Christmas 2016

Another Christmas has come and gone already! I hope you all had a very merry holiday with all of your loved ones.  Our Christmas Eve and Christmas day festivities have changed a bit since starting residency in Massachusetts as we no longer have family near to us at all.  On top of that, this year, Josh had to work the entire holiday weekend which left the girls and I to make the most of the holiday on our own.  I was fairly bummed when I found out Josh's schedule early in the month, but I was also determined not to let it get me down.  We are a medical family and the reality is that this type of situation will happen again in the future so I'd better learn to live with it!

The girls and I woke up on Christmas Eve to a light snowfall.  It turned to rain fairly quickly but since this was my first "white" Christmas Eve experience, I decided to take the girls out to the yard in our pj's to play in it for all of the twenty minutes that snow actually fell.  We had done a ton of baking the day before and delivered mason jars full of cookies to our neighbors, watched Home Alone, baked and decorated our annual birthday cake for Jesus, sprinkled reindeer food (a mixture of oatmeal and glitter) in the front yard, and waited for Dad to get home in the late evening so that we could open Christmas pjs and put cookies and milk out for Santa.

On Christmas day, the girls woke up at their usual time, 6am, and we headed down to see if Santa Claus had made an appearance at the Scurlock house.  Ryan was SO excited that Santa had eaten the cookies she put out and also couldn't believe all the presents that he left for her and that he took her "list".  I was disappointed that Josh couldn't watch all of her excitement but I made sure to take lots of video.  After a couple of hours spent opening gifts, going through stockings and putting together toys, the girls and I got ready for church.  I was especially thankful to have Christmas fall on a Sunday this year so that the girls and I had reason to get ready for the day and get out the door to celebrate Jesus Christ's birth.  After church, we headed over to UMass to visit Josh during his shift.  While it is hard to have him working on holidays, I'm glad that we've made visiting him an important part of our day.  Being together is what's most important to me, even if it's only for a few minutes.  Plus, we even had a good friend here who sliced his hand opening one of his children's gifts and Josh ended up stitching him up in the ER.  I guess it pays to have friends working at the hospital on Christmas day!

Traditionally, I make a big Christmas breakfast of cinnamon rolls, eggs, bacon and more but since Josh was not going to be around for breakfast on Christmas morning, I opted to break from tradition and have the same meal but for dinner instead.  Josh was able to make it home for breakfast for dinner immediately followed by singing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus and blowing out a candle, twice.

We had such a good Christmas holiday weekend and I couldn't feel more thankful for all of the things that I've been blessed with, especially this little family of mine.  I hope your Christmas was just as memorable and that you were able to spend it with all the ones you love the most.

Hot Cocoa/Cookie/Christmas PJ Playdate

I have nothing to say about the fact that I haven't posted in months.  So I'm just not going to say anything about it.  Ha!

Here we are, closing in on Christmas 2016 and as usual, I really can't believe that it's already the week of Christmas.  These months just fly by around here.  I can't seem to keep up.  We've been busy with life and Lord knows what else, but I did manage to throw my 3rd annual Christmas party for all of the girl's little friends last week.  It was the biggest turnout for the party with 22 Moms and babes, plus one in utero. ;) It's hard to believe how outnumbered us Moms have become compared to these kids.

We had such a great morning.  More sugar was consumed than I should probably admit and I'm pretty sure every single toy that the girls own was pulled out of the playroom.  I didn't even deal with the mess that was the playroom until the next day which was a bit of a mistake considering I found about 8 half eaten cookies and hot cocoa splashed on the wall in it.  But everyone had a fun time and my house felt so festive and cozy.  This is such an easy party idea to throw together.  I literally just have a hot cocoa bar with all the necessary fixings and provide homemade sugar cookies.  Everyone is invited to wear festive pjs and bring a treat to share.  I look forward to it all year long and I think all of our friends do too!

Pajamas

Wall Shutter Decor

Bar Cart // 2 tiered wooden stand // Galvanized Metal Tiered Stand (Pottery Barn sold out) Similar Here // Invitations

Ryan had an especially great time with all of her little friends.  She really is at such a great age for experiencing all the joys of the Christmas season.  I couldn't feel more thankful to have so many great Mom friends in the area to celebrate the holiday season with!

A Letter to my One-Year-Old Rory Lou

Rory love, you turned one year old yesterday.  It seems so cliche to say that this year has flown by, but it truly has.  How is it possible that I brought you into this world 365 days ago?  It seems like yesterday and then again, you are such a perfect fit in our family that it's almost impossible to remember what life looked like before you were in it.

If I'm being completely honest Roars, while I was pregnant with you, I wasn't sure that I could love another human as much as I love your sister.  It seemed impossible that my heart would be big enough for you both.  But it is.  It so is.  You are my sweet little mama's girl and you always have been.  All those doubts about my love for you were washed away once I saw your huge 9lb 2oz self on August 31, 2015.  In fact, I feel that I actually cherished your infancy much more than I did with Ryan because I knew how quickly it would be over.

You have the most infectious smile.  You have the longest and darkest eyelashes ever.  You have olive toned skin and red hair!  You have always been such a beauty.  Some say you favor Daddy's looks while others tell me you look like me.  I'm still not sure, but I think you are mix of us both.  You talk and babble but not nearly as often as your sister did/does.  But you are a sneaky one.  Always dashing off to things you shouldn't be doing when you think I'm not paying attention.  And when I catch you, you laugh at me!  You know it's a game and you love it.

I am so excited to see you learn and grow.  You are already trying so hard to keep up with your big sis.  I know you are both anxious to be able to run around together but I am fine with you taking your time.  I hope that always know how much I love you.  You bring me so much joy every day.  As you grow into toddlerhood and childhood and your teen years and into your young adult life, my hope is that you always come to me with your doubts, fears, joys, dreams, and prayers.  I am your mama and I always will be, but someday, I hope that I'm also your best friend.

Happy 1st birthday my sweet second born.  I love you to the moon and back.

Love,
Mommy

Family Vacation -- Cabin on the Little Manistee

Where have I been?

Honestly, I couldn't even tell you.  We've been around but we've been caught up just doing life and somehow the blog has fallen by the wayside.  It's not that I haven't wanted to post, but things like my etsy shop have taken precedent or ya know, raising kids, keeping the house somewhat tidy, etc etc etc.  And then, I got so behind it felt like I couldn't just jump right back in.

But, here I go.

We recently got back from our Summer Family Vacation in Michigan!  I know, what the hell is in Michigan?  Well, my Dad's entire family is in Michigan and his parents own a beautiful cabin on the Little Manistee River near Irons, MI.  I went there a number of times while I was growing up, but it had been 13 years since I had had the opportunity to go.  My parents generously decided to fly not only my family out, but both of my sisters and my brother and his wife too so that we could enjoy a week together.

We had such an amazing week despite the fact that both of the girls ended up sick.  Rory ran a 103 degree fever for the first three days and Ryan followed with a similar fever the last few.  Seriously, it's always something right?  They literally had not been sick since we had traveled to California in February.  Honestly.  I had lots of help though and Josh and I still got to spend some time away from the kids.  Thanks fam!

As you can see by the photos, we kayaked, we went to the lake, we drank, we ate loads of ice-cream, we Josh fished, we hot tubbed, we drank, we ate ice-cream , we tubed down the river, we ate ice-cream (sensing a theme here?) , we made S'mores, we sat on the porch and drank coffee, we watched home videos galore of previous years at the cabin, and most importantly, we ate ice cream, we spent lots of time together.

There are three things I came away from the trip knowing.  One, my parents are the most amazing people.  They are always willing to give of themselves and continually make sacrifices for each and every one of us kids.  Two, my kids have the very best aunts and uncle I could ever ask for. My siblings (sister-in-law included) love to love on my kids.  Josh and I are basically non-existent to Ryan when they are around and that is a very great blessing.  And three,  Josh and I are going to have to work very hard to work off all the beer and ice-cream we consumed on this trip!