Christmas Eve 2014

This Christmas season was crazy busy but so much fun! We didn't get to do all the things I had planned but lets face it we have three month old, I just went back to work, and then we all got sick. Life happens.

We introduced the Elf on the Shelf this year (man is that a lot of work). Jackson was so cute everyday, "where the elf? Where is he? Oh he move!!" "There he is!"Our elf was really boring this year and often forgot to move to a new hiding place but luckily Jackson didn't mind. Jackson named him "Blue" by the way.

We went to Disney the first weekend for Mickey's Christmas! This needs a separate post all on its own!

We decorated cookies with Jackson's best friend Emma. Still more eating than decorating :)

We went to see Santa, who apparently is a big scary man still to Jackson…maybe next year??

Look at his handsome bow tie made by mama :)

Brooklyn just looked extremely worried the whole time!

Before heading to mass we sprinkled reindeer food out in the front lawn. Holy cow I have to remember this for next year it was ADORABLE! Jackson loved it! He kept calling for the reindeer and throwing the food all over the lawn, it was seriously the sweetest thing ever. I should also mention he is way more into the reindeer than Santa. 

Christmas eve we went to mass and actually made it through the entire service! Christmas miracle!! It helped we were in the gym and next to his best friend. I also had to bring a ton of snacks and toys. I should have brought wine ;) After mass we went to my parents to open gifts and have dinner with my brother's family.

Brooklyn pretty much slept through it.

Jackson was SOO good, it was past his bedtime and he just kept playing. This was probably one of his favorite gifts- cars.

That night we  put the kids straight to bed since it was way past bedtime. Although we had cookies for Santa we didn't get to put them out, maybe next year. The elves got to go to bed pretty early since there were no presents to assemble this year which was nice I have to say! 

Thanksgiving 2014

This year we had Thanksgiving at our house which is awesome because the kiddos can nap when they need to without everyone leaving/going home. It was a very stress free Thanksgiving! The morning we got up and go a run in relay style. It was way to cold to take the kiddos with us so we had to take turns working out. After our runs we watched the Macy's Day Parade while getting ready for our company. We had my parents and their friend over for the day. We started with appetizers and pumpkin spice white Russians- yum! And then had our main meal of fried turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing and Silver Oak wine. Desserts were mini pecan pies and and baked apple pie inside of an apple. 

The table:

 Our thanksgiving blessings :)

Watching Cars per Jackson's request :)

That evening we headed over to our friends house to play a card game while the kids went wild from the lack of naps, too much sugar, and being up past their bed time. It was so much fun! 

We have really been counting our blessing this month! We are extremely lucky!

Christmas 2013

Ok so last year I didn't quite get a Christmas post in but this was close.

This year was the best!! Jackson is at such a fun age! Although our house is still in boxes..a mess... I did manage to put up decorations and ignore the million and one boxes in our garage. OK so our outdoor lights did not get hung.... but anyways

We had a lot of fun decorating cookies! Jackson was so funny taking all of the icing off and eating it, licking the bowl, and pouring sprinkles directly in his mouth. Needless to say the house was a mess, he ate two cookies, and took a very short nap..but it was all in good fun! Totally worth it.

 We went to see the Zoo lights which is he loved! He had no interest in the animals but only the lights. He loved hanging out with another little boy we went with..who he was constantly trying to imitate.

And then we saw Santa..

Christmas Eve we attempted Mass. He self destructed in five minutes and spent thirty minutes outside being a holy terror. I took this time to point out to God that this is what he gave me hints the reason we avoid going to church. But we did recover after leaving and the rest of the evening was great!

Opening gifts from the Gill's

The elves were hard at work until 11pm building toys, drinking white Russians and watching Elf. This is a great tradition we started.

Jackson got up around 6:30 and found this:

He went straight for his lawn mower and car and was zooming around the house in no time. Then we ate breakfast: Snowman pancakes (vegan) and Cinnamon rolls for the adults

Testing out his new table

And climbing all over his Pottery Barn chair

We opened the rest of our gifts and had Christmas lunch with my parents. And instead of dessert we had a hot chocolate bar that was amazing!! Homemade hot chocolate is the best! We spent the rest of the day playing with toys, watching Christmas movies, and eating. It was pretty awesome.

Now for unpacking the million and one boxes out in the garage, hanging pictures, painting, etc. I think I can I think I can

Thanksgiving 2013

We have so many things to be thankful for family, health, love, lots of laughter, and of course our new house! This year we hosted Thanksgiving at our house. We started the day bailing on our race (it was 32 degrees outside) only to run a relay later that morning. We watched the Macy's Day parade while we got ready for our guests to arrive. After lots of prep in the kitchen and awesome fried turkey made by Jamie himself, we ate! Yummy food! After lunch/dinner we had our annual basketball game of "horse" which I myself won!! This is a least two years in a row... A game of beer pong later and lots of football we had to put all the babes to sleep. The next morning we had our first annual christmas movie in christmas "Js" as we call them.


Unfortunately, I missed last year's post but here are a few pics:

2012

2013

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Birthday Weekend/Labor Day

Labor Day weekend we had lots of family in town, so it was a bit of an adjustment for Jackson. Too many people, off of his routine, and a baby in the house ahhh :) But he survived :) Friday we went to lunch and hung out with family. Saturday and Sunday we went to the beach!

Playing with Lexie!

Wagon rides on the beach!! 

Monday was Jackson's real birthday so I got up early to make him donuts...and couldn't find the pan. Grr!! So he got mini donut muffins with sprinkles. He loved them!

Yum!

The rest of his day we took several wagon rides, played, and saw more family! 

4th of July 2013

I was looking for the 2012 post but I guess I didn't blog about it! This year was so much fun having Jackson actually here.

We (Jamie and I) started our day with red velvet pancakes (red, white, and blue). They were delicious!

After Jackson's long morning nap, we feed him lunch, packed up our stuff, and headed to the beach!

Once we got to the beach condo, Jamie and I ate lunch. I made this fantastic chicken salad! Finally we planted ourselves on the beach. We spent all afternoon playing in the sand, going in the water, and having a few cocktails.

After we were all beached out, we grilled out at the condo and then headed home. Baby boy was EXHAUSTED. He fell asleep in the car. Heck we fell asleep super early too. So no fireworks this year but maybe next!

I hope everyone had a fantastic 4th!