Busy 2012 Thus Far!

2012 is wearing me out and we've only just begun! I've been nesting like crazy trying to get ready for Bodie's arrival, which is scheduled for Wednesday, February 15th at 12:30. Woohoo! Obviously I am having a C-section. Although I'm not thrilled about the recovery, I cannot wait to meet my little man and TO NOT BE PREGNANT!!! I've definitely reached the miserably uncomfortable stage. I really shouldn't complain as my pregnancy has been easy breezy compared to most, but everything is a struggle right now, especially sleep. Oh well...three weeks to go. Our big projects so far this year have been to potty train Emery (successful, for the most part) and to completely renovate our master bathroom. I am in love with my new bathroom! I don't have any "before" pictures, but imagine a very early 1990's bathroom and you get the idea. Lots of brass fixtures coupled with peach and teal tile. Ugh. We kept the footprint basically the same, but expanded the shower, flipped the new tub and raised the height of the vanities. A fresh coat of soothing gray paint to compliment the new floor, fixtures and counters and we're done. I worked with a company called Dreammaker to do all of the work and I am completely satisfied. The month without a bathroom was well worth it.

Ben's vanity

The shower! I love the rain shower as well as the adjustable wall mounted nozzle. Our water bill is going to be massive. I just stand in there for hours. Ahhhh....

My vanity, which is no longer at midget height. Why were vanities so low before????

New pedastal tub, shelves and chandelier. I know the black radio looks hideous--a white Bose radio will be purchased at some point in the near future.

Of course I've managed to squeeze in a little fun! My dear friends, Casey and Diana, threw a sprinkle for Bodie and me at Brick Street Cafe here in Greenville. What a fabulous afternoon--great friends (my friend, Dana, flew in from Memphis!), delicious food, and lots of cute baby boy items.

Casey, me and Diana. Casey and Diana are also pregnant, due this spring. Our two year olds are the best of friends and I know our new babies will be as well.

Happy New Year!

Ben and I are not really into huge New Years' celebrations, so we decided to have a low-key evening at home with dear friends and our children. What a great way to ring in 2012! Tara, Nando and McKenna Calvo as well as Stuart, Christy, Caleb and Sloan Everett all came up from Atlanta. We were also joined by Casey, Reggie and Davis Bell from right here in Greenville. The kids all got along really well and we had so much fun hanging out, catching up and watching football.

Caleb and Emery getting wild in the laundry room

The daddies smoked cigars while the kiddos played on the porch. Everyone STUNK!

Getting ready to toast at midnight--Stuart, Tara, Christy and Reggie.

Poor Ben. His birthday is January 2nd and he rarely gets much fanfare as everyone is too wiped out from the holidays. Casey and Reggie surprised him with this delicious Bailey's Liquer cake from Strossner's bakery as an early celebration. Best cake I've ever had. Thanks, Bells!

One of my most favorite pictures ever. I am so in love with my new camera. This picture cracks me up for several reasons. First, Emery is shirtless. She started shedding clothes around 10:30. I really don't know why she prefers to be in the buff, but she can only handle clothes for so long before she feels the urge to strip. Secondly, Emery and Ben are both having so much fun at this exact moment. Look at those smiles! Third, Emery has an enormous head. I just had to return her new bike helmet (Santa assumed a size 3+ would fit her, but not even close) and I have to stretch out all of the necks on her shirts before I can get them over her huge melon. I've been wondering where this enormous head came from and then I noticed that Ben had a huge red mark on his forehead after wearing the yellow hat last night. Nobody else who wore the hats ended up with this mark. Mystery solved. But here's the new mystery....what the heck is in that big ol' head of his????

Merry Christmas!

What a whirlwind of a Christmas! Ben, Emery and I flew from from Steamboat to Atlanta on Christmas Eve, just in time for our tradition of dinner and games at my Uncle Greg's and Aunt Donna's with all the Greer/Reuter/Heinz gang. We got the best of both worlds this year--Christmas in Steamboat with the Slagels and then Christmas in Atlanta with my family.
Emery spreading reindeer food. Atlanta felt quite balmy compared to Colorado.

Cousins! Emery is so lucky to have such fun cousins on both sides of the family.

Emery got lots of great toys from Santa, including her most requested items: a Caillou doll, a bike, a digital camera and a Cinderella doll. Her reaction to the Cinderella doll was priceless. Her amazement that Santa knew exactly what she wanted brought tears to my eyes. Magical.

Alison and Brian gave each of the kids a guitar. They're starting a band.

The aforementioned Cinderella doll.

Hayes received these way cool light sabres. Uncle Ben thought they were pretty fun, too.

Emery and Cinderella on the new green Jeep bike. Nanny purchased the bikes and decided, wisely, to get them matching bikes.

Cupcakes for breakfast as a special Christmas treat (thanks, Granny!)

Early Christmas in Steamboat

Ben, Emery and I spent the week before Christmas in Steamboat Springs, CO, with all of the Slagels (minus Scott--boo!) for an early Christmas and ski vacation. If I posted a picture of every single thing we crammed into the week, this post would be ten pages long. Instead, I'll just post a few highlights from our incredible trip.
Austin is a whiz at Wii. He dominated his Uncle Ben at swordfighting.

Ski bunny Emery. Seriously--how cute is this Spyder ensemble?

Hot tubbing! Nothing better than drinks and a soak in the hot tub after a day on the slopes. Too bad I couldn't participate in any of these activities being preggo.

Ben, Emery, Austin and Jerry

We celebrated Christmas Monday evening. My sister-in-law, Korey, had matching pj's for the kiddos. How adorable are they? I can't wait for Bodie to meet all of his cousins and his sister and participate in our Steamboat trip next year. (Emery, Austin and Alexa)

Silly Emery

Honestly, Emery had more fun playing with the snow than actually skiing on it.

Snow Angel

Whee!

Emery made a new friend!

Austin and Emery dancing on Wii

I gave each of the kids a personalized apron and some spatulas. They got a lot of use out in Steamboat--we made pizzas and cookies

Cookie time!

Linda and Jerry, thank you for our wonderful week at One Steamboat Place. Heaven on earth! Thank you also for being such generous Santas. Emery loves her pram and I am obsessed with my Kindle.

Tea Party

Emery and I hosted a tea party for a dozen of her little friends Tuesday afternoon. Such fun! Emery is really into tea parties lately and apparently so are most two year old little girls. Emery was so excited for days leading up to her party and the big day did not disappoint. An unexpected surprise was that most of our guests brought little hostess gifts for Emery. She was so excited to have presents to open! Now she's confused and thinks she just had another birthday. The party had a snowman theme (Emery's favorite) and the girls all got along really well. And, I used my good Christmas china for the adults and even gave the kids hot chocolate in ceramic Santa Claus mugs and NOTHING got broken! I was fully expecting to be on replacements.com Tuesday evening, but not necessary.

Sweet Zoe brought Emery pink daisies. I think this was the first time Emery has ever been given flowers (shame on you, Daddy!) and she was thrilled.

My Elmo veggie/cheese platter. Thanks, Kriya, for showing me this on Pinterest.

Pink "no-man" cupcakes

The kiddie table

Some of the guests. I couldn't get all twelve of the little ones to sit for a picture at any given moment.

Emery couldn't wait to strip down and open her hostess gifts. So typical.

Santa at Phipps and the Pink Pig

We're three for three! For the third year in a row, Emery and I trekked down to Atlanta for our scheduled appointment with Santa at Phipps. Emery did really well with Santa this year and had so much fun, as always, sharing this experience with Hayes--and now Kelsey! As an added bonus, our good friends, the Boyds, are visiting from FL and were also able to join us. We knew this months in advance and made sure Hayes, Emery, Kelsey and and Phinley were show stopping adorable in their coordinating Rags Land ensembles.

Telling the big guy what she wants for Christmas: a camera, a bike, a Cinderella doll....

Hayes, Phinley and Emery running in circles outside Tiffany & Co. Good choice!

My mom gave each of the kids a plastic, candy pooping reindeer after their visits with Santa. We're classy like that.

After Santa and the pooping reindeer, we headed over to Lenox for some lunch, the Pink Pig, and impromptu ring-around-the-rosies!

Completely unprompted, this is how the trio walked through Lenox.

The fun mat at the Pink Pig ticket window.

On the train!

Such a beautiful day in Atlanta!

Granny and Opa with their grandchildren. Next year they'll have another one to juggle.