2013 Family Fotos

Our photographer is amaze-balls. Seriously, she is not only the nicest, coolest person ever, but she is so easy to work with. Beth with Lizzie Bee Photography has been capturing our family for four years now, and she never lets us down.

2010



2011

2012

2013

Despite having Beth, taking our yearly Christmas card picture is seriously one of the most stressful days of the year for me. It starts about two months before our scheduled date, when I beging obsessing over what we are going to wear. What color scheme? Formal or laid back? Jeans or skirts? It makes me shudder just thinking about it now.

Once I settle on outfits, the day of the photos arrives, and it's hell. Between trying to get Peyton ready, napped, hair done, fed, making her smile pretty, plus getting myself ready, picking out Martin's clothes and making sure we're on time, I pretty much want to kill myself.

But this year, I was prepared. I decided to be uber organized about it. And I sent Martin a timeline for the day, including when to get dressed, when I would be gone to get my hair blown out, and when we needed to wake Peyton up from her nap. I thought I was being helpful. Needless to say, Martin didn't take too kindly to this direction. He gave me, and everyone he could find to listen, shit about it.

Whatever. It worked. We were on time. And we got our pictures. Now I'll start thinking about next year...

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Today we celebrate Grandma's birthday! Peyton is so lucky to have a grandma who lives so close and loves nothing more than spending time (and spoiling) her grandkids.

From weekly Pasta Wednesday activities, babysitting, and sleepovers, to always remembering to give her crackers in the car on her way home and putting Peyton's favorite flower sheets on her bed at their house, Peyton hit the jackpot with this one. Happy birthday, Grandma!

All Aboard the Polar Express!

It seems we can't go an hour without a scheduled holiday activity. And this past weekend, we packed up the car yet again and headed north...to the North Pole, that is.

We took a ride on the Polar Express last year and PK loved it, so we of course couldn't miss out on it this year. We joined our friends the DeLaneys (my sister from another mother) and braved the cold (again!) for our journey to see Santa and his elves.

The girls giggled and sang and drank hot chocolate. The moms drank wine hidden in travel coffee mugs. And the dads fretted about the increasing volume of snow and their upcoming drive home.

Although the drive back from Flagstaff was slow going and honestly, pretty scary, we made it. And the following morning Peyton bounded into our bedroom bright and early to watch the movie, The Polar Express to relive her brush with Mr. C.

My favorite night

As much of a beatdown decorating the house for Christmas is every year, we always seem to have the best time doing it. We cozied up in our PJ's on a chilly Friday night, turned on the fireplace, cooked some steaks, and opened a nice bottle of wine. It was something out of a story book really - Christmas carols were playing in the background, and Peyton was squealing with delight at hanging ornaments on the tree.

There was egg nog and hot chocolate. It was simple and fun and our little family of three felt perfect. And luckily, no one ended up in the emergency room after stretching on shoulders to reach the top of the 12 foot tree. A Christmas miracle indeed.

Picking battles

Peyton wanted to wear her hair in a ponytail, with puple and pink bow, and a headband. While the controlling perfectionist in me was screaming inside that this was obviously too much, that she needed to learn to limit her accessories, that less really is more, I realized that sometimes, you just gotta pick your battles...

Happy 1st Birthday Baby Charlotte!

I'm guessing we're going to have to stop calling her "Baby Charlotte" now that Little Miss is one. Peyton is so excited to celebrate C's birthday tonight, and here are her favorite things about her newest cousin:

December 10, 2012

10) Charlotte loves to eat. The opposite of her brother. Put anything in front of the child and she gobbles it up.

9) Charlotte wants so badly to be a big kid like Scott and Peyton. She crawls as fast as her legs and arms can carry her to whatever room they are in.

8) She is the epitome of a chunky baby - lovable rolls all over.

7) She is so laid back I swear one day she will live in California. She rarely cries, and loves to just chill.

6) Right now, she lets Scott and Peyton do whatever they want to her. Use her as a baby doll, feed her, bug her, etc. Not sure how long this will last however...

5) Even when she was teeny tiny, Charlotte let Peyton hold her..and her mommy didn't get scared or freak out when Peyton would let go.

"I feel totally comfortable holding the baby. Can't you tell?"

4) Charlotte is a daredevil. On Sunday night we caught her climbing on top of a chair to reach the top of a table.

3) Charlotte is a lover, cuddler, and all around snugly baby.

2) Her favorite toy is my iPhone.

1) Peyton has a girl to play with at family gatherings!

Real Men Carry Pink Purses

Enough said.

Ratatouille Returns

Unless you've been living under a rock in the middle of the dessert for the past four years, the lead up to Christmas is undoubtedly all about the Elf. Whoever the genuis is behind the Elf on the Shelf, I bow to you (and want half of your fortune). For the six weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, our elf Ratatouille (named that because he "rats" on Peyton back to Santa) keeps Peyton in line. While still slightly scared of the creepy red man, Peyton is definitely into it this year.

Up until this year Ratatouille has simply bounced from shelf to shelf, hidden in a vase, or in lamp. The craziest thing we ever did was put him in the ceiling fan in our living room. But once again the Pinterest/Facebook pressure is too much to handle, and I find myself feeling inadequate in my elf placement. Even my sister - who is the anti-craft, anti-Martha, anti-anything cutesy creative has stepped up her game - using the Elf's magic beans to grow candy canes in sugar, spelling warning messages ("LISTEN" "BE GOOD") on a Scrabble board, taking photos, and partaking in a snowball fight.

So I did what anyone else would do. I copied all of her ideas. Note to Peyton: if you want to know where or what Ratatouille is going to be doing the next morning, check out Aunt Ginger's facebook page from the day before. In all fairness to me, I know my sister stole the ideas herself from Pinterest. So fair game, right?

This is Martin's doing. He saw a picture of an elf on a swing - but couldn't get the elf to stay put, so instead, Ratatouille is just chilling upside down in a toilet paper roll.

Turkey Day in the 505

I'm not sure how many years it has to happen before it officially becomes a tradition, but for the third year in a row, we packed up the car and made the quick drive across the border to Albuquerque for Thanksgiving.

Peyton was anxious to arrive on Thursday to help Abuelita make the homemade mashed potatoes - something she remembers doing from the past two years.

Martin's dad must have thought we were bringing every person we know because he purchased at 33 pound turkey. You read that right. There were four adults and one child - eating 33 pounds of turkey. Needless to say, we will all be having leftovers until Memorial Day.

We spent the rest of the weekend relaxing, watching football (most notably ASU CRUSHING UofA, solidifying it's spot in the Pac-12 Championship game!), and visiting with old friends.

Peyton took full advantage of Papa and Abuelita's undivided attention and did lots of arts and crafts, baked cookies, and playing in her fabulous princess bed.