Happy Birthday to Mom!

Okay, one more birthday for December. This time, it's mine. Seriously, by the time it came around, I was sick of birthdays! Guess this is life for a long time! :)

Chris made me my favorite breakfast!

I had helpers for unwrapping my gift from Chris:

 It was snowing A LOT on my birthday. So a three-year-old had to go outside and eat snow. Duh.

I went to the mall to try out my new double stroller (that I love, by the way!) and to see Santa Claus:

We went to dinner at night with my parents at one of my favorite restaurants. Altogether, it was a great celebration!

This is our collection of November/December Christmas cards:

And we even lost one going out to dinner. Ha ha!

Reagan is one!

Our little girl turned one! What a year it has been!

This is her one year picture. After I took it, Davis wanted to come have his picture taken with her too. It wasn't SUPER successful to have them both smile at the camera at the same time:

After naptime, we had a little party for Reagan with some family and friends. It was great fun! Here she is with her little friend who lives around the corner:

This was HER favorite present:

And then we did the obligatory cake eating:

And she got it all over her face:

Things I want to remember about our little girl at this age:

• Her growl, which is remarkably like the growl that her brother used to do. Weird.
• She WILL NOT accept food that I try and feed her. But, I found that baby-led weaning is actually a lot easier than making baby food for her, even if cleaning up the mess is not always easier.
• She is the HAPPIEST BABY EVER, except when she is hungry or tired. Then, watch out.
• The way that she gets around is by scooting. She's actually a pretty good little scooter! But she will not crawl.
• She is a good little "talker" and always has something to say about the situation. And sometimes, you can actually tell what she says!

We love our Reagan and can't imagine life without her!

Happy Birthday, Chris!

Chris turned 37 on December 8th. We were able to get ourselves well enough to have a little family party for him!
When he came home for the afternoon (because he had to teach at night), we watched (and helped!) him open his presents. Here he is by himself, for a brief moment.

 And then his helpers came in!

He loved having helpers to open his gifts for him. And, he got three pairs of running shoes. Because that is what Chris loves!

For dinner, we had spaghetti and meatballs and chocolate cake, just like he had requested! We love our daddy and husband so much! He is the best!

Davis is THREE!!

We had a fabulous little party for a fabulous little boy today! He is so much fun!
The one request that he had for his birthday was cake and ice cream, so we delivered on that!
I made an elephant cake for him, which has now been through three generations.
Here is me on my third birthday with an elephant cake:

 And here is Davis's elephant cake:

 Reagan liked it too. It was a warm-up for her birthday in a couple of weeks! She knew exactly what to do with it!

 

We also had some great friends come to help us with the present opening, like Alvin:

 And Great Grandma and Grandpa:

 And Damian and his grandma:

And Grandma and Reagan (playing with the balloon that Great Grandma and Grandpa brought):

 And Damian's mommy (sorry for the blur):

In addition to cake and ice cream, we opened presents and gave hugs to all those who gave them:

And Davis got a bike!

After the party, we took naps (Well, Daddy and Reagan took a nap) and then went to the festival of trees and saw a very cool tree with a train theme that we visited like 15 times. We also saw Olaf!

And then we went to a pizzeria and got pizza. . . and olives!

All in all, it was a fantastic and well-celebrated birthday!

Things I want to remember about Davis as a 2-year-old:

• He is so sweet to everyone. He is especially sweet to his little sister, and loves her so much. in fact, when she cries, he usually yells and cries too because it makes him very sad to see his sister sad.
• He USUALLY loves to share, which is pretty unusual for someone his age. He is just a kind little boy.
• Whenever I am upset, he tries to make me feel better by saying, "Don't worry, mommy. You are big!" because being big really helps things a lot. :)
• He has a profound love for his family. He loves mommy, daddy, Reagan, Grandma, Grandpa . . . he loves everyone in his family!
• He knows his ABC's and his numbers and colors. Not because I taught him, but because he is intensely curious about it all.
• And countless other reasons--we love you Davis Christopher Rusch!

Family pictures

We had a great session doing family pictures! We met in the late afternoon, and it was a perfect day. It was not rainy, but overcast and wonderful. My friend from high school took our pictures, and they turned out GREAT! I have no idea which ones we will frame, but that is not a bad problem to have!
Here are some faves: