Friday Night Photo Dump | October - December 2014

The last three months were a whirlwind of holidays and fun (and a complete lack of sleep). Below are the random pictures from my phone from October, November, and December that haven't yet made it on the blog [some may accidentally be repeats (see: complete lack of sleep)].

A fun night out at the "Don a Mask, Uncover a Cure" masquerade charity event benefiting the Lymphoma Research Foundation. 

Josh and I enjoyed a fabulous sixth anniversary dinner at Stock & Barrel. We ate so...much...food. (Thanks to my Mom for babysitting in a house with no power for several hours!)

Obligatory pumpkin patch photo. She picked out some good ones.

**Sorry if the next picture is on the TMI side, but it had to be documented.** 

Our toddler who has never required much baby-proofing nor put much of anything in her mouth decided it would be a good idea to put this rolled up piece of paper up her nose. Right before we were about to meet some friends at the Arboretum. Lovely. 

Luckily I was able to get it out in a very MacGyver fashion using a bobby pin.

Go Frogs!!

You've got to love a little humor at the office.

Ava's first Starbucks (hot chocolate).

And if this picture isn't a glimpse of what she is going to look like as a sassy teenager, I don't know what is.

Napping with Papa.

Ava had a blast strutting her stuff down the red carpet at Kate & Ellie's birthday party. She has talked about the "tall heels" ever since. 

Her first face painting session at their school's fall festival. It was really cool except for the gallon of glitter on top.

Pumpkin painting (in shorts and flip flops thanks to the unseasonably warm Texas weather). 

And carving.

Josh is a master pumpkin carver.

But Rylan was #notimpressed.

Their Halloween outfits for school. 

Fall was extra colorful in Dallas this year.



Rylan will sleep really well in your arms. In his bed...not so much.

My candidates may not have fared very well, but my voice was heard.

This picture was taken at 10:00 PM. Our kids don't like to sleep.

And when they do, it might be in strange places. 

She insisted upon holding both his hands. Be still my heart.

My handsome gents.

A totally appropriate amount of wine for our girls' night out to see The Hunger Games. #teamgaleforever

Ava was not impressed by the castle Josh built. Toddlers.

Do yourself a favor and visit The Blind Butcher ASAP. Josh and I went for a date night recently, and it may be our new favorite Dallas restaurant. Pictured below are the amazing cheese board and duck fat fries. Not pictured: their amazing selection of bourbon and the best Brussels sprouts I've ever eaten.

While my tummy was particularly happy that evening, someone else came down with a nasty bug in the middle of the night. And camping out on the floor of your bathroom on a Saturday night is a totally different experience as a parent.

It was a super rough night spent going back and forth between caring for Ava and nursing Rylan. Luckily, with my Mom in town, I was able to treat myself to a fresh manicure and a white chocolate mocha the next day...the cure for just about anything (carbs + red wine have the same effect).

We bridged the holiday gap with pumpkin-flavored Christmas tree pancakes. 

Enjoying a beautiful fall day at the park.

This little dude enjoyed the weather as well. 

Bringing home our first real Christmas tree!

I have become quite adept at moving her from this chair to her bed.

Rylan's teachers have mad skills when it comes to handprint crafts. I will keep this ornament forever and always. 

There is something so magical about sitting outside by the fire.

This guy loves bath time.

Ava was so excited about her school Christmas presentation.

Christmas donuts for Ava and Rylan's teachers. 

Those lashes though!

First post-baby margarita. #onceithitsyourlips

According to my husband, his beard outweighed the girliness of his drink. 

All the wonderful Christmas cards we received. It was so hard to take them down. 

And just like that, the holiday season is over and it's on to a new year of adventures.

Christmas 2014 | Part Two

As I mentioned in the last post, I came down with some sort of lovely stomach bug on Christmas night and was feeling like a complete mess the next morning, but we had places to go and people to see...namely all my family in Austin.

So, we loaded up the car to head down 35. However, when we were literally minutes from my Mom's house, some jerk ran a red light, slammed into my car, and then proceeded to leave the scene. Uggggggh. Luckily everyone was fine, but needless to say it was not a good day.

All was better the next day when we celebrated at Grampsie and Nana's house. We chowed down on Mexican food, opened all sorts of fun presents, and spent lots of quality time with the fam. 

The next day, we celebrated at Bunny and Nello's house and soaked up the last moments of the Christmas season.

Mimi joined us for a bit, and this series of photos is everything...

We had such a wonderful weekend, and all the Christmas fun finally caught up with Little Miss No Naps :).

Josh had to fly back to Dallas on Sunday night, but since the kids' school was closed the following week, I worked from my firm's Austin office for a couple days so they could hang out with my family.

This also gave me the chance to see some of my favorite friends. I spent one night visiting Lauren and Jacob at their beautiful new house and another at a fabulous dinner with Lolly. We tried a relatively new place called Parkside, which was amazing!

After all that fun, it was time to head back to Dallas to celebrate New Year's Eve by sipping champagne on the couch in our pajamas. My how times have changed…but I wouldn't have it any other way :).