oh christmas tree, oh christmas tree...

we experienced our first visit to a tree farm since moving to southern california. yes, our first.

growing up in washington it was always a tradition to head down to the valley to chop down the perfect christmas tree. the options were endless. 

well here in sunny california the palm trees are plentiful, but who wants to decorate a palm tree?

lucky for us, our new home is just a few short blocks away from a tree farm. we just couldn't resist. 

no fake tree or home depot parking lot tree for us this year. this is the real deal. the smell of pine has permeated our home and is incredible. 

the girls were loving their first real experience of finding the perfect tree....

the vogel family

i got to have some photography fun this weekend!
you may remember the littlest one of the bunch from a two year photo shoot i did back in april.
this time around i got to photograph her family! i had the best time ever.
thank you for allowing me to capture some precious moments...here are some of my favorites!

where's buddy?

just in case you were wondering what our elf has been up to this week, this post is for you. (chelse u can skip over this one..haha!)

there may have been a night or two i was awoken from my sleep with the sudden thoughts that i forgot to "help" buddy return to the north pole. 

oh the things we do for our babies, who by the way are still enjoying every thing about this little guy. 

{buddy's got a buddy}

{sweet tooth buddy}

{even elves get sick}

{a budding artist}

{the stockings were hung by the chimney with care...in hopes that buddy soon would be there}

{someone got stuck in the bird house}

school time cuties

happy friday! 

we have a packed weekend ahead of us. 

it's a good kind of busy though with lots of errands and activities of the christmas nature. my favorite. 

i snapped a couple pictures of the kiddos before school this morning. 

our buddies jake & luke enjoyed cheesin for the camera. 

these two...

like two peas in a pod lately.
i love watching them play together as chloe has really embraced the big sister role.
the need for constant discipline is slowly diminishing with chloe, a very much welcomed change. remember she is my fiesty one.
however, it looks as though riley may have inherited a bit a lot of that trait as i spend most of the day telling her "no, no" and find myself completely exhausted from her daily meltdowns.
i must remind myself that this too shall pass, while constantly trying to enjoy every second of this season as i know how quickly it goes.
mommyhood. definitely a daily learning process, but oh how i treasure my precious girls.

can't you just see the mischievousness in that face...

and a new pastime. owies. she loves to pick at them. nevermind the bleeding that results.

santa cutie♥

we are all things christmas around here lately. i love it. 

chloe has taken a liking to this hat as it adorns her head most of the day. 

happy christmas!

he's baaaaack!!

 we had a very special visitor this morning.
buddy!! check out the story of elf on the shelf here.
the girls were very concerned that he would not be able to find them at their new home.
of course our magical elf did not disappoint.
the first words out of ella's mouth this morning were, "did our elf come last night?!".
chloe was the first to spot our beloved friend and her excitement just couldn't be contained as her eyes welled with tears of joy. it was pretty cute.

we can't wait to see what mischief he will get into this Christmas!

 riley was not too sure at first, but i think she is warming up to him a bit....