unwrapped

dallin's stocking joining our collection stitched by my talented grandmother.

baby's first christmas!

christmas skirts

so pretty much every year, i have some sort of crazy, hare-brained, last-minute, stress-induced scheme to sew something for christmas.

it's like, the twenty-third of december, and i'm all, "i *must* go out and buy fabric and interfacing and buttons and zippers and patterns and sew through the night to make some skirts/dresses/satchels/pillows/pajamas/et cetera or else christmas will be ruined!"

and pretty much every year, bryan backs me off that cliff.  slowly, calmly, reasonably. and we go on with our lives.

but this year, bryan. wasn't. home.

the emily train could not be stopped, and the last stitches were sewn literally minutes before sitting down to dinner christmas eve.

circle skirts! with pockets! and peppermints! and twirls!

christmas. saved.

you're welcome.

bliss is

this.

meanwhile

at the wheelers:

 'cause nothing says christmas morning like a drone stuck in your hair.

with love, the wheelers

well, 2014, another self-timer holiday family photo is in the books.

tripod! you have served us well!

a little dark, sure. a little blurry, maybe. is everyone smiling? nope. but hey, for a lifeless, mechanical photographer, it's not too shabby.

probably time to hire a professional though, huh?

anyhoo, let's talk milestones.

emily kept four tiny people fed, clothed, active, intelligent, happy, healthy, and hugging it out this year. looking forward to continuing the trend (plus, maybe a bit more sleep?) in 2015.

bryan has so much free time now that he's decided to take up the ukulele. just kidding: bryan doesn't have any free time. regardless, he *has* taken up the ukulele. debut album to release next fall.

summer (7) can oft be found with paper and pencil in hand, jotting down words of wisdom in one of her many secret diaries. she enjoys dancing and talking with strangers. and occasionally dancing while talking to strangers. summer spreads love and kindness like fairy dust wherever she goes.

afton (5 1/2) spells words like a boss. i mean, c'mon, this girl could say her name at ten months old: phonemes is totes her jam. and if her little brothers would stop eating the crayons, she would happily spend all her non-spelling time coloring. afton does the best impersonations and is our resident silly goose.

caleb (2 2/3) continues to charm his way through life and, as was noted in his speech evaluation earlier this year, is "not lacking in confidence." he is also the most industrious of the wheeler children. one day, we're hoping to put that industry to good use. for now, we find stuff like panko crumbs and cheerios "put away" in the refrigerator.

baby dallin (1) is an absolute darling and pretty much everyone's favorite baby. he laughs and smiles almost constantly but can still give his siblings (read: caleb) a piece of his mind when they get in his way. with that attitude and those cheeks, he fits in around here just fine.

wishing you and yours a beautiful holiday season and the very best of the new year!

with love,

the wheelers

outtakes

from today's family photo shoot: