Christmas with my family

This is the longest I've gone without posting in a while - oops!  Time just keeps flying by (with kiddos being sick, husbands out of town, floors being redone, etc.) but I had to get this last Christmas post up, even if it is February!  We were blessed to have my parents and two younger brothers join us in Austin to celebrate the holidays.  They arrived the day after Christmas and we packed their visit full of amazing food, fun outings, and lots of play time with the munchkins.  We desperately missed my older brother Matthew and his wife Meaghan but hope to get to see them here soon!

We got a ton of pictures from their visit (credits to my mom!!), so I'm going to let them do most of the talking so that I can get this posted before naptime is over.  :)  I will say that the picture above is Ainsley showing uncle James her dress-up princesses.  These lil dolls have stolen Ainsley's heart and she plays with them during her quiet time every day.  The pictures below are from our version of Christmas morning...

2013 Christmas Doll

Dad got Ainsley the cutest little antique chest of drawers. She keeps all her princess doll clothes in it.

 Bailey running with his beloved shopping cart...

Marble maze... this was one of the presents that my parents got us and the kids LOVE it... so do the uncles.  :)  Every time Bailey put marble in, he would jump around and do a little happy dance yelling yay, yay!

Ainsley playing with our Christmas dolls... Growing up Mom and I would get a new china doll to put on the Christmas tree each year.  After George and I got married, she started the tradition with me, but now that I have a daughter it is so much more fun!  Ainsley appreciates the dolls way more than George ever did!  :)  We get a different mini American girl doll each year.  It is so fun to watch her ohh and awe over each one, just like I used to do when I was little.

Books with Uncle James...

Making Christmas cookies...

Bailey was so happy sitting on uncle Brian's lap, and then we realized it was because Brian was letting him eat mounds and mounds of dough!

Sneaking a taste

Look at that sound of sprinkles!  We were focused on Bailey not dumping out all the sprinkles and when we turned around we saw how excited Ainsley was with her cookies!  Ha!

 Making smoothies with Grandma Smoothie... I love that Bailey got to join in on the fun this visit too!

They love to add tons and tons of spinach, so it is kinda a win-win!

He wouldn't even stop drinking for a quick picture!

 Playing with Bailey's new car garage...

 Making pillow forts with the uncles... the big joke this visit was that Ainsley has a hard time keeping Brian and James straight.  In past visits, she has called them Uncle James and the other Uncle James.  Well this time we worked really hard on getting her to understand they James was James and Brian was Brian.  On one occasion, she was asking Brian to play with her and she was being really sweet, so we thought, oh she finally has it down... but then she said, "Uncle Brian, I loved it when you read that scratch-n-sniff Christmas story to me on the computer."  We just all cracked up because she was talking about skyping with my older brother Matthew.  Ha!  But I guess it is a lot to keep straight!

We had such a fun, fun visit and even got to have a night out without the kiddos for an amazing dinner at Barley Swine.  We were all in heaven and literally ordered two of everything on the menu which the six of us shared.  Below Dad and I are showing off our spatulas that the waitress gave us so that we could scoop the sauce off the plate.  Not sure why we got deemed the glutins of the group... oh wait, yes I do.  :)

After they left, as always, our house felt too quiet and lonely but this time I was especially struck by how much fun this visit was.  I always have fun with my family but comparing this year to last year, I was really able to appreciate how much better my back has gotten which just makes me feel so incredibly thankful and blessed.  Last year I wouldn't have been able to sit through this dinner or the light show or even through our Christmas morning.  Last year I wouldn't have had the energy and stamina to go out to different shops and restaurants and tour around Austin like we did.  I still had pain this year but it was much less than last year and I want to be continually grateful and appreciative for how far I've come.  Anyway, love you lots Mom and Dad and brothers!!  Come back soon!