i'm THIRTY! THIRTY years old!

i have the best best husband who made my birthday sooo special this year. he surprised by dropping me off at the spa for the day when i thought we were just going for coffee, and he surprised me again by picking me up with my parents in the car. we went to a japanese restaurant for dinner, then came home for cake. then he surprised me again with a hotel trip and AGAIN with a beautiful necklace. he is just the best, and it really was a perfect day. i am thankful for so many things, but mostly him and our family. i am happy to be 30 and i'm genuinely looking forward to getting older.

and happy new year

we had a fabulous 2012, and we're looking forward to what the new year brings. it's hard to believe that libby JUST started walking at the beginning of this year, and hannah graduated preschool and started kindergarten. we've made a lot of great memories together; here are a few of my favorite in a slideshow.

2012 from julie cottrell on Vimeo.

merry christmas!

the week before christmas this year the girls got both strep and the flu, so we spent christmas day resting in our pajamas, playing with new toys and watching christmas movies. santa brought lots of goodies, but the biggest gift was hidden in the garage: a brand new swingset! i know the girls are going to so enjoy playing outside on it when the weather warms up. i think hannah's favorite gift was her "makeup phone" and libby's was a minnie mouse doll.

visit with santa

every year our homeowners' association has a christmas dinner, and santa always makes a special appearance. hannah was excited to make her requests this year. she has the most girly christmas list ever - she really wants a jewelry box with some jewelry and some kind of toy phone filled with play makeup ("makeup phone" as she calls it; something she has seen at the neighbor's house). but libby wanted nothing to do with santa. she screamed at my request for her to sit in his lap so we could get a picture.

attempt at christmas card pictures

i thought it would be super cute to get the girls in christmas pajamas and get a shot of them reading a christmas book together. didn't work out exactly the way i had hoped. their pajamas from last year amazingly still fit - but barely. and libby just was not in a picture-taking mood. she would not cooperate for anything. still somehow managed to get a few good ones, but none that were christmas card worthy.

decorating for christmas

we got a new christmas tree this year! we've been needing a new one for a few years now, and we finally did it this year. i always love getting out the decorations and fixing up the house. my mom got me these new decorations for the mantel and i think they look so pretty. hannah was into decorating the tree, but libby was just fascinated with this one container of ornaments. when we were done with the tree the ornaments were all clustered together around hannah's eye level. i thought it was funny and charming, and left it that way for a few days before redistributing. 

thanksgiving

we had thanksgiving at walker springs this year. the girls enjoyed themselves where there was lots of room to run around. they got a kick out of seeing uncle dick's chickens. hannah ate about 8 desserts. libby enjoyed seeing lots of new faces and learned how to throw a frisbee.