Christmas was pure magic with a 3 year old and a new baby this year! Incredibly exhausting, but pure magic! We got a bunch of new snow so we kicked off the holiday weekend with our first time sledding for the season! Liam is getting new snow clothes from my mom for Christmas this year because he outgrew his snowsuit so we only went sledding for a short time so he didn't get too cold. I wore leggings instead of snow pants so I would know how cold he really was and be able to determine when to leave because let's face it, he would NEVER admit to me if he was cold in his sweats and converse. We all had such a blast though!! We went to a small park by our house where you could park right next to the hill so Nic and I took turns sledding with Liam while the other one sat inside the car with sweet sleeping Lyla.
My FAVORITE picture from that morning (Liam's face says it all!) ...
Every time we climbed the steep hill to get back to the top Liam would say, "I do it myself!" After about the third or fourth time of his shoes slipping out from underneath him, he would reach out and grab our hand for dear life. Without saying anything of course. haha Wouldn't want you to think he couldn't do it himself!
Along with the sweats and converse ensemble, he was also wearing one of my hats because we lost his just a few days before.
It was so windy this day, we flew down the hill!
Sweet baby bear sleeping in the car ...
Later that evening we started a new tradition of decorating "gingerbread" houses out of rice krispie treats! I saw the idea on Pinterest and it was genius! I'll never go back! Not only was it sticky enough to actually stay assembled but who doesn't love a rice krispie treat!! Liam ate more than he actually put on the house of course ...
Telling me about each part ... "This is the chimney mommy."
There she is in all of her glory!
This picture was from several weeks ago when we decorated for Christmas but I hadn't had the chance to share yet. Liam LOVED the tree so much this year. The night we set it up he said, "Mommy this is so fun! I love the princess pea (Christmas tree)!" haha
Cutest baby girl in her hand-me-down Christmas jammies that were her brother's when he was a baby!
We spent Christmas Eve with my mother-in-law. She came over mid-morning for brunch! I made eggs benedict and a fruit salad. Of course Liam only touched a few pieces of fruit but the rest of us thought it was so yummy! After wards we opened gifts from each other and Liam has been watching Despicable Me 3 every day since. :)
Love capturing sweet moments like this ...
We all went to church together in the early afternoon. That was one of my favorite parts about Christmas Eve being on a Sunday this year! Nothing gets me in the spirit of Christmas and focused on the Savior quite like singing songs about his birth.
We were all exhausted by the time we made it home and everyone went down for naps. We transitioned Lyla to her crib a couple weeks ago and she is finally getting the hang of sleeping in there. She looks so sweet all sprawled out!
The anticipation was SO real on Christmas Eve night this year. There was only one wrapped Christmas book under our tree left which Liam knew meant that Santa would be coming that night and Christmas would be the next morning. It took him until 10:45 to fall asleep!! Poor Santa. haha
Dying over this picture! We were telling Liam not to push Lyla, just to pretend and she looked up at me TOTALLY freaked out like, "Mom, SAVE ME!" haha
Right before bed, Liam and I made cookies to leave out for Santa. His favorite are oreo bites, in case you were wondering. ;) We also poured a glass of milk for him and left out one carrot for every one of his reindeer. We asked Liam where we should put them and he said, "By the PRINCESS PEA!" He carefully helped me carry them over and right as we were setting them down he snagged a carrot from the plate. haha Out of all the things to take from the plate ... a carrot?! He doesn't even like carrots 99% of the time. And there were cookies on the plate!!
That night Lyla woke up several times. Between that and the crazy anticipation, I was exhausted by the time Christmas morning rolled around. It was all worth it seeing Liam come around the corner though and see that Santa had come!
He was pretty out of it and honed in on my camera that was set up to record our morning more than anything so it actually took asking him if Santa had eaten his cookies for Liam to notice that he had and that the tree was surrounded in presents. Typically in the past I have put out presents as I've wrapped them or we have gotten them from family but it became a big battle this year trying to keep Liam from opening them early. He is also in a sneaky stage where if I leave the room, he does something he isn't supposed to. haha It was actually really magical going from no gifts at all to all of them under the tree so we might keep this tradition!
Our best Christmas morning yet ...
The first present Liam noticed was one of the biggest of them all under the tree and he asked to open it right away. A new backhoe that he asked Santa for!!! I love little boys wish lists, so adorable!
Liam's favorite thing he got this year were a set of transformer vehicles from his current favorite show, Robo Car Poli! I think they have been transformed at least 100 times already.
Nic's dad came over a little later in the day to exchange gifts and to witness some of the mass toy chaos!
My sweet Grandma Sue knows the way to Liam's heart and made him a fire truck blanket for Christmas! He has slept with it every night since and loves it so much!
My favorite gift this year came from Liam's preschool. He came home from his preschool Christmas party with this brown paper bag in his hand for Nic and I. His teacher told me it was for us anyway, Liam couldn't even remember making anything. He wanted to open it for himself. haha I tucked it away for Christmas morning and couldn't wait to open it. Tears welled up in my eyes as I opened my very first homemade ornament. That little plastic ball with Liam's picture surrounded in snow. On the back was his left hand print in red paint and the top had a tag hanging from it that said, "I love you snow much!" I love it.
My favorite baby in a mug picture tradition! With TWO babies this year! We either can't have any more kids or need a taller ladder to fit any more! haha
Liam picked out that adorable little cow to give Lyla for Christmas!
Lyla girl got a new bumbo seat from Santa!
We got a bunch more snow on Christmas day so Nic and Liam went outside to shovel it off the driveway.
Cutie playing in the snow ...
Baby's first Christmas! This adorable basket was filled with gifts from her Pa and Grams!
Lyla must have sensed it was a special day because she struggled so much to nap. By the evening she was absolutely exhausted and fell asleep on my shoulder. I loved every minute of it!
Last but not least ... our BEST Christmas gift this year!!! We love you, Lyla!
I took so many videos that I wanted to edit together and share with this post but it might take me a bit. I'll share as soon as I have it all put together.
Hope you had the Merriest Christmas with ones you love! XO
My FAVORITE picture from that morning (Liam's face says it all!) ...
Every time we climbed the steep hill to get back to the top Liam would say, "I do it myself!" After about the third or fourth time of his shoes slipping out from underneath him, he would reach out and grab our hand for dear life. Without saying anything of course. haha Wouldn't want you to think he couldn't do it himself!
Along with the sweats and converse ensemble, he was also wearing one of my hats because we lost his just a few days before.
It was so windy this day, we flew down the hill!
Sweet baby bear sleeping in the car ...
Later that evening we started a new tradition of decorating "gingerbread" houses out of rice krispie treats! I saw the idea on Pinterest and it was genius! I'll never go back! Not only was it sticky enough to actually stay assembled but who doesn't love a rice krispie treat!! Liam ate more than he actually put on the house of course ...
Telling me about each part ... "This is the chimney mommy."
There she is in all of her glory!
This picture was from several weeks ago when we decorated for Christmas but I hadn't had the chance to share yet. Liam LOVED the tree so much this year. The night we set it up he said, "Mommy this is so fun! I love the princess pea (Christmas tree)!" haha
Cutest baby girl in her hand-me-down Christmas jammies that were her brother's when he was a baby!
We spent Christmas Eve with my mother-in-law. She came over mid-morning for brunch! I made eggs benedict and a fruit salad. Of course Liam only touched a few pieces of fruit but the rest of us thought it was so yummy! After wards we opened gifts from each other and Liam has been watching Despicable Me 3 every day since. :)
Love capturing sweet moments like this ...
We all went to church together in the early afternoon. That was one of my favorite parts about Christmas Eve being on a Sunday this year! Nothing gets me in the spirit of Christmas and focused on the Savior quite like singing songs about his birth.
We were all exhausted by the time we made it home and everyone went down for naps. We transitioned Lyla to her crib a couple weeks ago and she is finally getting the hang of sleeping in there. She looks so sweet all sprawled out!
The anticipation was SO real on Christmas Eve night this year. There was only one wrapped Christmas book under our tree left which Liam knew meant that Santa would be coming that night and Christmas would be the next morning. It took him until 10:45 to fall asleep!! Poor Santa. haha
Dying over this picture! We were telling Liam not to push Lyla, just to pretend and she looked up at me TOTALLY freaked out like, "Mom, SAVE ME!" haha
Right before bed, Liam and I made cookies to leave out for Santa. His favorite are oreo bites, in case you were wondering. ;) We also poured a glass of milk for him and left out one carrot for every one of his reindeer. We asked Liam where we should put them and he said, "By the PRINCESS PEA!" He carefully helped me carry them over and right as we were setting them down he snagged a carrot from the plate. haha Out of all the things to take from the plate ... a carrot?! He doesn't even like carrots 99% of the time. And there were cookies on the plate!!
That night Lyla woke up several times. Between that and the crazy anticipation, I was exhausted by the time Christmas morning rolled around. It was all worth it seeing Liam come around the corner though and see that Santa had come!
He was pretty out of it and honed in on my camera that was set up to record our morning more than anything so it actually took asking him if Santa had eaten his cookies for Liam to notice that he had and that the tree was surrounded in presents. Typically in the past I have put out presents as I've wrapped them or we have gotten them from family but it became a big battle this year trying to keep Liam from opening them early. He is also in a sneaky stage where if I leave the room, he does something he isn't supposed to. haha It was actually really magical going from no gifts at all to all of them under the tree so we might keep this tradition!
Our best Christmas morning yet ...
The first present Liam noticed was one of the biggest of them all under the tree and he asked to open it right away. A new backhoe that he asked Santa for!!! I love little boys wish lists, so adorable!
Liam's favorite thing he got this year were a set of transformer vehicles from his current favorite show, Robo Car Poli! I think they have been transformed at least 100 times already.
Nic's dad came over a little later in the day to exchange gifts and to witness some of the mass toy chaos!
My sweet Grandma Sue knows the way to Liam's heart and made him a fire truck blanket for Christmas! He has slept with it every night since and loves it so much!
My favorite gift this year came from Liam's preschool. He came home from his preschool Christmas party with this brown paper bag in his hand for Nic and I. His teacher told me it was for us anyway, Liam couldn't even remember making anything. He wanted to open it for himself. haha I tucked it away for Christmas morning and couldn't wait to open it. Tears welled up in my eyes as I opened my very first homemade ornament. That little plastic ball with Liam's picture surrounded in snow. On the back was his left hand print in red paint and the top had a tag hanging from it that said, "I love you snow much!" I love it.
My favorite baby in a mug picture tradition! With TWO babies this year! We either can't have any more kids or need a taller ladder to fit any more! haha
Liam picked out that adorable little cow to give Lyla for Christmas!
We got a bunch more snow on Christmas day so Nic and Liam went outside to shovel it off the driveway.
Cutie playing in the snow ...
Baby's first Christmas! This adorable basket was filled with gifts from her Pa and Grams!
Lyla must have sensed it was a special day because she struggled so much to nap. By the evening she was absolutely exhausted and fell asleep on my shoulder. I loved every minute of it!
Last but not least ... our BEST Christmas gift this year!!! We love you, Lyla!
I took so many videos that I wanted to edit together and share with this post but it might take me a bit. I'll share as soon as I have it all put together.
Hope you had the Merriest Christmas with ones you love! XO
