My Birthday Party

I turned 30 last month, which wasn't as big of a deal as I thought it was going to be. When I turned 25 I freaked out, and looking back I have no idea why. I think I'm pretty chill with this mega milestone because I don't have much room in my brain for much else lately, let alone freaking out about turning a new decade, so this mommy brain thing can be good sometimes:) Anyway, we had a party in the backyard, yes it was cold, but we had heaters and a fire pit! I saw awesome outdoor winter parties on Pinterest and thought I'd give it a try. Pepper and Drew were on hand to help make it wonderful, and Mindi was an amazing help as well! We had chili, baked potatoes, rolls, hot cider, mulled wine, hot cocoa, smores, and Christmas crack! We also gave out fleece blankets to ward off the chill and to double as party favors.

Snow!

We got a crap ton of snow on Tuesday; I guess I should have looked at the weather report because I had no idea we were expecting any. Evey went to daycare Tuesday, but before Chris took her, I wanted some snow pictures! She slept in that morning (7:30 is sleeping in for Evey and it is greatly appreciated) and as soon as she was up, I got her changed, dressed, fed, and then put her in her snowsuit and tossed her in the snow!

Chris was already outside de-icing the cars and shoveling 

Snow angel!

Evey's thoughts: what the eff, mom and dad 

Yah, she didn't really know what to think or do, not to mention she wasn't incredibly happy when I was putting her into the snowsuit. Whatever, I got some first snow pics and I'm happy, and we didn't keep her in it too long;)

A New Year

I loved being asked what we were doing for New Year's Eve yesterday when we were out and about. Ha ha, I would say, and then would look at the super cute almost eight month old we were toting around. We did go to dinner, a very early one at Mimi's (for some reason we keep ending up there, last night it was because the wait was too long at PF Chang's). 

On our way to our big night out with a sparkly bow!

Always thinks the wine is for her;)

Last family photo of the year

And then we put Evey to bed, and we went to bed, until she woke up crying at 9:30 and we couldn't put her back to sleep til 10:30. And then I woke up at 12:00 on the dot, told Chris Happy New Year, and then heard fireworks going off. Yep, that's the extent of it, maybe next year we'll aim to stay up til 11!

Evey's First Christmas

Yay! Evey's first crazy Christmas! We went to Vegas for Christmas, but we opened gifts at our house before we left. Of course she was way more interested in the paper and boxes than what she got, but that was expected;) And the day before that, Jen and Ryan stopped by to drop off and open gifts too and Evey opened her secret Santa gift that the Schiedels dropped off, fun stuff!

Fabulous new socks from Daisy!

Buried in the bag, and that wasn't even her present!

Ready to open gifts!

Evey got a lot of books from mom and dad

Wrapping paper!

Sad that there were no more presents to open, or she just needed a nap

Oh yah, and I guess Chris and I opened gifts too:)

We also did some fun shots just for Chrisrmas. Some only Chris did with his camera, but here's mine with my phone.

And then we left to go to Vegas late in the afternoon after opening gifts. How was the drive? Not awesome. I pulled into the parking lot of a car repair shop in Fallon to feed her and didn't want to take her out of the carseat, so I leaned over and fed her, oh yah, super weird. Whatever, it was better than her being super cranky putting her back in the carseat. Anyway, Chris and I were both in the backseat, I left the car running, and I just finished feeding her when someone opened the front door. We both said something like "hey!" and he apologized and quickly shut the door and left. Poor guy, just shutting up his place of business and wondering why there's a random car in his parking lot running with no one on the front seat. I'll admit, not the best place to stop, but it was the closest and my kid was pissed. I can only imagine what was going through his head or what he thought he walked into, oh well, at least he's got a weird story to tell;)

So we got to Vegas around 12:30am, not too bad. And we hung out with various family throughout the next five days.

Grandpa morning hugs

And grandma afternoon hugs

We had lunch at Panera Bread, which we wish was in Reno. Yay tomato soup!

And she met mom and dad's childhood friend, Mike, and his two cute girls

As well as the wonderful Hilk family and got some awesome jingle bells!

And the next morning we had a poop in the tub incident, fun fun.

Then on Christmas Eve it was time to get fancy for Uncle Justin's party.

Had to read The Night Before Christmas to her, gotta start the tradition early!

We celebrated Christmas at the Hilks in the afternoon and met more wonderful family!

Then, after Evey's bedtime, we opened gifts at the Bueltels'

Crazy brothers 

 

Then we drove back, which was actually worse than driving there. Evey had a blow out 30 mins outside of Vegas, which is not fun to deal with on the side of the highway, at night, in the cold. All well, we made it home:) I hope everyone had a great holiday!

Book Challenge

So I made a goal of reading 25 books this year, and no, I did not accomplish my goal (insert sad face). I guess I didn't completely understand the demands of new motherhood (in a lot of ways), but I did make it to 17 books, which really isn't that bad and which is mostly due to my cute kid napping on me. Oh no, she's asleep on me, what do I do? Oh hello strategically placed nook (because I did not have the time to go to the library, or was I able to use two hands to read a regular book).

So I'll go ahead and set a new goal for next year: 10. I know, I know, super lame, but her naps are going to lessen in number next year, and I just really want to meet (and hopefully exceed!) my goal. Yep, super lame;) Whatever, if you're looking for some good books to read I really enjoyed The Monsters of Templeton, Written in My Own Heart's Blood (Outlander #8), The Book of Lost Things, Neverwhere, and The Magician King (The Magicians #3).

And here's the reason why you actually read this blog: