Our Family Pictures & 2018 Christmas card

So much to catch up on and so few days left until the new year ... I swear that week between Christmas and New Years is simultaneously the slowest and fastest week. We are thankful to have a couple extra days with Nic since he hasn't been able to take off from work as much as he usually does this time of the year with a new job.

Back at the beginning of October we had our family pictures taken ... our first professional ones with Lyla in them! Can't tell you how much I cherish these pictures and they made the perfect Christmas card this year too ...

My handsome guy, getting so grown up!

Love that her little belly is sticking out in this one!

They are so sweet together ...

I'd choose him again and again and again!

These two are two peas in a pod. Liam adores everything his dad does. When Nic comes home from work is Liam's favorite time of the day and I love having a front row seat witnessing the bond that they share!

Oh the smothering love! haha

Favorite picture OF ALL TIME! The best big brother and little sister ...

We love this little wiggly girl!

Ho Ho Ho

Oh this gem! No one likes a good crying Santa picture more than me. haha It is just a right of passage. Today after preschool we went to visit Santa at the Village thinking it would be the perfect time. He was supposed to arrive at noon and we got there at 11:45. The line was already wrapped clear around a giant Christmas tree and half an ice skating rink. That right there should have told us to run but we had the kids all dressed up and excited to see him so we thought, now or never. Joke was on us! Two and a half hours later we got this gem ................. 

You may be asking yourself, why in the WORLD did you wait that long in that line ... here's the thing ... after you've been in said line for close to an hour and have moved significantly closer to the front, there just is no way of backing out. Especially if it just means coming back another day and getting stuck at the back of the line over again. Luckily I brought a container of mini m&m's, a baggie full of goldfish, a couple library brooks, and a toy remote to tide them over. Here's how it went ... Lyla squirming in Nic's arms and giving the cutest scrunchy faces ...

And Liam, wandering around aimlessly with his bag of goldfish in tow! haha

My bag of tricks didn't last all that long. By the time we got to this point and saw this sign, I remember mentioning to Nic about how I hoped it wouldn't be another hour from that point and he laughed and said I think that sign is meant for the back of the line and they just haven't moved it yet today. WRONG-O!!! That sign was in fact 30 minutes behind the mark. Santa's house right in front of us and it was still another hour and a half. haha Heaven help us all! The line looked deceiving because it was often one parent waiting in line and as they got close the rest of the family would join with multiple kids.

Love these two SO much!!

Santa's cute little gingerbread house ...

When we finally got inside, Liam immediately became shy and didn't want to have anything to do with Santa. I handed Lyla over to him and she burst into tears. haha Several screaming pictures later we finally got one where Lyla was just giving a pouty lip and Liam warmed up to Santa and bravely told him he wanted "super hero legos for Christmas"! Ho Ho Ho!

Holiday Gift Guide for Toddlers

I had a really hard time coming up with Christmas ideas for Lyla this year. That one year old early toddler stage is all about boxes and bows more than anything so a lot of her gifts this year are more practical but I did find a few fun toys for this age group too. A few gift ideas for the toddler girl in your life ...

v tech puppy & carrier | bracelets | hat | shapes pull toy 

kitty | boots | dress | piggy

Lyla is crazy about puppies right now so we got her this adorable puppy & carrier. I have no doubt she'll be packing the whole thing everywhere and loving the buttons on the front too!

We also got her a shape sorting pull toy. I had to link something slightly different above because I actually found it in the Target dollar spot. I painted the wooden box part pink and kept the wheels red and it turned out so cute! I plan to leave it unwrapped with just a big old bow on top of it for Christmas morning. :)

I got her an adorable pom hat to match her new winter coat.

She had a set of these bracelets when she was first born ... she wore them on her blessing day and I was so sad when she outgrew them. They look so sweet with dresses too and the buttons in the back of this one with the bows on the sleeve, so sweet!

Those rain boots have been on my wish list for my kids for a long time now. I haven't found the best deal on the colors I would want so for now they remain on the wish list but one of these days I'll get my mommy & me matching moment with a pair of them. ;) 

The Jellycat stuffed animal brand has the softest and sweetest ones to choose from. The mini kitty and piggy have Lyla's name all over them.

A couple other ideas not pictured above ... this piggy bank, a puppy you can walk (Liam picked this for her, how cute huh?!), a wand for dress up, and you can't go wrong with these touch and feel books.

I can hardly wait for Christmas morning this year! It will be the first year for Lyla where she gets to open the presents herself and I'll have my video camera ready and waiting to see what she does. haha XO

our weekend

** I've had a couple of posts not publish for some reason so in the interest of catching up ...

While I had grand plans of taking the kids to go visit Santa over the weekend, they picked up colds at the end of last week and standing in line outside no longer sounded like the best idea. We found a few at home holiday activities to do instead ... Friday night we all cuddled up and watched the movie, A Star, on Netflix for the first time. It tells the story of the birth of Jesus in animated form with cute and quirky animals. It was so cute that we watched it a couple more times throughout the weekend! 

When I say we all cuddled up on the couch, what I really means is mom and dad cuddled on the couch because these two can't sit still for more than 3 minutes at a time. In our new house we have a storage closet underneath the stairs that we turned into a little playroom for our kids. We thought it would be a big hit with Liam but it turns out that it's actually Lyla's favorite place to play. She goes in there all the time and plays with this kitchen. The amazing thing for me is, I don't care how messy it gets in there because I can just close the door when they are done. ;)

I had to document her hair at its current stage because it is a conflicting mixture of adorable and mullet. haha 

Liam and I made that paper chain countdown at the beginning of December and couldn't find a great place to hang it because it was so long so it became another Christmas tree decoration. :)

How cute is she in those Christmas jammies?!

Brushing her own hair one moment and swatting the ornaments on the tree with it the next ...

By the way, this is the TRUE state of our tree this Christmas. The ornaments get taken off and rearranged all day long and you can find half of them on the tree skirt. haha

Thinking they were so funny putting bell ornaments from the tree into my vase ...

We had a slow start to our Saturday morning and got Rue out to play! Lyla is still learning the word "nice" as you can tell ...

Besides documenting her hair ... those baby blues needed their own moment too!

It always kills me when I get moments like this out of focus on my camera but then when I step back and think about it, this is exactly how my little whirl wind should be documented! She's always happy and very busy these days!

We helped the kids write their letters to Santa and thanks to their Papa and Granmda Dee, they got to send them to the North Pole in a special mailbox! The look on Liam's face when his letter disappeared was absolutely priceless!

Lyla told Santa she was a good girl this year and wants a stuffed puppy that barks and pants like a real one and a stuffed animal bunny like her big brother Liam's so she doesn't have to steal his anymore. ;)

Liam told Santa he wouldn't forget to put out his milk and cookies if he brought super hero legos and a Paw Patrol transformer on Christmas morning!

Saturday afternoon Liam got to have a "play date with Sita" while Nic and I got to see the new Fantastic Beasts movie The Crimes of Grindelwald, which was amazing! It was the first movie we have been to together in a really long time and we got to enjoy a nice sit down dinner after wards ... one where we got to eat the food while it was still hot and didn't have to get up once for anything during the meal (or have something spilled and needing cleaned up either!). Oh the luxuries we didn't know we had before children! haha

On Sunday evening Nic and Liam had a "boys night" where Liam told me this morning he got to have juice with dinner and watch a show as he ate (two things mom doesn't do). haha What a cool dad he has! While Lyla and I went to my mom's Christmas party she hosted for all of her friends. It was super fun! 

Now it's Monday and while I always love the schedule and routine the week brings, I'm secretly already looking forward to next weekend. We are having family over and throwing a little gingerbread house decorating party/competition! I love the month of December so much! Hope you have a great week! XO

Friday Favorites | Stocking Stuffer Ideas

It has been so fun having a mantel and fireplace to decorate and hang stockings on this Christmas! Can't wait for Santa to fill them on Christmas morning. ;) When thinking of stocking stuffer ideas for our wish lists, I always love starting with the "want, need, wear, read" categories! Here are a few stocking stuffers on our lists this year ...

B O Y

want :: the perfect sized Lego's to fit in a stocking

need :: a new quiet activity for church on Sundays. We've had a few of these and they last a really long time and I love that they are no mess!

wear :: since he spends more time in underwear than anything else, might as well make them fun and another pair of his favorite jeans because they are buttery soft and come in a bunch of different colors (they feel like cozy sweats)

read :: I've heard such great things about this Christmas book!

T O D D L E R   G I R L 

want :: her own bunny because Liam has one and she is constantly stealing it! haha

need :: hair detangler for the knotty mess that happens post bath and bed time!

wear :: a set of my favorite bows on her, the sweetest little bracelets, and this sweater with these leggings

read :: a lift the flap reindeer book

F O R   H I M

want :: his favorite pre workout (gets us both out of bed every morning to exercise)!

need :: new exercise shorts (he has several pairs but his favorite ones he wore painting one time and naturally wears that particular pair the most out in public. It has hand prints on the bum but I don't know how those got there! ;)

wear :: a hat

read :: to continue collecting the series so he can start reading them with Liam when he gets in grade school 

F O R   H E R

want :: make up removing face wipes (remove my make up with only water, WHAT?!) and a monogram coat hanger for our new entryway

need :: moroccan oil (I used this stuff for years and then ran out and have noticed a huge difference in how dry my hair is with crazy fly-aways without it)  

wear :: the softest crew neck sweatshirt I've ever worn! (comes in 3 colors)

read :: because I could get all the help in the patient parenting department I can

I thought I'd also add that we love the tradition of a chocolate orange at the bottom of the stocking and m&m filled candy canes sticking out of the top! Can't believe there is only 18 days left until Christmas!! I'm watching Miracle on 34th Street for the first time right now and am already crying 20 minutes in at the part where a mom brings her deaf little girl to sit on Santa's lap and she says "You don't have to talk to her, she just wants to see you." and he smiles at back at her, then at the little girl and starts speaking to her in sign language. I don't know how I haven't seen it until now but I love the magic of the holidays so much! XO

the first snowfall

There are very few things more magical than the first snowfall of the season! It began to snow Saturday night and we woke up on Sunday morning with our first couple inches to play in ...

Liam was all about the snowball throwing haha ...

The only thing that would have made the day better is if Lyla could have joined us. We waited to go out and play in it until after church and it was her nap time. This is not the greatest angle in the world because I quickly snapped it from my phone with one hand while holding her in the Walmart parking lot on Saturday night but I had to share this picture of Lyla seeing the snow for the first time. Her eyes were literally sparkling with joy and magic, it was the most adorable thing ever!

The greatest part of all ... it was the BEST snowman building snow!!!

You hardly had to roll a ball along, it picked up literally everything to the bare grass. 

Our little family in snowmen form :) ...

Typical boy, thinking hitting someone's bum with a snow ball is the most hilarious thing he's ever done. haha

When I saw this picture it stopped me dead in my tracks ... the look he is giving me, he looks 14!

If we were going to build our snow family we couldn't miss Rue! Our snow bunny ...

Teaching him everything he needs to know to make the best snow angel ...

SO thankful it decided to snow over the weekend and not during the week. The thought of Nic driving in it to get to and from work in the traffic here terrifies me! Not because I don't trust him, he is an incredible driver in the snow, but it's all the other crazies. So Mother Nature, feel free to snow any WEEKEND you want this winter. That's not too much to ask for, right?! ;) It was the best first day in the snow together!