Christmas Day @ Dad's

Christmas time in my family has become so much more special to me...it is a time that I have all of my family in 1 town. I was always very fortunate to have all my funny crazy brothers in the same town and while college took us away from each other....we all ended up back in the same town...good old St. Louis. Well as we get older and jobs have taken one brother, Todd down South to Naples, FL where my Mom and Kent are living currently, it has made me appreciate the holidays that much more. Here are a few of the pictures from Christmas day at Dad's house. I love my brother's so much and truly do cherish the crazy fun times we have together. This year my mom and stepdad brought us all together to spend 6 days down in FL together...nothing special just spending quality time together. It has been great and I will be sure to post on that as soon as I get back in town....

Family is so important...no bond is stronger. I love my family so much!!

Just a few shots of my crazy family...Todd's favorite gift this year was his 2 - Night Vision Goggles and oh yes he got 2 pairs.  One from me and one from Kevin!! 

Christmas Morning...

What a great Christmas Eve...it snowed all day and night, so we were lucky enough to wake up to a WHITE CHRISTMAS!! Nothing better if you ask me...now if you ask my mom, she highly disagrees, as her days in Naples have made her not a fan of cold weather at all.  But I did hear her mention that she thought it was "Pretty"   But I LOVE LOVE it!!!  The girls asked for all sorts of things this year, Grace is getting older and her stuff isn't as much "fun" to open as this year she asked for a lot of clothes..and that is what she got!  Lots of Under Armor, new sports bag for basketball, anything Aeropastle, etx.  I certainly remember those days of transitioning from getting toys to the boring clothes and gift cards gifts...but that's the breaks of getting older.  Now I love getting new clothes and gift cards are my faves...b/c these days I never get to buy anything for myself!!! 

 Nothing is more pretty than the tree all sparkled up with presents from Santa under the tree.   It is my favorite shot of this Christmas!

Oh how excited Lizzie was and Bella was just super excited to play with the bows and wrapping paper :)

Lizzie with her most favorite gift of the year...Pillow Pet - Bumble Bee.  Oh Santa scored big with this one!!

Opening a few of Bella's gifts...like I mentioned earlier, she was all about the BOWS and paper!!

And another great present from 2010...a NEW bike!  Still need to learn how to ride it with no training wheels, but that is what the hard floor in the basement is for in Winter

Christmas Eve at Grandma Cookies

This Christmas Eve we spent at Grandma Cookies and had an absolute blast.  My mom and Kent along with Todd and Brad were able to join us as well!!

The girls so excited but had to get the family picture before we left for Grandma's

 An adorable picture of Bella and Big Sissy Grace playing with the new gift Cousin Chase gave Bella :)

Wade, mommy and Bella taking a group shot...love her little outfit that was made from some lovely lady on Etsy....love that!!

Our 1st year with the White Elephant game..how fun was that Todd ended up with a Shake Weight...it was hilarious!!!

Here is a sweet picture of the girls and Chase singing Happy Birthday to Jesus.

A great picture of my mom and stepdad...so glad to see them when they come in town for the holidays!!!

Christmas with Mom's side

This year was a little different...this year my mom's side of the family celebrated Christmas the Tuesday before on the 22nd. We had a great time as usual and all the kiddos had a blast as we all did with seeing all the family together.

The kids waiting so patiently...as you can see Grace looks a little bored.....





Bella so excited by just the wrapping paper....the little things excite her so much!!!



A great family shot...it is super hard to get a good one of everyone these days so I was pretty excited about that one!!!



My sweet Grandma Jean and her husband Tom...what a great picture of the both of them.





This was just the start of the holiday celebrations in my family...more to come!!!

7 Months Old..

Here are a few shots of Miss Bella @ 7 months old.   This was the first month photo shoot that she was not interested at all...but I love it.  Priceless

 Loving her little Baby Legs I ordered online...can't wait for it to get warmer so she can wear them more often!

Lizzie's Kindergarten Christmas Concert

Lizzie was super excited for her first Christmas concert ever! She must have practiced those couple songs over and over again for the entire month of December and I have never seen her sing soooo proudly. It was absolutly adorable!!! I can remember being little in elementary school and standing on those risers in our gyms singing...so crazy that now I am that proud momma snapping as many pics as I can while the gym is jammed packed with other parents. Man I really don't feel that old....life just flies by so fast...crazy that she is already 6!!

A few shots of my girls

Santa's Breakfast @ Little Guppy

With Bella's 1st Christmas upon us, of course we had to partake in her first Santa's Breakfast. Little Guppy hosted a great breakfast...here are some adorable pics
Mommy and Bella helping get set up...Bella loves hanging in the carrier while organizing!!


A great shot of Big sissy Ava and Bella in the little buggy..yes Ava is way to big for this but still a cute shot!!

Happy 1 Year Anniversary

One year ago today I married my best friend, my partner in crime, and the love of my life. What agreat year it has been. We have started so many new traditions being a blended family and with our new angel in Bella, life couldn't be better!!

Bella 6 Months

Here is our 6 month old attempting to eat some yummy cereal ...boy she is sure messy!!!

This one is my favorite...she is such a ham!! Blowing zerberts while a mouthful of cereal.....

So I totally forgot to take some pics of Bella on her 6 month birthday...but thank god Little Guppy came through.

Halloween 2010

This year Lizzie, Bella and I decided to go to Main Street in St. Charles and do the trick or treating during the day ....wow what a popular event!! It was packed, but Lizzie had a blast and the weather was gorgeous so it was a great afternoon :)

My little pumpkin & Cheerleader....

This is the best shot of the Halloween season...I love this pic of Bella!!

Bella & Uncle Monte posing

My little one all bundled up for the first time ....love this fun hat!!