Ringing in the New Year

We rang in the new year at about 8:30 tonight with our traditional pots, pans and screaming.

I promise Emily was having fun. 

The kids are in bed now and Mike and I are up in our jammies on our comfy couch, waiting for the ball to drop. It will drop, and then we're going to bed... Oh the glamorous life of a mom & dad :)

Happy New Year! Here's to a wonderful 2013!

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Just Because

Just because I think he's the coolest little boy around. 

I wanted to make sure I caught the little face he makes every time I snort at him, right before he bursts out in the most infectious laughter. Just looking at that face makes me smile :)

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Putting Off Bedtime

Sometimes we stay up past bedtime because the kids are being too cute to interrupt them with things like getting their jammies on and teeth brushed. I think they try to look extra cute because they know I wont make them go to bed if I want to take pictures of them first :)

They are all growing up too fast and it scares me. It used to be that when old ladies at church would say, "they grow up so fast..." I would smile and brush it off, but lately I've been realizing how quickly they really are growing. It makes me want to soak in every second and it definitely helps me to be more patient and stay to sing an extra song or lay down for an extra cuddle. 

The other day, Mike stopped by a neighbors house to drop something off and made comment about how uncomfortable it felt being in their home because of how spotless it was. There kids were grown so there was no one there to make messes. He assured me that it may be crazy and chaotic in our house now, there may be toys everywhere and food on the floor, but in 20 years, when our house is spotless and there's no one running around screaming, we'll miss it. I believe him. I love that our house is rarely quiet, I'm learning to love the messes, but most of all I love all of the love that is felt here and I hope that my children always feel that love too. 

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3 Months Old

Hudsey Boy, he's my little buddy. We go everywhere and do everything together. Mostly because he pretty much tells me what I can do and when, but also because he's my guy. He is the sweetest, most mild tempered baby and he has quite the little personality already. He is just always content and I am completely smitten by him. 

He is learning that mommy is a very funny lady and his little laugh just kills me. Not to brag but I'm really good at making him laugh with all sorts of snorts and snarls, he's such a boy. Kylie's new favorite thing to do is make him laugh too, I might love that even more than when he laughs at me. And Emily usually watches and yells, "he's laughing, mommy!" or tries to snort which is also quite funny. 

Last we checked (on our home scale) he was a little over 15.5 lbs. He's a chunk and he loves to eat. That's one thing all of our babies have in common. He is also sleeping through the night (most nights) too. I usually put him to bed at about 7:30 and he'll sleep until about 7:00am, eat, play for a little while, and then go back to sleep for a couple hours. He's on a pretty good schedule which is nice especially because it works with the girls' schedules. Don't be jealous, but all three kids have nap time at the same time every day and that means I get real, uninterrupted quiet time every day. I'll repeat that, every. day. (and I know that now that I put that in writing I just completely jinxed myself...)

My favorite time of day is still probably bedtime when I get my quiet cuddles with my little boy. He just moved into his own room with his big boy bed the day after Christmas and I'm not going to lie, I had a mini emotional meltdown (those pretty much occur weekly around here though). It's a strange transition, going from being inches away from your baby and then he's all the way down the hall. It made me realize that he's growing up faster than I want him to. That first night, Mike, half-joking, told me it was okay for me to go sit in his room all night, and that he would make me a little bed in there if I needed it. I laughed, and in my head thought about which blankets I would lay out on his floor :) I spent a little time watching him sleep before going to bed myself and in the morning he called for me and we snuggled in his chair just like every other morning. Those snuggles before bed and early in the morning, when the whole house is quiet, those are my favorite. 

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Christmas Morning

Christmas morning was wonderful! The kids all gave us one of the best presents ever, they all slept in until 9am! (That was a huge deal considering Daddy and I didn't even get in bed until 5am.) Seriously, it was the perfect way to start the day seeing their bright-eyed faces excitedly running into our room after sleeping in for so long. I could go on and on, have I mentioned how much I like to sleep in? 

The girls must have been good this year because Santa brought them the exact princess bikes that they had asked for (with the weird doll carriages and all...)

Even though she slept until nine, Kylie was so excited to get downstairs. She (not so) patiently waited at the top of the stairs for Emmie to go potty, Hudson to get his diaper changed, Daddy to get the video camera, Mommy to take a couple pictures... well you can see why she was (not so) patiently waiting. When we finally let them down, she raced to the bottom, leaving Emily far behind, to see if Santa had come. 

When Emily finally got her little legs down the stairs and saw her Cinderella bike she was beyond excited. She kept yelling, "My Cinder-rel-ra bike!" and after circling it a few times and deciding she didn't like the weird carriage, she asked Daddy if he could put her on it (she has since figured out how to climb up and it is her new favorite place to sit).

My little Hudson boy had no idea what was going on but he still looked cute as heck in his little Santa jammies. He and Daddy hung out on the couch while the girls tore into their gifts and then helped him open his. 

Gol-ly I could stare at this kid all day. Doesn't he just make you all warm and fuzzy inside, or is that just me?

 

The girls also got a new kitchen from Mommy and Daddy. And it's a good thing they love it so much because that right there is the reason we didn't sleep. It turned out exactly how I imagined it would and that makes me one happy mommy. We still have to attach the door on the oven but the girls loved it even without it. 

Daddy was in charge of the video camera and Hudson was in charge of looking cute. Done and done. 

 

Big Sister, Kylie, took it upon herself to let Hudson watch her open all of his presents. What a nice sister. 

 

The girls each got these little fur-real kittens. Kylie is obsessed with hers. It comes everywhere with us because if it doesn't the kitty will miss her too much, she snuggles with it, takes her to bed, and even gives her pretend baths in the kitchen sink. She tells me it's her real kitty and that it was her favorite present (after the kitchen of course).

 

Kylie is excited about her kitten, Hudson is a little freaked out by the noises I'm making to try to get him to look at the camera and Emily is so over taking pictures... just another typical family photo :)

 

After we redecorated the living room with torn paper and bows the girls sat on their bikes in the living room and pretended to go places. They each packed up their carriages with babies and flowers and anything else they could fit in there. And they never actually tried to pedal, just pretended :) 

And I sat on the floor with Hudson and made goo goo faces and silly noises because that is what we do. 

It was a perfect Christmas morning, full of magic and surprises and happy babies; everything we were going for. 

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Christmas Eve

We spent the first half of our Eve driving home from Idaho after we stayed for the weekend, visiting the Kirby families up there. We tried and planned on driving home the night before but it was storming so bad that we decided it would be better to stay another night. When we finally made it home Mommy and Daddy took turns hiding out in the basement trying to get some very last minute gifts finished for the kids. I don't know what we were thinking starting some of our gifts only 3 days before Christmas...

The kids got to open up one present on Christmas Eve, (we love that tradition!) their Christmas jammies. Kylie was super excited, Hudson wasn't very amused, and it took a lot of convincing to get Emily to wear hers... I think we ended up telling her they were her magic princess jammies and she can't get presents unless she is wearing them... or something like that...

After they were all snug in their new pajamas, they cuddled up on the couch with Daddy and read the Christmas story in Luke 2. It was the perfect way to start our Kirby Christmas...

We put the little monkeys in bed and got to work. We hammered, painted, sewed, glued, you name it, we did it. And we stayed up until almost 5am finishing it (or almost finishing it, the oven still needs a door...) Lucky for us, Santa came in the middle of it all and we got to take a picture before heading to bed for a couple hours.

It's funny how as a parent now, I think I was more excited than the kids were. I almost couldn't sleep... almost.

P.S. Our tree is gorgeous. Every year we add personal ornaments to it to make it even more special. Every one of them (aside from the bulbs) has a story behind it, that's another one of our fun Christmas traditions :)

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Baby Boy

There's something so special about the bond between a mommy and her baby boy. 

I can't put my finger on it and I'll probably never be able to put it into words but it makes my heart melt.  

Oh, Hudsey Boy, please be my baby forever. 

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Riverwoods

My Mom and Andy (Mimi and Bapo) came into town again, but this time to visit the little munchkins for Christmas. We went out to the Riverwoods last night for a little holiday cheer. Seriously, have I mentioned how much I love that place? Every time we pull into the parking lot and I see those gorgeous Christmas lights my heart starts to flutter. It is so pretty. 

We went for the carriage rides and did a little dinner, dancing and window shopping while we were there too. And we tried to get the girls to see Santa but Ky said she would rather just write him a letter than sit on his lap... can't say I really blame her...

They have the most beautiful art exhibit at the Zion's Mercantile store right now all about the life of the Savior. So fitting for this time of year. There are some pieces in their that are absolutely breathtaking, I would highly recommend getting in there and spending the evening browsing the gallery. I've been twice and have loved it both times. The Liz Lemon Swindle gallery was my favorite :)

While we were in the gallery, I took off my coat and realized the Hudson and I were twinners. Apparently I have a thing for grey and white horizontal stripes :)

And did I mention how pretty the lights are down there? And how about the fact that we are now a family of five? I'm still getting used to saying that. I mean, just look at all those people in that family picture. That's a lot of people... weird :)

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