Christmas Recap

{Warning; picture heavy post below!}

Love, love, loved being in my own home this year for Christmas! Now that we have 2 kiddos, I hope to continue this tradition and have grandparents just come visit us up here. Yes, it's stressful preparing meals and cleaning and entertaining a full house, but there's something special about being in your own home as a child on Christmas morning.

So we started Christmas Eve with cookie decorating followed by our Christmas Eve service at church.

Then, on Christmas morning it was banana bread followed by stocking opening, two traditions that I'll never go without!

Then it was on to the main show with presents galore for Drew. This was the first year that he could read all of the tags and sort all of the presents into piles. His excitement level for each gift was fun to watch and he thoroughly has enjoyed playing with all of his new toys these last few days. 

This little one passed out after all of the unwrapping while Drew read some of his new books quietly among the mess.

This one had a great 1st Christmas and I'm already looking forward to next Christmas when I have TWO kids unwrapping presents!

Cheers to a wonderful 2015 from my family to yours!

Ady // 5 Month Update

Another fun month in the books with you my little worm. This month has been very tough with Drew and he's been beyond challenging (remember that post where I said we were hopefully done with the trying 3's?! uhhh..... NOPE) so your smiles are what keep me going. I hate admitting it, but if he's throwing a tantrum I just have to look at you and your gummy smile lowers my blood pressure and puts me at ease again. You're beginning to become ticklish and I love trying to find different ways to make you giggle. 

Stats: (Again... we don't head to the doc until 6 months so this is our best 'at-home' estimate!)
Weight: 18lbs 
Height: 26in

Sleep:  So our pediatrician mentioned at your 4 month appointment that we should be starting to put you down drowsy and not fully asleep. Not completely cry-it-out just yet, but not fully asleep. We've been lazy in doing that A) because I love rocking you to sleep but B) it would probably take a ton longer each night. Soon enough though little lady! Either way, you normally sleep from around 8:30p until anywhere from 6a-8a. A couple nights a week you wake up in the middle of the night for a quick nursing session which momma doesn't mind. 

Eat: Still 100% breastmilk and momma is quite proud of that! I LOVED the Holidays because I didn't have to see my pump for quite a few days!

Diapers: We're still about 90% cloth and 10% disposables. You're still wearing FuzziBunz size small but we need to be purchasing medium's soon!

Clothes: You are mostly in 9-12 month clothes except for a few 6month hoodies and shirts that still fit. 

Talk: You still love to talk and the girls at your daycare mention how you're always having conversations with them. The giggles are more and more every week and I need to do a better job catching those on camera. 

Other: You still use a pacifier, but only for naps and at nighttime. This month you found your toes and now are always trying to grab them when we change you. You're doing great with tummy time and kinda look as though you'd like to roll soon. No teeth yet which I'm thankful for! Gummy smiles are the BEST!

Aaaaaaaand then we barfed.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Ady was doing some tummy time earlier this week and I grabbed my camera and stuck a hat on her. 

Then I realized she had pink and blue PJ's on and changed her into a red onesie only to get half smiles as opposed to the first one above.

But then when I was looking at the pictures on my camera, Drew came over and sat with her. He adjusted her hat was touching her nose and telling her how cute she looked. It melted my heart and I can't wait to watch these 2 grow up together.

So then of course we had to get a picture together! Can you see it? How much he loves her? I can.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Chuck E Cheese

As much as I always wish the Holidays would slow down, it never fails to be just as busy, if not busier than the rest of the year. Between baking, gift shopping, toddler sports, photography, trying to lose the baby weight and a basement renovation, it's been just crazy! We had a list of like 27 things to accomplish this weekend, but on Saturday afternoon, we decided to punt it all. It's been a trying time with Drew lately and we realized that the past few weekends were full of lugging him to Home Depot (879 times for basement finishing decisions) and other errands. Besides seeing Santa and Saturday morning soccer, we hadn't had a ton of good 'ole fun. 

So to Chuck E. Cheese and Panera (his fave) we went. 

And this smile made it all worth it.

We hadn't seen that level of happiness in a few weeks and it was needed. Throwing 'to do' items to the wind and jumping in the car to have some fun is what life is all about, right?

And then this happened also....

We're heading to Disney World in a bit and I was secretly hoping he would be past his fear of all costumed characters. He LOVES Chuck E Cheese but has never allowed the mouse to get near him. This time, he walked right up to him and gave him the biggest bear hug. Now I can't wait to see him hug all of the Disney characters!

And yes, Derek indulged in some basketball shortly after I got my skee-ball in. Hey, parents can have fun too right?!

Looking forward to more of his big smiles in the coming weeks with our family.

Happy Holidays!

Breakfast with Santa

We decided to go with a more intimate route this year to visit Santa. A friend told me about a breakfast with Santa and who doesn't love the idea of NOT standing in line and fighting mall crowds to get 2 seconds on a stinky old Santa's lap? Plus, bonus points for all you can eat pancakes, sausage, eggs and tots!

Ady snoozed for the first 40 minutes we were there, which ended up being perfect-o!

Santa then came in while we were eating and anyone who knows my son knows that he's a pretty timid guy. This face below perfectly sums up the emotions when Santa entered. Excited, yet nervous, but kinda smiling and kinda red in the face.

Then he warmed up a bit and even took a picture standing next to Santa.

Then it was off to walk through the display and then sit on Santa's lap next to Santa. We had NO tears this year and even got a smile! Too bad he smiled in the shot that Ady was looking away. #winsomelosesome

He even spoke to Santa this year and told him what he wanted. SUPER proud of my handsome boy and I love this shot of their conversation!

We also got a quick family picture in! Looking back, Derek should have gone with a red or white shirt. Oh well... 

Overall, we had a great experience and will be back for SURE next year!

Drew's Christmas Program

Last night Drew had his Christmas program for his preschool and it was adorable just like last year. Each class sang two songs and although he didn't sing the entire time, Drew did great! I'm pretty sure the cookies that were waiting for everyone at the post-show reception were all he was thinking about though. And on that note, I'd like to suggest to all parents who are considering bringing cake balls covered in chocolate to an event to NOT do that. These faces were literally blanketed in chocolate. Wouldn't a simple sugar cookie have worked just as well? Sincerely, Moms of chocoholic kids.

Terrible lighting, I know but hey, it's the memory that counts. Oh and moms of more than one, how do you get two kids to look and smile at the same time? I consider this picture not "terrible" since they are both looking, but Drew kinda looks like he's constipated!

Cheers to the Season!

Gingerbread House

Family Holiday tradition #375; decorate a gingerbread house. Check.

 Happy Holidays!

2014 Christmas Tree

Along with the rest of the world, we went to find a Christmas tree this past weekend. I just can't pull myself to decorate before Thanksgiving as I consider that Holiday quite special and don't want to rush it. The weather was super nice for late November and that combined with Ady sleeping in the Beco the entire time made it just perfect!

The farm we go to has pre cut trees and cut-your-own. For the first few years of marriage we went with a fake tree, but a couple years ago I convinced Derek that real was the way to go. This is our 3rd year with a real tree and I love this tradition. From the hayride to the smell of pines to the free hot chocolate... it's just the perfect post-Thanksgiving outing.

Drew was allowed to hold a saw this year (with close supervision) and 'help' daddy cut it down. He loved it.

Thankfully we had my brother in town still to help carry the tree as it was quite heavy and I'm pretty much useless with Ady on me. This year they even had an old tractor Drew got to climb up on!

We decided to decorate the following day and put up every single ornament we own. With the exception of noticing a few tiny spiders, I'm in love with our tree this year!