In preparation for the NYE party that we are throwing this weekend, I am in the middle of too many projects – and one big DIY.
Here’s a sneak peek:
Look like a familiar pattern?
Guess you’ll just have to wait and see what we have going on here in our nest!
Whew!
Was your Christmas weekend as exhausting as ours?
We spent the weekend at my mom’s up north and ate too much, drank too much and had so much fun watching the kids play together. Last Christmas Georgia and her cousin Garrett were just babies, but this year, we had two 1 1/2 year olds and a 3 year old, 2 dogs and 7 adults. It was the biggest group I can remember having together for Christmas in a long time – and it was awesome and exhausting at the same time!
Opening gifts on Christmas Eve was a blast!
My niece Addie – a budding gymnast – got a trampoline from Nama. She rocked it!
The “babies” get a turn (after eating chocolate, no less).
On Christmas day we took everyone to church (except the dogs) and this was our best attempt at a family picture.
So from our family to yours, here’s wishing your holiday season goes out with lots of time with family and friends!
I’ll admit it. I was pretty proud of myself for doing my holiday shopping early this year. Before this Christmas I was a last minute shopper, not because I was lazy, but because I always have a hard time deciding on the perfect gift, but this year was a different story. The gifts just came together – and it helped that the hubs and I didn’t exchange gifts since we bought a treadmill a few weeks ago.
I announced that I was already finished with my shopping on Facebook, told my co-workers I was done, everything was wrapped and under the tree, and even said a few times to the hubs, “I’m so proud of us for shopping early!” Well, tonight all of that showing off bit me in the ass.
So what happened?
I had the gifts for so long that I forgot what I had bought! No kidding!
Here’s how it happened. I was packing up the gifts so we could haul them to my mom’s house and I kept reaching under the tree and pulling out gifts labeled ‘To: Georgia, From: Santa.’ And I pulled another one out, then another small one. I looked at Ryan and said, “Uh oh..I don’t even know what is in these!”
This isn’t a huge problem (minus going over budget) but I was really focusing on not buying Georgia a ton of gifts so they overtake family and the true meaning of Christmas. I also didn’t want her to get a bunch of stuff she didn’t need and wouldn’t ever play with….so now that we shopped so early that I don’t remember what is in every box, I’m pretty mad at myself. It was easier when I ran around 2 days before Christmas and snatched up whatever was left on the shelves.
Tis the season, right?
Over the weekend we celebrated Christmas with the Eagles… all of ‘em!
We spent Saturday with all of the aunts, uncles, cousins and cousin’s kids in Cedar Rapids, eating lots of food, playing games and listening to the kiddos play and giggle. More than 50 people in one house is a lot – and way more than I’m used to at the holidays – but it’s pretty cool to see a family that big come together like no time has passed since they saw each other last.
Then on Sunday, we celebrated Christmas with my in-laws and with the fabulous weather (40 in the middle of December – nuts!), walked around the town square a bit, went out for lunch and opened and gave gifts. G got spoiled, of course, but it was so fun to see her get excited about opening presents. Last year she was so tiny that we opened them and shook them in front of her hoping for a reaction, but this year was totally different. And you know what? She loved the least expensive ones the most: a toothbrush and a $1 punch ball. True story.
We took tons of pictures and I actually remembered to take the good camera. Way to go, me!
[G visiting with Santa, Eagle family christmas, the entire Eagle clan, G and Rusty the Rhino, opening gifts at Fran and Steve's and playing with her new toys]
and one of the coolest photos of the weekend is the last one of the slide show. Great moment!
Kids say some hilarious things – there are Facebook pages dedicated to it, blogs and heck, Bill Cosby made a nice chunk of change off of it! With a 1 1/2 year old, we constantly find ourselves laughing with each other over what she said or did and on recommendations from parents who have been there, I bought a notebook to record all of it.
And what’s not to love about that Hermes orange?
Time goes so fast and she does and says so many new things every day that I know we won’t remember the funny and sweet things she says a year form now, let alone 10 years fron now. It will be incredible to look back and remember her at 1 year old, 2, 5 and older – or we’ll just blackmail in front of her 1st boyfriend, prom date or future husband. I’m sure she’ll be so glad we wrote it all down!
I’ll be honest, I’m horrible at keeping up with things that are going on around town for kids. I never know when the classes at the library are, I don’t pay attention to what is going on at the zoo, Living History Farms or anywhere else , so I’m thankful that my friends do!
Today we went to the Zoo to see Santa on my friend’s suggestion – and to keep the kids from losing their mind by spending 2 days with just their parents. 6 adults, 4 kids = chaos!
Last time we took G to the zoo, she sat in awe the entire time, pointing, but not saying anything. Today she was much braver! Running ahead, pointing at animals and overall, not being very concerned whether me or her daddy were near her. Scary!
There were lots of families there today to see Santa, but beyond the lines it was really fun. We did crafts, ate cookies, saw lots of fish, petted a millepied (not me, of course, but Georgia did) and petted a reindeer!
Fishes, though G was checking out the drain in the floor. The best picture we could get of all 3 girls.
Doing crafts with G. We didn’t necessarily follow the instructions, we ‘freestyled.’
Georgia and the reindeer, I think that one was Prancer, eyeing each other down.
I forgot to mention the first time around that when Georgia first saw the reindeer, the first this she said was, “Momma, I ride it?” I laughed so hard, but honestly, I was surprised that she knew you could ride animals like that because trust me, she’s never ridden an animal!
G and Dancer (or Prancer, whatever)
Full family photo (soon afterward Dancer about gored G with it’s antlers. Not really, but they got close to her cute lil face).
Someone should really tell Santa to watch out for those reindeer, they’re vicious.
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Now that we’re full swing into the holiday season I am soaking up every spicey smelling candle, moment wearing my slippers, mug of hot cocoa, crock pot recipe and the glow of Christmas lights.
As much as I hate the cold and snow, Christmas – and the holidays – aren’t complete with out them – and Mother Nature didn’t disappoint this year. She held off on snow until December. December 1st, to be exact!
But now that the temps have dropped, I’m enjoying all things holiday! But beyond the comfort foods, snuggling in a blanket and wearing Uggs every day, I love relaxing and falling asleep to the glow of Christmas lights. Nothing beats that.
photo taken with Instagram
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Getting ready for the holidays is incredibly different this year than it was last year. Last year we had an 8 month old, this year we have an (almost) 20 month old. Life sure has changed!
Look at her last year – this exact week:
And us on Christmas:
In one super fast year, we went from that to this:
This toddler was a big* help in putting up the tree and decorations this year. (*and by big, I mean, not a big help at all, and I was terrified she was going to stab herself with the metal rods that are the Christmas tree branches)
But in all honesty, I love seeing her get excited by the ‘pretties’ on our Christmas tree and how every time it snows she say, “Snowman. Snowman.” She loves pointing out the Christmas lights (sounds like ‘kissmas” on the way home from daycare and when we look our our front door at the neighbors’ lights). The way her eyes get big and she grins ear to ear melts my heart. I imagine I’ll be amazed again next year, looking back at pictures from this year. It all is just going too fast!
Get this tree outta here!
“Help, Daddy. Help.”
Helping Momma.
We got it!
All finished.
What are your holiday traditions?
