Riggs' First Christmas

 It's normal to post about Christmas almost a month late right? Well, we definitely had a lot of great moments in the month of December. 

The photos pasted into the blog in a crazy order. And, in the interest of time, I'm not going to re-arrange them so this is by no means chronological order, but they are fun nonetheless! 

We had a blast at the Seahawks game on 12/12/21 with the Glassman family. It was a beautiful sunny day and a wonderfully pleasant walk to the NRG stadium near our home. The event was made even better by getting to enjoy Washington grown apples sent to us by Ann and Tim!

Everyone was decked out in their hawks gear and enjoying the view!

Adler increased her level of bravery from last year and actually sat on Santa's lap. Meanwhile, Riggs just looked for his thumb and a place to nuzzle up. 

The Houston zoo lights did not disappoint. So much so, that we went TWICE! How lucky are we?

Oh- just to make this SUPER out of order, check out this big girl who just turned FOUR on January 7th. To celebrate, she had a cupcake party at school, a hand-made pancake by daddy at home on her birthday and a paw-patrol themed birthday with a few friends at home too! 

She was so excited about her "4" balloon, but there was so much to be excited about

Thanks to some willingness from dad to experiment, and a dad on Youtube, we had some pretty good Chase pup pancakes. 

Tom and Adler and Juju go to explore the kids museum while I was at school (and before Julia had to get to the airport. 

For Christmas this year, Adler was gifted something truly incredible -- a motorized GMC vehicle that she can cruise around the neighborhood in. As much as I'd like to say Riggs could join in on the fun, no one wants to have a 4 year old drive around a 9 mo old (without panicking of course). So, he is testing out the safer foot-pedaled variety. 

But check out this new ride!

Christmas with our little family was really magical. Seeing Christmas through the eyes of an excited almost-four-year old is really incredible.

Of course, this little man who just grins at everything also made it magical. 

He was a big fan of zoo lights

As were we.

The Lipperts gifted us an amazing experience too--we go to go ride the Polar Express! A dream come true for Adler that's for sure!

She loved getting all dressed in jammies and watching the story come to life.

But nothing can beat story time with nana and papa 

We're working on raising another Hawks fan, and you can see Riggs looks good in the gear :)

Adler got some AMAZING toys this year - especially this remote-control construction vehicle set that she can build/deconstruct/rebuild over and over. And it contains a remote control too!

Oh, and our little elf got two Santa experiences :) He's pretty darn cute if you ask me. 

And he loved his time with Auntie Ash!

Speaking of Auntie Ash, her and uncle Paul (and Tom) got to go and explore NASA while they were here too. how fun! 

Christmas morning Adler surprised Auntie K with a personalized gift - a hand-painted nutcracker! 

A lot of Adler's extra-curricular activities were cancelled recently because of COVID, but when she can, Adler loves getting all dressed up for soccer. 

And she loves her music class too (and Riggs got to listen in once too!)

Looking back, Adler really got what she had hoped for including a headlamp and a slip-n-slide. She's thrilled!

It took a lot of convincing to have her take down her Christmas tree from her room

She loved it so dearly. 

She definitely asked for more turkey despite having it for Thanksgiving (twice). We politely declined, but she made her own at the kids museum. 

Christmas Eve we joined an outdoor celebration and attempted candlelight service, but it was too breezy to keep them lit. But the idea was there, and it was beautiful regardless.

We had a lot of beautiful moments. the weather was quite often temperate, and the smiles were forthcoming. 

Getting the Christmas car in working order was a whole family affair, and Papa was up for the task.

Adler was so excited to have a Christmas program at her school and it was the cutest thing to see room full of matching children in their christmas jammies. 

Adler was thrilled and not at all scared to be up on stage!

Most recently, we got to celebrate a huge milestone for me -- taking (and fingers crossed, passing it too) the board certification examination for OB/GYN. What this means is that I had to take a 3-hour exam over zoom (usually it's in person) where I could be tested/questioned about any topic in all of obstetrics and gynecology and have to defend the treatment plan I make during the questions. Thanks to Great Grandma Bowler, we celebrated with some fancy ice cream as a family. Everyone was particularly happy because they finally get their mommy back...I've been buried in studying for WEEKS now, rushing off to my textbooks and computer after bed time and during nap-time. I can't believe how tired I was doing this since Halloween. Suffice it to say, it was a commitment! 

So, now we carry on into 2022 with a new set of hopes for a final 6-months of research before starting clinical work for 2 years. Life, and COVID, will likely keep us on our toes or turn us upside down, but, when it does, we'll just turn upside down too just to keep things even :).