The twins' 1st birthday party!!!

A Winter ONE-derland party
12/17/11 (although their birthday is 12/20)

I made all kinds of decorations (signs, pennants, tissue pom poms, picture snowflakes, paper trees, cupcake toppers, etc.) and food (cupcakes, almond snowball cookies, homemade cream of potato soup, peppermint punch, hot cocoa, popcorn) and special outfits for the twins (decorated onesies, tutus, birthday hats. After getting pics of the girls in their outfits, we all ate and hung out for a bit, then the twins opened presents, then they smashed their cakes (so fun!!!), after which they took a bath. The whole thing lasted just over two hours. Jared's mom and brother hung out afterward for a little bit and his dad came over later in the afternoon and visited for a while before we went to our ward Christmas party; there was a photo booth there and the pictures are supposed to be email to us, so I'll post those when I receive them. To see pictures from the birthday party, go to: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2942488686951.2152168.1403222334&type=1&l=5d188bd0c7 Please let me know if you have any problems viewing them. There are a lot of realy great pics! :)

{Hanging out after the party}:

{The twins with Grandpa & Daddy}:

Santa!!!

My sister, Nikki, came with me yesterday to take the girls to the mall and get a photo with Santa. Avery has been kind of clingy to me lately, especially when we are away from home, so I thought for sure she would freak out when we put her on Santa's lap. But they both just sat and stared at the guy TRYing to get them to smile. It wasn't the Santa photo of my dreams, with two smiling girls, but at least they're not crying (although those kinds of Santa photos are quite amusing).
I bought a CD with the picture on it so, if anyone wants a copy of it (digital or printed), just let me know. I'd be happy to print and mail a 4x6. Same goes for any of their blessing dress portraits or sealing photos. All ya have to do is ask! :)

Crittenden Christmas party

We really missed going to the big Crittenden Christmas parties the past few years, so it was so much fun to be able to attend it on Saturday (12/10). We had dinner and all the kids put on a live Nativity and sang a couple of Christmas hymns. The twins were sheep and were SO CUTE but Makenna wouldn't keep her sheep hat on for more than a second, and she even pulled Avery's off at one point. Here are some pics of the girls as sheep and the live Nativity:

{going for the hat}:

{pulling off the hat}:

{got it off!}:{Daddy put it back on, so she went for it again in the same second he walked away}:
{now going for Avery's hat}:
{the whole scene}:
{roaming sheep!}:

And other random pics:

{Makenna & Gracie}:

{Uncle Jason}:

{Mollie, Tyler & Avery}:{Aunt Cindy, Grandpa Ted & the twins}:

{Grandpa & Uncle Jason}:

{Tyson & Makenna}:

{Jared & the girls}:

{Makenna & Grandpa}:

It sure was fun to see everyone!

Nativity Display

We took the girls to a Nativity display at our stake center last night. The display was in the gym and the dividers were open to the chapel, where a video of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir was being playing on the big screen. The girls were more interested in that than the Nativities:
After we went around and looked at all the Nativities, we sat in the chapel and watched the choir sing for a few minutes, then we went and took pictures in the live Nativity set-up. Jared took "baby Jesus" out of the manger so the girls could see him:
It was just a quick little activity to get out of the house for a few minutes and remind ourselves of the true meaning of Christmas.

The twins' first Christmas tree!

We finally decorated the Christmas tree last night!

{Makenna wasn't sure what to think about the angel}:

{Cleo, our Candy Cane Princess, as it says on her shirt}:
{We had put Makenna in the walker while I took pictures of Avery and Jared and she pulled some tinsel off the coffee table}:
{She ended up dragging it all over the floor}:

{Jared gave the girls some candy cane}:

{Cleo didn't stay there very long, ha ha!}:
{Avery got a ride on the Praia reindog}:

Finally got to decorate the tree as a family like I've always dreamed! [Even if the girls couldn't really help yet.] :)

Merry Christmas, everyone! We love y'all!

Playing with new camera

I got an early Christmas present last week--a new camera (Canon T3i). I'm trying really hard to learn how to use the manual settings on it, instead of just using auto like I usually did with my previous camera. I've known about aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc. for a long time but never forced myself to practice a lot with my other camera. With this new DSLR camera, I'm determined to get out of auto. I still need to practice a LOT and still find myself changing that dial to auto just to make sure I get a somewhat decent shot but I am getting better. Here are some snapshots from last week:

11/30:

{Notice the "Mom" heart tattoo on Makenna's arm that I discovered when I first changed her that morning--I'm sure I don't have to say who did it!}:

{They like playing in this cardboard box! This is why Jared thinks they don't need any new toys for Christmas or their birthday.}:

{Avery's "squishy-face grin that she often does}:

12/1:

{Bath time!}:

{Bad hair day! She has a lot of those, ha ha!}:

12/2:

{Eating chicken noodle soup because they both had runny noses}:

LSU did win the SEC Championship last Sat., so we are still undefeated and #1 and we're headed to the National Championship next month! GEAUX TIGERS!!!

I put out Christmas decorations last week but we just decorated the tree tonight. I'll do another post tomorrow about that. We have such a busy few weeks coming up!:

• Stake Nativity activity 12/9
• Crittenden family Christmas party 12/10 (there is also a company party that evening but we chose to attend the family party)
  
• The twins' 1st birthday party 12/17 in the mid-morning and our ward Christmas party that night
• The girls' 1-year check-up 12/21
• Fly to Louisiana 12/24!!!
• Do Santa photos and 1-year-old portraits, finish Christmas shopping/preparations, and get ready for the trip somewhere in all of that!
  

I'm trying hard not to go crazy but I'm sure I'll get it all done somehow or, what I don't get done, won't really matter. I suppose this is how Decembers will be for me for a long time! Like they weren't already busy enough with out a birthday thrown in there! I am really excited about everything, though! I wish everyone one a very Happy Holiday!!!!!