A Very Long Christmas Post

We enjoyed nearly every minute of our Christmas Season.  Here are a few of our favorite Christmas memories from 2013. 

1. Choosing Our Christmas Tree

One of the most exciting things we got to do this Christmas was to pick out our Christmas tree.  We've never had a real tree before.  I grew up using an artificial tree and after we got married my Grandma gave me hers. So, even though I've wanted to get a real tree in years past I've always been just a little to cheap to justify the cost.  This year however, my sister-in-law invited us to drive out to her sister and brother-in-laws property to cut down our own tree.  They just bought some land that had trees on it that they wanted to get rid off, imagine that.  We were thrilled to get to take one off of their hands!!!

This is the one!!!  

Just Right

Maybe the excitement of choosing a tree is more of a girl thing...

2. Helping Robert Win His Ugly Sweater Contest

3. Visiting Storybook Land.

The city of Albany hosts an event called Storybook Land down at the fairgrounds every Christmas where you can basically walk through exhibits depicting Mother Goose nursery rhyme characters, fairy tale characters, and family movies.  We had no idea how popular it was and we went just a few days before Christmas so we ended up waiting in quite a long line to get in, which was a bummer because it was so cold outside, but all in all it was a lot of fun.  Next year I'll have to do a better job of reading some of the old nursery rhymes to the kids so that the recognize more of the displays. 

 Toy Story

Thomas

 Monster's Inc.

4. Decorating Christmas Cookies with Grammy

5. Decorating a Gingerbread Train Constructed by Our Ever Talented Grammy 

6. Decorating Our House

Sending and receiving Christmas cards is truly one of my favorite Christmas traditions.

7. Opening Stockings

These are the stockings I was trying to finish as I was having contractions with Cooper last year.  I finished them last year but never got them hung so it fun to reminisce as I hung them this year.

8.  Wearing Christmas Jammies

9. Opening Presents

 

Sadie got a LightBright, one of my favorite gifts as a kid.

Our new train table

10. Spending Time with Family.

Happy Birthday Brandon

December and January are stuffed full of reasons to celebrate in our home.  We start of with Cooper's Birthday the last day in November, then celebrate Brandon's birthday on the 10th, Christmas, Our anniversary on January 6th, my birthday on the 19th, and Wyatt's birthday on the 23rd.  At times I've wished it was spread out a bit more, but this year I saw it a bit differently.  This year I've been really thankful to have something to do and celebrate while it's so cold and wet outside. This season which might otherwise seem a little too full of dark days and wet weather has much to celebrate!

The kids love balloons so for Brandon's birthday this year they picked out 34 balloons, I came up with 34 of our favorite memories as a family and together we tied them to the balloons.   Then after untangling the balloons about a million times and begging the kids not to touch them anymore we were finally ready to surprise Daddy!

The next day as you  might imagine the balloons kept the kids busy for hours.  We tucked them in bed, stuffed them in the tent, hid them in the closet, threw them all over the house, sorted them, and finally popped them.  Endless entertainment I tell you.  

Our 1st Snow!

We were so excited to welcome our 1st winter here in Oregon with SNOW!!!!  It started snowing just as everyone was waking up so we enjoyed it from the window for just a bit and then the kids were so excited that we just had to get out and play.  So, even before we ate breakfast we bundled up and headed outside to try to catch some snowflakes with our tongues, and to play, and of course to take pictures.

Then we headed to the airport with Uncle Robert to pick up Grammy, having no idea just how much it was going to snow or how dangerous the roads would be.  What should have taken us 2 hours took us closer to 6 and all along the way we saw trucks that had slid off of off-ramps and other minor accidents.  We had to pull off once early on to take Sadie to the bathroom and that's when I began to realize that this was going to be quite an outing and that I was quite unprepared.  I had a few snacks but nothing like I would have if I'd known how long we'd be in the car.  So, we did our best.  We put both the kids in pull-ups and at one point bribed them with m and m's to use them because we didn't dare get off the freeway again.  Probably not my best parenting moment but don't judge.   After getting Grandma we made a quick stop for groceries, snacks, and more pull-ups, and then we headed back home. Needless to say this was not using my best judgement and Daddy wasn't very happy with me, but it was an adventure and thankfully we all made it home safe and sound.

We did our best to make a snowman but the snow didn't want to stick and toddlers have very short attention spans.  So, this was what we got and although small I thought he was pretty cute.

Happy 1st Birthday Cooper!

Our littlest guy turned just turned 1 on the 30th of November.  We can't believe how big he's gotten but love love love our past year with him!  I think the first year is such a fun one because you get watch them go from a totally dependent baby to a little person with personality and preferences all their own.  Well, lets be honest, once in awhile I wish I could take back just a little bit of that personality and more than a few of their preferences, but it really is so fun to think back on how much they change in the first year.  

Cooper is our brown eyed boy.  He's easy going, he's happy, he's cuddly, he loves to play with his brother and sister, and he just desperately wants to be a part of whatever they're doing even though they often see it as pestering.   He has quite a few nicknames.  Daddy started calling him Piddles during the first few months of his life and now calls him our pot belly pig because he can eat twice as much as his siblings most days, and Sadie and Wyatt have taken to calling him Dup Dup which Mommy finds to be awfully cute. He says just a few words including Dada, Mama, and Ball, but is very good at communicating his wishes and some of the cutest things he does right now are throwing his head back and saying hahaha, shaking his head back and forth to dance, and showing everyone his little belly. 

We love you Little One!!!  Happy Birthday!!!