Christmas Recap

Kaylee's first Christmas was great. We had a busy day with my parent's for breakfast, Eric's grandma's for lunch, and my sister's for dinner. We were worn out by the end, but it was a wonderful day to cherish!

Checking Out What Santa Brought

Yay, my own phone!

                                               

Hanging out at Christmas breakfast

Unwrapping!

Being silly!

Her favorite part: PAPER!

Playing with Papa!

Christmas Time Is Here!

Happy Christmas Eve and Merry Christmas blog world! We relaxed all day with a quick trip to the park behind our house to swing :) Now off to church and my parent's house for dinner. Let the fun begin!

Christmas Questions Answered

Saw this on another blog and wanted to answer them for myself. So fun thinking about different aspects of the holiday!

1.      Eggnog or hot chocolate?

     Hot chocolate for sure. Eggnog is good like once a year, but hot chocolate with marshmallows is the best!

2.      Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree?

    Santa does not wrap gifts, that is too much work!

3.      Colored lights on tree/house or white?

    Colored on my tree,  well actually they blink from white to color. Typically white on the house. We don;t have lights on our house, but growing up we always had white.

4.      Do you hang mistletoe?

      Never have! 

5.      When do you put your decorations up?

    Usually the first weekend in December, but this year I was eager and went for the weekend after Thanksgiving. Never before Thanksgiving though. 

6.      What is your favorite holiday dish?

    Shrimp @ our Christmas Eve "snack dinner" as I call it. We have a bunch of different appetizer type foods. Yummy!

7.      Favorite holiday memory as a child?
Just being eager to see what Santa brought. I always loved to be able to see my presents right away without opening them :)

8.     When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?

I really don't remember when I found out the truth. I think it wasn't until 5th grade though.

9.      Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?

    Eric and I have typically opened our gifts on  Christmas Eve just because Christmas is so busy with all our families. Growing up, I only opened on Christmas Eve if I got a new pair of jammies to wear. I think that will carry on with Kaylee too :)

10.   How do you decorate your Christmas tree?

       Well my tree is pre-lit, so all I have to do is add the ornaments. I use all the ornaments my grandmother gave me plus others that I have received throughout my 26 years. Very personal decorations!

 

11.    Snow! Love it or dread it?

    Love to look at it and sled down it. Not a fan of making snowmen or driving in it!

 

12.   Can you ice skate? 

       Yes, but not very gracefully

13.   Do you remember your favorite gift? 

    I remember a couple of gifts I really wanted. The one that sticks out the most is my Magic Nursery Surprise Triplet Dolls. They were so cool!

14.   What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you?

   Cherishing the moments with family!

15.    What is your favorite holiday dessert?

    My goodness, I love all kinds of desserts. I love my mom's heavenly delight even though it contains pineapple and I hate pineapple.

16.   What is your favorite holiday tradition?

        Christmas breakfast with my family. I am going to enjoy this year b/c it will probably be my last since we will need to start a new tradition with Kaylee on Christmas morning next year! Bittersweet :)

17.    What tops your tree?

       A silver ornament that says PEACE.

18.   Which do you prefer: giving or receiving?

      I would have to say I am pretty equal on both sides. I love giving gifts and seeing how much the people enjoy what I give, but I also love to receive gifts. It's a win win!

19.   Candy canes: yuck or yum?

        If they are flavored candy canes besides just      peppermint then I say yum!

20.  Favorite Christmas movie?

    Definitely a tie between Elf and Christmas Vacation. Both make me laugh LOTS.

21.   Saddest Christmas song?

   Christmas Shoes. Such a sweet song with a special   meaning, but so freakin sad!

22.    What’s your favorite Christmas song?
This year- Dominic the Donkey just because it cracks me up and Dominic is the Italian Christmas Donkey!

Now you have learned all about my Christmas thoughts! Feel free to answer them too, I would love to read your Christmas responses!

Show Me Christmas- Link Up # 3

I'm linking up for the 3rd Tuesday in a row for Show Me Christmas. This week, I get to talk about traditions. Here are the traditions I had growing up :)


Traditions Growing Up

• Getting a real Christmas tree, decorating it while listening to Christmas music and drinking egg nog
• Annual town Christmas parade (usually someone from the family was in it)
• Going to as many free Christmas events at churches, town festivities that my mom could find!
• Making Christmas cookies with my siblings
• Hanging stockings on Christmas Eve
• Eating yummy snack foods Christmas Eve typically after church service in the later years (early years we went to a party @ my Great Aunt's house)
• My mom read us The Night Before Christmas each year right before bed on Christmas Eve
• Get up Christmas morning and hang out upstairs till mama and daddy said they were ready for us downstairs
• Take the classic "top of the staircase" picture/video before we headed down (We always looked so lovely)
• See what Santa brought us!
• Grandparents came over for breakfast (always eggs, bacon, toast/biscuits) then we opened all our presents from family
• Lunch @ our house
• Head to the grandparent's house later on for more food and presents

*Many of these traditions are still being carried on today.

Sorry so late joining in, I was carrying on a tradition.  We made cookies tonight!

We can't wait to make more family traditions as Kaylee grows up!

Family Christmas Party

Saturday night we had our annual family Christmas party where my family and Eric's family comes over to our house. We always cook a ham, make Eric's famous taco soup, and provide some desserts while everyone else brings a dish. We had some yummy sides this year! My mom made an amazing shrimp dip and my sister made a chocolate chip cookie dough dip that was incredible. Everyone had a good time passing Kaylee bug around. She was definitely the hit of the party in her adorable party dress.

Pre-party pic!

Worn out from all the fun, she needed a bottle and power nap to perk her back up!

Our little family

My Christmas break as a teacher has officially begun so Kaylee and I are off to finally get some shopping done! Hope everyone has a great start to the week.

Show Me Christmas Week 2- Decorations

Linking up for Show Me Christmas Week 2- Decorations: Inside and Out. The only decorations I have outside are some candy canes and a wooden gingerbread man with our name on it. So I focused on the inside of our house :)

Our cute Christmas wreath on the front door

Dollar Tree sign hanging in the kitchen!

JoJo' s treat jar for the holidays and a cute candle holder by the sink in the kitchen

One of my many door hangers

Our first full length tree bought after Christmas last year for around 20 bucks! The lights blink so hard to get a good picture.

Cute snowman cookie jar that was handed down to us by Eric's grandma. He hangs out on the mantle.

Kaylee hanging from the mantle.

Our sweet girl's stocking

That about does it for the majority of the decorations. We hang out in the den most of the time, so most items are in there. Can't wait to share traditions next week! 

Zoo Lights and Skating

Eric and I headed out Saturday night to our town's Zoo Lights with some family and friends leaving Kaylee at home with her DeDe and Papa. They have Zoo Lights every year, but this was our first time going. It was fun walking the zoo looking at all the cute lights, but it sure was chilly! 

I thought the penguin was cute!

                          

I should off gone to the other side of the tree, you can barely see me :)

                           

Photo with the roosters in honor of our grandmother!

Cute lights from around the world!

After we looked at all the lights we headed in to the tented ice skating rink that they made at our zoo last year. I hadn't gone ice skating since I was probably around 10 and Eric never had. Ice skating sure isn't easy, but it did come back to me as I got going. Eric had a more difficult time. We were out on the ice together at one point and he lost his balance and pulled me down! Ice is cold on your tush!

The skates!

Waiting for the ice to get cleaned. Got a quick shot of the rink!

We had such a fun time getting out on the town ( We don't get out much). Put me even more in the Christmas spirit. Ready to get this last week of school finished so I can get out and about shopping for all the presents I need to get.

                           

Have a good week everyone!

                                                 

Kaylee- 6 Months

Kaylee Joy is already 6 months. Time sure does go fast! Here is an update on my babe:

Sleeping: Kaylee is still going to bed around 9 each night. She likes to listen to lullabies as she falls asleep now thanks to mommy's iPhone Pandora app :)

Eating: Kaylee is still being nursed in the morning and evening, taking two 6 ounce bottles during the day, and eating one fruit and one veggie a day!

Activity:  Kaylee can sit up on her own and pick up whatever she wants to play with. She is fascinated with everything. She has also started crawling!

Crawling towards her stuffed elf :)

More fascinated with the table beside her chair than getting her picture taken!

Napping: Kaylee takes a morning nap, afternoon nap, and an early evening nap. All her naps are short, ranging from 25-45 minutes.

Favorite Place: Hanging out in the den in her play yard or on her blanket on the floor!

So precious!

Kaylee, these 6 months have been wonderful! We just love watching you grow and change each day. Happy 1/2 Birthday!

Hanging together

My little girl loves to do whatever I'm doing. We have fun hanging together! Happy weekend everyone :)

Show Me Christmas Link Up #1

                       
I am participating in Becky and Aly's  Show Me Christmas Series! 


Link Up #1: What is on your holiday wish list, real or fake? 


Real
1. iPhone4s case- just got my new phone and now I need a cute new case for it! Hard to find b/c the 4s phones need different cases than the plain 4!


2. Waffle Iron- ever since our fall break trip (the hotel had amazing blueberry waffles each morning at their breakfast) I have wanted a waffle maker to make my own delicious waffles on the weekends!
                                   


3. Clothes- more specifically sweater dresses to wear with my leggings and boots to work. I only have a couple of outfits to wear with my boots and I would love some more!
                                            
4. Gift Cards- Starbucks, Sonic, Yogurt Mountain, Chilis, El Porton!


5. Gloves- I need new gloves, plus I would just really like some that work with the iphone touchscreen!


Fake
1. Trip to Italy-would love to explore my heritage!


2. Beach House- forever or as a vacation home!

 3. Ice Cream without calories or fat :)

Would love to see your holiday wish list!

Head Cold

I've been down and out for the majority of the day today bc of a head cold. Woke up Saturday feeling it coming on after all I did have 4 kiddos out Friday. Had a lazy day at home after a semi-fun day yesterday getting Kaylees Christmas pics made.

The place was overbooked and we didnt get seen till 2 and we had a 1 appointment. It was madness in there but we got a sweet pic of our little girl.
After we went to The CrepeMaker bc I had a buy o e get one coupon. It was very tasty, highly recommend it if I have one in your area!

My sweet hubby even went to the grocery for us today since it was a jammies only day for me. Here's to hoping to a better day tomorrow since I have 19 little ones to teach and keep in line :)

IPhone4s

Finally entered the smartphone world today. So excited to have such easy access to a variety of things including blogger!