Holidays 2012 Part 1

The holidays have past, its been a couple months since my last update, and here we are welcoming in 2013.  It's a quiet night for our family and that is fine by me.  Both kids are asleep, there is a fire in our fireplace, and Kevin and I are watching Return of the Jedi for what may be the thousandth time.  It seems like a good time to get organized and finally share some pictures and stories.

As I may have complained here in the past, it is very hard to capture a good picture of both Hope and Jack at the same time.  They are both so busy and on the move and one of them is always reaching for the camera or my phone whenever I try to get them to smile simultaneously.  Mid November, we turned to a professional with the hope of some good Xmas card photos and an updated Hope/Jack duo shot for the grandparents' Xmas gifts.

Here are some of my favorites.  Jack was a handful that afternoon.  A lot of the shots are of him running away from us and the camera . . . so I was very pleased with the outcome.  Many thanks Bonnie!

 This one (below) was my second choice for the back of our Xmas card.  If you click on the picture, it will get larger and you can see how cute Hopie is.  Not that all the other pictures don't give off that impression as well . . . while Jack was running around like the crazy two year old he is, Hope decided she really liked our photographer Bonnie and was a smiling little princess.

From this, you would think it would be easy to get the two of them to sit nicely next to each other on a park bench.  Trust me . . . it's not!

 Classic Jack

 This might be the only time he smiled upon our request the entire shoot.  It's the best smile ever so totally worth it!

 This was our pick for the grandparents shot. 

The month of December started off with a bit of traveling for me.  I attended my first Foundation for Angelman Syndrome Therapeutics Gala in Chicago.  One of my Colby BFFs Hillary met me there from Seattle to act as be my date.  We had an awesome weekend in my old city and a lot of fun getting to meet some other Angelman parents from all over the country.  Deep dish pizza, brunch at Nookies, Wildfire steaks, and so much more -- the perfect start to the holiday season!

Here we are all dolled up for the gala.

 Here's Hill after a successful night at the silent auction.  Who doesn't need a Kate Spade tennis racquet bag?  Especially if its benefiting a good cause and everything!!!  Thanks Hill!

We found a Santa at the NICU reunion party and opted for a quick photo.  Kevin decided we not traumatize Hope like last year (click here) so I joined the picture to keep things calm.  Jack didn't know what was going on, but does look awfully cute. Next year, we'll work on teaching him that this guy in the red suit is the one who brings all the gifts under the tree . . .

Just a cute candid of my clan after the NICU party

My annual tradition of Xmas PJs . . . drinking their milk = only time they are both sitting still.

Keep your eyes out for Holidays 2011 Part # which I hope to get up later this week.  I have a few additional pictures and stories from our actual Xmas celebrations to share.