ever's thoughts on 2012 and resolutions

hi everyone...it's me ever.  i would just like to say that 2012 was a great year because i came into the world and graced everyone with my presence.  

i decided i had to celebrate today by wearing a dress and being extra cranky.  don't let these pictures fool you...i have kind of been a bear.

i blame my top teeth that are still very close to making an appearance.

besides being cranky i've been super funny making all sorts of noises.

i've also mastered the art of giving kisses but i don't give them freely and they aren't the open mouth slobbery ones that most babies give....my kisses are sophisticated and you really have to earn them.  my mama earned a bunch today and i just gave her about twenty.  she seems to think they are just about the most wonderful and cute thing.  i gave papa a couple but he didn't earn as many as mama and his face is scratchy.

so here's my range of emotions this evening in pictures....   

oh and i learned another cool trick today.  i'll have to have mama tell you about it next time and show you a picture.  if you follow her on instagram (skyewe) you already know.

my resolutions are:

to be less cranky

to sleep more

to eat more

to have less poopsplosions

i'm sure i'll be up to see the new year...i might even stay up until 1am because this night owl loves to party.  

see you soon 2013

xoxo,

ever

to and from book

a long time ago my mom started a tradition where she would put funny things on the to and from tag of our christmas gifts.  for example she might put that the gift was from a favorite celebrity of ours or something like that.  i carried over the tradition after will and i got married.  that first christmas of ours i ended up keeping the tags from our gifts because some of the things we wrote were so cute or funny.  oddly enough they ended up being stashed in a yahtzee box because we got that game for christmas.  the next year they ended up with the gift wrapping supplies.  i always wanted a better way to keep our tags so this year i made a book to keep them in.  i used craft/scrapbook supplies i already had and a plain journal type notebook that was empty just waiting for a cute project.  

this is the result of my craftiness..... 

i wrote a little blurb about each year then taped the corresponding gift tags in.  

this will be so fun to look back on and it's much better to have each year organized and in one spot.

crying over a book & burnt potatoes

here are a couple stories for you....

  a few days before christmas i was with my mom and ever doing a tiny bit of shopping for stocking stuffers.  we go into hastings and i'm immediately drawn to this book on a big display table that was front and center of the store.  typically i don't cry easily and i really hate to cry in front of people but since ever was born i find that i cry very easily....i still don't like to do it in front of anyone....except for maybe will because he is a major marshmallow now too.  

so i start reading the book and almost instantly i have tears in my eyes.  my mom was reading along with me...she doesn't cry easily either and hates to do it in front of people.  in my head i'm thinking...knock it off.  stop being so emotional but when i got to the last page of the book it was all over for me.  i had tears running down my face and i was so embarrassed that i ran to an aisle that wasn't busy so i wouldn't be seen crying.  i turn around and my mom is right behind me with tears in her eyes as well.  we saw how emotional we were being and just cracked up.  we were laughing so hard and then wiping laugh tears from our eyes.  

i'm guessing most parents would cry over this book or maybe i'm just the most sensitive person in the world now.

so i bought the book of course because ever is in love with books and this one describes our relationship quite well.  both will and i wrote a sweet note to her in it.  

on to the next story...

luckily no crying happened here.

as mentioned in the previous post will worked on christmas so when he got home in the afternoon i felt like i was kind of rushing to get everything done.  i was cooking us a small uncomplicated dinner while we opened presents with ever and then my mom shows up.  between all of the excitement of presents and several things going on at once i ended up burning the potatoes.  they were just boiling in water to make mashed potatoes and i had no idea they could burn like that.  i guess i underestimated how long i was really away from them.  the smell was awful.  i tried to salvage what i could but they tasted terrible.  will didn't think they were so bad.  i was so bummed i kind of ruined our little christmas dinner but in the end it wasn't a big deal at all.  

i think i ruined the pot too.  i have tried just about everything and can't seem to get it clean.  so just to let you know...don't leave potatoes boiling unattended too long or you end up with a big stinky mess.

ever's first christmas

here is the story of our christmas with lots of pictures.  will worked on christmas so it was just a regular day at home for ever and i.  luckily he was able to get off work a little early so we could finally open presents.  ever was napping when will got home so we had our own time to open gifts from each other without chasing our girl all over the house.  

side note...i've noticed that i really like pictures that are out of focus lately.  they happen by accident but i'm glad. this was one of us instructing ever on ripping wrapping paper.

our first christmas together we kept things really simple because we were in the process of buying our house and that year always stands out to me as a special one.  we made rules that year....we each had to make a gift then we were able to buy a few tiny things...mainly stocking stuffers.  we actually went shopping together that year and bought ourselves the first couple board games we owned then we picked a couple really small things and wrapped them and we got each other a few surprises but it was very minimal.  so this year i was aiming for the same thing because it just seems more heartfelt to me.  

i set a dollar amount which i know both of us ended up exceeding because we get really happy about buying things for one another.....but still we kept it simple.  

we always start by opening a card that we write a bunch of mushy stuff in then we open the things in our stockings and move on.  

right away we both noticed that we had identical gifts wrapped almost exactly the same in our stockings...we bought each other the same thing without knowing it...great minds think alike.  

by the way i'm sure you'll see what these are in future posts because we think they are fun but basically they are a dinosaur and pig toy that have big mouths and you put a ball in their mouth then squeeze their tummy and it shoots the ball across the room.  we had a war with these on christmas....really fun.

will got these cool glasses for our stockings...i kept telling him to keep a straight face but he couldn't.  so we proceeded to do every crazy face i shouted out...including my happy as a clam face which will really can't do and we laughed at how nerdy we are.

we were really happy with the fun and practical gifts we each got.  it was so much fun but it got even better because ever woke up and we gave her the presents we had picked for her which again we kept really simple and you know what she loved most from what i wrapped up....a little wooden toy set that has hedgehogs and mushrooms.  she carried her wooden hedgehog around the rest of the night.  she also got books (because she loves books...could sit and pretend read and turn pages for a long time) the one pictured below has a story which i'll soon share.

then my mom came over and ever opened gifts from her which she loved as well.  a few from that stack were two vintage fisher price toys....the chatter telephone (which i remember playing with as a child) and the piano.  she also got her the interactive dog jingle.  ever was actually with us when she got her that and you should have seen her reaction when we put jingle up to her face....she was overjoyed...i'm thinking because it reminds her of my moms dogs that she loves.  

sharing a wooden mushroom with jingle

a bite for me a bite for you.

the rest of the day was spent eating a dinner i kind of ruined (more on that later), playing board games, and trying to get a good family picture.....

after this one we finally gave up because ever was so annoyed with us.