....but ava never did this!

I find myself saying this A LOT lately.

And here's why.

Grayson has decided that he no longer likes to sleep in his own bed. He'll pass out as soon as we get in the car to go somewhere....even if it's just 10 minutes down the road to get Ava from school. He has no problem falling asleep in my bed. And I seriously don't know what to do! Sunday night we put him to bed like we normally do and he wasn't having any of it! He actually flipped himself out of his crib. Yep. Right over the rails & on to the floor. He came walking into Ava's room with his blankies in hand like everything was all honkey dory. The hubs decided that it was time to change his bed into a toddler bed. So, there we were at 8pm on Sunday night changing out rails. Awesome. He HATES it. Like, really hates it. We put the child proof knob cover over the door. He got it off. We locked the door. He unlocked it. We put the gate at his door. He stands behind it and screams. And throws blankets, pacis, toys, and diapers over it.

Last night, the hubs had the brilliant idea to use some duct tape to keep the child proof knob cover on. G was less than thrilled with that idea. He must have stood at his door for at least two and a half hours crying. I felt terrible just leaving him in there. But, I THINK he eventually fell asleep....I know I did! I heard him crying again {louder than earlier in the night} around 3am and broke down and let him come in our bed. He must have slept some in his room last night because he's up and running around right now.

I'm praying this is some kind of weird phase he's going through and he gets over it soon. I'm trying my hardest to be tough and not cave in to him when he cries at bedtime & nap time.....but it's SO HARD!

I'm ready for a full nights sleep with no crying.

::photo recap of 2012:: pt. 2

JUNE:

this summer was INSANELY hot! we spent a LOT of time at my mom & dad's in their pool and playing in the sprinkler in the front yard!

JULY:

july was busy & exciting!! we celebrated the 4th at my mom & dad's....colin & molly even got to come home!! it was a blast!

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we had our big family vacation to the beach!! it was beyond fun & relaxing!! i was ready to go back the day we left!! we were able to spend the week with one of our favorite families! i see another beach trip with them SOON!

 {we even snuck in some beach family pictures!!!}

and...the hubs & i celebrated our 4yr wedding anniversary.

AUGUST:

my baby girl started kindergarten!!!!

and i actually survived her first day!!!

SEPTEMBER:

september was a quiet & fairly calm month! we went to a few birthday parties & had lots of family time. it was nice to relax after the summer madness & before the holiday madness started!!

OCTOBER:

ava had her first REAL school field trip to the pumpkin patch. she had a blast!!

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of course we had to take our pretty pirate & strong hulk trick-or-treating. grayson had SO much fun! 

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instead of carving pumpkins.....the kids painted theirs! they had so much fun! 

NOVEMBER:

we celebrated thanksgiving. just the four of us. at our own house. it was nice....minus the two incredibly cranky kids.

*

ava turned six!!! she had a "lalaloopsy" birthday party. it couldn't have turned out any better! all of her friends came. the weather was awesome. and her cake was AMAZING!!!

DECEMBER:

christmas activities were in FULL BLOOM!! and. the hubby was gone most of the month. total awesomeness.

the highlight of my christmas.....getting to spend it with my brother before he left for deployment!! it's hard to believe that he'll be gone for TEN MONTHS. ugh. 

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so. we went to a local thing they do every year called "santa's village". what.a.waste! the line to see santa was AT LEAST an hour long. it was packed. hot. smelly. gross. i highly doubt we'll be going again.

instead.....we'll go back to this neighborhood where there's a house with lights set to music. and a house FILLED with amazing decor. they had fake snow and SANTA!! the kids loved it. and the best part.....IT WAS FREE!! we were shocked when g hopped right up on santa's lap! 

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chick was nice & offered to watch g one night so that ava & i could have a girls night. we had dinner at red robin {her favorite!!!} and went to see "rise of the guardians". we had a blast!!!

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SANTA CAME!!! seeing their faces christmas morning was priceless!! 

2012 was a great year filled with great friends, family, and lots of amazing moments. I pray that 2013 is just the same!