New Year's to Today!

We four Bucks celebrated a joyous Christmas and then rang in the new year. Caden went to bed at 7:00 (his normal bedtime) and Isla went down around 8:30. I'm working towards the same bedtime for both of them. Caden goes to bed so early simply because he's ready for bed at that time. He is an occasional napper and most days is awake from 7:30 am to 7:00 pm. He's completely exhausted by 7:00 so he goes to bed. On a nap day he goes to bed around 8:30 but then still gets up early! Anyways, let's get off that rabbit trail...so Caden and Isla went to bed and Nathaniel and I stayed up until midnight. But we were watching episode after addicting episode of The Blacklist. We didn't do a countdown, kiss at midnight, or even watch the ball drop. We sat with our eyes glued to the glory that is The Blacklist. And it was awesome haha 

On New Year's Day we went to a friend's house to watch football. The kids and I stayed for just an hour because my parents had finally arrived in town!!! They were only able to stay a short time but we had so much fun!!! 

Mimi, Papa, and the gang! Here's a fun Buckling fact: when Caden was about 15 months old he would repeat the end of a word twice. So when we would refer to my mom as "Grammy" Caden would say "me me". It was so so so cute!! She became known as Mimi after that:) I thought it was so cute and unique but apparently lots of grandmas are called Mimi. My dad was "Grampy" at first. Buuuuuttttt Caden would call him "pee pee". So yea, "pee pee" got changed to "Papa" real quick. 

Aunt Hayhay!!

A mommy and Blair donut date to the best donut shop on the face of the planet. 

While they were visiting the heavens blessed us with eight inches of snow!!

My babies in their makeshift snow gear. What's the point of buying snow pants and boots for awesome weather that doesn't last?? And yes, I'm in my pajamas. No, it wasn't almost one o'clock in the afternoon...ok, yes it was. 

They love Papa!!! And I know he adores them :) 

Mimi and her babies!

Sadly, my parents had to leave. I guess my dad had to work and Haley had to go to school or something like that. We miss you!!!

After they left we had a few very normal days. Caden had his very first gymnastics class! But every picture I took is blurry. I'll take some good ones at his next class!! Here's Caden and Isla enjoying some strawberries. I cut the strawberries up for Caden but Miss Isla reached over and snatched one. She ended up being a huge fan :) 

I won this fabulous wreath!!!! I'm in love. I can't wait to dress it up a bit more! 

So this picture makes me laugh every time I look at it. Caden gave Isla all her cupcakes. Some have cherries on top and some have bows on top. I heard her lips smacking and when I looked over I noticed that she had kicked away all the ones with bows on top and was surrounded by just the cherry topped ones. She was going to town on the cupcake and then it hit me. She was hungry. And the cupcake looks like a...well, you know...and she thought she could get food out of it!!! Nathaniel and I were dying. She's so cute!!! 

Typical tea party. Garbage trucks and hand saws always welcome. 

After all that normal cupcake eating and tea party crashing we loaded up and drove to Dallas! Actually, Mesquite, but whatever. We went out there because Nathaniel had a ticket to watch the Championship game between his team, the Oregon Ducks, and the Ohio State Buckeyes. Unfortunately, the Ducks lost :(  sad day for my babe. But he's resilient and got over his (their) distressing loss. He's still a duckie!! And so is Caden! 

More important than the game was the visits we made to my great grandma. She will be 89 years old this year! She's a pretty amazing woman. I so thankful that I got to see her again and that my babies got to meet her. I called my mom and she said something really cool. She said that it's crazy that HER grandma gets to meet HER grandchildren (HER=my mom). How awesome is that?! We spent two days with Grandma Rob and loved every minute. She regaled us with stories and pictures from the past, she delighted Caden with a tickle fight (she's surprisingly agile for an 89 year old woman!!), and brought squeals of laughter from sweet Isla. I wish I had more memories with her. And I wish my memories with her were not so tainted by the teenage moodiness of my younger days. She's a wonderful lady and I'm proud to know her. I hope and pray that we can see her again. Saying goodbye to her was one of the hardest things I've had to do in a long time. Just not knowing if you'll ever see a loved one again in this lifetime is hard to deal with. But we made the most of our time and I will cherish those memories. 

Showing Grandma Rob his Buzz Lightyear

 Getting kisses from Grandma!!

Caden loved her little old rocking chair! And I loved the story behind it!

Look at that smile! People can't help but smile when holding my Isla. She's so sweet! 

"Grandma Rob! Tickle my tootsies!"

A very fussy Isla being soothed by her sweet Grandma 

I had to take a selfie with my great grandmother! haha at least it turned out well! 

Oh, Caden. Always so silly. 

It was so wonderful to see her!! It was also wonderful to go to Target and just browse. Caden and Isla were surprisingly cooperative and calm in Target. I ate a ton of delicious food that I probably shouldn't have but I enjoyed every bite. We went to Chick-fil-a and I almost died of ecstasy. I loooooovvvvveeeee that tasty chicken. Caden played for a long while in the play area and we went to the mall where he played some more there. (This is all happening between visits to my grandma.) I spent a small fortune funding my addiction (Bath and Body Works soap. I need to go to B&BW anonymous) and then we drove home. We really had a great time!! It was short visit but full of fond memories. 

Now things are getting back to normal with Nathaniel back at work (except he has a four day weekend right now!!) and me with our babies. I love our normal. I love my little family. The end. :)