Catching up where I left off…did I mention fall was a crazy busy season?

While it was a little overwhelming to realize how many photos I have on my external hardrive that need to be sorted and organized/purged to make more space, it was also fun looking back on all we have done the past month and a half and simply how lucky we are.  I still can’t believe Christmas has come and gone, but WOW it was an awesome one.  It’s been 6 years since I was able to spend quality time with both sides of the family…actually, we haven’t even been married that long so I’ve NEVER actually had a chance to see both families on the holidays due to my work schedule.  As much as I miss knowing and loving on my patients, I sure feel lucky that I can be home more, here and now.  So many priceless moments and memories that I can’t imagine missing…let me show you 🙂

11.18.13 | found a bag of buttons in my crafting drawers.  They were everywhere.  EVERYWHERE.  | Kona stayed with us for the weekend.  She’s a brat.  A very cute brat.

11.19.13 | Don’t cry over spilled milk they say.  Just add water.

11.20.13 | Gramma and Grampa brought back little trinkets from their wedding-trip in Mexico.

11.21.13 | Hard at work in Daddy’s office.

11.22.13  | Just a regular day at home waiting for daddy to get home11.23.13 | Weekend at Grandmommy and Grandaddy’s house.11.24.13 | Shot some of my best friends’ engagement photos 11.25.13 | Clay doing a clean sweep of the much-neglected yard before Thanksgiving company came for a visit the next day.11.26.13 | Hosted brunch for the great-grandparents in town for Turkey Day.  Lucky, lucky girl 🙂11.28.13 | Thanksgiving Day at Lake Hartwell with the “lake family”My little artist.
Helping Grampa with the fire.When I think of Thanksgiving, I think of this: Grampa Ted carving his oven-baked turkey and Gramma Nan over his shoulder making sure everything is happening in a timely manner 😉11.29.13 | One more day with the Great Grandparents before heading home.  Grampa Ted fixing something that’s been broken – his specialty.11.30.13 | Starting to pull out the Christmas decor.12.2.13 | Photobombed by Max, playing with blocks.  So we moved 🙂12.3.13 | Oh, Christmas Tree, Oh, Christmas Tree.  12.4.13 | Messy missy.12.5.13 | Someone has already figured out where the advent chocolate resides.12.6.13 | Strolled through Atlantic Station and got some ice cream and sherbet.  Cam fell asleep on the way home so we saved it for later 🙂  We also saw the YMCA Santa and rode a choo-choo train around the parking lot 🙂  Forgive the out of focus shots…I still love them 🙂12.7.13 | Making a handprint ornament.  This is probably TAKE 4 of who-knows-how-many 😉12.9.13 | Moved the chocolate.  Still makes a mess 🙂12.10.13 | Not the intended shot, but a better one 🙂  I have this printed as a 20-30 and plan to display it every year around the holidays.  I hope I can always remember her this little and curious.12.11.13 | Gold tree.12.12.13 | Every morning she says “Mommy!  Hear too-too tain?” (Gasp!)  “Uh, see dat?!  Ohhhhhhh!  It slow down?” | PS – have I mentioned I won best tasting for my contribution to the cookie party with these white-chocolate cheesecake bites??  ‘Cuz I did.  But I’m not too proud to say I can count on one hand how many times I’ve baked this year.  No lie.12.13.13  | Out of focus trees – morning and night.  We also saw another Santa today at Lenox Square Mall and it did NOT go well.  Cam wasn’t afraid of Santa…she was just highly against staying still for ANYONE 😉  But Santa was nice and gave her a reindeer hat, anyways 😉

12.14.13 | This new pup of ours is so content to sit and watch…something we are SO not accustomed to 🙂12.15.13 | Daddy’s right-hand-helper for “make a fires” 🙂12.16.13 | Haven’t done bath time in a while…it’s a family favorite for sure 🙂 When I went to get her out of her bed from her nap, I found her playing like this…OCD much?12.17.13 | Opening her first gift of the season from my Godparents…a Burberry dress!  Yippee 🙂  <312.18.13 | Our house all lit up.  I forgot the little trees.  Oh, well.12.19.13 | Annual White Elephant/Dirty Santa gift exchange at our house.  We had a blast continuing the tradition and adding to the guest list 🙂  And Cam finally spoke the names of two of her biggest fans: Uncle Nick and Uncle Travis.  My heart swells to see them love her as much (well, debatable!) as we do.12.20.13 | I “stole” a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree from the gift exchange JUST for this girl.  The ornament was shattered about 3 minutes after this was taken 😉  So she moved on to her daddy’s childhood collection of “nut-kakas”.12.21.13 | Got to hang with my girls and celebrate all that we are thankful for – each other, healthy/growing babies, and new life on the way!12.22.13 | Nightly ritual.  Playtime with daddy and holiday classic movie before bed.12.23.13 | Braved the mall to try to ride the Pink Pig but nixed that idea from the parking lot and finished shopping instead.  3+ hour line with this chick?  NO.WAY.  The toddler probably wouldn’t have done very good either 😉Contemplating the beautiful, blustery day in Atlanta and sporting the new Burberry dress.  AKA: creepin’ on the neighbors and refusing to give me a forward-facing shot.
12.24.13 | Went to Christmas Eve service with no nursery and lived to tell about it!  The car ride home required a little technology-intervention though 😉  Caleb dancing with the newest member of the family, waiting for Santa to come in a few hours.
12.25.13  | It’s the most wonderful time of the year!12.26.13 | Made it to Hartwell!  We spent the day trading gifts, sitting by the outdoor fireplace, and feasting on prime rib.  No complaints here!

Oh, yeah!  And Camryn found her “saddow” for the first time.  This was just after the search-and-rescue ensued for Olivia the Pig’s tiny baby brother trinket.  And by tiny I mean like smaller than 1 inch in length.  Somehow we found him lost in the gravel…which is a good thing since the $10 family of Olivias is her most favorite thing in the whole world now.

Mom made this Southern Living Cheesecake.
I actually died from eating it (it was sooooo good) and came back to life just to have another slice.  No seriously.  It was amazing.

12.27.13 | Made special memories with Gramma and went for a chilly but relaxing boat ride.12.28.13 | Finished up the cookies and took the Christmas gift for a spin before we made the trek back home!  I see how parents get in trouble spoiling their little ones…the joy on her face was simply contagious.12.29.13 | Clearly the week’s festivities have finally taken a toll on our girl 🙂  Home, sweet home.12.20.13 | We spent the day rearranging her bedroom and making room for a play area to set up all her “goods.”  We’re working on the “only draw on the easel” thing…thank goodness they are washable!