Christmas Eve

This year we spent Christmas morning at my parents house, but in an effort to start our own family Christmas traditions, we had our own little Christmas morning a day early. 

We put the kids to bed at 8pm December 24th and then started our elvish work. I wrapped gifts while Andrew put together our present for our kids (which took a whopping 5 hours, keeping us up until after 3am!) 

I'm turning into one of those crazy ladies that has to have the perfect gift for her kids. But we don't have a huge budget for lots of extravagant things, so I did some serious research and we (like Andrew had a whole lot of say) chose to get a combined gift for our kids- a toy kitchen. And Santa knew what we were getting and found some fun accessories to go with the kitchen: pots and pans, toy food, a play cookie set with a cookie sheet, and a sandwich making kit.

I found way too much pleasure in searching out the right kitchen for the best price, but I think it paid off because the kids love it and we got a killer deal. 

Christmas Eve morning we also skyped with Andrew's family so they could see our kids open the presents they got them. They spoiled Jake and McKenna with a pirate ship, doctors kit, mini mouse with horse dress up set, and an Ariel baby doll. It was fun to see the kids so excited to open their presents, and I'm thrilled to have new toys to help entertain them with. I think I was as giddy as they were! 

We also spent a lot of time this Christmas season explaining the purpose of Christmas to the kids. I'm sure McKenna had no idea, but Jake did seem to understand, at least to some degree, that we are really celebrating Christ's birth. In order to drive that point home a little more, we made an angel food cake and sang happy birthday to Jesus, which I think will be a fun tradition to carry on through our kids' childhood. 

After spending plenty of time playing with their new toys, we headed to my parents for dinner and to celebrate Christmas with my family. I love this time of year when we draw closer to our Savior, Jesus Christ. It was definitely a Christmas to remember.  Having young kids on Christmas is seriously THE best!!

Cleveland Christmas Fun

(Written 12/22/14)

Every year since I can remember, my extended family meets at Tower City in Cleveland just a few days before Christmas to get in the Holiday spirit. We window shop, visit Santa, talk to Bruce the Spruce (a talking Christmas tree), eat a fabulous lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, and my grandparents fund a trip to the candy shop. I love including Jake and McKenna in that tradition!

Saturday we took our yearly trip, and it was fun, as always. 

The kids do NOT like Santa this year. I guess every kid needs a crying picture on Santa, and Jake and McKenna definitely got theirs this year. It's a framer, that's for sure :)

My parents treated us to Hard Rock Cafe, which was obviously delectable, and the kids did great- much better than last year, and much better than expected. And the highlight of the trip for Jake was a train ride with uncle Kory. He lit up, it was cute :)

I love fun traditions with my family and celebrating Christmas in Ohio!

Sibling Love

(12/18/14)

Jake and McKenna are starting to get along- at least most of the time. Now that McKenna can say a few words and can walk and play, Jake seems to see her more as a play mate and less of an intrusive baby. Thank goodness! I find myself with the HUGEST grins on my face when they play together. My heart could burst ❤️

McKenna's first haircut

Yesterday we took McKenna to Cookie Cutters for her first haircut. Her hair wasn't long or thick or in her eyes, but she had grown quite a stringy mullet. Andrew was really sad to see her hair go, but it was time. 

She did NOT enjoy getting her hair cut, but she looks cute! And it'll help her hair grow in evenly. Goodbye mullet and hello cute bob :)

Sleep tight

After spending several days at my parents house where Jake gets to share a bed with either me and Andrew or my parents, it takes him a few days to stay all night in his own bed after returning home. 

I like snuggling with him and know he won't always want to sleep with mommy and daddy, so I try to enjoy the moment, but he is not a good bed sharer! He should fit just fine in our king-sized bed, but he comes up with ways to take over 90% of the bed. Good thing we love you so much, Jake :)

Santa

Our church Christmas party was Saturday and the kids saw Santa for the first time this year. 

It did not go well. 

Haha, poor kids. If they only knew how awesome Santa really is! Maybe in a couple of years :)

Thanksgiving Week

We had such a good thanksgiving break! And it seemed especially good because Andrew finished his candidacy exam just in time for the holiday. 

We headed to my parents house Tuesday afternoon. They watched Jake and McKenna while Andrew and I went on a date. I love being out with just Andrew, it's so relaxing! And the kids love time with grandma and grandpa. It was a win-win!

Kim and Darrell came later Tuesday night, and Wednesday we went to the Great Lakes Science Center with my grandparents. It was fun to spend time with them, and the kids loved that we let them play in the kid area for 2 hours. Then ended day night we had pie fest, a celebration of thanksgiving desserts. Everyone gets so full with turkey and stuffing and all the delicious thanksgiving dinner foods that you can't really enjoy the desserts. So our family tradition is to have a few people over to eat pies the night before. Andrew made an apple pie and Darrell made his Granny's recipe of chess pie with a chocolate twist. Both were amazing! 

Thanksgiving was wonderfully delicious and lots of fun. We went to my aunt Carolyn and uncle Tom's house for the day, and she knows how to throw a party! It was such a grand meal and it was fun to catch up with my aunts, uncles, and cousins. 

We did LOTS of shopping and got some killer Black Friday deals. We only have 1 more small thing to pick out for McKenna and we are done with our Christmas shopping!

Andrew and my dad went to the OSU vs Michigan game Saturday, my dads 55th birthday. It was a good game with a great ending- a buckeye win. And for the end of November, the weather was fantastic. My parents and Kim and Darrell stayed though dinner Sunday- it was the perfect thanksgiving weekend, and only a few weeks until we get to have my brother home too!

Pre-Thanksgiving Fun

We have had a fun couple of weeks. Here are some pictures from our pre-thanksgiving week adventures:

We went to COSI (and happened to hit it the day of a train exhibit- Jake was in heaven!), the library, a play date, and played at home. 

Nothing out of the ordinary, but I'm trying to fully enjoy even the boring days. I'm so grateful I get to spend all my time with Jake and McKenna!

Our big, fun event was celebrating Andrew finishing his candidacy exam- hallelujah! Seriously- during the 2 weeks prior to thanksgiving, Andrew worked non-stop. 160 hours logged just working on that exam. It sounds like it ended well. He has an oral defense of it next week and will find out whether or not he passed immediately following those 2 hours of being asked questions by his committee. I'm glad it's not me! To celebrate him finishing, we went to the zoo lights with the kids Monday night and to casa del rio without them on Tuesday. I'm glad to have Andrew back, and it was fun to spend time together after hardly seeing him for 2 weeks.