Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Shaw family!  

It's certainly been a different kind of Christmas.

It's hard to believe how Christmas and traditions transpire year after year, some good, some bad, but still Christmas none the less.  I'm ready for something new. But for now, a look back at Christmas!

 Christmas 2012

  

Christmas 2013

 

 

Christmas 2014

My birthday!

On the 15th, I celebrated my 29th birthday.  It's my last year in my twenties!  And, I must say, it wasn't as miserable of a birthday as I imagined it would be. Birthdays are a significant milestone, meant to be celebrated, and I've been a pretty lucky girl when it comes to celebrations.  Last year was a major, major adjustment to celebrate my birthday.  It was much different than years passed.  This year I celebrated with good friends the day before with dinner at Hula Hut- a fav!, dessert at Mozarts with a Christmas light show and on my birthday while at work got a little surprise from my employees,a dozen of the most gorgeous long stemmed roses from an amazing friend, and dinner with Mike's parents. It was overall a really good day!

Even more than it being my birthday, and it just being a different kind of day, 9 years ago, Mike and I met in person for the first time.  This, of course, after he stood me up on our first date. We were practically babies back then!

 

Thought I would share some previous birthday pics for fun:

My 21st birthday at Baby Aculpulco and some margaritas, followed by my first trip legally down 6th street, 

followed by the next day going on my first cruise as a surprise from Mike!

 

 

 

7 years ago- Dinner at Chuys followed by the Trail of Lights, when the Trail of Lights wasn't a crazy disaster!

 

And many, many fun birthday dinners out with Mike and good friends!

Ok.. Who did it??

Who took my sweet, innocent, cuddly, babies:

And turned them into feisty, strong-willed, busy, independent toddlers???

Kids just celebrated turning 19 months old last week.  

They are getting SO big.  They are no longer itty bitty babies, but more like real people, albeit still little people.  Their vocabulary is exploding, they are on the move CONSTANTLY, they follow directions when told (and not utilizing their selective hearing skills!), they want to help with everything you're doing, and they are just bursting at the seems with their personalities.  

19 months old is an incredibly fun, yet exhausting age!

We went to go see Santa last weekend.  A brief recap of last year where visiting Santa was no big deal!

We went 50-50 this year!  Still, if you ask Michael if he wants to go see Santa he shakes his head no and says "No, no, no, no, no".  Traumatized, much? lol

Besides, Madison's precious smile while visiting Santa, what I love about this picture is that Madison is wearing MY baby dress from my Christmas when I was 2 years old!  I'm so in love with her so dressed up and to have her in my dress! 

 I put her in my dress, last December 2013, me in the dress in 1987, and my sweet Madison this year, December 14, 2014. Does she look like she is related to me?!?!  ;)  I certainly don't think I can deny her!

I can hardly believe my babies are growing up soooo fast and Mike is missing every bit of it.  How is it that they are now closer to 2, than they are from when they turned 1?!  Slow down time, I need just a little longer with them as my babies!