Merry Christmas!

What a merry, merry Christmas we've had!

Thursday night we started it all with a visit to our church for a live nativity. On Christmas Eve Randy made it home in time for us to make it to the 4 p.m. candlelight service, which was a TRUE blessing :) What a great way to start the celebration of Jesus' birth! After church, we had dinner with Randy's dad and grandma. Then off to bed for Remi Roo so Santa could make his visit! And boy oh boy...Remi was GOOOOOOD, because Santa overdid it!! Christmas morning, Remi was excited by all the gifts Santa had left for her and quickly became overwhelmed and said "no more presents!" We took a little break for some breakfast and she must've recharged because she then said..."more presents!" Dora the Explorer was the big hit in our house this year...with a quad, jammies, slippers, ball pit and baby Boots...all from Remi's favorite show! We still have her stocking hung by the chimney with care because she was just too tired to do that too. This week we'll take care of that :)

We joined our friends, the Nelson's, at their home for Christmas dinner. Wonderful food, friends and good times! Of course, Remi was in heaven playing with her BFF, Audrey, and ending the night with a fun bath together! Those girls...such entertainment!!

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. We did!!! Looking forward to a week off with Remi. Hoping for a snow day so we can play outdoors and break in the new sled :)

Happy New Year!!

Christmastime in Clawson!

Christmas Eve is upon us, and this past weekend we embraced the holiday...baking cookies, making homemade ornaments and sitting on the big guys lap!

Saturday - Remi made ornaments with Audrey, Jackson, Max & Lola. What fun!! Remi wasn't that thrilled, but Audrey & Jackson LOVED it! What a great time, and I plan to make this a tradition...so get ready Sally & Mike! ;)




On Sunday, we took Remi to visit Santa and to our amazement....NO TEARS! Don't get me wrong though, she was totally aware he was there and that he was a stranger, but for the most part...happy to see the big guy!!





We are getting very excited for Christmas and the excitement we will see in our daughter's eyes. Festivites fill our week with a visit to our church on Thursday for a live nativity, Christmas Eve service and then celebration of Jesus' birth with family and friends! My sister and fam arrive on Sunday for a week of post-Christmas fun...can't wait to see them and spend time with them!!!

So - from our home to yours, Merry CHRISTmas!

Cupcakes...Brownies...and Snowglobes...OH MY!

Today was Remi's class party at daycare. I attended the Halloween party and it was so much fun, I volunteered to make cupcakes and take Roo to hang out with her pals for a Christmas party. Unfortunately, I was the only parent that attended :( but I had a great time and the kiddos seemed to like that I was there...often piling on top of me to read a book to them! SO CUTE!!!

Remi's teachers, Ms. Intisar and Ms. Stephanie are great teachers. They went on and on about how smart our Remi is. [BIG SMILE!!] I know I was the only one they could gush to, but I truly believe they were being honest ;) We snacked...read books, enjoyed more storytime...and then made snowglobes! It was a great time!

We are very happy with the facility we chose to watch after our most precious gift, day in and day out! Over the past 7 months, they have become such a part of our lives...and they are so kind and teaching her so much!

At this time of year, you are reminded of the things that you are so grateful for....faith, family, children, jobs, etc. I am thankful for the 13 months I was home with Remi, I am also thankful that I returned to work. In the same breath, I am extremely grateful that I am given the opportunity to work a 4-day week so I can have one day per week to be "just the girls!" and enjoy days like today!!!

Here are some pics from our day...

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

We had our first snow of 2010 today. We didn't waste any time and suited up little Roo and headed outside after lunch for a some fun winter fun! For the most part, Remi did great, despite not napping! She took a couple breaks to go inside, but immediately wanted to back out again.

I didn't grow up with this, and to me it's so exciting, still now even after living here for nearly 11 years. I've built snowmen, not many, and none like this! :)

Here are some pics of our day.

19 Mos and FULL OF LIFE!

Although I posted last night, I thought I would share some of the latest Rooisms at her 19 month mark!

-27ish lbs.
-talking like crazy...
-can name all the kids in her daycare class..."isten (Tristen), ibby (Libby), abby, kenzie (Makenzie)..." it's nothing but cuteness!!
-knows the start of the ABCs, but we only get to D
-favorite song: The Wheels on the Bus
-TOTALLY OBSESSED with Dora the Explorer!! I try to limit it, but she LOVES it and asks for "DD" as soon as she wakes up!
-LOVES puzzles! -LOVES books! -when you walk ahead of her, she's behind you saying "i comin'!"
-not a big eater, but not a real picky eater either (thank goodness, 'cause her daddy is!)
-is definitely our tiny dancer...dancing to any music that she hears!
-"baby alcatraz" aka our baby gate seperating our kitchen from our quad level home has been removed. she's doing great going up and down the stairs and is learning her boundaries. we, however, are learning what needs to be re-babyproofed!
-LOVES LOVES LOVES her daddy! has a major crush on him ;)
-is a big helper with buck, often saying "Buck...COME!" and helping daddy feed him and when asked "home many scoops does buck get?" she quickly responds..."TWO!"
-has started to give her opinion on what she wears....oh no! -her hair is finally long enough to put in a "ponytail" - it's not really, but a rubber band finally works!! :)
-says TOUCHDOWN! and throws her hands up in the air. this came in handy today as auburn wrapped up their regular season being undefeated! (war eagle!!!)

Life is GOOD at the Partin's and we can't wait for this holiday season. Remi Roo is so much fun, these days especially. She's got such a little personality that each day is a learning experience :)

Gobble! Gobble!

We have so much to be thankful for and we were surrounded by family to remind us today! My parents arrived from Alabama on Thursday last week and we've enjoyed tons of Remi Roo time this week.

Today, we did a lot of this...



and enjoyed times like this...



and more of this...



and tons of giggling at this...



and made lots of memories like this...



and most of all, enjoyed giving thanks for our biggest blessing of all...



Happy Thanksgiving to all! Let the Christmas season begin ;)

Trick-or-Treat!

Our little duckie did great trick-or-treating for the first time :) She loved it...really taking charge of the situation and going for it! Nothing was too much for our little duckie! Here are some pics from Remi's first trick-or-treat :)

i love you!

Just had to share :) Remi's talking via Skype to my sister, niece and nephew in Alabama and melts my heart!!

Our baby's growing up! 18 months come and gone!

Our little Remi Roo is growing like a weed and her personality is blossoming more and more every single day. She LOVES to dance, isn't shy in the least bit and is talking more and more. She doesn't even need music to dance. I can just "sing" a little ditty and she's boucing around like crazy. She's 26ish lbs. and...tall! We go to the doctor on Friday, but I wanted to post today...so the stats are going off of memory :) We love to ask her animal sounds and she will make the sound for us. It's so cute! She learned to say "trick or treat" and that is just as cute! She has a true LOVE for reading books...they are her favorite! She will sit forever just pulling them off the shelf, stacking them, opening them and turning all the pages. I'm so proud! She's also getting more and more into puzzles. Tonight, she and I put together four puzzles. She's so smart!! I'm just so happy to have her learning and growing so much! We're so blessed.

On Friday, we went to the Hoogah Boogah show with friends. Remi loved the show and kept us all laughing. She's quite the little entertainer. The kids didn't quite know what to make of the characters, but once the music started...Remi was SOLD! on the idea :) Here are some pics of our little boogah! :)

Pumpkin Pickin'

Yesterday we went pumpkin pickin' wtih friends and enjoyed all the other Fall festivities that come along with a visit to Westview Orchards. We started with the pillow bounce. At first she wasn't so sure...but once she got a hang of it, she LOVED it! She laughed and laughed and fell a ton, but just got back up and kept bouncing. We then moved on to enjoy some cider and doughnuts, which she ALWAYS loves! Then, the petting zoo. She's quite the little animal lover!! The goats were surrounding her and some kids would be scared to death...not Remi, this just made her smile even more. At one point, the goats were all over Randy and Remi wanting a taste of the food they were offering...literally, one little guy even climbing on Randy's back! THAT...was HALARIOUS!!! We then went on to the "straw mountain" - a 30 foot tall stack of hay bales, which Remi & Daddy climbed all the way to the top, a couple of times actually. We wrapped up our amazing orchard visit in the pumpkin patch!! Remi got attacked by a pumpkin stem and the stem won, which didn't even phase her. She helped us pick our pumpkins...all four of them :)

What a beautiful day and we enjoyed seeing Remi interact with all the activites. I feel like I say this all the time...but it's true: she's turning into the quite the little girl! And she's so sweet, we're so blessed to have her in our lives :)

Dixieland Delight!

This past weekend we were fortunate enough to fly south and visit our family in Alabama. Boy, what a great visit!! We flew out before the sun came up on Thursday and arrived home well-past midnight Sunday night. We took advantage of every single second with family this trip!!

We were able to visit with both my Nannie and Grandmother, what a fun time that was! They enjoyed seeing how much Remi has changed over the past 13 months and she enjoyed entertaining the crowd with her ever-growing vocabulary and oh-so-adorable dance moves! :) She's quite the little charmer these days!! She's talking nonstop and repeating most all words. Tonight she even said alligator!! She LOVES music! You could sing ANYTHING and she'll bounce to the "tune" :)

While in Sweet Home, we also got to visit with some of my long-time friends and their families. The kiddos had a great time playing with one another while the parents got to catch up since our last visit last September. We also celebrated my nephew Chandler's 15th birthday! Hard to believe he is driving now! WOW!

Here are some pics from the trip. Looking forward to upcoming Fall festivities and Halloween! We are also heading the Disney on Ice show on Saturday...so check back next week ;)










And what's a trip to Alabama without a pic of Remi and D-daddy catchin' a nap!