Catching Moments: {52/52}: Happy Birthday Bailey

You guys, I did it, I got to 52 moments!!! 

{Sorry that I have bombarded you the past week, but I did it!}

*The last moment of the year goes to our New years Eve Baby! 

Happy 9th Birthday to our Bailey! 

We love you so much! So much so, that we all fight over who you belong to! ;) {we all know it's me}. Wishing you all the naps & snacks today Bailey Boo! 

Catching Moments: {51/52}:

*This is what it looks like when Daddy is home, and I couldn't love it more! Everyone wants ALL of his attention, including the pups! 

Catching Moments: {50/52}:

*We took the kids to an arcade in downtown Newport while we were there visiting Daddy and we introduced them to all of Mommy's favorites... Skee Ball, Basketball, and of course Air Hockey! We had such a fun time that the kids asked to go back every single day! 

*The kids have strict instructions when playing with legos, as I am not a big fan of the mess and super tiny pieces. Charli spent a good 3 hours yesterday building things. Our little engineer followed each step of the instructions and built so many things all by herself. I was truly impressed! 

Catching Moments: {49/52}:

*Charli really wanted this jewelry box and asked Santa for it when we saw him. She was even more excited when she opened it and Santa had put lots of new jewelry inside! It has now been our daily routine of picking out new earrings to wear!  

Catching Moments: {48/52}:

*I absolutely love watching the kids play with all of their new things after the madness that is Christmas Morning. Watching which items they play with most, and the things that make them use their imagination. They got some truly simple & special gifts this year that will be those"gifts that keep on giving" kind of items! Like their campfire pillow set, they have been building fires every day, roasting marshmallows, and talking about when we will go camping! 

*All Crew asked Santa for this Christmas was some cars, and by the look on his face Christmas morning, I think Santa delivered! I love how intently Crew plays with his new parking garage. We knew it would be a true hit with him, and we were so right. I love watching him park and line up the cars individually, and move the center elevator up and down. 

Catching Moments: {47/52}:

*Christmas Eve spying, when will Santa be arriving!

"When, what to my wondering eyes should appear, But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer".

Charli thought for sure she saw Santa that night up in the sky and wanted to show bubba! 

The pure wonder & magic of it all. 

Catching Moments: {46/52}:

*Throwback Thursday Edition...

*All of Steven's Dad dreams coming true with a bicycle obsessed little boy named Crew! 

{ps.. Still playing catch up on these so you will be probably be getting two a day from here on out since I still have 6 to go with 3 days left... haha!}

Catching Moments: {45/52}:

*The kids finally got to make their gingerbread house on Christmas Eve with Daddy. They were SO excited, as they had been waiting patiently for weeks to make it {I am unable to touch them so it is something I cannot partake in, although I am thinking of making GF ones next year... we will see!}. 

Family Christmas Photos 2017:

Something I will always adore & cherish is family photos. I take so many pictures of the children and it is not very often that I put myself in the frame. This years shots are ones for the book. I am so in love with them for so many reasons. We took these on one of our last days with daddy before he headed out to sea, so we crammed everything in that day that we could so he could be a part... taking these christmas pictures {which were well before Halloween}, putting up christmas lights on our roof because he knows how much it means to me {nothing like christmas lights and tombstones people}, and having a thanksgiving dinner with my parents. Truly trying to cherish those last hours & minutes we had with our main guy. 

Thank you to one of my absolute sweetest friends for swinging by our photo shoot location to snap a few pictures with my camera so I didn't have to use our tripod! They truly turned out perfect and I couldn't be happier with them! 

And because there are always outtakes {#children} here are some good ones that I just love! 

Wishing everyone the Merriest Christmas! 

From our family to yours! 

Christmas Cards 2017:

Finally sharing our Christmas Card now that it has reached mailboxes near & far, all over the world! 

Christmas Card season is by far the best. Sending these precious cards to family & friends just makes me happy. Sitting down to hand address each envelope hoping that the people we care about know the love that was felt while doing it. And lets be honest, who doesn't love receiving a fun piece of snail mail. I know I sure  do! 

Something about the hustle & bustle of all things life related on top of the holiday season makes the giving & receiving of these precious keepsakes so worth it. All of the Christmas cards we receive adorn our home and we cherish and look at them every single day. We talk about each of our family & friends, "How do we know them mommy?" Charli exclaims, "Wow, that is such a pretty card mommy, they are so beautiful", "mommy, I miss them". 

I love how much our children also love to receive them in the mail. Watching their excitement when we open them, just warms my heart! I hope & pray their love for christmas cards continues like their mama! ;)

I absolutely loved how our pictures & cards turned out this year.

Thank you again VistaPrint for another successful card! 

Merry Christmas! 

Catching Moments: {44/52}:

*This moment brought to you by one of the fur children... 

Bogey snuggled up with one of Crew's lovies! 

Catching Moments: {43/52}:

*Waiting & watching for Daddy's arrival home! He has been away from us much longer than this trip, but for some reason this underway {51 days} seemed like eternity. To me, it isn't about the length of time {because just one single day without their daddy is significant}, it's more about ALL of the little things he missed while away that makes it so hard. 

So yeah, yesterday was the best day for my little family! Watching Daddy navigate that big ol' ship right down the waterway, waving our hearts out, tears on all of our cheeks {seeing your children cry tears of joy is nothing short of heart wrenching} knowing we would soon be in his arms... 

Nothing, absolutely nothing can describe days like a homecoming!  

All we wanted for Christmas was Daddy to be home! 

Catching Moments: {42/52}:

 {In honor of Uncle DoDo's birthday today... some moments from our trip to Newport, RI back in September when we last saw him!}

Happy Birthday DoDo!

Santa Brunch 2017:

Happy half-way through the week friends! 

We are anxiously awaiting for the weekend to get here! ;)  

We have finally been experiencing some chilly temperatures here in North florida {40s} and it has truly made it feel so much more like Christmas! I would love for it to stay chilly through Christmas, but we know that won't happen {the weather is already saying it's going to be back up into the 70s tomorrow... haha!}. But having the cold weather over the weekend made all of our festive events that much better! 

On Sunday was our clubs Annual Santa Brunch and it is an event we look forward to every year! We don't go to the mall and see "Santa's helper Santa", we wait for our brunch with "the real one" {as Charli exclaims}. This was our third year attending and it was just as magical as I had wished! Santa & Mrs. Claus have remembered our children every year and it truly makes it that much more special {"Mommy, mommy, he remembered me & Mrs. Claus remembered the dress I had on last year"... she really did and if you could have seen Charli's smile! priceless!}

I love the intimacy of our annual brunch with the big guy. He spends so much time with each and every child or family and the children can go back up as many times as they want {Charli was out playing with her friends and fell, so CLEARLY she needed to go see Santa and show him her boo boo... hahaha}. 

The biggest hurdle that we tackled was Crew willingly sitting on Santa's lap. If you remember from Last Year, he kicked the guy, screamed, went limp, etc etc. He finally warmed up to him by the time brunch was over, but I wasn't expecting much from him this year. He has been in the same room with a "Santa helper santa" and has kept his distance and would only wave. So I call this a victory! 

We had the most magical and truly wonderful morning with Santa and all of our friends. Now for my children to be extra good and loving to each other {Santa's orders!}.

And now a look into Santa Pics Past

{2014// 2015// 2016}

Wishing you all a very merry week!