Ive been so spoiled lately! Skyler only works about a week of the month during his off season, so he is home all day with me. Which means, I get out of the house a lot more! Poor Cayman gets pretty restless in the house all day, and i'm sorry but I am so NOT a home body! I have to be up and about doing things or I fall into a depression. I have pretty much switched from straight nursing Beckham, to pumping 5 times a day and nursing at night. This helps Skyler have more bonding time with him during the day, because he gets to feed him his bottles. Its also great for me because I can run errands if I need to, and not have to worry about the baby getting hungry. But all good things must come to an end. (I don't really believe that, but it seemed fitting for this statement. lol) Ill be stuck at home all day for the next two weeks, which I guess isn't a bad thing because I have family here, but I hate being stuck in the house all day! I just need a least a 2 hr break to feel the sunlight, taste the fresh air, and get out of the house.
Cayman AND Beckham are napping, which you would think id just take a nap considering I only got 4 hours of sleep last night with Beckham, but I cant nap during the day. I don't know why, I wish I could, but my body just does not like sleeping when the sun is shining! sigh... so blogging it is! First up- Christmas!~ Sadly ive been working on this post for a few days now, its hard blogging with two kids. I dont like to be on the computer when they're awake so i've only blogged during nap time. We all know how that goes...oy vey!
So glad I am finally to the month of December, it was honestly the best month of the year. Not only was it Christmas time, but Beckham was able to come home in December too!! My sister in law Kamie and I made a Christmas Bucket List this year, what a fun idea! We used an old mirror and made it into a chalk board, then wrote out our entire bucket list! Im excited to say that we completed all but two things on the list. One was an old christmas movie Kamie wanted to watch, and ice skating.
We started the year off right by decorating the house. Christmas, just isn't Christmas without all of the decorations up. We bought a new tree this year, because I wanted something taller since our ceilings are a lot higher. I got a 9.5' tree NOT pre lit. WHAT WAS I THINKING!? Im pretty sure I wanted to shoot someone after the third time a random strand of lights went out. After almost an entire day of wrapping the tree with lights, we were finally able to start putting the ornaments up. Cayman got to help daddy put the star on the tree, so sweet.
I made this tree skirt with lace and burlap, and this tulle garland during rounds at the NICU. It look a good two weeks because I only worked on it for an hour a day, but they turned out so dang cute!
(dont judge my ghetto curtains, we are waiting to have some made that actually touch the ground! lol)
Of course we also decorated the outside of the house and hung up a few Christmas lights!
On December 1st we crossed off THREE activities on our Christmas Bucket List. We went to Temple Square, Hot chocolate was involved which made the whole experience that much more enjoyable. It was an awesome feeling telling Cayman, "look, thats where mommy and daddy got married!" He said "whooaa!" Kamie and our cousin Marissah came with us so we had way too much fun. Temple square is such a special place for our family and I'm excited to share it with both our boys next year.
annddd we went to the Festival of Trees. Gosh, next year we are going here before we decorate our tree! I had major tree envy and wanted to re-do ours after seeing so many gorgeous ones everywhere. Personally, my favorite was the Harry Potter tree, but not because I thought it was pretty. Thats just because I'm a major Harry Potter nerd. ;) About half way through Cayman had a cow, because he wanted all the cars and stuffed animals under the trees. He'd say "vroom vroom" and when we wouldn't let him play with it, he scream and cry. It was kinda cute, don't know if ill be singing the same tune next year though.
The Shops at Riverwoods we so cute this year, we just had to add it to our bucket list. We once again got hot chocolate and had fun seeing all the gorgeous lights. Santa was there so Cayman got to meet him, and we all had a blast! I love my family!
Another day, Kamie and I went to the new Traverse Outlets, they had just opened. Lets just say it is bad news having an outlet mall literally right down the street from us. Cayman didn't have any sleepers one day, SO I drove down the street to the Carters outlet and bought him three pairs for only $10. Whoops! It is just way too convenient.
Skyler and I attended the VIVINT Christmas party for his region. They had all kinds of competitions with the men and it was hilarious to watch. Skyler dominated the rock climbing competition for his group. They also had a competition with the wives to win a Michael Kors watch. They had us all tie balloons on our ankles, and we had to pop each others balloons. The last girl with her balloon still attached, won the watch. I ALMOST won! Girls are vicious though, especially when it comes to Michael Kors. Lets just say I ended the game on my butt with my hair in a complete mess. haha
Kamie and I made a gingerbread house with Cayman, another bucket list activity crossed off the list!
One night we visited Santas reindeer and saw the Thanksgiving Point lights. So nice having Thanksgiving point so close to us. It really is the cutest little place ever!
(sorry for the bad pic quality, this was taken on my phone) My sister in law Diane came to visit for Chrsitmas so we went to Gardner Village with her. Another activity crossed of the bucket list. :)
Another day we met up with a bunch of the girls in our neighborhood to get ice cream and shop at the Emporium at Thanksgiving Point. So yummy, and wow the Emporium is the cutest shop ever! I pretty much wanted everything there!!
Hot Chocolate- Ive never been a huge fan of hot chocolate but this winter I am loving Chocolate Factory hot chocolate with peppermint bark, and of course Starbucks white hot chocolate. Its so nice walking around in this gorgeous winter wonderland, watching the snow flakes fall, while drinking a hot chocolate. It makes the cold so much more worth it! Don't mind my creepy picture, I was just loving this gorgeous day way too much. ;)
We decided this year we wanted to do the 12 days of Christmas for some of our neighbors, every day we'd bring them a gift and leave it on their doorstep with a little note that said, "on the ___ day of Christmas our neighbors gave to me..." On the 12th day of Christmas we told them who it was from. We had so much fun dressing in black and trying not to be seen, haha I hope this is a tradition we will have from now on. I think it will teach our children the spirit of Christmas, and that its about giving not receiving.
On Christmas eve we stayed in and had friends and family come over, we ate dinner and made cookies. It was the perfect Christmas eve, and the first one I didn't have a ton of shopping to do! We were able to just relax and enjoy our time together. Our "elf on the shelf" aka "Elfie" must have reported good news back to Santa, because the boys were VERY spoiled for Christmas. Every year on Christmas eve we open our first present, which is always pajamas. It was so cute seeing Cayman in his little pajamas so excited for Santa to come! Beckham had cute Christmas pajamas on, but he pretty much slept all day. haha We also had a sibling gift exchange with my side of the family. My sister Becky and I had each other, so we pretty much got stuff for our babies. I bought her adorable clothes for her little girl coming soon, and she gave me cute stuff for Beckham. I loved it!
We made cookies for Santa!
On Christmas morning we made kneaders french toast, which was yet another item we had on our bucket list. My sister in law Kamie works there, so she was able to get the recipe. They weren't as good as actual Kneaders french toast, but it was still very good. Such a perfect breakfast for Christmas morning!
Cayman decided to sleep in Christmas morning, so it was complete torture waiting for him to wake up. I think I was more excited than he was. When we finally heard him up, Skyler and I both bolted to his bedroom, pushing each other so we would be the first one there. Haha he was a little confused at first when he saw all the presents, but once he saw his "vroom vroom" he was so excited! Heres a little video we took. :)
Skylers parents were a little late to come over, so we waited for them to show up before we opened the rest of the presents. Guess who was at the door when they knocked? SANTA!!! Cayman was a little scared of him at first, but warmed up quickly once he realized there was candy in his large red sac! ;) This was such an amazing experience because Beckham is not allowed out of the house, so he was never able to meet Santa. So, santa came to him! I cried. It meant the world to me that both my boys got to experience this. What a perfect Christmas present for our family! We read the Christmas Story in the bible before we all opened our presents for each other, this is a tradition we will carry on for years to come. I love being reminded of our Saviors birth and what Christmas is all about.
It really was an absolutely perfect Christmas. Having both my boys HOME was the greatest Christmas present anyone could have gotten me.
To finish off the year right, we went sledding with the family. Skylers grandma babysat Beckham so we could all go together. It was a blast. We went four wheeling, sledding, made snowmen and snow angels, and had snow ball fights. Oh the snow ball fights, they got pretty aggressive. My sister in law Diane and I were at WAR!
Notice this tender picture, it was supposed to be of us all throwing snow up in the air. So sweet, so innocent. Then notice Diane (blue coat, green pants) throwing the snow IN MY FACE!!! ahhh! Dont worry though. I got her back. ;)
In the end, Kamie and I completed almost everything on our bucket list. December was definitely a great month, cant wait for next year! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment