Craigles, Auntie Mari, and Uncle Josh back to our house for dinner, games, and presents.

 

This morning SANTA came! I totally busted Callie (through Maya's monitor) sneaking into Maya's room, turning on her light, and waking her up from a sound sleep at about 6:20 this morning. STINKER. I made them wait to see the Santa gifts.  

And at 7am I made them take a picture in their matching jammies before going down to see their presents. One sister cooperated. And one was crazy.

 

When I couldn't contain them any longer, I let them free to see their loot.

 

We then headed to G-ma and Pa's house to be with G-ma, Pa, Auntie Cat, Uncle Dan, Hanna, and Boom. We all wore our jammies, as usual, ate a delicious breakfast, opened gifts, and played.

 

Thankfully Maya fell asleep on the way home and slept for over 2 hours.  She needed it!  Because we had one last party to go to!  We went to my mom's to celebrate the season with the Johnsons and Suurmeyers.

 My mom and Laura treated us to musical entertainment. Here is a taste:

IMG 0958 from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

Tonight our faithful elves head back to Santa. But they had a fun last week at our house.

I'll leave you with a couple more videos- first a video compilation of Maya playing with the princess phone she got from Dan and Hanna.  We had SO many conversations. Hilarious and adorable conversations.  We were able to get a few of them on video, so I put them all together. Enjoy!


IMG 0925 from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

And finally, a kitty cat Christmas video starring some awesome dancers.


IMG 0636 from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

Merry Christmas!

A Picture Update: The 41-Months-Old Edition!

Happy Friday!  We are already one week down of winter break.  I can't believe how fast it flew by.  It was a fun and busy week.

But first off, it is the 23rd!  This crazy little monster is getting closer and closer to 4 and that is nuts.

On to the week...

On Monday the girls stayed in their PJs most of the morning, even when our friends the Harpers came over!  They had fun playing with Vera, Hattie, and baby Elsie.

Emily and I even made the two older girls wrapping paper dresses.

That afternoon we went to get much needed HAIRCUTS!

Maya had preschool on Tuesday, so Callie and I ran errands and got some things accomplished.  Later, we made pancakes, and Maya "helped."

We went to see Boom on Wednesday morning!

And had so much fun sledding in the afternoon.

It was a beautiful day to be outside.


IMG 0651 from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

You will no doubt see sledding pictures again, because the girls LOVED it.

Then, yesterday, was THE BIG DAY THAT SOMEONE IN PARTICULAR HAS BEEN WAITING FOR FOR MONTHS.

Callie's 7th birthday!!!

We started the day with a scavenger hunt, because she loves them and Boom and Pa are always really good at putting them together.  I decided to give it a try, and she had fun.

We sent Maya to preschool so Cal and I could have a day of fun.  We got a treat, went to the library, made her cake, went to lunch (bacon!), and went shopping for a birthday outfit.

And then our families came over and we had a great time making pizzas and being all together to celebrate Callie's birthday.

Thanks to everyone for the cards and messages!  We all had a really fun day.

This morning the girls had fun playing with some new birthday presents.

And we finally made it to see SANTA!

As you can see, it wasn't a disaster!  Maya was not super enthused but Cal and Santa had a nice chat.

As for our elves, they were so tired from the party last night that they forgot to move this morning! Silly elves!  They only have a couple more days with us, so I'll post the rest of their shenanigans on Sunday.

Have a great Christmas weekend!

Happy Birthday Callie Joy!

Oh my goodness, you guys, we are at SEVEN.

Seven YEARS old.

 

Seven years ago we woke up very early and got to the hospital at 6am. I started the inducement process around 7am, and she was born (with a little bit of suction help) at 7:55pm.

 

The world as we knew it was changed. In THE BEST possible way.

These special days are always bittersweet now. I spent a lot of time thinking about my dad this morning, and how he came to visit us wearing his Mickey Mouse Christmas tie. It was something so memorable, my doctor would mention it to me at appointments years later.

Callie Joy, you made a lot of people very happy on this day 7 years ago.

Love you, Cal.