Baby Shower & 9 Months

I was so excited to help host a baby shower for my friend Jeannine last Saturday.  Everything turned out great and it was very well attended.  I provided my house and decorations, and her mother and sister's in law did the rest.  They got lots of adorable baby girl items and much needed necessities.  She is due the beginning of March, which seems to be coming up real fast,  I can't wait!

Coleton turned 9 months old on the 20th, wow...really, where is the time going?  He weighs 20.4 lbs and is 28.9'' long, both 75% for height and weight.  He is all over the place and loves to crawl, stand up, and is starting to walk along furniture.  His two top teeth are just cutting through, and the two on either side of those will be in soon.  His tricks include clapping, soooo big, clicking his tongue, copying sounds, saying mama and dada, eating really really good, and self feeding.  His favorite thing to play with are doors, he opens and closes them continually until he bonks his head or gets his fingers smashed, and then he gets really really mad.  It is like a championship wrestling match to change his diaper and get him dressed, he will not be pinned!  My excitement over him putting his pacifier back in his mouth was short lived, because now he throws it out of his crib in defiance of taking a nap...grrrr.  Above all, he is too cute for words and happy happy happy!

Winter in SoCal

 We are pretty spoiled around here, some of the best weather at the beach is in winter.  My friend Shauna was in town on a layover, she is a flight attendant, and Jeannine and I went and picked her up and spent the afternoon at the beach.  It was gorgeous and we had so much fun! Shauna and I have been friends since we became neighbors at the age of 4, her and Jeannine where roommates in Utah for a while before Jeannine and Matt got married.  It was so nice to spend the day together and catch up.  The kids had a blast, Coleton kept trying to chase Seagulls, Clara always loves playing in the sand, and they both love getting outside.

Happy New Year!

Our New Years Eve extravaganza was so much fun!  While we were planning all these events, we had decided to not go to Big Bear and focus our attention on throwing a huge New Years/Taylor's 30th birthday party.  Then somehow last minute we found a deal for Big Bear that we couldn't pass up, which meant that we were going to be having the craziest week of our lives.  We left for Big Bear two days after Christmas, then returned on the 30th, and of course New Years is the 31st.  It was all a bit crazy, but definitely worth it in the end.  Our party had live music, bonfires, s'mores, games, chili, cornbread, cake, watching Indiana Jones on a giant outdoor screen, kettle corn, sparkling cider while watching the ball drop from 1981 into 1982 (30 years ago), a fireworks show to rival the 4th of July, and camping overnight with a pancake, sausage and egg breakfast in the morning!  We had a great crowd and total overall we had about 75 people come, there were about 30-40 die hards who made it to midnight, and about 15-20 people who camped in tents, a motor home, or on hay bales around the fire.  I think it was probably the best New Years I have ever had.

It was a family friendly event with lots of little kiddos running around!

Colteton getting spoiled rotten by cousins Nina & Cami...and Clara and her friend Lauren!

Making Smores...and sneaking marshmallows!

Ringing in the New Year!!

The morning after, including a yummy breakfast!

We have been having fun filled holidays, however, three words sum them up for me...death by chocolate! I have such a sweet tooth, and sweets are in abundance this time of year.  I feel like the new year is a time to start fresh with eating better and exercising more.  I am so over the flab, and I'm pretty sure 8 months is way past the mark where you can blame your belly on a baby!  I remember having these grand plans of losing the baby weight immediately this time.  I just overlooked one simple detail, that I was going to have two kids under two!  Especially a newborn who doesn't sleep through the night, and still doesn't for that matter.  And that it takes ALL your energy to keep them fed, napped, entertained, the house clean, laundry done, etc, etc. While 2011 was an amazing year, I feel like I ended it personally feeling a little blah.  It's time to be renewed, and so my new years resolutions are to read the Bible every day and exercise more (definitely not going to say every day because that would be broken real quick!) I am excited for the new year and looking forward to what 2012 has in store for us!