So Long, Farewell

Goodbye to a year that started with some downs and just went up from there. Of course, the year started off with me having to have my gallbladder removed, but that's about the only bad thing I can think of that happened. I think Christmas is a great way to end the year. We had such a good Christmas this year, and I loved seeing my little ones open their presents. We went to stay with my hubby's parents for about 4 days. They loved seeing their grandchildren and we loved getting to spend time with them, because we don't get to do it very often. The night before we left, we had a party for Jared and Jordyn's combined birthdays (Jared 21st, Jordyn 23rd).

 Jordyn digging in to her cake. I was very happy that she wasn't afraid to get messy!

 Here we are opening presents. She got some weebles and that was all she wanted to play with.

 Reaching into the bag, and what does she find....

...a super cute pair of jammies!

 Here she is opening a present from gamma and papa McCurdy.

 Look at all this fun paper!

 Reaching far into the bag...

 ...what a cute little dress!

 Jordyn got a cute hair bow and Uriah decided to model it for us.

Yummy, more cake!

 Uriah got his hair cut on Christmas Eve, and he desperately need it! Thanks auntie Alicia!

 Christmas morning was so much fun. We didn't get pictures of every thing, but we got some of the important stuff. Here Uriah is opening a collection of books that come with a pen that reads the book to you and tells you what the pictures are. He really likes it a lot and his favorite book to read is "Cars", go figure.

 Aunt Lana made this book for Uriah. It has pictures of the McCurdy family and the words to the song "Happy Family"..."I love grandpa, he loves me, we love grandma yes siree, she loves us and so you see, we are a happy family". I almost cried while gamma sang the song to him.

 Auntie Lana also made some cute headbands for Jordyn. She didn't like to leave them on so we put a few of them on at the same time so we could take a picture. She's so cute!

 Here is Jordyn opening her Tickle Me Elmo...she was so excited and she squealed and grabbed Elmo before I could even get him out of the box! That was one of the best present reactions ever!

 I couldn't wait for Uriah to open his Woody and Buzz. I knew he would be excited, and he didn't disappoint.   He was impatient while daddy tried to get them out of the box. They were strapped in really well!

Here are pictures of the things we got. The kids got some pretty neat toys...

 ...Uriah got a few cars to add to his collection...

 ...gamma and papa made Uriah wood blocks and a cool bag to keep them in...

 ..and Uriah got to add to his train collection.

 This is my haul...mostly scrapbook stuff and Inception, woohoo!

 These are all the books that the kids got for Christmas. There are quite a few in there.

This is the beautiful quilt that my mother-in-law made for me. It's amazing to think that she did all that work for me. I will treasure it forever!

 Uriah and Jordyn dressed up in their Sunday best. Jordyn is wearing her new dress that she got for her birthday. 

 We managed to get another picture of her with her cute headband and bow on.

 My silly little girl.

 So beautiful and precious.

 One night Uriah discovered that he could climb up daddy's back and onto his shoulders, and that was a lot of fun.

 Jared probably got poked in the eye a time or two...

 But it sure made us all laugh!

Monday morning some sheep were being herded through gamma and papa's backyard, so we decided to get a picture of them.

Yesterday I tried to take the kids sledding, but the wind chill was so bad that they just cried. When we got home, Uriah went straight to bed, and I gave Jordyn a warm sippy of milk and this is what happened.

What a year 2010 has been. I have been able to watch both of my children grow, and I have seen little Jordyn go from a tiny infant to a walking toddler. Uriah's speaking ability has exploded and he is now potty trained and loving his big boy underwear. Jared and I have been married for 5 1/2 years, and I look forward to many more years to come.

Holiday Countdown

No, this is not a countdown to Christmas. This is a countdown to when I get to take a break from work, and that will be in 1 day, 5 3/4 hours! After that, I get a whole week and a half off to enjoy Christmas and the New Year with my husband and two wonderful children. What more could a gal ask for? Things have been pretty busy this month, as they usually are. On the 11th my family had it's annual Hunsaker Christmas party, which I look forward to every year. This year they had Santa stop by to visit the kids and hand out candy, and I was very curious to see how Uriah and Jordyn would handle the jolly fat man, this being their first encounter with him.

Uriah really liked him. He didn't talk to him, but he walked right up to him and wanted to get on his lap. This Santa was the best one I had ever seen, and I hope they have him come again.

Uriah and Santa were best buds!

Jordyn didn't think Santa was too bad. She just stared at him, trying to figure out if he was nice or not. When he tried to give her a hug, she started to frown! I picked her up and she was fine, but at least she didn't scream and cry (^_^)

It was really good to see my cousins and extended family. I really enjoy seeing my cousin's wife Kyla and her little boy Kystin. Kyla has been so nice to me and I feel like we are buds! It was hard for me when my cousins moved away from us when we were younger. We lived in the same town and were very close friends. We aren't very close anymore, but it is still nice to see them once a year and get the opportunity to catch up. 

Here is 2nd cous' Kystin playing around at the party. He sure is a cutie!

We have started potty training Uriah. He is really excited about wearing his big boy underwear. I even let him pick them out at the store. We started working with him on Saturday and things seem to be going okay. He keeps pooping in his underwear, but I think I might go out and buy a toy train and tell him he can only have it when he goes in the potty. I hope that works! He does really well going pee in the potty. The first night we started he didn't pee his bed, but the second night he woke up soaked, and this morning he woke up and was a little wet, but not as bad as he was the second night. I know it will take time, and I really think we can help him succeed as long as we can remain patient and calm with him. 

This is Uriah's potty chair. He was really excited to open it, and he does like to sit on it. When you push the handle on it to "flush" it, it makes a revving sound like the engine of a car. He thinks that's funny. 

 I had Uriah show off his new undies for the camera. He picked out Thomas and Friends underwear and Sesame Street. I was quite surprised that he didn't pick out Cars underwear, but maybe we can get those for him some other time. The way he is going through them right now, we are going to need some new ones just to keep up!

 Here is Jordyn being silly. She has started watching her big brother and she knows that when the camera comes out, it is time to make silly faces!

"Look at me!"

Uriah and Jordyn playing with trains. Jordyn is wearing a really cute dress that I got her at the D.I. I never really liked the idea of shopping there, but I actually found some very cute dresses for Jordyn there last weekend, so I think I might go there again!

On Thursday, we will be going down to stay with Jared's parents for 5 days or so, during Jordyn's birthday and Christmas. I am really excited, and they are excited to get to spend some time with the kids. I can't believe Jordyn will be 1 year old on Thursday! The last year sure has gone by quickly. Today is Jared's birthday, and he is 27. He says he's old, but I think he's silly! I hope you all have a great Christmas and enjoy your holiday season, but never forget what it's really about. Keep Christ in Christmas!

Close to Christmas

Things have been pretty quiet around here lately. We've been doing the same grind of work and school. Work has picked up a little for me though, so that makes the day go by faster. Jared is doing VERY well in school and I am very happy for him. 

We had a good Thanksgiving. We had dinner at my mom's house and played some games afterwards. My sister and I went to Wal Mart that night at 11:30 only to do some basic shopping (bought nothing that was on a Black Friday sale) and get home at 2 in the morning. Wal Mart is a sick, sick place to go on Black Friday...ugg...At 9 that morning I went back into town and got Jared and I two brand, spakin' new phones for FREE, yup, $0. I was very happy. The speaker in Jared's phone had gone out and he couldn't hear anybody who called him, so I knew we had to get him a new phone. I wasn't planning on upgrading mine, but when the salesman told me he could get them for free, I jumped right on it. Doing that made the Black Friday mess worth it. I can't believe that it has been almost 2 weeks since Thanksgiving, and it's only a little more than two weeks until Christmas. I just can't wait to watch my kids open their presents!

Last week I was at my mom's house helping her babysit my nieces and nephews when her downstairs neighbor came to the door and told me he had backed into my car outside. He openly told me that he was on his phone and that he didn't even check to see if there were other cars around. At first I was sad and upset because I knew that it was an inconvenience, but the more I think about it, the more I am very thankful that he was honest. I am very appreciative of an honest person.

This is what my car door looks like right now. It won't lock and the handle likes to stick, but thankfully his insurance will be taking care of it and I will be getting it fixed soon. 

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, I pulled out the Christmas decorations and got to work. This is the first Christmas tree that Jordyn has gotten to take a good look at, and she appear to think it is pretty neat. She helped me hang some lights, and if there was an ornament where it didn't belong, she let me know by taking it off and trying to put it back on somewhere else. 

 Uriah was helping Daddy fan out the leaves on the tree. He didn't really like how they felt, they were a little prickly.

 Here's my little ham giving me a big smile.

 Jordyn was helping me roll out the lights. She actually stuck some in her mouth and it made her cheeks light up, but before I could take a picture she had taken them out again. It was really funny.

 She doesn't think this ornament should be right there.

I am a big fan of putting up Christmas decor, especially lights. I LOVE Christmas lights. I wish my whole apartment could be lined with them. For now, I just stick with the tree and a few windows.

 I love the lights on my tree. Two years ago my father helped me buy some Christmas decor, and the lights I bought can do all kinds of things, like blink and flash and fade and stuff, so I have mine set to slowly fade from green to blue to red and back. It's such a calming effect to me.

 Here is out living room lit up with Christmas lights.

 This is my santa and reindeer that my parents had on the walls growing up, and when we all moved out, I took them to my own home :)

These are out stockings that my mother-in-law has made for all of us. Uriah's already has one of his presents in it because it was wrapped and he found it and opened it, so I decided to hide it in his stocking until Christmas.

Things have been good so far this Christmas season, and I look forward to many more fun days before and after the holidays! Here are some recent pictures of the kids being goofs.

 Jordyn and her one baby tooth.

Uriah was having fun giving us dirty looks over breakfast one morning.