Big Sister Date w/ Mommy

Mom's turn! Annabelle and I had so much fun on our little date and it made me realize how it could be one of our last outings with just one angel in my life... I might have teared up;) We pretty much did the exact same thing as her Daddy, which.... she now thinks is the only thing you do on a date-- shop, eat, play place). Enjoy some pictures & two videos, one of her packing a week's worth of the "essentials" for our date:)

Me & My Baby Angel

She took FOREVER to pick out the perfect outfit for her future "possibly" sister (we'll find out boy or girl very soon!) She'd say, "I like this one, no this one's better. Nope, my sister gonna wear this one!"

 Play Place- she was bossing around boys twice her age!

VIDEOS:
Annabelle Packing!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQTg1UxYgus

I'm a Big Sister!

Sincerely,                        

The Mother of One... 

for a few more weeks;)

Big Sister Date w/ Daddy

We are trying to "prep" Annabelle for our newest arrival (4 weeks left!!) and have come up with some fun ideas to get her excited on becoming a BIG SISTER! One of our ideas is to go on two "big sister dates," one with daddy then one with mom. Travis took Annabelle on their date Friday night and boy did she take is S.E.R.I.O.U.S.L.Y! Travis called from work to officially "ask her out" Friday morning and she talked about it ALL day. It was so adorable:)


Annabelle's Date Prep:
*"Mom, I need to take a bath and get all clean and then put piggy tails in my hair for date wif daddy!"
*She picked out at least 7 outfits- luckily I persuaded her to wear a matching one;)
*She packed her purse with all the essentials: 2 tubes of lip gloss & a credit card (a.k.a. Sam's club)

Trav said he was constantly trying to get Annabelle to consider a boy outfit, but she kept going back to the pink clothes. We have definitely raised a little Princess;)

After shopping, the obvious decision was McDonald's playplace!
Annabelle loved playing and not having to hear us say, "you need to eat before you can play."

Enjoy some videos!

Super excited for her date

Boy or Girl?

And my personal favorite: Travis asks, " What do Mommy's & Daddy's do on dates?"

Annabelle says, "They bring purses, fanny packs, and don't talk!"

Kids say the best stuff;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8jQi2-QGw0

Sincerely,         

Team Tolman

P.S. Mommy Date Coming Soon! 

2013 Resolutions (Let's Beat the "Typical Outcome!")

Since the world didn't end with the Mayan calendar, it's time to reflect on what we've accomplished (or didn't) in 2012 and then look forward to 2013 with hope, opportunity, and love.

 Typical Resolutions Timeline

January-- You are definitely, no questions asked, going to complete every goal you set!
February-- Ya might have missed a day or two but you're still going strong.
March-- You're doing awesome on some goals but waning on others. Although, still hopefully.
April-- You start to wonder if its even possible to accomplish every goal on your list, so you ditch the the "less important ones." (if you're like me you set a goal for each of life's categories: physical, spiritual, secular, mental, family, couple, financial)
May-- Summer is in full swing (if you live in Texas) and you're struggling to even remember majority of the goals you set! You're hope is pretty much gone by now, but the guilt you feel keeps you hanging on to one. last. goal. 
June-- By this point you've been on vacation and missed several weeks of accomplishing the one goal you have left. You try to pick up the momentum for a few days but finally decide- you can't accomplish them all, so let's just ditch them all!
July-- The trend stops here. You figure the year is half over so you might as well wait for next year to "try again."
August, September, October, November, December-- Life happens.
January-- The cycle begins again.

Team Tolman 2013 Goals

My dad gave us some of the best advice: Choose ONE GOAL a year. 
Now you're thinking, but I desperately need to lose 20 pounds, save more money, improve my relationship with my spouse, be more patient, finish painting my living room, take a family picture, and graduate from my 7-year college career?! Reality check. You will feel much more accomplished knowing you have completed a goal rather than setting too many and accomplishing none. Also realize you can (& should) set another goal after you've completed the first. Make this year simple. Set one goal. Do it. Feel accomplished.

Having said that, here are Team Tolman's 2013 Goals.
Travis- 100% Home Teaching (assigned monthly visits to members of our church)
Brittany- Officially graduate from BYU (one online class still lingering...)

Couple- Focus on saving 70% of our income (buying our first house here we come!)
Family- Weekly Family Home Evening https://www.lds.org/topics/family-home-evening?lang=eng

Wish us luck We can do this!            

Team Tolman

Just Us Christmas Morning (and our "almost" picture-perfect night!)

We had a blast with the whole family for Crossley Christmas, but since everyone needed to leave Christmas Eve we spent Christmas Day as JUST US... the Tolmans. It was fun being our own little family and opening gifts with our baby girl.

Decorating the Christmas Tree Adventure

       Go back a few weeks and I'll tell you ALL about decorating the family tree. Trav & I had a Hallmark image of how this event would go- we'd drink hot chocolate, listen to Christmas carols, Annabelle would happily put each decoration safely on the branches, and the family bonding would be overwhelmingly beautiful. We were dreaming right? Now take that picture and think the exact opposite! Okay that's a bit dramatic... you can keep the family bonding because Trav & I laughed most of the night at how far we were from our "dream night!" 

        Annabelle was throwing ornaments across the room, unplugging the lights, refusing to eat dinner, ripping open the fake presents on the tree-- happy one minute, in time-out 2 minutes later! Let's just say our picture-perfect night ended with a huge sigh of relief after our munchkin was asleep;)  

Christmas Morning

       Fast forward several weeks to Christmas day. We had a great morning. After a wonderful breakfast we opened gifts and watched our baby girl get excited on Christmas for the first time! She got a Princess crown & wand for the bathtub, Mrs. Potato Head, little red wagon, food & cutting board, a beautiful dress, coat, & blanket from Grammie, blanket & piggy from Grandma Tolman, sticker book from cousin Kelti, and a few other little things. Funny tidbit-- Annabelle has been a bit scared, okay terrified of Santa since we sat her on his lap but after we told her Santa gave her Mrs. Potato Head she seems to be a bit more open to liking the jolly fella;) 

        Travis got all things redneck! Camo shirt, bow target, gun target, & range finder. Wow. He is definitely embracing the Southeast Texas living! 

        Most of what I got enhances my love of cooking-- an ice cream maker, KitchenAid pasta roller attachment, fondue pot, piggy timer that oinks when time's up, and other fun things. Let's just say we all felt very blessed this Christmas!          

 

Our Beautiful Princess 

The funny moments in life are the ones you remember the most. Here's to making more fun memories that make you laugh (like our attempt at decorating the tree or Annabelle's Santa freak-out) for years to come! Merry Christmas!

     

The Tolmans