{the hernandez four}: 12.2012

12.31.2012

Animal Kingdom

Client edits are officially done for 2012 so I finally get to dive into editing our Florida pictures...Happy New Year to me!

In no particular order, here's the first of our Disney Parks Posts! Our Adventures in the Animal Kingdom began with a very special treat--Lola was selected by one of the custodians at the park entrance to help create the water art of the day. She recieved a very special pin to commemorate the moment. We then stopped to marvel at the Tree of Life, before heading to Africa to go on Safari. Mix in some amazing character meets with King Louie + Baloo and Dug + Russell (two of her favorite duos from two of her favorite movies) and it was an awesome first experience at this park for us. The Safari adventure is not to be missed! One of the coolest parts was seeing a Lion and Lioness sleeping out on "Pride Rock"...like it was straight out of the Lion King. While I didn't get any pictures of the Lion King show, that is not to be missed, either. Nobody does it like Disney!

Animal Kingdom {Walt Disney World 2012}

Happy New Year!

Love, {the hernandez four}

12.30.2012

For Nonna...

12.29.2012

SNOW MUCH FUN!

A light dusting has covered the ground. Enough for us to bundle up and get out there. Can't wait for some sledding snow!

Snow Much Fun

Thanksgiving Dinner, Post-Christmas

2012 gave us our fair share of challenges. Our growing friendship with the Noonan family was one of the highlights of our year, though. They have a son a year older than Lola, a daughter a year younger and another son six months younger than Johnny. It's been fun to see him with a little buddy, knowing they'll be in the same grade come school-time.

We've had some fun family dates throughout the year and also some fun Mom+Dad only dates as well. Our camping trip with them this summer at the Gentlemen of the Road Show in Dixon is in our top 3 moments of the year, no doubt. We can't wait to do it again soon.

Anna got creative with their gifts for us. In addition to the Mr+Mrs Claus wine and Guinness Reindeer, they also gifted us with a Guinness Pint glass magnet and for John, a Guinness key chair that says "Ireland"--that also doubles as a bottle opener. You know, so he won't have to open beer bottles using Little League fences!

I made a delicious Thanksgiving dinner for our post-Christmas celebration. My mom and dad were famous for making Thanksgiving dinner often when we were kids when it wasn't Thanksgiving. Ronnie loved it, so Mom would love to make it for him and Dad could eat it everyday of the year, so it was a common Sunday dinner spread.

12.28.2012

Christmas Day {2012}

12.27.2012

The Hernandez Four {2012}

12.24.2012

Vintage

If this isn't the perfect image to hang in the Nursery, I don't know what is. Thanks Linds!

Speaking of vintage, check out these as well. This is what happens when Lindsay and I start rummaging through our in-law's houses and come across photos of the little boys that grew up to become our amazing husbands and father's to our children.

The Trio of Trouble.... In this picture from left to right I now see Dexter, Lola and Johnny-Mike.

God Bless my Husband on his Baptism day...

Look at the picture above again. Now look at the picture below. God is so funny sometimes with his "signs" and "coincidences". I have always said Lola is just John with earrings. She is a carbon copy of her father, like I am of mine. The exact same pose on their baptism days...really?!

12.23.2012

The New Nursery

Yesterday, John and I began the "big switch" as I like to refer to it--we swapped rooms with the kids! Dad + Sue were a huge help--they took Lola to Brookfield to see the Zoo Lights and then kept her over night. Johnny was a trooper, enjoying his movies and helping Mom + Dad out when we needed assistance.

We are so excited about this...we've been considering it for awhile and now, I'm just wishing we had done it sooner. I will share pics of our progress but for now, here is Pooh in his new space:

The theme for the nursery is Vintage/Modern Disney. We already have some great prints and beautiful photography to deck the walls, so it just works. The wall color would work great for a boy/girl shared space, but we're going to give it a fresh coat of a very faint gray, so all the pops of color the art and photography will mix in will blend well.

Additionally, we're going to add bunk beds. This will REALLY open up the floor space even more. We're just not quite ready to have Johnny out of his crib yet, though I think he will transition perfectly. He is an ace sleeper.

Finally, you can't see it yet, but we put their dresser in the huge walk in closet in the room. I saw the idea on Pinterest. I thought it was genius, so I quickly grabbed my tape measure and took some measurements...you can just picture the happy dance I did when my inches told me it'd be a perfect fit. What a way to free up floor space!