Look out world... two-year-old on the loose!

Jenna's birthday is two days after Christmas so we typically celebrate that first weekend in January.  That gives us a week to de-Christmas the house and prepare for the onslaught of family members!  Seriously though, we love having all of our family together, even if it is just twice a year for the kids' birthdays.
Our main project was to redecorate Jenna's room as our present to her.  We reconverted Ryan's train table back into a toddler bed, moved the rocking chair to our bedroom, rearranged the furniture, hung a new shelf, and added a fabulous new bookshelf (made by hand by my fabulous husband!).  Jenna really seemed to love it and it provided much needed room for the new items she got for Christmas.
The party was wonderful and Jenna was a pro at unwrapping everyone's gifts.  Everything was so thoughtful, just the right balance of books, clothes, and toys and she has read, worn, and played with it all!  I can't believe my baby girl is already two years old.  I looked back at last year's posts and it just seems like a completely different lifetime!  I've just got to keep remembering to cherish every day and tuck precious memories away (or blog about them!).

UPDATE:  Jenna has taken to her "big girl" bed pretty well and has even given up her pacifier!  We had some setbacks as the kids have both been sick for the past couple weeks but overall the adjustment went far easier than I thought it would.  So... here's hope for all you other parents out there - it can be done and you will survive!  :)

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We Wish You a Merry Christmas...

We had yet another wild whirlwind of a holiday season and here are some pics and videos to prove it!  This was the first year that Jenna really got into tree decoration.  Last year she didn't really care too much about the tree but this year she was all about trying to hang things (and remove them!).  Ryan is a pro so I shouldn't have been surprised at how upset he became when Jenna began taking down all the ornaments he had already hung.  We ended up only having ornaments on the top half of the tree due to Jenna's incessant need to take ornaments off, play with them, and discard them in odd places all over the house.

Yet again I was determined to send out a photo Christmas card and in an effort to save money took the photos myself and experimented with postcards instead of the traditional card+envelope approach (plus it makes me look environmentally conscious!).  The whole experience was a laugh riot and since I didn't get one good shot I decided to go with several "almost there" shots.  The one where they are running away from the camera was staged but I feel it pretty much sums up the whole experience.

Because we travel home for the holidays it has worked out fairly well to celebrate Christmas at our house on Christmas Eve morning.  (Ryan however is catching on to the Christmas hype and may not fall for it next year!)  We were all excited and Ryan woke up early (no surprise) and they both genuinely enjoyed all their gifts.  After presents Jon cooked us a big breakfast and we relaxed the rest of the day and prepared for the big trip to Clarksvegas.

 Jenna's Christmas

Ryan's Christmas

It's Christmas with the Shepherds!  We had a special treat this year because Diane Hodge was able to be there and so was Jerry, thanks to the miracle of technology!

It's Christmas with the Vertrees family!  We spent some time at my grandparent's house and then moved the festivities to Uncle Austin and Aunt 'Chelle's new house!  It was a long day but still a lot of fun.

The holidays hold a mix of emotions for us... work stress, travel stress, financial stress, excitement over gift giving and receiving, love for all of our family, and thankfulness for the blessings God has given us.  I'm truly thankful for our close knit families.  They are a support system I could never do without.  Merry Christmas everyone!

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Commencement...

I GRADUATED!!!!  In December I finished my Masters of Arts in Education in Curriculum and Instruction with a concentration in Instructional Technology (that's a mouthful!) and graduated with honors.  It was a long and interesting journey but totally worth it.  I was so happy to have several members of my family there to celebrate with me.  I completely teared up seeing my kids up in the bleachers waving at me - I didn't think I'd get so emotional!  I'm proud of myself for seeing it through and I'm so thankful to my family for their support and encouragement.

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