Christmas Photoshoot

Pops Garwood has a fancy camera and loves to practice on Lexie...who can blame him? I love the ones with her and Travis, precious! She is so expressive.

Dada the Elf

Christmas Eve with The Brock's

The Brock's always do a Christmas Eve night gift exchange...this year it was at Dan and Julie's house. The family seems to grow by a person or two every year...making it a little bigger and better each season.
Lexie loved the attention of the doting family members, as well as the companionship of her 2 cousins who are close in age (Grayson, 19 months and Maggie, 18 months.) What a great time it was to see the kiddos play! Our little girl was SOOO tired by the time we left she fell asleep the minute she hit her car seat.
Check out our videos on YouTube from Christmas Eve:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NewZZCgysY

Lots of action for toddlers!

Me with Lexie and Maggie

Lexie with her nana.

Grayson...yes, he was only 19 months in this picture : )

Beautiful snowy days....

AHHHHH...We loved the December snow! I really enjoy the whole snow storm thing and getting snowed in : ) Something about it reminds me of being a kid and not having to go to school...yes, that was the highlight of my academic years.
Lexie embraced the snow, taking in a daily wagon ride around the neighborhood. Our fur babies (Talley and Trooper) cuddled up all day to the portable fireplace in the garage with lots of warm blankets. Travis made his world famous Christmas fudge. I got our Christmas cards addressed and sent out. I think it was a much needed break from the hustle and bustle of the season : )

An apple a day...

Our little girl loves her apples...must feel good on those teeth!

Brock's Rock!

We had fun practicing for our Christmas card this year...my Dad got out his awesome camera and we had fun on the Garwood's rockstar game. Our little drummer girl was a natural!

Brock ladies Christmas tea

All dressed up and ready to go....



We attended the annual "Brock ladies Christmas tea" today. Lexie looked all too precious, all dressed up. It was a great chance for her to meet and greet with some relatives she doesn't get to see as much through the year. There was a special guest in a big red suit who showed up, can you recognize him? Lexie was not impressed!
"Santa"
Colors...her favorite!

SMACNA Christmas Party

Our "Prom Picture." Notice the hands positioned so nicely.
The charming Safety man.


We don't get out much : )

Also known as mom and dad's night out. Travis was invited by his company to attend this fancy event at the Seattle Marriott. We took the opportunity to get all dressed up, get a baby sitter, and enjoy some adult time out of the house.



We had a great time visiting with Travis's co-workers and colleagues in the field. The food and drinks are always amazing at this event. I have to admit, I did worry a bit about Lexie after about 2 hours there...knowing she would get tired and want to nurse before bed. However, she did great with Nana and Papa Brock and we returned a little after 10pm to find her sound asleep in Papa's lap. I am sure she had as much fun as we did!

Shop till we drop....

Papa and the girls....one of their many cruises on the car!

Lexie and Maggie

We headed up to the Seattle Premium Outlets in Marysville for some Christmas bargins. Nana and Papa Brock joined us, as well as Aunt Rachel, Aunt Laura, and cousin Maggie. It was a rainy day but we still managed to have fun. Papa kept Lexie and Maggie busy by depositing lots of quarters in to the rides : )


My favorite find here was the Stride Rite Outlet for kiddos...they seem to be the best quality shoes and they were already discounted plus buy 1 get 1 half off. If you know Lexie, you know she loves her shoes!

Thanksgiving & 4 year wedding anniversary

We had a great time celebrating Thanksgiving with The Garwood's in

Olympia this year! It also fell on our 4th Wedding Anniversary : ) So much to be thankful for.....

Checking on Pops...not sure if he is jetleged or just really full from Turkey
"Are you okay there, Pops?"

"Let's get the Holiday season started."

Pops and Lex

A little Apples to Apples...Viet, Kelsey, Trav, Chris and Brittany (Chris's girlfriend)

2nd Annual Ikea trip

Lexie and Reece after a successful shopping trip.

Girls having fun in kids section.

The BFF's ready to head home.

My friend Aimee and her daughter Reece (12 months) went up to Ikea with us for our 2nd annual shopping trip. Last year, both of the girls were only weeks old and thus slept, ate, and pooped the whole time we were there. This year, they were very opinionated on what they would like to do and see. Both of them were super well behaved. Ikea is such a family/kid friendly place, the girls loved to play in the kiddie area. It is so much more fun to do the Ikea experience with our buddies and we can't wait till next year!

Sleeping Beauty

Well it took 13 months but yes, that little girl of ours is finally sleeping through the whole night. It only took 2 nights of "crying it out." Which if you are a parent and have tried it, you know that 10 minutes feels like an eternity. In the end it is what worked for us. I had read a lot on the subject of sleep and the book that helped me the most was, "Secrets of the Baby Whisperer for Toddlers" by Tracey Hogg.
It is amazing what a full night sleep can do for a mom and toddler. We both wake up so much happier and full of energy. But most importantly, I am glad she is developing more healthy sleep habits. Next up, getting her completely weaned off breastfeeding and finding a way to sleep through Travis's loud snoring : )

Rally for Dino

Lexie and I went to our first political rally, for Dino Rossi (running for WA state gov.) Travis and I have been huge fans of Dino since he last ran in 2004. When he won the vote count twice, then somehow votes showed up for his opponent and he lost the race. Yes, we think it is as fishy as it sounds.
Dino had some excellent ideas for the state and is such a strong fiscal conservative. It was a blast getting to cheer him on. There were also several other politicans who were running for office there, so it was nice to put a face to a name. Lexie was waving and clapping the whole time. Afterward, Dino took a minute to meet us and he was so nice!
The day after the election was so hard on me, I had prepared myself for some of the other race outcomes but I was totally bummed about Dino losing to someone who has been so ineffective! And she annoys me.

Our cute 13 month old

She loves her Garwood Grandparents!

My dad took these adorable pictures of Lexie while we were down in Olympia celebrating all the October Birthdays (Kelsey, Travis, and I.)

Harvest Party

On Halloween, we took our little lamb to the church Harvest Party. She was running around the whole time having a blast. She kept trying to cut in front of the "big kids" to shoot basketballs at one of the stations, luckily all of the kids were patient and kind to her : ) They also had made a huge slide that I took her down, it was a total thrill for both of us.

"The slide"