a new year

2013 was a blessed year. I am so thankful for all He has provided for me and my family and I hope to be using what I have been blessed with for His glory. Having a 1-2 year old and a 2-3 year old in 2013 has been my greatest blessing. Watching the two of them grow and change is so amazing. These girls are so precious, sassy, funny, impossible, amazing, spunky, beautiful, adorable, challenging, rewarding, fun, exhausting and incredible. Watching them grow so fast has been bittersweet. With each new stage we are able to do so many new and exciting things but I am so sad that they are no longer babies.

 

I hardly ever make true New Year’s resolutions. I did make one for 2012 which was to update this blog at least once every 2 weeks. I think I managed to complete that goal and I am so glad that I have made this blog a habit over the past couple of years, prior to that my updates were seldom. I don’t really update this for anyone other than myself and my family. I love having a place that I can look back on and remember what happened when and simply see the precious moments of the girls lives that I never want to forget the details of.

 

For 2014 I hope to do a few things. The number one thing that I want to set out to do is slow down. Not necessarily quit doing some of the activities with my family and friends but to cherish each moment. I don’t want to continually be caught up in all that needs to be done around the house, all that needs to be done to get ready for the next day, all that needs to be done for work and all that may be going on in the world of social media that I forget to be completely present for my girls. Don’t get me wrong I know that I am going to have to continue to keep up with the house and keep our stuff organized and I am certainly going to have to keep up with work but I want the girls to know that they are my priority and that I am listening when they talk to me. I want to set aside what I am doing and play with them daily. Even if I am only able to spare 15 minutes in a night to get on the floor and play with them I want to do this and make it my priority. The last thing I want is to look back a year or two from now, when they have changed so much as they are growing so fast, and regret the time that has been lost.

 

To ring in the New Year our family spent the night at a friend’s lake house.  There were 6 families in attendance and 11 kiddos under the age of 4. We really had a lot of fun but I was in need of sleep the next day. Reese and her friend Parker managed to stay awake until 12:45 a.m. Reese and Ella had so much fun with lots of fun kids. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows for the kids and all of the adults made portions of the adult meal, which was so yummy. The kids jumped on air mattresses, watched movies, popped poppers, wore fun glasses, hats and mustaches, blew party blowers, rode the ride on toys outside and ran around like wild children having a blast. Wednesday morning Neal and Kristi made breakfast and it was all so good. We hope this ends up being a yearly tradition, if the Knight’s weren’t too worn out from it all.

I am looking forward to a fun new year.

Christmas 2013

Christmas with a 2 and 3 year old is SO. MUCH. FUN. Reese was old enough to participate in her school Christmas program this year. It was fun to watch her sing with all of her friends. During the first portion she decided to be shy and suck on her fingers. She eventually broke out of her shell and participated without hesitation.

 

Sucking on her fingers.

Graysons pants were undone and Kyle had to run up there mid performance.

Reese has been going overnight with a dry pull up here and there. We wondered if she was just being lazy and truly had the ability to hold it if she had incentive. So Neal told her that if she had a dry pull up 5 night in a row she could put a pie in his face. Sure enough she was just being lazy and on Christmas Eve she got to put a pie in his face. She has gone over a week now pull up free with no issues. So proud of her!

 

We spent Christmas with Gigi and G-Pop this year. The girls had a blast. I just love this tradition of new Christmas pajamas and the adorable photos that I have gotten year after year. This year's photos are my favorite yet.

 

The girls had a lot of fun doing little kitchen projects with Gigi. They made snowmen out of marshmallows, stuffed cookies and brownie reindeer.

 

Ella got an E ornament made by G-Pop just like the one her sister has.

 

G-Pop made them name puzzles that I know they will cherish always. They are really cute and I love that they are made by their Pop.

 

They got to "make a mess" which means remove all of the couch cushions and jump onto them. They think that this is the most fun activity that there is.

 

Santa visited our house while we were gone but he also made a quick stop at the grandparents and dropped off some stockings.

 

Gigi and G-Pop got them backpacks with sleeping bags in them that they both love.

 

I am trying to capture a shot like this of the 5 of them every time we go to Neal's grandparents. I know that Neal will cherish these photos.

 

Neal and his cousins & Sister.

 

Ella got her kitty that she wanted so badly.

 

Reese got the flying fairy that she wanted so badly.

We all had a great Christmas and now to try to recover the house from all of the new stuff.

 

A really fun weekend

Last weekend Neal and I decided that we would split up and do some fun things with each girl on our own on Saturday. I spent time with Reese in the morning while Neal and Ella hung out and we switched after nap.

Reese has been begging to get her hair cut "like daddy's" for weeks. We compromised by taking off 3 inches.

She loves it and it looks really cute and healthy. It did what I hoped and made some of the curls come back now that it's not so heavy.

We then went and had her nails and toes painted. This is a photo of her waiting for her turn.

We then had lunch together at one of my favorite restaurants in Fayetteville, Noodles. We had a lot of fun together and I think she really enjoyed her one on one time.

Neal spent the morning with Ella. They went to a fun toy store that sent us a Christmas gift card and tried out all of the toys & she got to get a toy, they went to the new Atwood's farm & ranch supply to check it out and then ate at Houlihan's. He said she was a really fun date and seemed to have a great time herself.

When we got home we made icing for the birthday cake that we made for Jesus's birthday. This is her 1st of many experiences licking the mixer.

After nap Neal took Reese to run an errand and I took Ella to get her 1st mani/pedi. She felt like such a big girl and sat somewhat still.

Saturday night we had a family movie night in the bonus room. We blew up the air mattress, threw a bunch of pillows and blankets on it and watched The Polar Express. The girls sat through most of the movie & we all enjoyed the time together. 

Sunday evening we made a gingerbread house. None of us had made one before. Reese was pretty tired and had some trouble behaving and ended up having to go to bed early. She got to help with most of it but towards the end she was just being defiant and I had to follow through with my threats of bed if she didn't start listening (I'm not always great at following trough but have been better lately and am seeing benefits). She woke up the next day running fever which probably had something to do with the behavior the night before. Thankfully she got into the dr & on meds and felt better very quickly. 

The gingerbread house was fun and turned out really cute.

Ella's 1st dentist visit

Last Thursday We took Ella to her 1st dental cleaning. Reese has always loved the dentist (we have an amazing dentist for kids) but Ella's personality is much more hesitant in these types of situations. Reese was so excited to show her all around.

She and Reese were playing on our bed the night before and Ella's front teeth collided into Reese's head. There was lots of blood and tears. They decided to get an x-ray to make sure everything was in tact. It all looked good. Ella didn't know about the x-ray process but she agreed as long as she was able to sit in my lap.

Reese & Ella coloring a picture of what they want for Christmas. Notice the band aid where Ella's teeth went I to Reese's head.

After seeing Reese having her teeth cleaned she was fine with the cleaning part.

She wasn't too sure about the dentist checking things out but she obliged.

She gave us a forced smile for this picture but she wasn't thrilled about him holding her for the photo. All in all she did great!