January felt approximately 4976 days long, I hardly ever wish for time to speed up, but I am definitely not mad about the fresh start that this new month brings, especially since it has a fun holiday + brings us one month closer to school being out and SUMMER!!!  Before we move on though, I wanted to share some fun photos from our January, along with a few of our favorite memories!

We took the girls ice skating, Waverly has been a few times but this was Avalon’s first time and she loved it!  The girls personalities are very different, Waverly is a perfectionist and gets frustrated (angry) if she doesn’t get something the first try, and Avalon really could care less.  They were both super cute though, I am loving this as a yearly tradition over our holiday break!

Remerie’s first time with her little toes in the sand — SWEETEST thing ever!!!!   She is still so little but strong, and can stand with the big girls holding her hands now, they love to do this and fight over her all the time!  I am also loving mornings with her, Waverly + Avalon jump in the crib with her and get the biggest, sweetest smiles.  It is definitely her favorite time of the day.

If you have followed along long enough, you know we started celebrating half-birthdays when Waverly was just six months old.  Avalon was halfway to FOUR at the beginning of December + Waverly halfway to SEVEN (SO CRAZY!) over the weekend, so we did a cake and sang and even though it was completely last-minute, it was fun to celebrate them.

We look out the window every morning hoping for snow, it’s been cold enough here but nothing yet which is of course, because I actually have snow gear for everyone for the first year ever. Hoping something comes our way soon, we always love just one snowfall a year and I would especially love to dress Remie up as a little snowbunny for her first winter!

Farewell to the first month of 2019 and HELLO FEBRUARY!  XO

We chose not to do family photos for Christmas this year since we had just taken some for Remerie’s newborn shoot, but did do some with my entire family over holiday break and I am so happy we did!  It was the most into photos the girls have ever been, probably because they are obsessed with Remie and love to do anything with her, and also because we had all my family there to get them to smile!  Still cannot believe that we are a family of five, it feels like just yesterday that Waverly was Remerie’s size and we were brand new parents.

That last photo is my very favorite, all eleven members of my side of the family in one frame!!  My brother + sister-in-law had just flown in from Colorado earlier that day, and literally just met Remie for the first time minutes before this photo was taken. We may not all live in the same area code anymore but we are as close as ever and I always feel like the luckiest to have each + every one of them.

Photos by: Raygan Cox Photography; Girls Boots are linked here, they are one of my favorites!!!

Happiest New Year to you and yours!!!  I always look forward to a fresh start and the return to some kind of routine after the holidays, but honestly this time around 2018 was hard to say goodbye to. It was one of the best years we have had in a really long time, SO MUCH HAPPENED — with the highlight being our sweet Remerie Rue and buying our second home.  My husband also started a new job, I made it through my first year at a new school, Waverly finished kindergarten and learned to swim, & Avalon loved her her first year of preschool and started riding a big girl bike with no training wheels.  There was a whole lot of change, and chaos, but also a whole lot of love.

We are headed into 2019 feeling endlessly grateful and looking forward to taking more time to settle & soak it all in.  We are ready to make all the memories with our growing girls, but also to give ourselves grace when we need a moment to step back from it all.  To continue to grow, to learn, and to be PRESENT — something I always think about this time of year and that is hard to always achieve, but is so important to me as a mother.

I love, love new beginnings and cannot wait to see what we have ahead in the new year!

THANK YOU for following along year after year, it means so much!  Happy 2019, we hope this year is the most magical and best yet! XO

PS — Waverly & Avalon’s dresses are from Pixie Lane and they are obsessed with them!!  Such cute clothes for an affordable price.

Our Remie Rue turned THREE MONTHS Monday, I have been thinking so much about the day she was born since — it seems like it was two minutes ago & absolutely forever ago all at the same time.

And look at her sweet face!!!!!  I could eat her.

Three months is definitely the sweet spot for Miss Remerie.  She has grown out of her reflux (!!!) which we found out when she got RSV last month and I stopped a couple doses and she showed none of the signs she had before.  She is also just more laid-back in general, she will sit in the bumbo or lay with toys in front of her completely content forever (or until one of her big sisters comes running over to pick her up) and is just the happiest little lady, always smiling. Even when gets upset, she is the first of my babies to be able to soothe herself this early, she will either suck her thumb or her two fingers and can even put herself to sleep this way.  Overall she is completely living up to the whole “third baby being the easiest” thing (for now) and I am thankful for that.

We moved her to her room the week before I went back to work, and even though that was sad for me, I think it was the best thing for all of us.  She is sleeping way better now, and obviously so are we, and it also has brought a sense of normalcy and routine back that you just don’t have in those first couple of months.  The hour of quiet time at night after all three girls are asleep is also good for my soul, I just need it to recharge for the next day.  I have so much respect for those who co-sleep and it works for them, but it just isn’t for me and I am completely fine admitting that. 😉

Remie rolled over for the first time about a week ago (from her back to her belly!) and has done it sooooo many times since.  She is so strong for such a little thing!  She is SO CLOSE to laughing and I am pretty sure when she finally does, it will be either Waverly or Avalon who makes it happen because they always get the biggest smiles.  She is still in some newborn clothes but mostly 0-3, and wears a lot of hand-me-downs from the big girls, which is always so special to see.  She loves bath time and to nurse, she is taking a bottle pretty well while I am at work but most definitely prefers to breastfeed and it’s one of my favorite parts of the day also.

She is just such a dream and even though being outnumbered is definitely crazy, life with her in it is just so much better than before and I could never imagine it any other way.

We LOVE you, sweet Remie Rue — here’s to 12 beautiful weeks & soooooo many more ahead!  XO

PS – Looking at these pictures makes me realize how much I LOVE itty bitty tights for my first fall newborn, she seriously lives in them.  They are sooo much easier than socks which fall off all the time, I get all of hers from Little Light Feet and they are the best quality EVER!

It’s the most wooooonderful time of the year!!!!  Christmas is my favorite holiday (with the Fourth a close second, especially since I am a teacher & off during that time) — but there is just nothing quite like the pure magic in the air during the month of December.  We also found out we were pregnant with our sweet Remerie last Christmas day, so I think it will always hold an extra special place in my heart forever.

Seven days into December and I feel like we have already been so busy with all the (best!) things.  We went & picked out our tree, decorated gingerbread houses, visited Santa, hung holiday lights and have picked names for our Secret Santas with family.  Our elf also showed up December first and brought the girls breakfast, they LOVED it and were so excited about her.  This is one those things I know I will desperately miss when they are older, watching them whole heartedly believe in an elf or Santa (also the tooth fairy who came again over the weekend!) — it is just the best and one of my favorite things about being a parent.

Sharing some things we want to get into over the next few weeks before the big day hits, while also keeping it a little lighter than usual to give myself some grace in our first holiday season as a family of five!

1 — Bake cookies and deliver to family.

2 — Parents-only date for stocking stuffers & last-minute holiday gifts for the girls.

3 — Make chocolate-covered pretzels and drive around to look at lights while we eat them.

4 — Hot chocolate and holiday movie night.

5 — Christmastown, one of our very favorite traditions every year.

6 — Take donations to an animal shelter in honor of our sweet dog Bogger, who we had to put to sleep last December.

Number six just gives me all the feels, I know the girls will love this so much and I hope we can make it a new tradition in honor of him each year.  Hoping you are having the best start to December your way! XO