December 31 2016
~ It's the most wonderful time of the year ~
Oh boy! Is it really! This past month has been full of such fun and joy. We were able to celebrate the first holiday season as a family of 3. Christmas time with a child really is something special. We made sure to do our family traditions as well as start some new ones. First up was tree hunting! We used to go to Wheelers in Oregon City, a tree farm my family has been going to for 18 years! (more tree hunting) However, last year we learned that they would be closing and that we would have to find a new tree farm. I seriously cried. I loved going to the tree farm. I loved the idea of taking my children to the same farm that I went to growing up. However sad it was though, the one we found actually was perfect and I'm happy things worked out the way they did.
We started our day early and headed to Hagg's Christmas Tree Farm. The drive was even magical. Through the woods we went, driving up and down some hills till we arrived at the farm. We found the lay out of the land (this place is 40 acres!) and then took some pictures to start the day off right. I can't get over his little hat! I bought it just for this occasion.
We searched high and low, literally walked up hills, to find our perfect Charlie Brown tree. Cory eventually spotted it and we knew it was perfect. In years past we tried to get the fattest and tallest trees that our living room would hold. But this year we remembered that the Charlie Brown trees are our favorites and that we were going to stick with those from here on out.
This place is amazing. You cut your tree down, drag it to the nearest dirt road, and some guys will come around with a flat bed and take it to the bailing station. You then walk back to your car, go to the "drive-thru" tree station where they take your shaken and bailed tree and tie it to your car. They have a fancy number system to make sure you get your right tree. Its pretty fantastic. We decided to look around a bit and went to their barn where they were selling kettle corn and other little goodies. They had wreaths and ornaments for sale; free hot chocolate, a Santa Claus to take pictures with; they had cows and goats to feed and a little nativity scene set up. It was the perfect place and we are so excited to continue to go there!
This past month we actually got a few days of snow, that stuck! Cory was able to come home a little bit early and we spent some time outside letting Lewis experience what snow was. He was a little skeptical of it, but this kid loves to be outside so he was happy. I was able to put him in the snow suit I found 5 years ago that I have been saving for this moment!
A new traditions we started is to buy a few new Christmas books each year and read a few every night leading up to the 24th, where of course we'll read the Night Before Christmas. Books were never a huge deal in our family, we had some other traditions of game day and movie day. Reading to Lewis is starting to become more of a routine for us and since Cory loves to read, I'd love to instill that love into Lewis. And how fun will it be to have a few special favorite stories we only pull out during this time!
A few we bought this year (L to R):
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathon Toomey / The Crippled Lamb
/ The Pine Tree Parable / The Mitten
I wanted some to help tell the story of Christmas, some that were just fun winter stories, and others that would help us teach Lewis about giving and sacrifice. I'm looking forward to reading these throughout the year.
Next up was Santa! He was in town so we had to stop and visit him .
First off his little outfit! Gosh I nearly exploded with love seeing him in his bow tie and suspenders. He will be wearing bow ties and suspenders for holidays forever, and ever, amen. I was 100% sure he would cry when he saw him. He doesn't have stranger danger yet, but he definitely cries when people are a little over animated. But this Santa was so calm he definitely helped Lewis stay calm. He just looked at him, put his hand on his glove, and looked back at me and my mom. My goodness. My Lewis.
Speaking of Christmas…
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!
Christmas weekend was jammed pack but a lot of fun. On Christmas Eve Eve we went to my in-laws to celebrate Christmas with my Father-in-laws side of the family. I went over there around noon to help my mother in law cook and set things up. Lewis was happy as a clam hanging out in his little walker and with his Opa. He refused a nap but then fell asleep on me a couple hours later. The evening went really well and Lewis stayed up wayyyy past his bedtime but was surprisingly really happy the whole time. He passed right out when we got home.
Christmas Eve we spent the day finishing some gifts and just hanging around the house. We then went to my parents for dinner that evening for dinner. We've had a couple family dinners there now, a Thanksgiving dinner and now a Christmas Eve dinner, and it's nice to be making new memories and traditions at their new place. My mom had made a delicious dinner with all the fixings and we opened a few of Lewis' presents. Growing up we had all the Christmas tchotchkes everywhere throughout the house. This year, my parents are in their new (smaller) home, and with everything all over the place it really looked like Santa's house! It was so cute and funny at the same time.
We were able to wake up Christmas morning and celebrate just the three of us. We opened up our stockings and the gifts Cory and I gave each other. I technically got a couch for Christmas, so I told him all I really wanted was a love letter. Oh boy! He wrote the sweetest love letter and I cried like a baby. He also fixed our doorknob on our back door and I cried about that too. #hormones #Christmasmagic who knows but I was so incredibly happy! I got Cory some wireless headphones from sudio for when he's out in his shop.
We then ventured to Cory's parents for Christmas day. We read the Christmas story, ate traditional Christmas bread and exchanged our gifts. This year was extra special because we have had two new additions to the family this year (Lewis and Alice) and my in laws moved so having the first Christmas there was so nice.
We came home, Lewis took a little nap and then my parents came over. We exchanged gifts, had homemade pizza for dinner, watched Grumpy Old Men, and ate home-made cinnamon rolls for dessert. It was definitely a night I will never forget.
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Some other photos from this month I don't want to forget about it. Christmas jammies and bed head after his early morning nap in our bed. His cute little tongue filled grin - always smiling at Lucy. One more from our snow day. And I love that Christmas cards are still a thing, because it is just so wonderful seeing all those beautiful faces hanging up in our house.
I hope everyone had a wonderful December filled with lots of love and good food and that this new year will bring nothing but blessings!
// leah
