Christmas 2013

I'm a few days late here, but MERRY CHRISTMAS!!  Two days before Christmas the phone box in our front room started beeping...every 15 minutes.  Super annoying if you ask me.  Well Chris looked online for how to disable it and followed the steps Verizon listed and guess what happened?  We lost everything!  No phone, no internet, no cable!!  I stayed home all day Christmas Eve, even though I had tons to do, waiting for Verizon to come and repair the problem.  We decided to go to Church that evening despite Verizon still not arriving and sure enough, in the middle of the service they called to say they wouldn't be coming until the day after Christmas.  Boo!  Finally yesterday morning they came and restored our service so now I can post!  Phew!  After Church we gave the kids their Christmas pajamas.  Zach was so exhausted he cried through the whole thing, poor guy!  After Samantha set out cookies and milk and everyone got tucked into bed.

Christmas day was really nice for us, although very exhausting.  Chris and I were up until 12:30 wrapping presents, please remind me to wrap in advance next year!  Just an hour later Mr. Zachary decided that it was time to wake up.  We laid in bed for a while but he was not going back to sleep so we ended up coming downstairs.  Zach bolted straight for the Power Wheels!!  He was so happy to sit in it.

Then he noticed the tree and spent the next two hours trying to unwrap all the presents.  It was next to impossible to keep him contained and I ended up taping together a few boxes that he had torn into.

Finally around 6:30 I got him to go back to sleep and we slept for a few more glorious hours.  So nice!  Of course by the time he woke up, he wanted nothing at all to do with the presents.  Samantha came down and was super excited to find "Ho Ho".  So excited that she walked right past all the presents saying "Ho Ho, where arrrrrrrre you?"  It was so adorable.  After she realized that Santa was not at our house she raced for the presents.  Her Santa presents came perfectly wrapped in princess paper which she LOVED.  Every time we saw or talked about Santa she was adament that she wanted a Snow White doll.  I had no idea where it was under the tree, but somehow she managed to find it and it was the very first thing she opened.  For almost all her presents she would say "wooow" or "I love it" or "I'm SO excited!".  Seriously adorable.  Zacj's Santa presents had Spiderman and TMNT paper.  Santa packages come with stamped gift tags!

 

This doesn't even begin to cover all the stuff they got.  They were seriously spoiled rotten this year!  They had such a wonderful Christmas and have been loving playing with all of their new stuff.  I am so thankful for our happiness and health and I can't wait to see what the next year will bring us.

Merry Christmas!

Sorry this is a day late!  I was fully intending on posting yesterday but the day got away with me and I just never got around to it.  We slept in a little bit and got up around 8:30.  Must take advantage of these days while we can!!  We were all still exhausted from our hospital stay so it was nice to not have to rush around.  Once downstairs we checked out our stockings.  My favorite gift that Samantha got in her stocking was this absolutely adorable froggie hat!!

She looks SO cute in it!!!  We then moved onto our gifts.  Our tree was absolutely packed and there was a ton to open.  I'm not going to list each and every gift because that would just take too long, haha!!  Some favorites were as follows:

Chris: tons of work shirts, a daddy & me frame with a picture of him and Samantha, a drill

Me: video baby monitor, iPad keyboard, family calendar, ornaments, and Beco carrier (it hasn't come yet but I know it's coming, lol)

Samantha: two cell phones, tea set, piano, play home, ball dropper, tons of books and clothes

Seriously though, Samantha loves absolutely everything she got.  There isn't a single toy she doesn't want to play with.  We had such a wonderful Christmas and I am just so thankful that we got to spend it at home and not in the hospital.

the countdown begins

The countdown is on!  With only 4 days until Christmas there is still SO much I have left to do.  I have wrapped all but two of DH's gifts, but Samantha's gifts are a while different story.  I have not wrapped a single one.  I've got great plans for her Santa gifts (am I allowed to post that?  I hope no kids are reading!!) which I can't wait to do.  I'm going to wrap them all in plain brown paper and today I got a clear stamp set to stamp her name onto handmade gift tags.  I'm pretty excited for my project.  Then we can keep it consistent every year.  I have a whole array of wrapping paper for the other gifts which I'm equally excited about...almost!  No matter what though, I am super super excited for our very first Christmas with Samantha.  I can already tell how magical it is going to be and just how much Samantha is going to enjoy it.

reindeer butts

Miss Samantha is wearing her first ever pair of Christmas pajamas today!!  They are SO cute!!

Earlier today I had to take one of our foster cats to an adoption fair and while Chloe was trying to get adopted, Samantha and I ran to Target and picked up some rainbow garland for our tree.  This evening while Samantha jumped in her jumperoo, I decorated the tree.  I still have a little bit to go but it looks so pretty so far.

Christmas has always been my favorite holiday and I can tell it is going to be a million times better this year having Samantha around!!

ornaments

This morning we had a playgroup to make homemade ornaments!  It was so much fun and thankfully, Samantha pretty much cooperated.  I only had to do the handprint 3 times and the footprint we got on the first try!  I think they turned out great and I can't wait to hang them on our tree.

We're back!

Sorry I seemingly dropped off the face of the planet lately.  We are finally back in Virginia.  We've actually been here since Saturday but it's been go go go since then.  Samantha and I got up at 6:30 Saturday morning to be out the door by 7:00.  We got to the airport by 8:00 and my flight left at 9:15.  Thankfully there were 80ish empty seats so I got to bring Samantha's carseat on the plane with me.  The plane was pretty bumpy so I was about ready to have a panic attack, but thankfully we made it.  We landed around 11:45 and I already had my bags and was out the door before Chris got there!!  They were super speedy and efficient that day, I guess.  We got home and Chris dropped me off so I could hop in the shower and while I was showering, he went to McDonald's to get me some lunch.  I ate super fast and pumped at the same time and then headed to Tim and Nicole's to babysit.  I got there around 2:15 and babysat until a little after 10pm.  Ben was on fire, lol.  Tim and Nicole told me he's becoming a little terror and I half believed them, but WOW, he really is a little terror.  And he blames Luke for everything.  I had fun though.

Yesterday I was planning on going to church at 8am but when my alarm went off at 6:30 I just couldn't bring myself to get up.  I was wiped and Samantha was still sleeping so with being gone for 10 days and her schedule all out of whack, I decided we both should just sleep so we did.  We got up around 8:15 and just hung out.  At 11:15 we left to take Chloe to the vet.  Oh yeah, Chloe is back.  If you don't remember, Chloe was a little kitten we fostered last summer.  She got adopted by one of Chris's coworkers but unfortunately, he recently found out he has cancer and can't keep her.  So she's back with us.  I took her to the vet and she got all caught up on vaccines and then I took her to the pet fair.  She was pretty nervous and hissy but what do you expect?  She generated a little interest but no apps on her yet.  Hopefully she won't take long to get adopted out.  She's only a little over a year old so I'm hoping she's not super hard to adopt.  After the pet fair we raced home to drop off Chloe and then we went to our playgroup Christmas party.  It was really nice, but we didn't end up staying the whole time since we were all really tired.

This morning we had a Little Hands music class through playgroup.  It was fun, but I don't think something I'm interested in signing up for.  It didn't seem very structured and I don't know, I just didn't love it.  Plus it's $225.  That is A LOT of money.  So um, sorry Samantha, no music classes for you.

Then tonight, the mail came and we got a package from our friends Lindsay and Ethan!!!  

Samantha was super excited for her box.


Trying to open it.


Cummon Samantha.


You can do it!


It's a box!


An ornament!


Baby's First Christmas!!  SOOOO cute.


And a LUSH gift for me!  Looooooooooove!


Thank you SO much Lindsay!!!  Now I need to pick the perfect picture to put in her ornament.  :-)

Samantha's first Christmas gift

Today our playgroup had a Secret Santa playdate for the tummy timers.  We were both super excited to participate.  Last week while we were at Target we picked up a rattle ball as our gift.  Samantha has one that is one of her favorite toys so I thought it would be perfect.  Unfortunately, Samantha saw the ball and was quite upset that it wasn't hers to play with!!!  Oh well.  She quickly forgot it once she remembered all the toys she already has.

Here is Miss Samantha with her gift.  She got a new book all about colors!  This was the perfect gift since I am always looking to expand our rather tiny book collection.  Samantha definitely seemed to enjoy reading it and I loved all of the colors and pictures it included.  So fun!

Thank you so much to Lindsay for hosting today and to Katelyn and Dillon for our new book!!

it's officially Christmastime...

...and I couldn't be more excited!!  My black "Friday" kicked off around 8:30 pm on Thursday when my cousin picked me up and we headed to Walmart for some shopping.  I scored the two XBOX 360 games I wanted (barely), a Fisher Price grand piano for Samantha, as well as gifts for two of my sisters-in-law.  Minus a few cuts and scrapes after getting shoved to the ground trying to get my games, I made out well and had a good time.

During actual Black Friday Samantha and I decided to brave the mall.  I ended up walking the whole thing but only buying a pair of pajamas for Samantha.  One tradition I've heard of through the years, although not something we did growing up, is getting a new pair of pjs on Christmas Eve.  I thought this sounded fun and decided it was something I'd like to do with our kids.  So, I set out to find the perfect pair of pajamas for Sam. I wanted to get her a 2 piece set which is hard when your kid is only fitting into 6 month clothes.  I ended up getting her this pair from Gymboree.  They are size 6-12 months so I'm sure they'll be big, but that's okay.  They are adorable and I love them.  I was also planning on taking Samantha to have her picture taken with Santa but he was on his lunch break.  I tried my hardest to keep Samantha awake for the 45 minutes until he returned but we only lasted about 20 minutes before it was becoming apparent she had had enough.  So we left and I'll likely venture back to the mall on Monday to try again.  We then went to Target where I knocked out gifts for a few people in Chris's family, a few for Chris, and a few for Samantha.  Then once we got home, I placed a huge order on Amazon to complete the shopping for my side of the family as well as one more member of Chris' family.  I just have a few things left to buy for Sam, a ton for Chris, and three people for Chris's side of the family.  I'm feeling okay right now!

Today since Chris had the day off we decided to do some things around the house.  Chris blew all the leaves out of the yard and into a huge pile in the driveway.  I then plopped Sam in the heap and needless to say, she wasn't amused!!  Hopefully next year she'll enjoy it more.  Inside I hung a wreath on our front door and together we set up the Christmas tree.  We have one set of lights on so far and will add the rest hopefully tomorrow.  Then we can set out to add all of our ornaments.  I'm super excited.  I tested each strand of lights before I put them on and I added each set without them being plugged in.  Once I finished, Chris got Samantha and they stood by the tree as I plugged it in.  Once it lit up, Samantha just looked up and down in awe and confusion.  It was so cute to watch her little face as she saw her very first ever Christmas tree.  We then sat her down and she stayed there for a while just looking up at the tree and reaching for the branches.

I can't wait to see how Samantha reacts to all of the other new things Christmas has to offer!

i love this time of year

Samantha and I had such a fun day today!!  Thanks to the good ol' time change Samantha thought 6:00 was the perfect time to wake up.  I tried all the tricks to no avail: the pacifier, nursing, ignoring her!!  She wanted none of it...it was time to get up!  So up we got.  I put her in her jumparoo so I could lay down for a few more minutes and then we played together on the floor.  Thankfully by 8:00 or so, she was ready for a nap.  Once she woke up I fed her and we headed out to the mall.

At the mall, we met up with Nicole, Ben, & Luke.  This is the family I nannied for before I had Samantha.  Ben and Luke were so excited to see us, and we were equally excited to see them!!  We went to Build A Bear to make animals for ourselves.  Ben (of course) decided to make a cat, while Luke and Samantha both made bears.  The twins had such a great time stuffing their animals, giving them baths, and running around wrecking havoc in the store!!  It was so much fun.  In the end, Samantha ended up with this adorably dressed pink bear named Lucy.

After Build A Bear we went to Picture People so I could look at their Christmas cards.  I picked out the ones I want so now we have her portraits on the 19th.  I can't wait!!  We have a beautiful dress for her and I had a custom headband made to match.  She is going to be so cute.  While walking through the mall I purchased our very first family of 3 ornament.  This is something I have always wanted to do, so I made sure to take my time picking and making sure I got something I love.  My only regret is that they say "Mom" and "Dad" rather than "Mommy" and "Daddy".  Once Samantha gets bigger she obviously won't want to call us that so I should take advantage of it while I can.  Next year!!

As I left the mall, I noticed that JC Penny was playing their Christmas music and it made me all giddy inside. I normally really LOVE Christmas, it's my favorite holiday, but I can already tell it's going to be a billion times more fun with a baby.  I can't wait to share this with her each and every year!!!

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!

Okay, maybe it's not beginning to look like Christmas, but my wallet is definitely starting to feel the effects of it. Our stash of "fun money" has pretty much dwindled to nothing since I stopped working back in April.  So it has taken a lot of planning and budgeting to plan for Christmas this year.  We have always had a large budget for Christmas (or at least it felt large to me) but this year is definitely going to be different.  We aren't going all out like we usually do.  Between Chris's immediate family - 16 people to buy for!! and my immediate family - a mere 6 people we have A LOT of gifts to get.  Then add on ourselves and Samantha.  Do I need to buy gifts for all our cousins' kids?  What about all of the kids I babysit for regularly?  It's all quite stressful.

Don't forget the dreaded Christmas cards.  For me, it's always been something I've quite enjoyed.  Every year since Chris and I got married this has been a highlight for me.  I've gone and picked out 12 or so boxes of cards at Target, then gotten matching paper for our letter, address labels, and then the stamps.  Then I take hundreds of pictures to find the perfect one for our card (after I've dragged Chris out to pick out our matching outfits), send it off to Target, and then begin the tedious task of stuffing each picture into the little slot in the front of the card.  It's hard work!!  This year, I'm taking the easy(ier) way out and we're going to Picture People to have Samantha's portraits done.  We'll take a family photo or two as well and see what ends up on the cards that they are printing out for us!!  I'm still planning on writing out a letter and getting cute address labels, but at least I won't have to stuff any photos.  Phew!

Let's take a look back on our Christmas cards through the years.

2007 - our first year married

2008 - first Christmas in our townhouse

2009 - first Christmas in our house

2010 - around 20 weeks pregnant with Samantha!!

I can't wait to see what our card looks like this year!!!