Christmas Time | 2018

What a month December was!

We spent all month getting ready for Christmas, starting with getting the tree (click here if you missed that post).
We kept our tree pretty Plain Jane this year, with shatterproof ornaments, because I didn't know how Ellis would be with it.
Overall, he was pretty good with leaving it alone, but a few times I would find a random ornament tucked away somewhere in the house, and I'm pretty sure it didn't walk off the tree by itself :)

My mom had a brilliant idea to give Ellis his own felt Christmas Tree, that he could decorate and re-decorate as much as his little heart desired.
Also, she HANDMADE this and all those little ornaments... isn't she awesome?!

We used Kelle Hampton's Holiday Bucket List this year to get in the Holiday spirit & we checked quite a few things off the list, including:

Making a red & green paper chain garland count down to Christmas, as well as homemade paper snowflakes that we hung in the kitchen window.

Ellis was a huge help, clearly.


We took a ride one evening to go look at Christmas lights.   Ellis would shout, "Ohhh, pwwwretty!" and "more, more, more!" It was so stinkin' cute.

We tried to visit Santa a couple times; neither time was well received by Ellis.  About as close as Ellis was willing to get to Santa, was Santa's mailbox.  Maybe next year he will actually sit on Santa's lap?

We decorated Christmas cookies.

We watched Christmas movies in the "big bed" (our bed).

We all wore matching Christmas jammies as a family, and Ellis had coordinating jammies with his cousins as well. <3

And then, Christmas morning... 

Ellis slept in until 6:00AM!  This is a major improvement from his usual 4:45 AM wake ups.  It was a Christmas miracle!

This first thing Ellis did was inspect Santa's cookie plate... Santa ate them all up and only left two sprinkles behind, which Ellis promptly ate.

He got busy unwrapping gifts right away...

That kitchen & this snow globe were the fan favorites (his crossed eyes, haha!!)

The day after Christmas, it was a balmy 40 degrees, so we even got outside to play.

^picking up left over corn to feed the deer

And then, to rejuvenate ourselves after the hustle & bustle of Christmas, we wrapped up the week with a mini-staycation.  We only traveled about 50 miles from home, but it might as well have been Disney World...

I mean, jumping on the bed & swimming in the pool.  Best gifts we could have ever given him.
I hope he's always this easy to please :)

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I'm so grateful for all the memories that we've made during this season, and all the wonderfully festive celebrations that we got to participate in this year.

I think we had 6 Christmas celebrations in 5 consecutive days... and all you parents out there know that the holidays with a young kid(s), is not for the faint of heart.  Still though, it's so fun to experience the joy of Christmas through the eyes of a child.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season & tucked away some new memories.

May 2019 bring you bountiful blessings, health, and happiness!

Getting the Christmas Tree

Welp, we waited for the yuckiest day in December (so far -- it's only the first week) and for Ellis to have a fever to get our tree this year.  Because we are stellar parents...

You see, last Saturday night we were at an ugly sweater party - adults only - when I got call from my mom at 7:30 pm... "Did you pack any Tylenol?  Ellis has a 103º fever."

FOR. THE. LOVE.

Zac and I had even packed an overnight bag & planned on getting a hotel room because the weather was turning bad, but we wanted needed a night out, and so we were going to *live it up* because neither of us could remember the last time we went out together.

But instead, we left the party, headed to the nearest Walgreens for Infant Ibuprofen and Tylenol and picked up Ellis from my mom & dad's.

Side note: almost two years into this parenting gig, and I should know by now to not have any expectations but that's a hard habit to break. 


By Sunday morning, the falling snow had turned to sleet and rain, but the good news was that Ellis's fever went down a bit, though he still wasn't quite himself.  However, we knew if we didn't get our tree that day, we might not end up with one because free weekends the rest of December are hard to come by.

So we bundled up the hot tot and went anyways.  Ellis is like his father, and would live outside if we let him, so he was actually really happy to get some fresh air, despite not feeling the greatest.
(And by fresh air, I mean wind, rain, and sleet.)

We went to the same Ma & Pop cut-your-own-tree place as last year; just a hop, skip & jump down the road from our house, but we reallllly had to hunt to find a decent tree this time around.

But alas, we found... the ONE!

And see, if you just looked at these pretty pictures, you would think we have it all together.
We don't......   (cue the cheesy tag line).... But together we have it all.

May your kids stay healthy throughout this holiday season, and Happy Decembering!


Previous Christmas Tree hunts, for your viewing pleasure:
2015 | 2016 | 2017

Family Date Night | Green Bay's Titletown

In the shadow of Lambeau Field, sits Titletown, which provides year round fun for all.  With a full-size football field, playground, lots of outdoor games, and in the winter time, ice skating & tubing -- play, stay, eat & relax is their motto, and so we did just that!

This was our first visit, and we'll definitely be back!

We sat under the heat lamps, and watched the ice skaters twirl around the rink, but Ellis's favorite part was actually watching the Zamboni -- he called it the tractor on ice.

Then we burned off some energy on the football field.

"Hey Rogers, I'm open!!"

We had arrived just in time to see the Winter Jubilee Light Show, which played every half hour, so we actually got to see it twice!

And then of course, we warmed up with some hot cocoa (and hugs! <3)

With Christmas music playing throughout the park, the trees lit up with lights, and freshly fallen snow on the tubing hill, it was a perfect little evening to kick off the season of Christmas.
 

Looking forward to a December filled with love, friends, and family!

Christmas Snapshots | 2017

Merry Christmas to all our family & friends!

The past two weeks have been both amazing & exhausting.  We've been enjoying our time with family, celebrating Christmas & the reason for the season, but I'm not going to lie...  doing it with a 10 month old isn't always easy.  Missed naps, sickies, teething, a sudden boycotting of the bottle -- it's been stressful.

I wanted Ellis's first Christmas to be nothing short of magical...
I hoped to make an advent calendar for the beginning of the month, but I never got around to it.
I had every intention of creating this board book for him to open on Christmas, but I ran out of time.
We forgot to set cookies & milk out for Santa.
We didn't wear our family matching pjs on Christmas Eve night.
And, we didn't even get a family picture on Christmas Day.

While all those things seem very trivial (I'm aware), they were important to me. As I reflect back on the past two weeks, I realize that our Christmas may not have been the Instagram-worthy one that I had dreamed about, but it was still so so good.

We have full bellies, a warm home, healthy bodies, and lots and lots of love from family.

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I didn't take my camera out nearly enough over the past two weeks, but here are a few highlights during this season:

Meeting Santa for the first time.

Cousins in matching jammies.

Naps on Daddy.

Decorating & eating a sugar cookie for the first time.

Finding presents under the tree.

Handmade gifts.

The cutest personalized piggy bank.

THE most special present under our tree.

Looking forward to slowing down these next few weeks... these cold temps will make it easy to not leave the house!


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