- Happy Birthday, Jesus! -

The day after we moved into our new house, the Elf on the Shelf made his magical appearance to officially signal the start of Christmas season!

Despite all the decorations and holiday spirit in the house, we got off to a rough start in mid-December with bronchiolitis x2...

...but after DAYS of snuggling and sleeping and sipping hot tea [on top of coughing/sneezing/wheezing/snorting/hacking and coughing some more]...

...everyone was back on the mend and full of energy juuuuust in time for Christmas!  Twinkle Toes really did keep us on our toes; Harper was very entertained with our silly elf's mischievous behavior this year!

On Christmas Eve, we made some good 'ole break 'n bakes for Santa [I heard he really likes Nestle cookie dough!]...

...and Brian whipped up a spread of appetizers for the pre-Mass gift exchange with Grammy, Papa, and Blake.

^^ So many heartfelt gifts!!! 

Then!  Another year up and another year down of surviving the 4:15pm Christmas Eve Mass at our parish [rightfully dubbed as "the ZOO Mass" since it's usually standing-room-only if you don't arrive ~45 minutes before Mass starts].  Especially since rocking innkeeper #1 at the Pre-K Christmas Program, Harper has been recounting the nativity story quite frequently [though there are lots of detailed questions about Baby Jesus's arrival in the stable that I just skate through like #nbd].  She illustrated a rather large "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" sign + stable scene and taped it up across the entire span of our three [very large] living room windows to honor the birth of the King and gosh!  My heart couldn't be any happier that she is getting old enough to look past all the gifts and excitement of Christmas to recognize the real reason for the season.  We have prepared for and talked about Jesus a lot this month and there are so many good kids' books and movies [The Star! SO GOOD!] that really helped her little mind understand it all.  I had to blink back a few tears this year at Mass as I looked down and saw her singing along to Silent Night with the rest of the congregation!  You're a sweet girl, Harper Cecilia!  May you always have a huge heart for Jesus.

'Twas the night before Christmas... :)  [FIRST CHRISTMAS IN OUR NEW HOME! Woot woot!]

Scarlett was the first mouse stirring on Christmas Day...

...and she had to wait a rather long while for her big sister to roll out of bed...

...but she didn't seem to mind, especially since she had 1:2 time with Mom and Dad and uninterrupted access to all of the cookie remnants Santa left on his plate!

Shortly before 9:00am, Harper shot up...

 ...and the rest is history!

 Brand new bike! [No training wheels!  Pray for us!]

And more trains/tracks...

...because this family lovessss all things TRAIN! 

At Brian's parents' house, the unveiling of "real makeup" for Harper and a baby stroller + Baby Alive for Scarlett went over VERY well!

And justlikethat, 2 of the 4 of us [I won't tell you which 2!] hit a brick wall...

...D-O-N-E-Z-O!!!

Whew!

All! 

That! 

Christmas!

Was!  

Exhausting!!!

I'm right there with you, Scarlett! 

Merry Christmas, all!  May the coming of the Lord fill your hearts and homes with joy! :)

- Birthday Boi -

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Brian:  the man, the myth, the legend ...but most importantly the rock of our family!  His 38th trip around the sun was a treacherous trek [I mean, he worked his butt off to build us a house basicalllllly from the ground up wahhhh] and this past year, I realized more than ever how much I appreciate him and need him and really just straight up admire him!  

We didn't really give him the full celebration he deserved [no cake + singing, no special plans, the kids were a breath from death with RSV, did I mention that December was a little bit of a whirlwind?!], but I did manage to bust out my sewing machine and whip this oversized blanket that he loved...

...and between that and the legit Jeanie Rub massager he scored from my parents, I don't think it was too shabby of a birthday after all!

Happy birthday, Brian!!!  We love you! :-*

- Cool Cousin Club -

Upon returning home from Disney, we finally got to meet the newest member of the pack...

Harper and Scarlett LOVED holding the brand new baby, and Scarlett screamed and cried and stomped her feet on the floor in a tantrum when her turn[s] were over.  Between that reaction and Harper's near begging for another baby sister AND brother, I'd say they're hell-bent on adding a similar addition to our family, haha! 

Welcome, Caroline!  You just joined the coolest cousin club around, and you don't even know it yet! ;) :)

- Pre-K Christmas Program -

After receiving the fall semester preschool calendar, I had been [very] anxiously awaiting the day that "Christmas program scripts go home..."

...and finally, one mid-November day, they came home!  

Innkeeper #1:  NAILED IT!  The program was on a Tuesday evening, and the kids missed their final two practices [Monday during regular school hours and a *special practice* on Tuesday morning before the big event because snow days x2!], but they threw it down flawlessly!  

We loved watching our little lady's confidence shine while recounting the nativity story with her classmates. Great job, inkeeper #1!  :)

- December, gahhhhhhh... -

Between going to Disney [!!!]...

...moving in to the new house two days after we returned from Disney...

...taking care of both kiddos who caught the bronchiolitis bug...

...carving out time for Christmas parties and Pre-K program and other holiday festivities...

...celebrating Brian's birthday...

...celebrating Christmas...

...throwing Scarlett's birthday party...

...hosting a New Year's Eve get-together at our house...

...oh, and working a few days/week + a few weekends here and there... 

.................looking back on the entire month of December has me like:

Stay tuned for so many more posts to come, because today I claimed *TWO* full hours for myself -- AKA 2 hours to sit back and sip coffee and collect photos and decompress and gather my thoughts so I can transfer them here.  December was a lot....

So cheers to taking a big [and very-much-needed] breather!  Whew!  What a month.

- Disney: Part IV -

Hollaaaa, we're up and at it again! 

After being so excited to review all of our photos and recount all of our memories, I forgot to keep giving credit where credit is due...

...so I just want to shout it from the rooftops again that NONE of this would've been possible without our dear cousin [and best friend!] Laura!!! She is a travel consultant with It's A Small World Adventures, and you don't have to interact with her for very long at all to see how passionate and wonderful she is about her work!  She knows the ins and outs of EVERYTHING Disney, and [aside from booking all of our tickets and FastPasses months before the trip] she offered tons of tips and tricks while we were there to make our trip the very best it could be.  Thank you, Laura!!!  You embody all of 'dat true Disney magic and were exactly what we needed; we love you so much!

So anyway...

...justlikethat, the sun rose on day 4 of 4.  We packed our bags and checked them with the resort's bell services before hopping in an Uber to Disney Springs!

Eating and shopping and people watching were the goals of the day.  All three of us were exhausted [and as Daddy's plans to feed us kept falling through, Momma got progressively more crabby...], but breakfast! Coffee! Relaxing! Retail therapy! All of these things swooped in to save the day!  Harper searched the souvenir stores high and low and settled on some little swaddled baby animals [one for her and one for Scarlett, of course!].

While waiting for our food at the Rainforest Cafe:
Me:  "Are all these animals real or what?"
Harper:  "No, they're just pretend.  See, that parrot isn't moving, those butterflies aren't moving..."
Me:  "Oh.  Well what about those elephants and gorillas?! They're moving!"
Harper:  "Well those are all pretend too, Mom... They're just moving because they have batteries."

After pretending to be "pragnant" with her new baby pegasus and retrieving our bags from the resort, we found ourselves back at the airport!  [Sissy Girl, we're coming for youuuuu!]

Tapping our toes and waiting around for an 11:20pm flight [that got delayed to 11:45, humph] was not the hugest highlight of the trip...

...but soon enough we were on the plane and in the air! 

Moments before passing out [at nearly midnight]:

"Pretty soon are those ladies gonna pass around snacks?"

But she was zzzzzz'ing before the snacks came and woke up the next morning in her very own bed!

#thatsawrap
#disney2019
#familyvacation
#memoriesforalifetime
#thatsallfolks !!!!!

- Disney: Part III -

Magic Kingdom, is that you calling our name??!  

Yes, indeed!  RISE AND SHINE, you pretty little princess!!!

We broke through the gates just minutes after the park opened and quickly knocked out Peter Pan's Flight and It's A Small World.  No lines!  [...If onlyyyy the rest of the day would've followed suit!]

After jumping off Under The Sea - Journey of The Little Mermaid, we waited in line to see the REAL Ariel at her grotto!  This was definitely a highlight; Harper was totally starstruck. :)

About 30 minutes after leaving the grotto:
Harper:  "When Ariel was born, was she a mermaid?"
Me:  "Yes!"
Harper:  "Well, did she come out of another mermaid's tummy?"
Me:  "Yep..." ..........

The rest of the morning ticked by fairly quickly as we waited in lines here, there, and everywhere to check off Goofy's Barnstormer roller coaster and Dumbo the Flying Elephant [x2!].  Right before lunch, we used a FastPass for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad/roller coaster; after that, Harper was hooked on "big rides" and was beggggging to go on more!

At 2:00, we took a break to enjoy the parade down Main Street...

...which showed off all our favorite characters and princesses right up close!

Afterwards, we snagged a stroller to save Harper some energy [because why reinvent the wheel on something that worked out perfectly for us at Hollywood Studios?!] and then headed straight for the lines to see Rapunzel and Tiana.  Starstruck again!  These character meet and greets are the best!

I think I forgot to mention at the beginning that we hit up Magic Kingdom on a Saturday, and a Saturday with beautiful weather and EXTENDED hours at that [8am-midnight!]...  Needless to say, the place was absolutely PACKED.  The lines for all the rides ranged from 45-120 minutes, and even the lines to meet princesses were usually 45 minutes long.  We had to park the stroller outside in a designated place before hopping in ANY line, and Harper was just amazing through all of it [she definitely didn't inherit the "patience" gene from her momma!].  I figured she'd be antsy and fidgety and bored through it all -- mostly because she's 4 years old and, honestly, I was antsy! -- but she never complained once and usually ended up striking up a conversation with our neighbors in line.  Brian and I were both sooo pleasantly surprised with her perfect behavior and calm demeanor for the duration of the day.  You're the real deal and a total dream, Harp!!!

12 hours into the park day and we still be goin' strong...

...and even stronger with an adrenaline rush of meeting Cinderella and Elena!!!  Cinderella bun #ONPOINT.

At 8:30pm, there was a Frozen show on the castle steps; Elsa lit the castle with tons of twinkling ice!

Then, fireworks and light show at 9:30pm...

...and as people flooded out of the park following the finale fireworks, we fought the crowd hard and DASHED the opposite direction straight to the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Roller Coaster!  We ended up waiting about 60 minutes before we actually stepped foot on the ride, but we'd been eyeing the ride and its horrid line allllll day, so now's the time to #gobigorgohome!  We met some wonderful people standing behind us who came all the way from England to honeymoon with Micky Mouse;  Harper loved chatting with Ashley and "Princess" [never did learn the poor guy's real name, lol!], and they really enjoyed her, too. 

After coming off the Mine Train on a huge high, we had 1.5 hours left to squeeze in every.last.ounce of fun that we could.  Harper caught her third wind and was cartwheeling around the park while she waited for me to use our 11:15pm Space Mountain FastPass.  And when I came out and Brian went in to use his, Harper and I ran to the opposite end of the park for another go at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad!  We skipped through a fairly short line and hopped on the ride...

...and then went right back in to the line and rode AGAIN!  Upon riding for the second time, Harper announced that she had to go potty but really wanted to ride ONE.LAST.TIME, so when we got off we sprinted out the gates in hot pursuit of a restroom...

...but none were to be found...

...and the minutes were ticking by...

...11:56 pm...

...11:57 pm...

...and finally I told her we could keep running around looking for a potty OR go on the ride one last time and then find the potty...

...[!!!]...

...to which she replied, "Mommy, PLEASE let's go on the ride!!! I peed in my pants just a little, but I can hold the rest until afterwards!"  Oyyy vey.

So at 11:59:56, we lunged through the gates...

...and at 12:03, WE WERE SEATED ON THE LAST RIDE OF THE DAY! 

Harper girl, I literally can't believe that YOU ARE SO CRAZY.  I love doing life with you and trying to keep up with your adventurous spirit, hahah!  When we exited Big Thunder Mountain [for the third time in the last 30 minutes but the fourth time total!], Brian was waiting for us by the stroller parking and we found a restroom not too far away.  

After an undies change, a monorail ride, and an Uber lift back to the resort...

...we dumped a VERY limp, totally lifeless noodle into the bed...

 ...and quickly followed suit, ourselves!  

WOWWWWZERS, what a day!