Christmas

When Mark and I decided a couple of years ago to not travel to our parents' houses for Christmas, I must admit I was nervous and sad.  All the magic and activities and everything would be on my shoulders and all I ever want is for my kids to be happy.  Last year was rough because it was the first year we stayed home and we all got the flu.  This year I was determined to not get sick and to have an amazing time with my little family of four.  It was truly a wonderful Christmas.

We spent Christmas eve at my sister's house where her husband made amazing lasagna.  We let the kids open their grandma and grandpa pj's and then they played while we visited.  We left earlier than we usually do so that we could finish our routine and do our Christmas Eve stuff.  Having family nearby is definitely nice, especially during holidays. 

We set up cookies and milk and carrots for Santa and wrote him a note.  The boys love their new pjs and wanted to pose like the characters they were wearing.

After the boys went to bed (we let them sleep in the same room), Mark and I finished up all the prep including wrapping the entry to the front room and setting out stockings and the rest of the presents.  While we do that we watch "It's a Wonderful Life" and every year I get teary eyed. I just love the message and the tender moments of love.  We went to bed at a reasonable hour, actually, and I couldn't wait for the boys to wake up.  They came in our room in the morning and said "Mom...he came!  Santa came!  We saw the wrapped door!"  Talk about feeling magical.  It was a sweet moment.  We took a picture at the top of the stairs and headed down.  We ate some orange rolls and hot cocoa first and enjoyed looking outside at the foot of snow we got overnight.  It was the most amazing sight to see!  Then we let them tear into the room.

 They loved exploring their stockings and got excited about the underwear and socks even!  We love giving them a new Disney stuffed animal each year.  This year Fullback got Bolt and Shortstop got the Chesire cat.  They had so much fun watching each other open gifts and helping get more from under the tree.  A couple of weeks before Christmas Shortstop said "Can I get gifts for Lukie and you and dad?"  I love that he was so excited to do that so we obliged and took the boys shopping.  They loved picking things out and were so excited to watch people open what they chose.  I am so happy they love to give as much as receive. The rest of the day was spent enjoying our spoils, eating brunch, watching movies and napping.  The marble run and legos were a huge hit along with the boogie boards (drawing boards), and anything that had wheels to drive around.

In the afternoon Mark decided to tackle the snow in the driveway.  And boy does he make shoveling snow look good!  Batman fleece pjs pants, Shortstop's white sunglasses and what he lovingly calls his Barney coat.  Love that man of mine!

I hope you all had a phenomenal Christmas as well.  What a beautiful time of year to contemplate the birth of our Savior, to be with family and to feel the Spirit of love stronger than at other times of the year.  I am so blessed and so happy that my growing family loves this time of year as well and knows why it is so special.  

December fun

I love December so very much.  The magic in the air, the love and kindness that is extra strong, celebrating the birth of our Savior and warm days inside drinking cocoa while it snows outside.  We have a nightly routine in December that the boys love almost as much as I do.  We watch videos and read scriptures from the 25 days of Christ website, we open and read a Christmas themed book (wrapping all 24 is a pain but so worth it), put an ornament on our advent tree, and talk about service we performed that day to add straw to the baby Jesus' manger.  It is so peaceful and the focus is all about the Savior except for the Christmas book.  This year being pregnant was so special connecting to Mary on a level I hadn't before at this time of year.  I felt closer to my Savior and gained even more respect than I already had for Mary and the sacrifices she went through.  The boys loved seeing videos of her and saying, "Mom!  Jesus is in her tummy like our baby sister is in yours!"

Shortstop had his Christmas school kindergarten program.  So stinking cute!  He practiced forever and nailed it.  For some reason I can't upload any of the videos but they are awesome.  He kept grinning at us and giving us a thumbs up.  Love that kid and his personality.

One day after school we went to Thanksgiving point to see the reindeer.  It wasn't crowded at all and we could enjoy watching them eat.  We love Thanksgiving point and how hard they work to make holidays special.  Another evening we headed there to drive the light show.  Having kids this time of year rocks.

For the first time ever I actually spent money on good snow clothes and oh my goodness did it make all the difference in the world!  I am so not a winter outdoor person but I want them to love it.  And they did this year!  The boys played outside until they had to go to the bathroom or were starving, one day it was even two hours of outdoor play.

And as per tradition, we headed north to City Creek for shopping and dinner and then temple square for the lights.  It was a cooooold night so we did not stay long but again, because they have the right clothes, they were warm enough and had a good time.

Last but not least, our Christmas Sunday pictures.  Can't get a family one without help so we split it up but I love the boys' argyle sweaters!

December treated us well!  I am sad it is over and was sad the day we took all the decorations down but I am grateful we made so many memories.

Baby shower

My awesome sister Rachel put together a baby shower for me and baby girl.  It was a hot cocoa bar with some serious add ins complete with hot chocolate cupcakes!  Yummy!  The decor was super cute and the theme was "Baby it's cold outside."  I was so grateful to her for putting this together.  So many people showed up and my mom even came down from Idaho and another sister from Kaysville.  It meant so much to me with as busy as this time of year is to feel loved by so many people.  Seeing all the pink made it super real.  I can't believe I am having a girl!!  Each new present just felt weird not seeing blue.  I cannot wait to have a princess to dress up like my own personal doll.

Luke is 3!!

 

How is this possible!?  Teeny baby Fullback is 3!  I always try really hard to make his birthday special because it is so soon after Thanksgiving and in the month of December so I don't want him to feel gypped.   He loves celebrations so he has been counting down to his special day!  He was so cute the night before asking about what we were gonna do and telling us how he would share his cake with everyone.  I hugged him extra hard as my little 2 year old when I put him to bed.

He woke up to streamers and balloons and Shortstop singing to him.  And his birthday is the day our elves, Jingle and Belle, come visit for the month so that was fun to welcome them back!

I let him open one present before Shortstop went to school.  After Mark and Shortstop left for their days, Fullback and I cuddled and got ready.  Then the primary presidency came by to visit all the new sunbeams for 2016.  I cannot believe he is going to be in primary!

We went to pick up Shortstop and headed to Mark's work to snag him as well then we headed to the aquarium.  I gave Fullback a list of outings we could do and that was what he picked.  It was so much fun! These boys are the best of friends and I hope it always stays that way.

After we dropped off Mark at work and headed home, we had a quiet afternoon then got ready to meet up for dinner.  Much to my chagrin, Fullback chose Chuck-a-rama as the place he wanted to go for dinner.  I am so not a fan of buffet places but I sucked it up because I love my son and wanted his birthday to be special for him.
We headed home for cake and ice cream and presents.  I have always been so happy that my boys are appreciative of everything they get, from socks to elaborate toys.  They love the excitement and recognize how lucky they are to get so many fun things.

Trying to kiss his dinosaur

After playing with toys for a bit, it was bedtime.  Fullback laid down and said "What a good birf-uh-day mom.  Thank you."  Even though the day was awesome already, that right there just topped it off.  And of course the elves started up their shenanigans by playing with Fullback's birthday toys.

I love my little buddy so much.  We love our mornings together and he is such a snuggle buddy.  He loves to hug and kiss and hold hands and climbs into my lap as often as he feels he can fit, with this growing belly.  He cannot wait to meet baby girl and talks about her every single day.  He misses Shortstop each morning and excitedly asks his big brother how school was when we pick him up and then listens intently to all the stories.  He and Mark have a great relationship and he is following in the BYU fan footsteps of his dad and brother.  He lights up every room he walks in to with his bright smile and gorgeous blue eyes.  He loves nursery and is nervous about sunbeams except he knows he can see his brother in sharing time which helps us make him feel ok with the changes.  He still smirks shyly when we ask him to say prayers and asks for help even though he doesn't need it.  He loves cars and trucks and anything with an engine.  He knows his ABC's fairly well and takes every opportunity to sing them to us.  My Fullback has my heart and is my sweet little friend.  Happy birthday buddy!

November wrap up

November came and went.  Sometimes I look back and honestly can't even remember that month!  But there were a few things of note than I want to record.
Fullback had his first trip to the dentist!  He was so brave and so well behaved.  He told the hygienist she could look in his mouth one time but that was it.  She just laughed and tried her best to comply.  Having a movie on the ceiling helped his nerves, of course.

Shortstop's kindergarten Thanksgiving class party was a lot of fun.  I got to volunteer at it which I love doing, just to see him and keep an eye on my boy.  They made pilgrim hats, churned their own butter, painted corn and some other activities in another room that I never saw.  I was in charge of the butter station.  They had a good time shaking those little bottles until the cream turned into butter.  Shortstop was pretty proud of himself!

Of course I had to get my nails done in festive colors.  I loved this design!

For Thanksgiving this year we made the trek to Oregon where Mark's grandparents live.  We haven't been there in a long time and figured it was time to go.  The drive was insane, the roads beyond scary and being as pregnant as I was, it was not super comfortable.  But they boys were perfect!  They read books, talked, listened to music and only watch a few movies on what turned out to be a longer drive due to road conditions than we had anticipated.  Once we were there it was all worth it.  We stayed at an Airbnb with Mark's sister and her husband and baby who flew in from Germany.  It was so good to meet little Oskar!  Seeing Mark's cousins and grandparents and family was very enjoyable.  His grandparents are the salt of the earth and they love their Mark.  They are so proud of him and we don't get to see them enough.  It made Mark's heart glad to be around his extended family.  We just don't get to do that much.  Of course, I have ZERO pictures but it was a good weekend.  Boys did well playing with new cousins and making friends.  Although I don't think I will ever make that drive in the winter again, I am very glad we did it.  On the way home we stayed in Twin Falls to break up the trip and I made a Christmas craft with my sisters and got to visit with my parents for a bit before we took off the next morning.  I love how much family we have on both sides who love my boys.  They feel it and are so lucky and better off because of it!

I also have to include this picture that Shortstop drew one day.  So creative!!