Loving the memories!

We actually had a more mellow holiday season this year. This was definitely welcomed by us! Well, let me clarify. Christmas week is filled with traditions for us each year. We love it. We wouldn't have it any other way! But the month of December is often a busy season for us going to festivities and get togethers to celebrate the spirit of the season. This year, we only had one Christmas party to go to. It was a nice, welcomed changed. Maybe it is preparing us for a CRAZY, busy 2011. Who knows?? :)

This Christmas party was at Bill and Linda's friends house. It was so sweet of them to include the three of us in the fun.

Big Papa and Aubrey Rose ready to watch the true Christmas story performance. A tradition for over 30 years!!! They reenact baby Jesus' birth. It was ADORABLE!!!

Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem. Mary give birth to God's son. There was no room for them in the inn. The beautiful angels appeared saying "Glory to God in the highest!"
The shepherds visited glorifying and praising God.
The three wise men followed the bright star and came bearing gifts...
And he shall be called Jesus!
For over 30 years they have taken a "cast" picture. :) Here is Christmas 2010... Our favorite wise men and angel. :)
Auntie Blair and Aubrey Rose
After the performance we all gathered around the piano and sang Christmas carols. They had jingle bells, Santa hats, elf hats, reindeer ears, oh and microphones (kitchen cooking utensils)...it was adorable!
Aubrey made some adorable friends too...
Jingle bells!

We had a great time! Here is everyone gathered around the piano singing fun Christmas carols. Aubrey was loving it!

We loved being apart of the fun!

First of many...

Here come the first of many Christmas memories from 2010. Better late than never, right??!

We LOVED watching the Radio City Rockettes. It was an amazing performance and I can't even imagine how wonderful it is in NYC! Some day I pray and hope and wish I could see the performance in NYC!!

MomMom (Linda's mom), Mimi, and Aubrey RosePopPop and MomMom (Blake's grandparents) Blake and Uncle Gary (Linda's brother)Uncle Gary, PopPop and MomMom The three of us...well, I guess the fourth is not pictured. :)

Celebrating ONE!

Blake's cousins little girl turned ONE!! It was time to celebrate! The snowflake decorations were so cute!

The kids created their own glittery snowflake ornament.

Time for lunch...

The birthday girl and her mommy.
The Smittcamp cousins kids!
Babies, Mommies, Aunts, Cousins and FRIENDS!

Letter I

I am quite behind here. We are actually on L already. So I will be playing a little catch up here.

We began our Letter I day making ICE. (We actually made a replica just in case the ice did not solidfy in time.)

Pouring the water in and then we put it in the freezer...
Next task, we made some ICE CREAM! Pouring the heavy whipping cream in...
Adding sugar...
All yummy ice cream has even more sugar...
Adding vanilla...
Putting the ice cream maker all together...
Adding ice and of course some sampling was necessary...and then the waiting game until the ice cream was complete.
In the meantime, we learned about INSECTS!!!

Then we went to go INVESTIGATE for INSECTS.
No success, but the walk was nice!
Then, to In-N-Out for lunch!! YUMMY!!


Then, came back home to our even yummier ICE CREAM!!!
Lots of sampling!

While they were eating their ice cream, we pulled out the ice cubes. Their amazement shocked us. They were completely shocked at what happened to the water.
It was so cute watching their expressions when they touched the frozen, solid ice cubes.
Just wait till the Letter J. Some of my favorite pictures and memories to come!

Baby update...

We have 6 weeks until the new baby Smittcamp is due. We don't know the sex of the baby, however I would be COMPLETELY shocked if this baby is NOT a girl. We are so happy either way, but nonetheless we would be shocked. I feel so strongly this is a girl, I have been debating on filling the closets and dresser with all Aubrey Rose's newborn clothes. I have yet to do that, but I really have considered it. Time will tell. God knows and we can't wait to know as well!

The nursery is all ready. The baby could come tomorrow and we would be ready. Actually I should probably get some diapers before then but other than that we are set. We moved Aubrey to a different room and set her up in a big girl room months ago, so the nursery has been ready since then!

I have told Blake multiple times this pregnancy, that it is completely unfair we can not split the duty of being pregnant. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing to complain about, but let's just say, for me, it is not the most comfortable thing overall. I miss feeling like myself and I also miss sleeping comfortably. Being pregnant with Aubrey Rose, I remember being able to sleep on my left OR my right side. This pregnancy, I am down to only my left side. Not my back, obviously not my front, not the right, only my left side. Again, I have nothing to complain about. Writing it on here, is really just a way for me to remember what this season was like. But, just like Blake told me on our wedding day...."You have to take the good with the bad." :) We can't wait to meet this new bundle of joy whenever God has planned.

Just a little snapshot of the nursery Aubrey grew up in and now her sister or brother will share the same crib. The writing above the crib says, "Sweet Dreams, Sleep Tight, We Love You, Good Night"

For Christmas, Mimi and Big Papa (Blake's sweet parents) got these adorable shoes for their newest grandbaby to wear.

BOY or GIRL...give or take 6 short weeks and we will know!!

Big girl room

Don't worry...the Christmas 2010 memories will eventually be shared. I promise. If you know me personally, you understand that choosing favorites of ANYTHING is just simply difficult, sometimes impossible. :) Even choosing a favorite color would be hard for me. So, when I have like 500 pictures to choose my favorites of to share with you, making even one decision, let alone decision after decision of my favorites can be a little time consuming. But, don't worry, I will get there. :)

Onto something, I DON'T have to choose from over 500 pictures of. I mentioned we have been busy with house projects around here. This was the sneak peek I gave you yesterday...
Well, here is our little sunshine giving you sneak peek #2...
And now to clear up any curiousity...
We have been working on Aubrey Rose's big girl room little by little. She actually moved into this room the beginning of last summer. Little by little it is coming together.
Aubrey Rose and I like to do our reading in her little window seat.
We have a few more details to complete, but it is coming together.

Sure feels good!

Happy New Year!!! Between the holidays, family from Canada in town, New Years fun and Christmas decor clean up....whew! We made it!

We had plans to be out of town for New Years, plans changed, :( however it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The past two days we have taken down Christmas, reorganized the attic storage area, reorganized closets and some rooms...whew! One thing leads to another, which leads to another, but it all feels good when it is complete.

Besides all the boxes and boxes of Christmas to rearrange and put away, here is one sneak peek of what we have been up to...

And not surprisingly, Aubrey Rose has been busy with this... It sure feels good! We are looking forward to 2011!!