Christmas 2012

For the Christmas holiday this year we decided to stay put in Ann Arbor. Our season started with the trimming of the tree once Felix and I got back from Boston. Our tree is quite small, but it serves its purpose. I'm extremely glad that we only paid $20 for it (it's a fake) because Felix pulled it down. Only once though, which is better than I thought! 

 Here Felix is playing by the tree in his Halloween costume/jammies. I love the juxtaposition.

We then went to our ward Christmas Party where Felix had his first experience meeting Santa Clause. Needless to say, he ran away from him. Only natural.

We also had a bit of snow in December and Felix got his first chance to play in it. He didn't really love walking in it or touching it, but he looks adorable in his snow pants (thanks Finn!) so its worth the torture.

On Christmas Eve we had a dinner party at our house with some friends from the ward. Originally we were going to have one family over as a thank you for the airport rides at Thanksgiving, but we kept inviting over more families and one turned into five! It was a lot of fun though. We stole some tables and chairs from the church, cleared out our small front room and set up one long table. I don't entertain very often because I feel like I have insufficient space to do it, but this turned out really well. I think I'm going to do it more often. The kids enjoyed playing with all the shoes and in the closet. It was pretty great.

Christmas morning was a lot more fun this year because Felix was a little more engaged and loved opening presents. The following pictures show our attempts to get Felix to sit with all his presents for a picture...

success!!

And here Felix is with a present from each of his grandparents  A sweet car ramps toy from his Grandpa and Grandma and slipper socks from Nana and Papa!

Over all we had a great Christmas.  It was so relaxing to spend so much time together with just the three of us without Phil having to worry about school or any of us worrying about having to get dressed everyday! I admit it, most days were pajama days and we loved it. 

We are so excited for what's coming for us in 2013. Phil will graduate from his masters program in early May and then we're off on our next great adventure when Phil starts a PhD program in the fall. We don't yet know where we will be, but we are so excited and looking forward to another great year!

Visit Home

I had planned to travel out to Boston when my older sister Erin had her baby. Her due date was in early December, but her OB told her to expect to be induced around Thanksgiving. So I planned to take Felix with me and stay for three weeks and I convinced Phil to come with us for a few days while he had a few days off of school. Erin was induced the day before we flew out on November 20th and Charlotte Mae Bradford was born that evening! 

We arrived at 1am on the 22nd (Thanksgiving morning) and later that morning I went with my mom to pick Erin and Charlotte up from the hospital. Then we went over to a friend of the family's house for Thanksgiving dinner. I was so impressed that Erin and Charlotte came! Not too surprising though that Erin took a little nap (with Matthew) on the couch. So sweet. 

I couldn't get enough of this baby girl. She looks exactly like her brother Mason and has very dark hair.  

The day after Thanksgiving we were able to borrow a car from our friends (thanks Boyles!) and headed down to CT to visit Matt, Cara and the kids. It was so much fun to watch Felix interact with his cousins and he loved them and their awesome toys!

getting a hug from Aunt Cara! 

On that Sunday after Thanksgiving we said goodbye to Phil and my mom and dad. Felix loved getting to spend so much time playing with his older cousins and their books and toys. It was so fun to see Mason and Matthew play with Felix. Mason especially loved Felix and was always looking out for him. Whenever he would come home from school or a friend's house his first question was always "where's Felix?" These three boys are growing up so fast.

playing upstairs before bed

It's always fun when I get to spend some quality niece/aunt time with Kira (who will be 16 this summer....CRAZY!) I can't get over how awesome she is. She's beautiful, fun, kind, generous, adventurous, and loyal. I never really think of myself as old(er), until I talk to Kira and realize how out of touch I am with popular culture and what "the kids" are into these days. But don't worry, she filled me in, so I'm at least able to hold intelligent conversations about One Direction. 

(Kira decided the ribbon needed to be on my head)

We had a lot of fun in Belmont. It was nice to be able to be back "home"... the house I grew up in, the house Phil and I lived in when we lived (in the basement) in Belmont , and Felix's first home. There's lots of great memories there and I cherish those weeks spent with Erin and her kids. Here's a few more pictures from our trip...

(we tried to send pictures to Phil everyday so he wouldn't miss us too much while he was alone in MI)

watching the guys working in the yard

Felix discovered the mudroom with all the shoes pretty quickly. Tere were always stray shoes around the house. 

playing in the backyard

he did this to the books everyday...sometimes with help from his cousins, but mostly he was the mastermind behind the madness

trip to the park while the cousins were at school

Felix mastering the wine/scowl/squint face

Before (including the scowl/wine/squint face) 

After

These boys love their baby sister

Felix discovered his love of hats

playing on my air mattress

Nana came back!!

helping Nana with laundry

Then we had to go home. Leaving was very bittersweet. Bitter because we loved being with cousins and family, but sweet because we reunited with Daddy!

watching the planes

trying to distract him so he stops screaming on the plane

lunch in Newark Liberty Airport (I discovered on this trip that Felix loves fries and chicken nuggets..but mostly as a vehicle for ketchup!)

We miss and love you Bradfords! Thanks for letting us invade your space for three weeks!