Goodbye 2012

The morning after Christmas, Waylon had to work so the kids and I spent it relaxing, playing and finding all the new toys a home.

Good times  :-)

We decided we needed to get out of the house so we met the Rodriguez' out for lunch.  Conrad and Cari-Anne had to run some errands so I offered to bring the boys back to our house to play while they got some things done.  The boys had fun - not quite sure about Kylie though - she was trying to play with them but they were having none of her 'girlie' games.  :-)  It was funny and she dealt with it okay but we all felt a little bad for her.  They ended up staying for pizza too so that was a fun, laid back night.

Thursday was a treat for everyone - and a little break from each other.  :-)  I had to 'work' (it ended up being a pretty laid back day but we did get some things done) and so did Waylon so Kylie had a special day with Nana and Grandad and Noah had a special day with Andrea and Savannah.  They all went to museums but different ones.  They both really enjoyed their time and we topped off the night with Mexican with Nana and Grandaddy!

I was supposed to work that Friday and Monday but since our CEO gave us extra time off, I didn't have to go in so that was a nice surprise.  We had yet another lazy morning with a quick trip to Target for me and the kids.  When we got back, we got ready and took off to see Steven, Kate and Samantha (Lily was sleeping so we missed seeing her this time!) who were staying with Steven's parents in Garner.  Always good to see Mr. and Mrs. Weaver also - we all think Mrs. Weaver is the baby/kid whisperer!  Kids just flock to her and Noah and Kylie were no exception.  I can't believe we didn't get any pictures but it was a short visit.

After we left there, we headed to Fuquay Varina to have dinner with a big group of friends to celebrate Josh's birthday.  We all had an early dinner and then the guys stayed for a bit at the bar while the girls and kids went back to Jennie and Corrie's house to play.  This picture is actually pretty amusing considering we all used to do Friday night happy hours almost every week (years ago) but the scene these days is MUCH different than it was then!!  :-)

There are 8 kids in this shot even though you can't see them all

So good to see Tucker again although I missed an opportunity to hold him (I was coming down with a cold and he's so teeny still).  :-(

Sunday morning, we got to go meet yet another cousin puppy!!!!!  Andrea and Sean decided to surprise Savannah on Christmas eve with the news that they were going to be getting a puppy!  They got to bring him home a few days after Christmas so we just had to go meet him.  Savannah decided to name him Flynn Rider (after the hero in Tangled) and he is such a sweet little thing.  The kids LOVED him!!

(it was also the day of the Redskins/Cowboys game so we were a Redskins family that day!)

Sweet Flynn

Ready to watch the game (well after they went to bed anyway - it was a late one that night)  :-)

Monday was another special day for all of us.  It was (again) a day I thought I was going to work and Kylie was going to go to school but we all ended up staying home.  We figured it was best to break up the troops again that day so Waylon and Noah went bowling while Kylie and I went to get a mani/pedi together!!  I wasn't really sure how she'd do with it since she's so shy but she was just beside herself.  It was so adorable to watch.  She sat so still and kept giving me this little grin that was adorable - I kept trying to capture it on camera but every time I lifted it up, she'd say 'CHEESE!'  (we have them trained well).  :-)

Guess what color she chose!?  PURPLE of course!

She didn't have much patience for the drying step but really, who does??

That night was New Year's Eve and we were invited to a family friendly party at a neighbors house.  The kids were to come in PJs and were going to watch movies/play/sleep upstairs - whatever they wanted - while the adults had a party downstairs.  The party didn't start until 8 and at 6, the kids started asking if we could go yet!!  HAHA.

We were unsure how well it would go - if either of them would actually sleep there or want to stay up or what - but we couldn't have asked for it to have gone any better than it did!  Noah ended up staying up until we left (which ended up being close to 1am!) and Kylie asked to go to bed at 10:30 and went down easily in their guest room bed.  They were (obviously) exhausted the next day but I think it was worth it.  They both had fun and thought it was the coolest thing.

Before leaving the house, Kylie and I were being silly with my camera....

Boys in the 'hood  :-)

Noah filled this out at the party  :-)

Self portrait (one of the only ways I get pictures of myself)  :-)

Noah and Addy just before New Years!

Just before the ball dropped

Watching the ball drop in NYC and the acorn drop in Raleigh (I know, weird)  :-)

Afterwards, Jake, Han and Addy entertained us with the Gangham style dance.  So silly!

 (and Kylie slept soundly through all of this!!)

more DS time  :-)

Noah and Jake just before we left - they are pretty wide eyed for 12:30 am!!

The next morning, Noah was practically beside himself he was so tired.  They both still woke up at 7:30 and they both (in particular Noah) were really whiny and red-eyed (Waylon and I probably were, too!!).  So at 11:30, Noah and I laid down together and Waylon and Kylie laid down and we all slept until sometime between 2 and 3.  We all needed it after such a fun-filled night and we were all new people afterwards!

technically this picture was in 2013 but I had to include it  :-)

We never left the house or saw anyone that day and that night, we laid low, ate at home at prepared to go back to reality the next day.  It was one of the best holidays I can recall - the kids are a great age for all this so it's just amazing to watch them take everything in.  We are also very happy to get back to a routine though!

I hope everyone reading this had a great holiday season and a wonderful 2012.  Here's to 2013 being even better (hard to imagine)!!