Our Christmas 2015

We had a wonderful Christmas this year, celebrating with both kids and with our families.  Rowen was beyond spoiled and Wyatt was his happy-go-lucky self watching all the festivities take place around him.  Like every year, the Holiday FLEW by...

I'm not one to normally like snow, but a white Christmas is always a plus.  In the days leading up to Christmas I didn't think we'd have any snow, but we were all pleasantly surprised when the big, white fluffy flakes started falling Christmas Eve morning!

We spent the morning watching Christmas movies and making cupcakes for Jesus' birthday, a tradition we plan to do each year {you can read more about those here}.

After lunch we piled into the car to head to my parents' house for church, dinner and presents!

It was a late night.  Santa happened to leave both kids a new pair of Christmas pajamas at Grandma and Grandpa's so we put those on the kids and headed home to layout cookies and milk for our Elf. I say Elf because Rowen was adamant that she did NOT want Santa in the house, she was quite concerned he would come into her room while she was sleeping --- I promised her he wouldn't and that our Elf, Lonnie would do all the work.  I told you she didn't like him, ha!

So, the "Elf" did as he was told...

Christmas morning did not go exactly as planned unfortunately.  Rowen woke up in a terrible mood (typical three year old lacking adequate sleep, I guess), and kept saying she didn't feel well.  She pretty much bypassed her presents that morning and headed straight for the cinnamon rolls Ryan had made. After eating she still wasn't her usual self so with the help of us she (Wyatt, too of course) opened her stocking and gifts.  Oh well...

A couple hours later we then headed to Ryan's parents' house.  Rowen fell asleep on the ride there and was in a much better mood when she woke up (thank goodness).  We spent the rest of the morning opening more gifts, eating lunch and just lounging!

The Tuesday after Christmas was our fourth an final celebration.  My family from out of state was in town so we all got together that evening for dinner and a small gift exchange!

That wraps up Christmas 2015 -  I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas, too!

Rowen's Christmas Wish List....

Given the short week ahead, I've skipped meal plan Monday this week.  I basically just planned a few quick meals (ie. spaghetti and meatballs, tacos, etc) to get us through the first half of the week leading up until Christmas!

Last week I posted Wyatt's Christmas wish list {read that here} so today I thought I'd go ahead and post Rowen's! Rowen honestly hasn't requested too much for Christmas. We do know however she's been wanting a kitchen set.  Her current kitchen is tiny and it's hard for her to use so I know she'd love something bigger!  She's also had her eye on a specific set of princess dolls for the last couple of months (she asks to go look at it every time we're at Target) so I caved and bought it!  We incorporated both of these things into her "five Christmas gifts" {read about that here}.  So excited to watch her open everything in just a few days...

Want:  Disney Princess Ultimate Collection 7 Pack - Like I said before, shes been eyeing this set of princesses for months.  She talks about them all the time, so when I saw them on sale I snatched them up.  We cannot wait to watch her open this!

Need:  {New snow pants}, {boots} and {hat and mittens} - These were a must this year.  Although we don't have snow right now, she is in need of a new pair of snow pants and snow boots that fit and I thought a new hat and mitten set would be the icing on the cake - she loves Hello Kitty!

Wear: Sofia the First Glitter Canvas Sneakers  - I am not one to buy character anything when it comes to clothes and shoes, but when I saw these I thought they were super cute!  I love the sparkles and I know Rowen will be so excited when she sees them!

Read:  I Can Read book set - Rowen loves the "i can read" books, they're easy to read (not too long), have large words we can easily point to, and there are tons of different stories to choose from.  We actually bought a set of 12 books at her school's book fair for only $10!

Santa:  KidKraft Vintage Kitchen - I love the look of this kitchen!  I also love that it has a refrigerator, cupboard, microwave and oven for her to open and close, I think she'll love it!

That's about it for the rest of the year.  I'll be back in January!  I hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday!

Wyatt's Christmas Wish List

Figuring what to get a baby for Christmas is HARD!

I'll admit, Wyatt doesn't NEED anything and because he's so young I'm mostly doing it for my own fulfillment, but at the same time a small part of me would feel very guilty if there was nothing for him Christmas morning. So, even though he's just a baby, he's still going to find five gifts for him under the tree...and if you're curious as to why five gifts, well, then you can read about that {here}.

{WANT - VTech Drop and Go Dump Truck}:

  Poor Wyatt has zero "boy" toys, and although he can't actually tell us what he wants yet, we thought this truck was right up his ally! 

{NEED - Clothes}:

Little man will be busting out of his six month clothes and ready for nine month clothes any day now! I love Carters because the sizes are always spot on! 

{WEAR - JuDanzy Classic Loafers}:

I found this company via Instagram!  They have adorable necessities for baby and these shoes will work perfectly for Wyatt as he becomes more mobile!

{READ - Books}:

A good friend of mine recently had an Usbourne party where I purchased a few books as presents for friends and family.  Like toys, Wyatt does not have a ton of "boy" books, so I thought this dinosaur one would be perfect for him  (I think he'll like dinosaurs)!  

{SANTA GIFT - Go Baby Poppity Pop Musical Dino Pop}:

I keep seeing this toy pop up on my Amazon and Facebook feeds (damn you social media) and it's caught my eye a number of times.  It has really good reviews and is a toy he can use as he learns to sit-up so I totally snatched it up the other day when I saw it on sale!

Simplifying Christmas...

I love buying Christmas gifts and what I love even more is watching my kids open those gifts on Christmas morning.  However, it makes me sad to think not all kids get to experience that same feeling my kids do on Christmas. We're lucky in the fact that we have the means to buy at Christmas time, but I’m always torn, I want to give my kids what they want, but I also want to make sure they (myself included) don’t get so caught up in the material aspect of Christmas.

The last couple of years I went a little Christmas crazy when it came to buying gifts for Rowen.  Add to that all of the stuff she receives from friends and family each year and it’s almost overwhelming -the fact that our playroom is running out of room due to the amount of toys, says a lot!  So this year, especially now that we have two kids, I decided to take a step back to see how I could still give the kids a good Christmas without going overboard...

I’m not exactly sure where I came across this idea, but I love it!  In a nutshell, you get one gift per kid to fit each category.  I showed it to Ryan and he was instantly on board.  I love that it’s simple and keeps Christmas from being too excessive.  We plan to start this gift tradition each year with the hope that Rowen and Wyatt will learn to appreciate everything they receive and not be lost in a sea of presents!   I've seen some people go a step further with this idea and assign each gift category a certain spending amount.  We use the envelope system {that post is here} so we aren’t doing this, but it’s a good option if you want to stick to a budget!

That being said, my shopping is done and I can’t wait for Christmas to get here!

Christmas Traditions/Bucket List

Like a lot of you, we have quite a few fun things planned during the month of December, but here are a few ideas we plan to make into traditions for our family in particular...

Decorating the Tree - The plan this year is to turn on the movie Frosty the Snowman, brew some hot chocolate and decorate the tree.  Rowen is super excited to do this!

Ornament Making - The other day found a cute DIY ornament kit at our local craft store.  Rowen (Wyatt will too) has her own tree that she keeps in her room (I bought it last year at a garage sale).  Being able to make her own ornaments and decorate her own tree will put a huge smile on her face!

Santa Claus – I’m not really sure how interested Rowen is in seeing Santa.  Last weekend, when I ushered her by his little setup at the mall, I asked her if she wanted to sit on Santa’s lap.  She responded with a terrified look on her face, “no mommy, I just want to look at him” and then proceeded to stand and stare for a few seconds before quickly walking away.  I’m actually ok with this to be quite honest.  Ryan and I have debated whether or not to even do Santa in our house (I never really believed in him).  We’ve decided we will, but the second she questions it, we’ll tell her the truth.  I will however make Wyatt sit on his lap for the obligatory “baby with santa picture” {insert evil laugh here}.

The Elf - I'm sorry, but I wish I never would of bought this stupid thing.  In my opinion it totally teaches kids the wrong meaning of Christmas, however I get it, it's supposed to be "fun".  We'll probably do it, but given her lack of excitement for Santa, if Rowen isn't really into it, it'll probably be our last year.  Sorry not sorry.

Christmas Lights - Growing up I always remember going to look at Christmas lights with my family.  My sister and I loved it so I want to continue this tradition with my kids.  The plan is to stop at Starbucks for hot chocolate, crank up the Christmas music and then drive to the fancy part of town!  Can’t wait!

Decorating Cookies - Rowen loves to bake and this is something I'm excited to do with her every year! 

Jesus’ Birthday Cake - I saw this idea online and I think it’s a really good one. It will help explain to the kids the true reason for the season!  I’m thinking we’ll probably make it a day or two before Christmas and then eat it Christmas Day!

Angel Tree – Each year our church has a tree where families can buy certain items for children in need and then bring the gift to church and place it under the tree.  Ryan and I think having Rowen go with us to pick out the gift is a good way to try (keep mind she’s only three) to explain to her how lucky she is!

Christmas Family Movie Night -  A night or two before Christmas we plan to let the kids open their first gift.  Inside will be new pajamas and a Christmas movie (Polar Express) that we can all watch together!

Christmas Books - I’ve been keeping an eye out for Christmas books as I’d like to start a small collection so that every year come December we have plenty of books to read!  I’ve found a few good ones so far… 

{The Night Before Christmas}

{God Gave us Christmas}

{The Story of Christmas}

{Bear Stays Up}

Christmas Songs – As I’ve said before, Rowen LOVES to sing.  She sings allllll day long, even at school her teacher says.  She’s particularly interested in memorizing the popular kids Christmas tunes (frosty, Rudolph, etc.) so I downloaded this album of kids Christmas music.  She LOVES it!

Christmas Eve -  We will head to church (I love our church's Christmas Eve service), then head to Grammy and Grampy's house for dinner, dessert and presents!

Christmas Morning -  The plan is to get up early, throw a delicious breakfast casserole in the oven, watch the kids tear into the presents, eat, and then hop in the car to do it all again Grandma and Papa's house...all while dressed in our PJs!  

Call me a Christmas Scrooge, but...

I know we haven't even had Thanksgiving yet, but for the past week I've had Christmas on the brain non-stop!  So, that being said, I have to get something off my chest...

I hate the colors red and green together.  I know they are the traditional Christmas colors, but I hate them.  I've never liked either color and I think both of them together are terribly ugly.  Sorry, Christmas scrooge here, can't help it.

For the past five years, we've had the same boring old red and green christmas tree and I've never, ever liked it - just tolerated it.  This year however I want to like my tree so I've taken to Pinterest to look into doing something different.  The "rustic" look with a lot of gold and white is what I'm currently loving and I'm even toying with the idea of blue and silver!

Now keep in mind this may not even happen given the fact that Ryan has no idea I am even thinking about changing up the tree - that fun convo will come in the next few days, I'm sure.  HA!  Anyways, just wanted to share.  Many more Christmas related posts coming in the next few weeks so stay tuned!

Christmas 2014 Recap

Christmas is over.  I’ve already taken down my tree and packed away all my decorations.  So sad.  However, it was a lovely one and I’m happy to recap it for you!

I had to work Christmas Eve morning (the joys of saving all your vacation time for maternity leave), but managed to sneak out early that afternoon to join the rest of my immediate family at my parents' house for some snacks and then Christmas Eve service at our church!

After church, we headed back to my parents’ for dinner and then presents!   Santa aka Grandma, Grandpa , Aunt Sarah and Uncle Shawn were very generous this year and gifted Rowen much more than she needed…

After changing into our PJs and playing with gifts we headed home to bed, but not before setting out cookies and milk for Santa.  Oreos…Santa (ahem, preggo mommmy’s) favorite!

Christmas morning was much more special this year; I absolutely loved watching Rowen unwrap all her gifts and enjoy each and every one of them like it was the most amazing thing she’d ever seen.  Everything from Disney coloring books to a new art easel was opened with such excitement and joy – I now have a whole new perspective of Christmas morning and I love it!

Later that morning after an hour or so of playing, sipping coffee and munching on cinnamon rolls, we packed up the car and headed to the lake to spend the rest of the day with Ryan’s family (in our Christmas jammies).  

There were many more gifts to open including Rowen’s new Elsa costume….

After presents, there was a delicious meal to consume, wine to drink (yes I had a little) and board games to be played.  So much fun! 

We arrived home just in time for Rowen to hit the hay and for Ryan and I to hit the couch for some Christmas jammie lounging!   

Friday was a stay at home day.  Rowen played all day while Ryan and I organized.  We were lucky to receive a ton of new items for our kitchen, so I tasked Ryan with putting it all away (loving my newly organized kitchen) while I tackled the playroom and all of Rowie’s new toys. 

Saturday was then spent at my grandma’s house with my aunts, uncles, cousins and family from Kansas City!  Grandma made us a soup and sandwich lunch, and then we opened more gifts! 

All in all it was a wonderful Christmas filled with family and fun!  Have I mentioned I’m sad it’s over?  Waahhh…