We took Joe's brother, Mike, out for Birthday sushi last week and Mia had a blast perfecting her chopstick skills...

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Mia is officially potty trained!!  

She has been ready for awhile, but I wasn't.

 After Christmas, we put her in undies and decided that pull-ups were only allowed during bedtime.

 She has done AWESOME! It's actually been super easy.  

 She hasn't had any accidents outside of the house (thank goodness) and even went potty for her teacher at Sunday School.

 I know that we should be doing undies during naps and bedtime too but I'm already waking up too much with Naomi.  One more wake-up to change soiled bedding might set me over the edge.

 Mia is so quick to learn that she'll probably figure it out on her own

 She gets things the first time, remembers information after only being taught once and takes pride in being independent.

She is a lot like her daddy.

Joe and Mia took these photos last night after a major meltdown.  We went out to eat and Mia had a crazy temper tantrum when we left the restaurant.  Not sure exactly why, but she screamed all the way home, which resulted in her sister crying as well. Thank goodness we were only 10 min from home!  Last night totally caught us off guard because it has been awhile since she acted this.  Anyways, as I was putting Naomi to sleep, Joe was able to calm Mia down by having a little photo shoot on the computer. : )

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I came across a few more Christmas pictures that I wanted to post.  

Santa baby playing in the ball pit.

 Mia and Uncle Cody decorating the gingerbread house.  Mia LOVED this and worked very hard to make her house pretty.

 Joe, Nick, Cody, Colton and I all went skiing while my mom watched the girls.  

 It was my first time skiing since we moved here (about 4 years ago).

 The views are always breathtaking!

Grandma and Naomi

Uncles

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2012 was an exciting but challenging year.  With Joe being in grad school and welcoming Naomi in May, this past year was our most challenging as a married couple.  It feels good to know that we pulled through together and along the way made some great memories.  I have a feeling that 2013 will be full of accomplishment and adventure. 2013 will include Joe's graduation, our 5 year wedding anniversary and Naomi's 1st birthday.  I am hoping to strengthen friendships, get more sleep, be a better homemaker and most of all, be a better wife.  I'm also hoping that I can start exercising again. ; )

Here are the top 10 moments of 2012...click for the corresponding blog post.

Top 10 of 2012

10. Mommy and Me Valentines Party
9. MN visit/Kari's wedding
8. Joe's International trip to Turkey and Israel
7. Mia transitioning to a big girl bed
6. Mentor teaching job
5. Family trip to Oregon
4. Joe buying his first BMW
3. Family visiting for Christmas
2. Mia's zoo themed 2nd birthday
1. Naomi's birth

My favorite picture from 2012

Happy New Year!!!

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Naomi's first Christmas!

 

 Mia slept in and Joe actually woke her up because we were all a little anxious. : )

 Uncle Colton and Naomi

Mia had so much fun opening all of her gifts

and, x Naomi had so much fun eating all of her gifts.

 Jake, Mike, Colton, Cody and Nick

 Cody with his new camera.

 Uncle Jake got Mia pom poms, which were a HUGE hit!

 

We kept the breakfast tradition of Panera bagels and egg bake for breakfast.

 Mia told Great Grandma Mooney that she wanted two babies for Christmas and that is exactly what she got.  After Mia opened her first baby, she had to multi-task with a baby in one arm the rest of the morning.  She is going to be a great mommy someday.

 

Colton opening his big gift...a picture of a TV (it was too big to bring on the airplane)

 Christmas chaos. We had to be a little neater this year since Naomi tried to eat everything in sight.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!!  We sure did!  Thank you to everyone that sent gifts; Joe and I were blown away by your generosity. We are so blessed to have all of you in our lives.

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Since my family and Joe's brothers, Jake and Mike, were here for Christmas, we decided to do something special for everyone. We did a limousine Christmas light tour!  We kept it a surprise, so nobody knew what we were doing until they saw the limo outside.  : )

The gang and our ride.

 This house had its own radio station and the lights moved to the music...it was so cool.  We watched for quite awhile.

 These people were braving the cold to play Christmas songs outside in the driveway.  I love the Christmas spirit!

Christmas Eve

We didn't take a lot of pictures this year, probably due to the fact that we had two little girls to keep up with and a lot going on.  However, we did have a super fun Christmas Eve!!  

All ready for church.

 Grandma and Mia

 Mia and her tutu

 Cody, Colton, Nick (step-dad) and Mom

 After church, we had dinner, followed by the dice game.

  

 It was so fun being able to attend the Christmas Eve service at our church this year and host Christmas Eve!

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