this is how we roll

Sometimes, she rides on the bottom of the cart out of the store...(that looks extremely comfortable doesn't it?)

And sometimes she sits around in her underwear on large balloons...I have lost all control.

whirlwind

the last few days have been a blur to me! We have been busy doing fun things with family and friends! Jamie was in town with his family and we have been non-stop since they arrived. We even sneaked (I really want to say snuck, but I don't think that is correct) in some time for a birthday party and a visit from Candace and her kids!
Here are some photos of what we have been doing:

Outside of Cosi- science center
Jamie and Paige doing the Uni-cycle at Cosi
Family photo
Naomi and Mika holding hands while watching Rats play basketball at Cosi
Later that afternoon we also did a bounce house and then ice cream!
The next day was Marissa's birthday party, it was a pancake party where you dressed in your pj's and brought your favorite stuffed toy...there was even a pancake relay race and a pancake toss- it was hysterical, and all the kids loved it!
Relay race
Birthday girl!
The girls at Pops and Grandma's house with matching pj's!
Mika, Naomi and Shelby
On Monday we were able to hang with Candace and her three beautiful kids, Braylen is so squeezable! I didn't get any good pics of Mallory and Bennett and Naomi...but they were fast friends!
This is how Naomi took a nap on Monday before meeting up with Mika and Shelby to hit the water park...
The girls having dinner at the water park, it was a blast!

I am very sad to see them leave, it was such a great visit...I wish my siblings lived closer, I know Naomi wishes the same as well. It is always hard to see them go. The kids all have so much fun together. The time flew by and I am already looking forward to the next visit.

it's christmas time

I love Christmas, I love the lights...the music, everything... which is funny because I am following a post about how I am not partaking in mailing cards this year, but whatever, I am a walking contradiction, nothing new here. I especially love this month because I turned 33 the other day as well..Jeff took me to dinner and surprised me with a comforter I have had my eye on, and it was in my online shopping cart for about 3 weeks and I never pulled the trigger. Luckily he got the hint (and by hint I mean me telling him EXACTLY which one I wanted and where to get it), nice work Jeff.

Man, that is a lot of candles! Seriously, thank you Naomi for the FAKE smile.

We love fires in the winter, Naomi especially loves warming up by them!
We made a gingerbread house that was given to Naomi as a gift for her birthday- this thing is not easy, I thought it would be super easy and it is NOT, but it was fun! I have no idea why all of my photos involve Naomi on our counter, really I do clean it once in a while.
Don't look too close, it is riddled with my mistakes-Jeff was the pro on this one, cutting the candies to make them work.

scrooge

I am not doing holiday cards this year....so don't be offended when you don't get one of the photos from this blog that you have seen a million times in a card with our names on it. happy holidays!

pool and random photos

The pool is finished (minus connecting the gas line into our house, for the heater) but all the outdoor work is done...minus us ripping off our deck and doing pavers up to the pool concrete...so I guess the pool itself is done, there is still a lot more landscaping work to do in the spring. Here are some photos of its progression:

This was last week when it was extremely cold, they worked in the tent with a heater...crazy. To think they work year round here is nuts.

Here it is partially filled, they have since tossed the winter cover on it and will remain closed until the spring. I can hardly wait to be sipping coronas poolside!

My mom was in Miami for Thanksgiving so they came down last weekend to visit and have lunch. Here is my gorgeous momma and my little mamasita.

Pops and Naomi hanging out together

hiccupotamus

Naomi's school had the author of Hiccupotomus come in and read the story and then they had a book signing after. Naomi marched up to Aaron Zenz and said-"My name is Naomi-N-A-O-M-I, it is kind of a short name, but it is cool". After he signed her book he asked her if she liked the book and she was like "yeah, it is pretty funny" and then grabbed a pack of smokes right out of her jacket (not really but she always looks like she should, tousled hair, short answers, etc).... never give them too much Naomi, never too much. You have to leave them always wanting more. After we were out of the author's sight she grabbed the book and immediately began looking at it and saying she couldn't wait to read it at home. Why couldn't she do that IN FRONT of the guy? No, that would be showing him that she liked it, and we wouldn't want that.

santa shoot 2009

luckily my friend Stephanie called me today and said..."yo we are going to hit up the Santa at creekside today....blah blah" and I said "Jeff is a baby and doesn't want to wait outside so maybe next time when he gets his big boy pants on and can get into the holiday spirit" THEN she called me back after they had went and said "yo, you HAVE to come out here, there is NO wait, it is INSIDE...AND the photo is FREE). I was all "no way, are you serious?" and she was all "yeah totally"- so we went a little later in the afternoon and I could tell by Jeff's excitement that Stephanie better not be lying about this no wait deal. (the conversation above might be slightly altered to make it more interesting...but it was based on a true story)

We went and she was RIGHT, there were literally no other kids there, the decor was really cute and Mr. and Mrs. Claus were top notch. No drunk Santa, and no anorexic Santa (there is one at Easton that definitely needs to pack on more lbs.- this nickname given to him by Stephanie...she really knows her Santas!) Naomi has never actually sat on Santa's lap for the picture (exhibit A and exhibit B), so we weren't sure what to expect...she was a little skittish at first and was saying things to him like "it's okay, okie dokie, ummm alright " more self talk to get up the nerve to sit on his lap, then it happened, she sat down. She was excited to give him a letter she worked on earlier today which contained mostly pictures of animals she would like (if is mostly pictures is it still called a letter?) anyway included in it were: a flamingo, butterfly, pony, ostrich, horse, and a penguin. So Santa told her she was on his good list, which I wanted to then interject and tell her that she can EASILY be removed from that list if I say so! I didn't, I let her have her moment, give give give....it is what I do.

Naomi looks like one of Santa's elves in her 1 year photo doesn't she?As a total side note I chopped Naomi's hair off a couple weeks ago, it was constantly getting knotted up and messy...so I cut it. Her hair is still messy, but now it is a shorter mess.

photo shoot

naomi requested that I do a photo shoot with her and elmer...she was pretending to be a dog and was mimicking his every move. It was really cute but very hard to capture. She would say tell me when and where to take a photo, she was born to be a director.

i really think she nailed this one don't you?

This is what 90 percent of them looked like...

Blurry still, but because i was trying to capture our lights without a flash-elmer does not seem amused at us

good morning

this is what we woke up to today, Naomi was ecstatic. She had to go out the second we came downstairs, in her pajamas and all. Me, not so much.

water park

Jeff was finally able to take a small break from work, so we decided to take advantage of it and hit up a local water park. We thought it might be nice to spend the night and really get away, so we did. My boss (who has connections at the hotel) hooked us up with a free dinner and a room upgrade, so we had a huge suite with a pull out couch and everything, it was perfect!

I have never seen Naomi so excited; she was jumping up and down, sniffing out the water park in the hotel (she would tell us she thought it was close because she could smell the chlorine). She turned into a completely different kid while we were there. Usually she has a love/hate thing with the water and is clingy to us, or hesitant to try new things but this time she was balls to the wall (that is appropriate to say right?). She was going down every water slide she could, even the enclosed ones that made me a little nervous. She was climbing up rope ladders in single bounds, swimming on her own in the hot tubs (on her own with a backpack on that is, but not attached to me...which is on her own in my eyes!). She kept us on our toes trying to figure out which slide she was going down...of course she kept picking the two that were the furthest from each other. The place was DEAD which was also nice because we could spot the little 36 incher running around all over the place. It was a good time, and we cannot wait to go back again soon.

This about describes her excitement- how creepy is that face?

This is what our hands looked like after hours and hours in the water...raisin hands!

Our waitress gave Naomi some duck food (corn mix) to feed the ducks in the morning...it was pretty cute-she loves her animals. She has Jeff's shirt on over her clothes because she was cold-we don't make it a habit to buy her men's clothes on a regular basis.

At the restaurant the second day for breakfast- we are not above using technology to keep her entertained...works like a charm

We also do the basics like a coloring book the night before at dinner...we like to mix it up.

Naomi going down one of the slides