Happy New Year!

 We hosted a family-friendly new year's party (at this point it was so much easier for people to come to us rather than us venture out.  Well, it still is!!)  It was so much fun!  Good friends, yummy food, and excellent conversation :)

 Henry, Henry and Eli

 Lou and Bea in their party outfits

 Henry closed out the party with mom and dad :)  

(and now I'm caught up through 2013!)

Aubrey Mae

 We got to spend a few days with Aubrey right after Christmas as Derek and Carmen went to Mexico for a 30th birthday bash/honeymoon (Yes! Derek and Carmen finally tied the knot early December at the sweetest little ceremony in Austin.  I am so happy to officially call Carmen a sister!!).  The boys had a blast with Aubrey here- and she was a nice little entertainer/distraction for them.  Just what this mama needs at times.

 Bathtub fun

 Bouncy house fun!

Grandma came to help with all the kids (and read them lots of books!)

Oh, Charlie!

 Still-not-napping-Charlie got lots of rides in the car . . . 

. . . and in the stroller to put him to sleep over the holidays! 

Christmas Day!

 Santa was very good to the Parks kids :)  They must have been on his "nice" list.

 Henry on Christmas morning

 Charlie on Christmas morning

 The "big" gift was their fire house and fire trucks- a huge hit!

 We eventually made it down to A-town for the big Swank Christmas.  Santa stopped by and Charlie was more than happy to snag another gift (boys got personalized super hero capes!).

 Henry giving Santa a fist bump

 Beatrice Lynn

 Louise Margaret

My cutie patooties in their Christmas day outfits.  Thanks, Auntie Jennie, for the adorable tutu jammies! (I'll admit, the photos were taken mid-January.  You guessed it, I forgot to take some on Christmas day . . . noticing a theme?!?!)

Christmas Eve!

 My sweet babies on Christmas Eve night

 We continued our tradition of eating a "snacky" dinner in our jammies in front of the tree :)  The boys think it's pretty darn neat!

 Our family of six

 We opened gifts from each other

 Charlie LOVED the tractor that Henry picked out for him!

 Excited boy!

Mom explaining the bug magnet game :)

As always, we had such a fun family night on Christmas Eve!

(We celebrated Christmas with Grandma Mary and Aunt Anne earlier that day.  I forgot my camera and apparently Tom didn't take any photos on his phone either :(  At any rate, we had a nice time celebrating with them- the boys loved playing in their basement with Tom's old toys and opening gifts, of course!)

Snuggle time with mom!

 Apparently 3 out of the 4 needed a little mama lovin'!  Sure do love to cuddle my kiddos!

Christmas with the Mullenbachs

 So I took zero photos of Christmas with my family!  These are the ones Tom took on his phone!  

We had a great time celebrating Christmas- the kids played so well together!  I love that my boys and their cousins are so close in age.  They are all such good buddies :)

 Grandma Debbie got all the kids their own sleeping bags with their name on them . . . a huge hit! :)  

I love practical gifts!

Holidazzle!

 Tom and I were able to take the boys on a much-needed mommy/daddy date to dinner and the holidazzle parade!  We met some friends for a quick bite to eat and then headed to the parade!

 Auntie Jennie happened to text me a picture of her girls at the parade so we joined them at their front row spots!  The boys (and Brynn and Cara) LOVED the parade . . . so sad this was the last year for it!

 I went home to be with the babes but Tom stayed in a hotel downtown with the boys.  The highlight of the night was the shower with all the shower heads!!

What cuties!

(It all went down hill from here . . . boys were quite the pickles for Tom but eventually they all fell asleep.  They were up and home by 9 the next morning!!)

Annual Gingerbread House

 Grandma Debbie helping the boys with their annual house :)

And later, helping mom mix up some chex mix!  Nothing says "holidays" like chex mix!!

Christmas Tree Fun!

 This is really terrible, but I don't even remember getting our tree this year!  I'm pretty sure we got it from the same nursery we did in the past.  At any rate, here are my boys stringing the lights!

 Bea and Lou loved the twinkly lights :)

 Charlie became attached to our advent snowman and snuggled in front of the tree!

 Sweet Bea in front of the tree!

 (Apparently, I didn't take any of sweet Lou- doesn't mean I love you any less, Lou!!)

Our Elf, Carrot, make his appearance in our tree as well!

Winter exercise!

 I'm thinking it was early December when the girls started using the exec-saucer!  I love this stage and they are contained and entertained :)

Wish Bone

Boy working hard at pulling the wish bone apart from our Thanksgiving turkey!  Pretty sure it shattered . . . does that mean they both got their wish?  Or neither of them got a wish?!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 Well, I managed to take about 5 pictures on Thanksgiving . . . not on top of things like I used to be :) Lou and Bea pictured above in their pretty outfits.  

We had Grandma Mary and Aunt Anne to our house for a Thanksgiving lunch this year before we headed down to Austin at nap time to spend the night with my mom.

 Bea

 Lou

 We stopped at Great Grandma Marcie's on our way into town and she pulled out a basket of toys for the kids to play with.

 Love this beautiful photo of Beatrice

 Kids table at Grandma Debbie's

And the annual cousin pic:

Charlie (2), Emry (2), Beatrice (3 mo), Brynn (6 1/2), Nolan (5), Louise (3 mo), Aubrey (4), Henry (4), and Cara (4)