This guy doesn't get near enough face time around here, but of all days to do it, it's today! He's turning 31, so be sure to tell him how old he is (wink wink) and a happy happy birthday. Without boring everyone with a confessional about how much I love him (which is a lot) and how amazing of a father he is (which is very true) and how I don't feel like I deserve him (which I don't), I will leave it at that. 

Russ got a new snowboard for his birthday, because we both agreed his board from high school has seen it's day. Now we just need to find a free day sans babies to get out there. Ha! 

Happy birthday, Russ! We all love you dearly!!

My (Not So) Babies

I feel like I need to pinch myself lately. Multiple times a day I look down at my "babies" and a maturing face of a toddler looks back at me. These moments are so bittersweet. Their little faces melt me to the ground - a face with such wonder and innocence. The curiosity and excitement for life is palpable. The chubby, infant faces are no more, and naturally, the nostalgic side of me gets sad about that. 

But alas, I am absolutely loving this new stage. I can honestly say this is my favorite collective stage yet. Every stage has had it's perks and fun moments, however, right now we are in a bit of a blissful period. Both are sleeping great, they are so fun and love to play, eating is going better, and personalities are very apparent. Just yesterday I spent about 30 minutes in our playroom tee-pee reading books and playing with stuffed animals with Clara. Adorable! All in all I feel like I finally have *a bit* of a handle on this whole "two babies at the same time" thing (along with an absolute crazy pace of life, obviously).  If anyone thought I had it under control before was greatly deceived. :) I also recognize that this is a fleeting stage and as soon as I get comfortable some new stage will hit. Such is life, right?!

Either way, I'm ready for it. These (not so) babies are my whole heart and I love them more every day. 

Grandma and Grandpa Lewis gave Max and Clara a tupperware full of balls for Christmas, and needless to say, it's been a big hit! 

Also, please note my pillow-laden floor. We pretty much keep the pillows below the couch all day since we have two babies that think it's way too fun to dive off head-first. Silly babies. 

Clara's Room... Girlified!

After we took Max out of the original Nursery, I wanted to make the room a little more "girly" since it was now exclusively Clara's room. We brought the bench up from the entryway which automatically girlified the wall where Max used to sleep. I blew up one of my favorite pictures of the two of them together, spray painted an old frame my mom gave me, and made a felt ball garland. 

The handmade dolls were Christmas presents from Green Stitches, a local shop that has the cutest dolls. I've been wanting to get one for Clara for a while, and was on the fence about getting a boy doll for Max. As I was going through the dolls she had sitting out, I looked down at the tag on this little boy and his name was "MAX"! It was meant to be. Right now Max could care less about the doll, so they are both residing on Clara's bench since she has already fallen in love with them. It's pretty cute. 

You may or may not recognize the polka dot pillow... I used remaining fabric from Clara's dress I made her this summer to make the pillow. 

The felt balls are from the Felt Pod on Etsy. I just strung them together with some string. Easy peasy!

So there ya go. Nothing big, just some quick updates that were pretty much free! Can't complain about that!

Christmas, and Lately.

Happy New Year blog friends, if you are still out there. I hope you like the new design - a change was way past due, and no time is better to make a change than the New Year! Speaking of new things in the new year, as of last night I am now committed to running a MARATHON in May. Eek! Even one day later I'm wondering what I have gotten myself into! I never thought I would run a full marathon seeing as every time I finished a half marathon I would say out loud "there is no way I could keep running another 13 miles!" Welp, guess I'll have to get training.

Sigh.

Before I get all intense, let me document some of the recent highlights, first off being Christmas! We had a pretty low-key holiday. We spent Christmas Eve/Christmas at Russ's parents, and later did a late-Christmas celebration at my parents' house. We are so lucky to have both of our parents within 15 minutes of our house. 

We started the festivities with a Nativity. It was the shortest Christmas story ever told, but luckily we got some cute pictures! 

The only way our three wisemen would stay sitting was with a toy record player. Naturally. 

... and then I attempted my double reindeer picture for the second time and ended up with this. Haha! I love this picture so much. It screams "the holidays are wearing me out! I just want to go to bed!"

December was unseasonably warm, so imagine everyone's excitement when we woke up to a snowy white Christmas morning. It really was magical. We took the babies sledding, and they liked it! Those 10 minutes were a blast! (wink wink)

Russ's office shuts down for two whole weeks around Christmas and I get spoiled to have him around for so long. I'm already depressed Christmas break is over! We took the babies to their first BYU basketball game, the aquarium, swimming, to see Santa and Christmas lights, and more! It has been a fun break. 

Most classic Santa picture ever. Clara has some great photo ops, as you can tell. 

Reindeer!

The Tree of Life is in Draper, and really is quite amazing.

My babies are not really babies anymore. Happy/sad about that.

I hope everyone else had a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year! Here's to 2015!