Christmas Eve 2016

I'm finally beginning to drift back into the daily routine after a week long holiday break. Christmas Eve already feels like forever ago but that might be because our Christmas decorations have already been packed up and put away for another year, ready to celebrate New Year's Eve tomorrow! We sure had a great Christmas Eve though. We traveled to Meridian to spend the holiday with my family and arrived in the outer limits of Boise just as a snow storm hit. We were so thankful to have clear roads the whole way down because we've driven in so much worse around Christmas time before. Before jumping into the Christmas Eve festivities I just had to note that a couple hours after getting into town it was Liam's nap time. We went and laid him down in his usual pack n' play and about 10 minutes later heard his little voice go, "Uh Oh!" and it sounded far closer than it should coming from a closed door bedroom. That little stinker had finally figured out how to climb out of a pack n' play and open the door handle! All the while carrying a gigantic humidifier full of water (we were using it because he had a cold while we were there) and ended up dropping the whole thing in the hallway and spilling water everywhere. Nic turns to me and goes, "Well that's a game changer!" haha A hilarious start to our trip, for sure! 

Anyway, back to Christmas Eve! We carried on our tradition from last year (this time with more family though!) and went sledding! With Liam's cold, he only lasted about 20 minutes but we all had so much fun!

His uncle teaching him wild and crazy things like uncles do ... :)

I have some great videos from our time sledding that I'll share in a video of our whole trip soon but seriously, it was a blast! At one point we had my mom, brother, and I all stacked on top of each other for a sled ride. haha 

Because we had plans with my dad's side of the family for brunch on Christmas morning, we didn't have a lot of time so we opened most of our presents on Christmas Eve night. We had a traditional ham, turkey, and potatoes dinner first. I wanted to carry on my childhood tradition of opening new jammies and a book that night too and Liam wanted to wear them right away. It must have something to do with the fact that they were covered in tractors. ;) I got Nic a new pair of boots for Christmas and Liam wanted to try them on ...

My mom really wanted snow shoes and I just loved her reaction as she opened them from us ...

My mom is adorable!

Rock on, Santa!

Liam was so much fun to watch as he opened each gift this year. My mom gave him a present to open the first night we got there (which was a book) and he immediately after opening it he turned to her and said, "MORE?!" haha So when it came time to open a whole bunch he was very excited. I love his little facial expressions in a lot of these pictures ...

Most of the time after opening a gift he would get really distracted and want to just play with what he opened so it definitely took a while. 

Sticking tape to the bottom of his foot and signing the word "more". haha

Cutest reactions to his gifts ...

We called it a "White Coat Christmas" because my brother got our mom and I coats for Christmas. Twinning!

We all were so spoiled and got so many nice things from each other! The adults got prints, home decor, and clothes. Liam got a new toaster and food for his kitchen, a lion towel, some duplo trucks, and a wiggle car!

Right before bed Liam set out cookies for Santa (forgot the milk this year). Liam did not quite grasp the concepts and grabbed that tree cookie right off of Santa's plate and took a big bite out of it. haha Oops!

One of my absolute favorite moments of Christmas Eve ... SANTA CAME!!!

And as you can see, brought a special little boy his very own train set and table! More to come from Christmas Day! XO

let it snow

Today feels a bit like Christmas came early because it is the start of Nic's Christmas break from work with us! We spent the morning at a bouncy house place in our mall called Jump In where Liam decided to climb to the tippy top of a ladder and got himself stuck! I promptly jumped in there to rescue him but about halfway up the ladder he let go and came down on my face. I just might be sporting a black eye or bruised cheek bone for Christmas (haha!) but it is a little soon to tell. 

We are spending the rest of the day packing basically everything in our entire house. We are leaving for Boise to tomorrow to celebrate Christmas with my side of the family and it will be quite the Tetris game trying to fit everything we need to bring into our car! Before I sign off for a few days I thought I would leave you with a flurry of snow pictures from playing in the snow yesterday. ;)

We got so much snow last Friday that it made giant mounds on the either side of our driveway. It made for the perfect slide!

Liam found this already made snowball at the top of his "slide" and he wouldn't put it down the entire time we were out there. It even came into the house with us for the briefest of moments as a bribe to get him inside. haha There were many tears when we had to put it back out there.

One of a hundred taste tests. ;)

According to the weather forecast, it definitely looks like we'll be having a white Christmas so more fun times in the snow and beloved snowballs to come!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours! XO

Family Pictures

My sweet friend Mickenzie took our family pictures back in October and I could not love them more! They perfectly reflect the stage of life we are in right now where Liam is our whole world and we wouldn't have it any other way! Here are a few of our favorites ...

There are days where I see a picture of Liam and it takes my breath away because I simply can not believe how big he is getting! Our little boy. He loves to splash in puddles and hunt for rocks so when it came time for pictures of him by himself, they were the center of his attention ...

My whole world in one picture ...

And this guy ... my adoration for him runs so deep. He will always be my best decision and my deepest love!

Our Christmas Card & a Letter

I feel like back in January I blinked and here we are in December. HOW does that even happen?! While this year has had its share of hard trials we've had to face, we have a lot of happy memories together that we will cherish forever.

A few of those happy memories in our Christmas card & letter ...

weekend fun

It's Christmas week! If Liam were just a little bit older I imagine I'd have a child begging me every day this week to open the pile of presents under the tree but instead I have a two year old who doesn't quite understand what Christmas morning means just yet and also doesn't touch a single present under the tree (crazy I know!). In other words, I am savoring this Christmas week because it will probably be my last year like it. ;)

I am also thankful that things are finally slowing down this week. We really don't have any plans until we leave for my home town on Friday so that means lots of Christmas movies and time spent relaxing by the Christmas tree ... something I've been waiting for all season! Up until now things have been so go, go, go and this weekend was no exception. The good news is, it was jam packed with fun memories!

It snowed literally all day on Friday. It was snowing from the moment we woke up clear through the time we went to bed so I didn't dare leave my house and brave the streets. We watched The Grinch instead and played the game Life (naturally Liam likes to touch and move around every single piece while Nic and I played the game haha) as we watched the snow fall outside the window. 

Saturday morning we went to Liam's girlfriend best friend's birthday party! :) The theme was pajamas  and pancakes so we all wore our Christmas jammies and sang to Hadley over a big stack of panCAKEs with sprinkles on top! All of the kids' favorite part was the present opening. They happily played with all of her new toys for at least an hour and there was only a few hundred times when sharing was a problem. ;) haha 

Saturday evening we had Hadley's family over for dinner and decorated a cute gingerbread house that they brought with them. I've never bought a gingerbread house kit before but I'll never go back! Remember the one and only time Nic and I tried making a gingerbread house together and we made it out of graham crackers and store bought frosting?! Let me jog your memory ... it was kind of a disaster! With the kit, all of the walls stayed together and the kids had the best time! It went something like this ... put on a piece of candy, eat a piece of candy, put on one more piece of candy, eat TWO pieces of candy. As you can imagine, there was a lot of sugar consumed. haha The tag/hide and go seek game with epic screaming that followed was evidence of that! We had such a good time with the Southworth family!

Don't analyze our frosting talents too closely (from our sugar cookie baking day a couple weekends ago) ...

It turned out pretty darn cute, that scalloped roof and rainbow patio! :)

Sunday felt a bit like Christmas Sunday for us since we will be out of town and will miss church next weekend. We dressed up in our best red and green, listened to musical performances of some of my favorite Christmas songs, and in Relief Society, we watched a short video about all of the ways that the Savior was the light of the world (healing the blind, curing the sick, ministering and loving everyone he met, to name a few). I was almost in tears by the end. He's the reason this is the most wonderful season!

We spent Sunday evening with Grandpapa (Nic's dad) and Grandma Dee! They made us a spaghetti dinner and like always, we were all entertained by Liam for the evening. We are grateful they have us over most Sundays so we can spend time together.

Definitely a fun weekend! And so many fun moments to look forward to this week too. I hope you have a great one! XO

P.S. Happy Birthday to my dad today!! Looking forward to celebrating you in a few days, dad!

Toddler Boy Gift Guide

Coming at you with one more gift guide and I saved the best for last! Toddlers! Kids are so much fun to shop for and while we are still a year away from Liam really understanding what will happen on Christmas morning, it is still just as magical seeing his expression! Liam still isn't talking a ton and wasn't able to tell us what he wanted for Christmas this year but we know what he loves all the same! Tractors and trains and all things toddler boy ...

Train Set | Table | Jammies | Boots | Lift the Flap Bible | The Very Hungry Caterpillar's Christmas 123 | That's Not My Tractor

For a while tractors were Liam's favorite thing and he still loves them but I don't know if it was watching Polar Express over and over again or the "choo choo" sound we hear every morning from our home that is relatively close by some railroad tracks but his new favorite obsession is trains! He also loves finding little tables to sit at whenever we are at the library or mall so we thought a train table would be perfect for him this year! We got him this train set, these train tracks, and a little bitty kid table that can also be used for coloring, playdo, etc!

Liam needed some winter jammies and boots so we picked out a tractor pair and the same boots he had from last winter that we loved! Perfect for both need AND wear categories!

Like Liam's toys after every holiday, our book collection continues to grow but it is the one thing I don't mind adding to and keeping whereas when we add new toys we always donate a few of the old. Liam is getting this lift a flap Bible in his stocking this year to hopefully keep his attention for scripture reading more than my set do (not made for toddlers' attention spans haha!). We wrapped That's Not My Tractor with his tractor jammies to be opened on Christmas Eve (a tradition in our family) and The Very Hungry Caterpillar's Christmas 123 has been a favorite Christmas book that I checked out at the library this year and might have to consider adding to our collection. We are on our third (and last possible chance) to renew the book! It is definitely one he'll be sad to check back in.

Hope your Christmas shopping is winding down. I wanted to be done by now but I am still on the hunt for these blasted pajama pants for my brother that we couldn't find in any store in Salt Lake last weekend. haha Amazon it is! Thank goodness they ship super close to Christmas! I love online shopping so I hope the links in these gift guides have been super helpful! And just in case you missed it, a gift guide for the men in your life and for the gals! XO

Santa

We confirmed at our mall last Thursday night something we already knew after not one, not two, but THREE attempts at a picture of just Liam on Santa's lap that he DOES NOT in fact appreciate Santa this year. When Santa asked him what he wanted for Christmas, with the most tearful emotion in his little voice he wailed "DAT WAY!" (pointing at Nic and I). It did a whole lot for our egos but not so  much for Santa! Better luck next year with 3 year old Liam Santa ...

After pulling out all of our tricks ... "We're right here Liam!" "Want some candy?!" "Look, Santa has a train next to him!" he finally calmed down enough to give an only slightly depressed picture. :)

By the end, even Santa felt bad for him ...

Lucky for you sweet boy, Santa just leaves presents for you on Christmas morning, you don't actually have to see him again. Ho Ho Ho!