Happy New Year! I hope you and yours had an amazing holiday break as well as an exciting start to the new year!
We had a the best time over here. The weekend before Christmas was filled with lots of family and fun. The remainder of our break consisted of lazy mornings, lots of pajamas, pizza, pizza and more pizza. Jon and I finally jumped on the Netflix train and watched Bird Box and binge watched Stranger Things. I am NOT one for scary anything, but I must admit, both Bird Box and Stranger Things had my heart-a-pumpin’, and I was mostly definitely enthralled by both.
As for all things before, during and after Christmas, the filler days, if you will, they were consumed with lots of goodness. Buckle up – I’ve got over 100 pictures for you! Let’s GOOOOOOOO!!!
We tried to catch Elmer the Elf…
A new elf, Violet, showed up. We took the elves to the movies…
But not without a snuggle first…
Eliza lost her second tooth and the elves and the Tooth Fairy happened to cross paths…
This sunset made it’s way into my camera roll…
We watched musical lights…
We snuggled on the couch and took in the scenery…
Elmer and Violet brought gingerbread houses…
The neighbor boys came over to help!
I made pumpkin rolls. Ignore the no-makeup and gorgeous hair. LOL!
I attended Henry’s Australian Holiday Party…
This boy still loves to hold my hand and I take in every single moment of it…
Next up – Eliza’s Holiday Party…
We picnicked on the living room rug and watched Christmas movies…
Henry, Eliza and our neighbor boy, Everett, sporting their Christmas attire!
Eliza’s last dance class before break and look who showed up!
Every girl received a gift!
I made pierogies. It only took me three hours… LOL!
Our neighbor, Elizabeth, dropped off some Christmas gifts…
I had my glucose test the Friday before Christmas. Not going to lie, I like this stuff…
I was starving afterward and decided to be awesome and get some Taco Bell. I haven’t had Taco Bell in years – NO REGRETS!!! LOL
One of Eliza’s many car naps…
First Taco Bell, then Starbuck’s – I was being wild!
We surprised the kids with a trip to the water park up where are parents live. It was incredibly difficult to keep this a secret all week, but their faces and excitement made it all worth it!
The kids watching “the big bucket that dings.” Henry has called it this since he was two. It’s a love/dislike relationship…I think Henry and “the big bucket that dings” may be getting along now… Ha
My 28 week belly. I had ordered a swimsuit, but it was a no-go, so I went with my trusty swim shirt!
We thought the place would be packed, but it was relatively quiet. We consumed pizza, pop, took lots of pictures and stayed up past our bedtime!
We didn’t rush out the next morning…
My parents were having us over for Christmas so we got all dressed up and before leaving we headed down to the arcade and lunch to really use up all of our water park fun…
There she goes again…
At my parent’s house…
My pumpkin roll. YUMMY! I’m getting better at these. This year was my BEST pumpkin roll year EVER!
*pats self on back*
Eliza and her cousin, Marian…
A squirt! I hadn’t had one of these in forever, either!
One of the snowmen I made for all the cousins…
Family pic time!
Henry giving his cousin, Christian, a hug for getting him some awesome gifts! These two boys adore each other!
Sleepover at Grandma’s!
Next day – party at Jon’s parent’s house! Another belly pic!
Henry’s smiles in all of these pictures – I don’t know what was going on…I think he was trying too hard. I’ll take it though… 😉
More of my snowmen!
Another family pic…you’re welcome… 😉
Henry patiently waiting to open his present…
What poker looks like for a pregnant chick. LOL! I promise I did drink water at these parties…
The elves were leaving later in the day, but since we were traveling on Christmas Eve they allowed for the kids to hold them. Both Henry and Eliza were sure to be extremely careful with Elmer and Violet…
Aaaaaaaaand one more time…
Our packed car with some cute elves…and Elmer and Violet… 😉 😉 😉
ANOTHER Starbuck’s! Oh yes I did…
Once home the kids decided they wanted to bake and decorate some Christmas cookies that Elmer had brought before the weekend had begun. I was a little frantic at this time because we had JUST arrived home on Christmas Eve, we had to unpack the car, put our toiletries and laundry away, put away toys that the kids were given and then prepare for the evening…if you know what I mean. Luckily Santa had achieved A LOT the week before and was somewhat ahead of the game. So, I took a deep breath and enjoyed the cookie making process with the kiddos, all while putting things away, sweeping, ordering food before the restaurants closed for the night/next day and attempted to stay calm and remember the meaning of Christmas…
At some point there was a knock on the door and the tradition continued of pajamas being delivered on Christmas Eve…and wouldn’t you know it – Elmer and Violet had just vanished… They were just…gone…poof!
The elves brought us matching “elf pajamas!” So great!
Even kitty received some matching pjs!
He was thrilled! 😉
Phew…and if that weren’t enough – we still had to put out our reindeer food. Eliza had made some at school, but Henry hadn’t. We went back to the cabinet to find sprinkles…
This pictures is blurry, as you can see, but the kids were hilarious sprinkling reindeer food everywhere whilst sporting their elf pajamas. It had us cracking up!
I snapped a pic of our tree before Santa arrived…
I made a French toast bake for the next morning and then Jon and I settled in to watch one of my favorite Christmas movies, It’s a Wonderful Life. I love, love, love this movie. Unfortunately, it became a little too late, so Jon and I opted for bed as the kids would be up bright and early…
Santa came and all was still……………………
We were all snuggled in bed, when out of nowhere, Henry came into our room at 2:30, then again at 3:30, then again at 4:00. At one point I found him with lying on our bathroom floor with the light on. Jon said he found Henry lying not he couch in the living room. He mentioned his belly hurting, but we just think he was EXTREMELY excited for Christmas morning. I had to laugh because go figure – we went to bed at a decent time, all was ready to go, we were about to get a good 8 hours of sleep, but Henry’s internal excitement took us in a different direction. I was pretty pooped on Christmas Day, but knowing just how excited Henry was made it all worth it!
Christmas morning…
Coffee for the win!!!
I’ll stop there! Oh man, what a great Christmas we had over here!
We had a low-key New Year’s evening, my sister and her family came over to visit at one point and we had our friends over who hadn’t been over for dinner in a few years or so. The rest of our break, like I said, was filled with pizza, relaxing, organizing – LOTS of organizing, the kids and the neighbor boys playing together, Netflix and naps.
It was a great one for the books!!!
Now here we are 2019!
Bring it!
Marie 🙂