Christmas Day

We had such a fun time with Christmas this year.  Sydney really loved everything about this magical season.  She loved spotting the Christmas lights as we drove in the car.  She loved putting our tree up.  She loved listening to Christmas music, making a snowman & snow angles, meeting Mrs. Claus, looking for Criddle the Elf every morning, writing a letter to Santa Claus, going to family Christmas parties, watching Christmas movies, making Christmas cookies, playing with her nativity set, holding baby Jesus from our nice nativity set, tracking Santa on the computer, and reading the Christmas Story in her picture book.  It was so fun to watch her enjoy the Christmas Season.  I definitely think Christmas is so fun when you are a parent, it's like you were a kid again.  I even had trouble sleeping on Christmas Eve, because I was so excited to watch my kids wake up to presents in the morning!  On Christmas morning, we slept until Cooper woke up, and decided to go in and wake Sydney up.  We told her that it was Christmas morning, and she could go see if Santa had come, and she said, "no, I'm so sleepy..."  So we all sat on her bed for a few minutes and then all of a sudden she popped up and said "let's go see!"  She ran out to see all the presents Santa had brought and was so excited.  She was happy to see that Santa had brought her a cradle and a baby doll, plus a Tangled dress and a Cinderella dress.  She was also pleased that Cooper got a Woody and a "Lightning the Queen".... good thing Cooper has an older sister to show him which toys are the "cool" ones, ha ha.  After we opened all our presents we went over to my family's house for a traditional Christmas morning breakfast.  After breakfast we talked to Tim on the phone from Ghana, and during that time we were also conferenced into Alex's call from Argentina.  It was so fun to talk to both our brothers, and was definitely something we have been looking forward to!  Next Christmas they will both be home!  After we talked to Tim, we went home and had some naps and played around with presents for the evening.  And that night Matt pulled the mattress out into the family room and we watched Despicable Me, a movie Sydney picked out for Matt for Christmas.  It was definitely an exciting day!

Twas the Day Before Christmas

We had a busy, fun-filled Christmas Eve!  Matt had to work, so I made plans with Sydney to make sugar cookies for Santa, since they are his favorite.  My family came over to help us out and spend some time together.  We had a blast!

 Her finger kept getting side-tracked to her mouth...

 Sydney's very own cookie!

 Santa's plate...

 The kids ready to leave for Nana and Papa's house

Every Christmas Eve Nana and Papa host a get-together for everyone.  They make scones for dinner, have a small talent show type thing, and read the Christmas Story and sing hymns.  It is something we look forward to every year.  This year we played some chimes, for the talent show.  It was a lot of fun.  We love spending time with them.

Before bed we had the kids each open a present.  Cooper has really gotten into opening presents!  He enjoyed it much more than he did for his birthday.

Putting the cookies and milk out for Santa before going to bed

I love Christmas Eve, probably even more than Christmas.  I love the simplicity of it.  I love that it seems to be the time that we focus on Christ, while Santa and presents seem to be a Christmas Day thing.  I love reading the story of Christ's birth and feeling the spirit of that holy night present in our lives today.  I love that all the shopping and hustle and bustle is over, and that we can all relax and focus on our Savior.  It is a nice, relaxing, simple, spiritual night, and this year was no exception.  I pray that we can always keep Christmas Eve that way in our home.

Merry Christmas!

Our Special Visitor

 Last night we had a special visitor come to our house!  Mrs. Claus came to tell Sydney that Criddle the Elf has been flying back to the North Pole to tell Santa how good Sydney has been.  Mrs. Claus told Sydney that she heard she is a very good big sister.  She also said that Criddle told her and Santa that Sydney wanted a new baby doll for Christmas, a cradle, and a "Tangled dress."  Mrs. Claus said that only very good girls get Tangled dresses, because a lot of girls want them this year.  Sydney's face was priceless when Mrs Claus mentioned a Tangled dress.  It was full of surprise, just saying how on earth would this lady know I wanted that?  Sydney was a little nervous to have a stranger in our house, but hasn't stopped talking about "Santa's wife" since she left.  Mrs. Claus told us that Santa loves sugar cookies and the reindeer do too.  Mrs Claus' favorite cookies are chocolate chip, and the reindeer also can not have any chocolate because it makes them sick. Today we are planning on making some sugar cookies for Santa!  We are so excited that Santa Claus comes tonight!

In the Meadow We Can Build a Snowman...

Let it snow,

Let it snow,

Let it snow!

Cooper at 14 Months

I am coming to terms that my little Cooper is no longer a baby and is a toddler now.  He is fully weened from breastfeeding now, and the day I ended it, I was the one who cried, not him.  I have either been pregnant and/or breastfeeding for 4 years now.  It is weird to think that my body has literally been taking care of my babies for that long.  I 'm sure it will be a nice break to have it back to myself for a while though :)  Cooper is in such a fun stage right now.  His little personality is really shining through.  He is becoming a little chatterbox.  He likes to point at everything and can say several words.  Mama, Dada, ball, ba ba, done, there, hi, la la (love you), and ba bye.  He absolutely loves balls.  He can find a ball, or something that looks like a ball, pretty much anywhere we go, and calls balloons balls also.  I love to see him pointing out the window, as we drive, at a balloon with his little voice saying "ba!" He is also using grunts "uh uh" and pointing to get things he wants, rather than crying.  It is fun seeing him learn how to communicate more.  Cooper is becoming more interactive with toys and books.  He likes to point at the pictures in books and turn the pages.  One of his favorite things to play with is actually his toothbrush.  He loves to carry it around and chew on it, but he hates actually getting his teeth brushed... go figure. Cooper is still such a sweet tempered little boy.  He is pretty much always happy and can entertain himself well.  If I am ever sitting on the ground, he will come up and plop himself into my lap... probably the thing I am loving most about him right now :)  I love that he will cuddle with me and sit with me.  I just can't get enough of his smile and blue eyes!

Snow

Wouldn't it be nice to be little again and actually want to go outside in the cold, dark, night to shovel snow?  Daddy had some good company and a nice little helper when he had to shovel the driveway (YES we have a driveway!) last night.  I bundled her up good- 3-4 layers on top and bottom!

 He shoveled a tiny little "cave" for Sydney

 Loving it!

Getting cold...

By the way, having a garage and hence a driveway, and having to shovel that driveway, is TOTALLY worth it!  Not having to get into a freezing cold, frost/snow covered car every time I go out to it is literally heaven!  I am in LOVE with our garage.  :)  We'll have to ask Matt if he agrees, since I don't really actually shovel the driveway... but I think he still would feel the same way.  

Thankful

Our family project this month was to remember things we were thankful for.  Every night we would write down one thing we were thankful for and hang it up.  We could not repeat ourselves, but we could repeat others.  It was a really fun project!  Near the end, Sydney would end up listing 10 or more new things she was thankful for each night without any prompting. She really got the hang of it! A lot of Cooper's list came from her extras.  We found that listing every person we were thankful for, which started happening one night, was taking up our entire list, so we started writing "family/cousins" or "grandparents."  To sum it up, we really are so grateful for every person in our family... extended cousins and all! I loved having a reminder of things we were thankful for hanging on the walls in our home.  It has been so fun to stop every once in a while and read it.  On the last night of our project, I found I was a little sad, because I didn't get to list everything I was thankful for!  We really have been so blessed in our lives.  We have so much to be grateful for.

Daddy's List

Mommy~ Priesthood~ Book of Mormon~ cuddle time~ Sydney~ Cooper~ pictures~ birthdays~ work~ comfy couches~ to have a yard~ Sydney's smile~ food~ scriptures~ family~ Chris~ opportunities at work~ missionaries~ cookies~ friends~ snow~ the Spirit~ football~ grandparents~ turkey

Mommy's List

Temple~ our house~ Cooper~ marrying Daddy 5 years ago~ dates with Daddy~ the scriptures~ nice weather~ my baby girl Sydney who was born 3 years ago~ President Monson~ Daddy's job~ the pretty fall leaves~ laughing~ a garage~ Michael~ Allie~ grandparents~ movie nights~ mountains~ good health~ to live in America~ good friends~ missionaries~ being a stay at home mom and playing with my kids~ the gospel~ forever family

Sydney's List

my brother Cooper~ Mommy~ Allie~ Jessie~ Daddy~ missionaries~ Timmy and my friendship bracelet~ my ladybug birthday party~ Cinderella~ Belle~ my toys~ singing songs~ Temple~ Beam~ Mason~ Lisa~ yogurt~ grandparents~ dresses~ snow~ blankets~ cousins~ balloons~ clothes~ Pamps

Cooper's List

my sister Sydney~ Daddy~ bananas~ my blanket~ Mommy~ my sippy~ Alex~ naps~ snacks~ Book of Mormon~ church~ missionaries~ books~ cake~ Brett~ temple~ dancing~ music~ hugs~ pajamas~ coats~ my crib~ family~ playing~ reading

Today

Today...

Sydney "painted" Cooper's feet with milk on a comb dipped in her cup at lunchtime

Cooper shut Sydney in the dryer when she climbed into it for some reason

We all have been...

Missing daddy while he's at work

And I am enjoying these beautiful fall leaves outside our windows.  Aren't they gorgeous?

Sydney's Ladybug Party

Sydney's birthday party was so much fun!  Because Sydney is so into birthdays, I started asking her what kind of party she wanted a few months ago.  We came up with many options including a "pink" party, a Toy Story party, a Fancy Nancy party, and a ladybug party.  I kind of pushed Sydney toward a ladybug party mostly because I already had the cake pan... ha ha.  But I'm glad I did, because it turned out to be the perfect party for a bunch of 2-3 year old girls!  I had too much fun coming up with ideas and planning this party.  The little details are my favorite part, because they just made everything so "ladybug!"  So beware, there are a lot of pictures.  I am the first to admit, I have a problem of taking too many pictures.  I just love them.  Believe it or not, the pictures in this post are a VERY NARROWED selection.  I have so many more, and even so many that I have deleted.  So I feel like I stuck to the bare minimum for this post... lol.

First, I made Sydney's invitation in Photoshop, and we had them printed on photo paper from Walmart.  I sent them out postcard style, with the addresses on the back, so I didn't even have to buy envelopes.  It was actually very cheap, $0.23 per card, and I think they turned out so cute!

Decoration-wise, I just did black and red balloons and crate paper streamers, both of which are very cheap, but cute.  You sure can make the whole house feel decorated very easy with balloons and streamers!  I also made sure to make my food be a part of the decorations.  I was already doing food anyway, so making it match the decor, meant I had less to decorate.  It was nice to be able to decorate based off of colors, rather than finding "ladybug" everything, because it was easy to find things that were plain red or plain black, but it still had that ladybug feel to it.

I have had those red napkins for years... since Lisa's Bridal Shower.  I think I have used them at every birthday party since, and I still have a ton left!  

I found this ladybug iron-on decal for $2 when I was shopping, and just ironed it onto one of Sydney's white shirts she already had.  Such a cute, cheap detail!

The ladybug pinata... 

Black and red licorice.  We passed this around to the adults while Sydney opened presents...

 Matt and I made carmel/chocolate covered pretzels.  They were so yummy, and darling rolled in red sprinkles!

The inspiration for it all... the ladybug cake!  It turned out so cute!

When I was making it, Sydney would come up and say, "That ladybug looks funny mom!  We need to cover up all the brown (the cake)"  and when I was done, she kept telling me, "it looks GREAT mom!"  I'm so glad she loved it!

This was the first party we've had that we've invited more than just very close family to.  Usually our parties include my family, Chris and Lisa, and Matt's grandparents.  We decided that since we are in a house this year, and we probably won't be next year, we'd expand the guest list.  We added Sydney's friend Kate, with her parents Courtney and Tyler, and Sydney's cousin, Jocelyn, and her family.  I also thought it would be fun to do a few activities appropriate for 3 year olds.  First we made some ladybug headbands.  Then we went on a "bug hunt."  After that we did a "ribbon" pinata.  And ended the night with opening presents, cake and ice cream, and playing in Sydney's room.  I think it was perfect!

For the headbands, I glued these little black balls onto red pipe cleaners earlier in the day, so all the kids had to do was wrap the pipe cleaners onto headbands...

They turned out so cute!

All 3 girls kept their headbands on all night!

For the bug hunt each girl got an empty jar, a magnifying glass, and a list of bugs to look for.  Then they walked around the house and collected their bugs...

The pinata was so cute.  It just had ribbions hanging from it, so each girl took turns pulling a ribbon out.  Pulling the ribbon is supposed to open up the bottom of the pinata so the candy falls out, rather than hitting it with a bat, which 3 year old girls probably aren't very good at in a room full of people...

All of the kids enjoyed helping Sydney open presents.  She has been loving her new toys, which include many Disney Princess, Toy Story, Dora, and My Little Pony items.  Thanks to everyone!

Sydney ready to blow out the candles on her cake... one thing I learned, is to give the pieces with black frosting to the adults!

The girls enjoyed playing in Sydney's room with her new toys, while the adults chatted in the family room!

Jocelyn, Kate, Sydney

We had so much fun with all of our good friends and family!  You all made Sydney's birthday perfect!  She was so happy to spend her special day with the people she loved.  A special thanks to Matt's family who sent presents and phone calls our way!  We missed having you there.  It was such a fun day and something we will always remember!

 Sydney practicing putting up 3 fingers...

Our cute little 3 year old... 

We love you Sydney!