Hi! Just popping in to share some of our favorites from a family photo shoot we had taken right before Christmas! I think they turned out adorable and I am excited to get them printed and hung up on the walls in our house!
I can't decide if Christmas as a child is more special or Christmas as a parent but I think after this year, I believe that it is Christmas as a parent. There is nothing that brings Nic and I more joy than to see Liam's face light up with happiness. I'm sure it will only get better in the years to come as this year he was still too little to really understand what was going on. It was still one of our best Christmas's yet ...
| C H R I S T M A S E V E |
On Christmas Eve we went sledding as a family. We had a blast going down a little hill together at a park near our house. Liam was either giggling or smiling almost the entire time! It was so much fun, I definitely want to make it a new tradition! And that snowsuit!!! Such a puffy little marshmallow. He reminds me of Ralphie's little brother on The Christmas Story in it. ;)
In the evening, we invited Nic's mom over for dinner. I made the usual Thanksgiving favorites because you can't go wrong with turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, and salad. ;)
Christmas Eve night was probably one of my favorite moments of the whole weekend, getting to be Santa. I turned on Christmas Vacation for the second time of the season to watch while we set out Liam's gifts. I couldn't wait to set up Liam's new teepee and was slightly disappointed (only for a minute) when it came pre assembled in the box and only took about 2 minutes to fully set it up. haha Pull out the four legs and it was ready to go! I'm sure I will NOT be feeling this way in the future when we have multiple kids' toys to set up and we won't finish until the wee hours of the morning. It was still so exciting feel the anticipation for Christmas morning to come and to see how Liam would react. I went to bed on Christmas Eve feeling so blessed to have this little family of mine to celebrate with and even more blessed as I spent time reflecting on the birth of the Savior. I loved having our nativity high up on our shelf this year, overlooking us on Christmas morning.
| C H R I S T M A S D A Y |
At about 7:45, we awoke to the jabbering sounds of a certain little boy through the baby monitor. We couldn't wait to go get him from his room! He came wandering out and was immediately distracted by at least three things before even noticing his surprises from Santa. haha
It took him a moment to realize that he could actually go INSIDE his teepee but once he did, he loved going in and out, even opening a few presents inside. ;)
We spent the morning reading new books, his favorite was a book about puppies of course!
Cutest picture EVER snuggling daddy ...
When he wasn't playing with the bows on presents or my phone, he packed around his new flashlight to explore inside his teepee!
I absolutely adore these two boys. I'm SO lucky they are mine!
After a while, Grandma Sue (Nic's mom) came over and Liam opened his very own legos. The game "52 card pick up" went to a whole new level when it instead invovles a bin full of what feels like a million legos and a happy little one year old who loves to dump them right over the top of his head! haha It was hysterical watching him every time!
After nap time, Nic's dad, Dee, and her girls came over to celebrate with us! Liam got more of his favorite little people animals and his very own toy cell phone! Thank you grandpapa for that one because he LOVES it and hasn't put it down since!
I hope you had a Merry Christmas and that you were spoiled by the ones you love! I know I sure was, especially because my best gifts of all weren't under the tree this year! Until next year, Christmas! XO
While waiting in line to see Santa a couple of days before Christmas, I had quotes from Elf on constant repeat in my head ... "SANTA, I know him!!" "You're not Santa ... Well if you are Santa, what did I sing to you on your birthday?! Happy Birthday, of course! (looks disappointed)" "You're an impostor. You smell like beef and cheese, you don't smell like Santa." haha Oh gosh, I love that movie. ANYWAY!
Liam was teeny tiny last Christmas and we were much too worried about germs and having him get sick that we avoided the mall at all costs and didn't make a trip to see Santa so this year was his very first time. Just as we anticipated, we plopped him in Santa's lap and he was totally neutral about the whole experience. No tears but no joyful giggles either.
Santa did manage to make him grin when he pulled out a little coloring book with a kitten on it. He knows the way to my little animal lover's heart, that Santa. He also made me crack a smile when he leaned over and said, "He asked me for a corvette for Christmas, mom. You'll have it paid off right about the time he is graduating from college." To which I proceeded to think to myself, was this Liam's request or has he been talking to my husband. ;) haha Either way, sorry boys, no corvettes this year. Santa had much better plans in store for our little guy. HO HO HO!
When I went off to college as a young 18 year old I thought to myself, how fun would it be to find the love of my life here, someone who grew up in a completely different town then me and bring him home for the holidays. While that dream came true, that young girl was slightly naive because having family in different towns makes celebrating Christmas with everyone a little more challenging. I'm thankful for two families who are understanding that we need to trade off years for holidays and celebrate on days that may not be the true date the holiday lands on. This was the year that we were supposed to celebrate with Nic's family in Pocatello so we got to celebrate Christmas early last weekend in Boise with my side. While we missed seeing my dad and Edie, we got a chance to celebrate with everyone else and had the best time!
We were lucky to have such safe roads to travel on this time of year. We made it to Boise on Saturday and spent the next four days filling our tummies with amazing food (probably one too many bowls of salted caramel ice cream ... thankyouverymuch for introducing us to that one Brendan), playing lots of rounds of rummikub, and finding endless hours of entertainment watching Liam steal people's cell phones and jabber away. We all looked at each other like, "What did we ever do and talk about before he was born?" haha
Saturday afternoon Liam got to play with his cousins Abby, Ava, and Maddox. They did a Christmas gift exchange together and Liam got his very own elf on the shelf and a new train set. So much fun! Our nieces loved their jolly rancher nail polish, chap sticks, and purses and Maddox couldn't wait to open up his bath crayons and lego car!
Saturday evening was like our Christmas Eve ... we had a traditional smoked turkey and ham with mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, and rolls like my mom always made growing up. Then began the first night of staying up way past our bedtime, laughing and talking about life.
Liam tried his first orange! ^ I'll let you guess whether or not he like it. haha Begging with his hand on her knee and all ...
Sunday morning was like our Christmas morning ... we had traditional eggs Benedict and opened presents around the Christmas tree. Brendan, my brother, played Santa and passed out all of the gifts. We were all spoiled and had a blast watching Liam open his presents. His favorite was a football, baseball, basketball, and soccer ball from his Uncle Brendan to which he proceeded to try and pick up all four balls at once and carry them around. Such a little character!
^ New snow suit from Sita! ^
While we were there, Liam learned how to cheese for the camera but instead of saying "cheese", he says "HIEEEE!" In this high pitched drawn out voice. haha It's the best!!
Later in the afternoon we met up with Liam's other cousin Olivia and did another Christmas gift exchange but waited to open those until later. She is five months now and I can't believe how big she has gotten since I'd seen her last.
Monday we braved the crowds at the mall to get my darn iphone repaired at the apple store (the screen shattered after being dropped from way to high) and had lunch at Old Chicago. Tuesday we slowly made the drive home. Liam did much better in the car on the way back because he was so exhausted from little sleep the night before. We made a pit stop in Twin Falls to see one of my good friends who just moved there.
Christmas in Boise is always a good time and this year was no different! I love this time of year because it brings everyone together to spend time with family. I sure got lucky with mine!
While this year started out with the flood of all house of floods in the Williamson home accompanied by heading back to work for 5 months after the end of a wonderful maternity leave, the rest of this year has truly been one of our very best yet. The biggest reason being, it has been our first full year as a family of three (plus our Rue bun bun). Some highlights from the year ...
| L I A M |
Liam is now 14 months old and full on sprinting wherever he goes. ;) In his opinion, walking is for the weary which Nic and I must be because keeping up with this little whirl wind character sure keeps us on our toes. This year he went on his first airplane ride and trip to Washington over the summer to see extended family. He loves playing with balls, mom and dad's cell phones (go figure), stepping on anything in his path, playing hide n' go seek, and chasing Rue all over the house. He is still crazy about animals, especially dogs. I'll sure be lucky if I make it through this life without a dog living in our house. haha He has learned seven words ... momma, dada, yeah, Rue, dog, bye and HI!
| R U E |
Rue is easy to please. She adores her apple biscuit treats and is happiest snoozing away in her cage or on top of the heat vents in our house. She also loves laying next to us on the floor and being pet. We love it too, except during molting season! She is still as cute as ever and it has been so much fun watching her and Liam interact now that he is mobile. She doesn't always love that part about him but I think the two of them will become close when he starts to understand the word "soft" a little better.
| N I C |
Nic is still working at Portneuf Medical Center (our local hospital) but recently transitioned into data analytics. He approached his boss with an opportunity to take some continuing education classes to help further his knowledge in this new field and has been loving what he is learning. He has been doing some consulting work part time for a small business called Sollus Information Systems with a neighbor who he used to work with at the hospital. He helps their clients with any data needs they have on some evening and weekends. Any left over energy he could possibly have left after long days at work he pours into his family. He is such a good dad and gives endless amounts of shoulder rides to Liam and builds the best block towers you've ever seen. His favorite thing is when we have lunch with him at his office. He is the rock of our family.
| M E A G A N |
January through May, I finished my second year of teaching as a third grade teacher at Lewis and Clark Elementary. At the close of the school year, I packed up all of my belongings and moved them home to our basement and became a stay-at-home mom. While I miss teaching, there is no place in the world I'd rather be right now than spending my days with Liam. I love teaching him new things and watching him grow, no longer missing any of his milestones. I feel blessed every day that I get that opportunity because it truly is my dream job. When I'm not wiping bums and cleaning up after my little tornado, I've loved spending some free time improving my photography skills, finding more time to blog, playing the piano again after a long break, and crafting.
Wishing you all the Merriest Christmas and a blessed New Year!
XO, the Williamson's
Last Christmas we had a tiny two month old who was oh so sleepy all the time. I have the fondest memories of mornings snuggled up together in our big warm bed while he snoozed away beside me in his Christmas jammies. One particular morning I took these ...
| L A S T Y E A R |
And while he is not so little and sleepy anymore, I couldn't help but take a similar picture of our baby in a mug when his new Christmas jammies came in the mail this week.
