look who got a new (to him) carseat

At sixteen months old Gavin finally has outgrown his infant seat!  At his doctors appointment in December he weighed in at 22 1/2 pounds and measured 30 inches long making him officially 1/2 pound and 1 inch too big for his current car seat.  On Christmas Eve we pulled Logan's car seat out of Justin's car and brought it in to size up for Gavin before putting it in my car.  He loved sitting in it!  He is one very happy forward facing baby toddler.

Of course we now have no car seats in Justin's car....I sense a car seat shopping trip approaching in our new future...ugh...

Remembering Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is probably my favorite day of the entire holiday season.  It's always such a relaxing, easy day at home with my family.  I always do something simple for dinner like cheese, sausage, and crackers.  Then we all get dressed for church, and I force everyone to have their picture taken in front of the Christmas tree before we head off to Christmas Eve service.  The church always looks beautiful and the music and the reading of the Christmas story is so moving no matter how many times you hear it.  Then we come home, set out cookies for Santa, and tuck the boys into bed.

This year was no exception; it was wonderful as always.

Justin plays guitar through the entire service so it is just me and the boys sitting together.  This year Gavin decided to take off on me, but he didn't go far...he just wanted to be closer to the music I guess because he just stood up front and listened.

Afterwards there were cookies and cake (birthday cake, actually), and everyone gathered around to talk.  We couldn't stay too long since it was already 8:30, but we stayed long enough for Logan to eat a cookie.

And Gavin discovered his love of drumming...

No doubts about it...it was a beautiful, perfect Christmas Eve!

You Capture ~ Top Ten of 2011

It's my big return to You Capture!  Okay, okay, it's not really a big return at all.  I just haven't participated in so long, and I'm excited to be back!  Alright, so here's my top ten.  They're in not particular order (unless you count working backwards through my files an order).

Oh, crap.  I only got through July before I used up my ten!  I guess I'll just call this my top ten from July through December of 2011.

2011 was a great year full of amazing memories.  Hope everyone else's year was as bright as ours!

Gavin's new favorite activity

Gavin has a new favorite activity...

He really, really likes brushing his teeth.

He likes to watch himself in the mirror while he "brushes" his teeth.

He likes brushing his teeth so much that he thinks he needs a tooth brush in each hand!

As a mother I'm just hoping he loves brushing his teeth this much as he gets older!

The Book List of 2011

I like to read a lot, and just for fun I keep a list of all of the books I've read in a year.   A little over a year ago we gave up our cable to save money, and it turns out it also saved me some time because I read somewhere around 60 books this past year!  And just for more fun I'm posting the list!  The books are chunked by authors.  Some I loved and some I hated but read to the end anyway.  I put * next to the authors I loved, but I won't tell you which books I didn't care for so as not to offend anyone's taste in reading.  Oh, and The Hunger Games has extra * because that series was by far my favorite read of the year! 

Book List – 2011

L.J. Smith

The Vampire Diaries:  The Return – Nightfall

Syrie James

Nocturne

Nicholas Sparks

Safe Haven

The Best of Me

Kim Edwards*

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter

Stieg Larsson

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Sara Gruen*

Water for Elephants

Ape House

Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid’s Tale

James Patterson

The 6^th Target

7^th Heaven

The 8^th Confession

The 9^th Judgment

10^th Anniversary

Ann Brashares

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

The Second Summer of the Sisterhood

Girls in Pants

Forever in Blue

Margaret Peterson Haddix

Among the Hidden

Alice Seabold

The Almost Moon

Suzanne Collins*******

The Hunger Games

Catching Fire

Mockingjay

Rick Riordan*

The Lightning Thief

Sea of Monsters

The Titan’s Curse

The Battle of the Labyrinth

The Last Olympian

The Lost Hero

Tracie Peterson

A Promise to Believe In

A Love to Last Forever

A Dream to Call My Own

Gregory Maguire

Wicked

 Son of a Witch

A Lion Among Men

Charlaine Harris*

Dead Until Dark

Living Dead in Dallas

Club Dead

Dead to the World

Dead as a Doornail

Definitely Dead

All Together Dead

From Dead to Worse

Dead and Gone

Dead in the Family

A Touch of Dead

Dead Reckoning

Grave Sight

Grave Surprise

An Ice Cold Grave

Shakespeare’s Landlord

Shakespeare’s Champion

Shakespeare’s Trollop

Shakespeare’s Counselor

Janet Evanovich*

One for the Money

Jodi Picoult

Sing You Home

Sue Grafton

V is for Vengeance

Jenny Nimmo

Midnight for Charlie Bone

Charlie Bone & the Time Twister

Lisa See

Peony in Love

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Becca Fitzpatrick

Hush Hush

Crescendo

Pittacus Lore

I Am Number Four

unplugged

My last day of work before the Christmas break was the 21st.  It was also the last day I checked my email - both personal and work - until the 1st of January.  I had almost 200 unread emails and almost all of them were just junk mail.

I was only on facebook once and that was to type out "Merry Christmas."  (And only because everyone was napping and I had some time on my hands.)

I didn't read any blog posts and only posted once just so I could keep up on my Couch to 5k posts.

I didn't use the internet (unless you count buying two books for my new Nook Color).

I only sent two texts - both to answer questions for someone.

I only made a few phone call - all to my mother to keep her updated on our travel plans.

I have 300+ pictures on my camera that have yet to be saved to my computer much less edited and posted.  Oh, and then there are the videos that need to be saved to the computer too.

I did take my children to Christmas Eve service, and I did bake cinnamon rolls Sunday morning and watched the boys open their presents.  I did eat Christmas dinner with Justin's family, and we did drive seven hours to Iowa right after.  I did read four books.  I did play with my children.  I kept up with my running.  I shopped with my sister, and we got pedicures.  I played a board game with my family and watched along with family and Aunt and Uncle as Iowa lost (boo).  I watched my children play with their cousins for the first time since July.  I got to spend the day with extended family on my Dad's side.

I didn't set out to "unplug" this holiday season, but as I was doing all of these things (and many more) I just didn't feel the need to check mail and facebook and blogs and surf the web.  I was so happy to just be, so happy to live in the moment for once.  It was a great holiday season full of love and happy moments; the best way to start of a new year.

A New Year

We've been home from Iowa for almost 24 hours now.  I have slept in my own bed.  I've spent the day cleaning out my boys' playroom and making room for all of the new loot that they have received this Christmas.  I've played Hungry Hippos and Chutes & Ladders with my oldest and held, cuddled, and rocked my youngest.  Both boys are in bed so I've finished my first Nook book and checked my email.  Now I'm here... 

Oh, and my fridge is still empty, and I'm not even worried about it.  Good thing my mother-in-law invited us out for lunch and Little Caesars sells pizzas for $5.

If today is any indication of how this new years is going to go, I think it is going to be a good one.

Happy New Year Everyone!