- Concrete here, concrete there, concrete EVERYWHERE! -

One day we left the "house" looking like this...

...and the next day, it was this!  Oh, oh, ohhhhh, it's magic!

We had a fiasco with our framer quitting before he even started [which sent me into a silent panic, because ZOMG we have this giant concrete hole in the ground that is just collecting rain and the winter weather is coming soon and whoooo go' build our shack??!].  It was all just crumbling beneath our feet and seemed disastrous to my pea brain... But fear not!  I forgot for a split second that Brian is a Superman of sorts and he alwayssss has the last laugh! He called the troops together and went right to building out the basement without skipping a beat.  [September 2018]

Loving these cute little basement walls in progress!

So thankful for Uncle Brant and Papa Ron's help, too.

...They're quite the crew if you ask me! :)

Weekdays and weekends home alone with the girls get pretty long pretttttty fast, so we always take lots of visits out to check in on the guys.  It's perfect when Scarlett falls asleep on the drive there and snoozes for a bit in her carseat after we arrive; otherwise, I look like a contortionist of sorts trying to wrangle a fearless toddler and a newly-mobile infant in a construction/disaster zone! Of course, one of Harper's favorite things about visiting the "prop-ur-dee" is using the porta-potty..... :/

When everyone takes a break from building, there's still lots of dirt raking to be done...

...and while Daddy works, we eat!

Work hard, party hard!

And nowwwwww, on to subfloor!  And the search for a framer continues....... :/

- Eleven months young! -

Baby girl is barely a baby anymore...

...because ELEVEN months young and on the downhill slide to ONE YEAR! 

Wow, Sissy!!!   

This month has been an amazing one for you!  You've taken to all kinds of new foods and really love to shovel it in by the fistful.  Your go-to breakfast [or snack, sometimes!] is a blueberry bagel with a smidgen of butter or oatmeal. Your spoon/utensil control is not too shabby, but half of the time you think it's funnier to fling oatmeal at the wall instead of putting it into your mouth where you knowww it belongs! :)

You're so proud of your increasing mobility and ability to destroy -- like downright D-E-S-T-R-O-Y -- everything in sight. Cabinet opening + dumping is an all-time fave. We never had to child-proof the kitchen or bathroom cabinets for Baby Harper, but I think we're reconsidering the options now!

Your toy bulldozing has sent Harper off crying severalllll times, and you just crawl off innocently like nothing even happened!  You especially love to knock down her Barbie houses and princess castle.....

 ...and empty Mommy's work bag, too!  It's a good thing you're sooooooo stinkin' cute!!!!!

You absolutely LOVE having a big sister to entertain you and snuggle you and play with you! If Harper is playing quietly in her bedroom or goes off somewhere alone, you just swivel your little owl head all around looking everywhere for her.  She's always so kind to put on your makeup in the mornings...

...and even share her clip on earrings and necklaces! [Found you like this after 5 minutes of silence in Harper's bedroom..... I should know by now that silence in our house is never safe!!!]

You still love to nurse. ...So much, in fact, that you gave this naked Belle a 30-second stare before slowly pulling her plastic nipple up to your  mouth. Ahhhhh!

Your little firecracker personality is reallllllllly showing through this month, as especially evidenced by loud screams and near meltdowns when you can't be in control of the TV remote or the iPhone!  You've learned to open the toilet lid and swirl your fat little hands all around in the water [*groan*] and pull alllllll the toilet paper off the roll and into a big mound on the floor.  You love to stand up on furniture and dive down into the cushions. I'm not a bettin' girl, but if I was -- I'd say we have a wild one on our hands!!!

My oh my oh MY! Slow down, Scarlett girl! Momma's getting sentimental that your birthday is just around the corner! :(

xoxox

- Ready the Way! -

^^ God will smite me down [and probably grow my laundry pile exponentially overnight], but I couldn't.even.help.myself!!! Don't know who @amydillon is, but girl, WORD to the nth degree.

Advent:  a season of preparation and expectant waiting and all things holy. No lies here, though -- it definitely feels like we chomped off a bigger bite than we can chew this month, and half of the time I'm just living minute by minute and not even able to look ahead to the following days or weeks to come.  Christmas who?  Brian is at the new house a lot [AKA all the time] and the kids are at a busy, busy, busy, verrrrry busy age [even confirmed by an OB I was chatting with at work last weekend who insisted with bulging eyes that "ohhhhh, Sis, you are in a DARK HOLE! A very dark hole!" I think that's quite a bit of an exaggeration, but I couldn't disagree completely hahah!]. There's work and Christmas shopping/wrapping and appointments here and obligations there and messes EVERYWHERE....... Most importantly in this equation: I'm most definitely an introvert who requires a daily dose of alone/quiet time to thrive, and that just issssssssn't in the cards at all these days. But! Although I'm usually just one straw away from losing my frickin' mind, we are still -- somehow -- readying the way. Turns out it's not that hard at all to dial it back a few notches and find big joys in the small things!  <-- And for that and for the love that runs deep through our little family, I am so humbled.  Somewhere amidst the chaos is a beautiful mess, and I'm growing to love our new normal.  We are truly blessed, and I do not ever ever take that for granted.  AMEN!

And so! The decorating kicked off our "preparation" for Christmas, and following that is a slew of other things that reminds us why we love this very special season!  Our elf [coined "Twinkle Toes" by Harper] is enjoying his inaugural Advent under our roof...

He has moved to a new spot every night and has only caused trouble in the house a couple of times. He tragically lost his magic one time when Daddy's head accidentally bumped into him as he was dangling from the living room chandelier [cue 7 very long minutes of threenager wailing], but we eventually called Santa's personal hotline and Harper left a voicemail begging him to return Twinkle Toes's magic. ...Which, of course, Santa did! And Twinkle Toes was miraculously/magically healed and was spotted in a brand new hiding place the next morning. Phew.

Gingerbread house timeeee!  Harper thought she was sticking the candy on with Elmer's glue in a decorating bag and only realized 3/4 of the way through the project that the "glue" was edible...

...at which time there was absolutely no turning back.

Christmas Card University! One sister was the stamper and the other was the shredder... They were working great together until Scarlett slung/scattered the "finished pile" all over the floor and then proceeded to eat the stamps. Kids these days.....

Then! One of my favorite traditions: mass-crafting the annual Christmas ornament that we hand out to family and friends!  It required a couple mugs of hot cocoa for motivation...

Each girl made a Rudolph this year [and I didn't even realize it as I was painting Scarlett's handprints, but I LOVE how it compliments Harper's footprint Rudolph from 2015!]... Apparently we love reindeer around here?

Papa Ron pulled through with his awesome train tradition, which Scarlett seemed to enjoy as much as Harper always does/has...

Christmas lights, anyone?! Scarlett snoozed without budging in the back seat and Brian prayed without ceasing that we didn't get pulled over... Poor dude wouldn't be caught dead in public matching his wife and offspring in holiday fleecies. ;) :)

Next up: Christmas tree sugar cookies! Woot woot!

We heard Santa likes sprinkles...

All was calm and bright for a few nights, and there was ample time for a couple Christmas shows on TV and lots of Christmas books...

...then the days exploded with Christmas parties here, there and everywhere!  ^^ L&D Christmas breakfast followed by office Christmas lunch...

...and daycare Christmas parties, too!  I've said it before, but I'll say again how much I LOVE watching my girls visit their teachers and friends at school.  It's so obvious how much the teachers care about the kids, and I love that they have this safe environment to learn and grow in.  Strong work, you four fearless leaders! Brian and I appreciate you, and Harper and Scarlett adore you!

Last night, Fr. Jeff blessed all the infant Jesus figurines during Mass. Harper was very excited about this and proudly marched the star character of her Little People nativity set to the front of the sanctuary. :) 

And FINALLY: some of us [or all of us!?] be soooo ready for a sugarplum-visioned siiiiilent night! Zzzzz.

Holy whoa. It's soooo true what they say:  the days are long, but the years are short!  Even as I upload these photos and type these words today, I recognize that these moments are so fleeting -- and honestly I'm already a little sad about it! There will come a time when I will look back and miss the messes that top off the already-busy-hustle-and-bustle, so today I choose to cherish it and continue to READY THE WAY!  Because, what's that you say?...

Yes! Yes! Yessssss, we are! *party emoji* 

Merry Christmas, dear family and friends! May the birth of sweet Baby Jesus bring love and peace and joy to your homes!  Oh come, let us adore Him! 

- Deck the Hallz -

From helping Harper put her first everrr ornament on the tree to completing the nativity scene with "Bee-Bee Cheeeech!" to chillin' in mismatched pajamas alllll weekend, our little tradition of decorating the house for Christmas on Black Friday is chuggin' along and goin' strong.  I'm a little sentimental that this is our lasttttt Christmas in this house [you know, the house that we bought gutted and re-finished together as newlyweds AND the house that we brought both of our newborn babies home to... So many of my very favorite memories were made here, and it's just a tiny bit sad to think that next Christmas we'll be making new memories and starting new traditions somewhere else!  Happy changes, though. I digress].

SO ANYWAY...

This year's fun and games began before the crack of dawn with nothing other than Scarlett's 4:37am rooster call [little hen still hadn't adjusted to the dreaded daylight savings time that went down a couple weeks before...as if the normal 5:30am wake-up call was even all that much better]. But! She nursed herself back to sleep and all those online Black Friday deals just walked themselves riiiiight to our fingertips. *party emoji* Shopping from bed and saving money all at the same time? Dooon't mind if we do/did.

[Confession: I actualllllly finally eventually rolled my lazy butt out of bed around 5:30am and cleared the racks of few stores in town. Scarlett needed some new PJs and Harper needed a few outfits and doorbusters! doorbusters! DOORBUSTERS!  ...You won't never ever find this cheap chica turning her nose up to a sale. But the lines weren't too bad and I made it home a couple hours later; only the father figure even knew I escaped. #success]

Then! When the self-proclaimed "older girl"/star sleeper arose from her bed, we scarfed down some breakfast and headed straight for the decorating. She was pretty stoked about our brand new matching family PJs, and Brian tooted her horn by wearing his for the duration. #dadwin #funparent #always

^^ Scarlett Clare taking the whole, "I'm so fabulous, I sh*t glitter!" to a whole new level...

We added some mini-stockings to our psuedo-mantle this year; Harper has about 15 beloved baby dolls, but I talked/argued her down to the 4-pack of stockings and so! Nora, Johnny, Dot, and Baba: welcome to the family.

 We also set up our nativity scenes [coined the "Jesus house" if you ask Harper]. Even Cinderella lined up to adore Baby Jesus! :)
Everything was going beautifully on the decorating front ..........until one minor major casualty occurred: the ornament that we bought on our honeymoon in Maui creepishly fell off the back corner of the tree and shattered into a milllllllion pieces! Delicate little seashells and blue Hawaiian sand and a little piece of my heart all gone in the blink of an eye...... Is this foreshadowing the beginning of the infamous seven year itch!? ...Only time will tell. ;) :)

Finally, Scarlett reached up realllllly high and helped Daddy top it off...
...and voila!  I love our home during this season! 
Merry Christmas, all! :-* :-*

- [Yo] ho ho... -

...and a bottle of rum. Give Santa alllll the rum, that blessed man!!! 

Some loved him...

...some did not...

...but all got their shot! 

As soon as Santa arrived and everyone was forming a line to sit on his lap and rattle of their lists, Harper scooted right to the front and hopped on his lap. [Quite a 180 from her attitude towards the jolly old man in 2016!] Pretttttty sure he heard her whole life story, but she promised him she'd be a good girl before asking for "a baby that sings and sleeps" and hopping off his lap with a smile. 

Scarlett loved him, too...

...bless her brave little soul!

Cheers to another successful Croatian Lodge Christmas party and another fun round of Santa visits for all the cousins!