Christmas Happenings

A lot has been going on with us during this holiday season (surprise!).  In a way, it feels good to be done with the hustle and bustle and just sit down and enjoy each other again with some quiet nights at home. 

These past few weeks, we've gone to some Christmas parties - church, work, friends, etc.  We also made great attempts to keep up with a bunch of our own little Christmas traditions.  We went and looked at lights all over town one night with some dear friends (and we even went out quite a bit and saw them alone as well).  We've still managed to sneak in a few play dates and get-together's with friends over the past few weeks.  We've also been shopping a lot for fun as well! 

We set up our tree a few days earlier than desired this year.  Mostly because we got a new one and we were excited to get it up.  We got a super tall one for our family room and Noah thought it was quite cool that he (and us!) had to stand on a stepstool just to decorate it.  ;)  We were gonna stick our old tree in the playroom up in the front of the house where all the windows are, but we just didn't get around to it this year.  There's always next year.  ;)

We made two sets of Christmas cookies this year.  Here is the first round:

Noah was in his first Christmas program at church!  He was beyond the cutest kid (ahem, cow) up there, and as cheesy as the program and his part was, it was super fun (and a bit crazy/surreal!) to be a parent sitting in the audience of a child in the program.  =)

We went and had Christmas with Greg's parents at their new home one night.  Noah could hardly sit still through dinner he was so excited.  And rightly so - he was spoiled like crazy and got some pretty cool gifts!

Noah set out cookies and milk for Santa again this year.  Although this year, he set out carrots for the reindeer, he (and Daddy) thought Santa might like chocolate milk instead of white,  AND he also colored some pictures for him.  Boy was he thrilled to see crumbs on the plate in the morning AND that Santa took home all of his pictures!  =)

We celebrated Christmas at our home with Jen's family again this year.  It was super fun to have a new addition to celebrate with - Noah still can't get enough of "his best buddy."  =)  Auntie and Bob came over later that evening to celebrate with us as well.  It was fun opening gifts, celebrating the holiday and enjoying them being a part of our family.  =)

We went to the zoo and saw the Electric Safari!  We'd talked about going last year and never made it, so we decided this was the year to go.  We're glad we did - it was neat!  And the weather was perfect, too!

Now that all Christmas activities have seemed to cease, we can focus on Noah's birthday and get that all planned and prepared for.  He's getting excited for his party next week - gonna be another fun one again this year!  =)

Friends and family, we hope your holiday was filled with lots of love and Christmas cheer.  From our home to yours, we hope for a wonderful New Year for you all!

Beyond Blessed

What a wonderful time of Thanksgiving we've had this year!  It always seems like it just can't get any better, and then every year surprises us with the fact that it does! 

We started the Thanksgiving weekend (and eve) off with celebrations at Jen's Mom's house.  We don't think we got out of our pj's for an entire 2 days - and it felt great, too!  It was also fun having Judah around to celebrate with us this year.  Such a precious little guy - he fits in just perfectly!

Then.... it was off to Estes Park with our little family of 3 for the rest of the holiday weekend.  It's our yearly tradition to head up there the day after Thanksgiving - one that we are SO glad to have!   We did our usual shopping downtown, trying out new restaurants, seeing their little cheesy parade, sightseeing and lazing around in our cabin.  It's so great to not have an agenda or a schedule and to feel a million miles away from "normal" for a few days.  =)

Now we're home.  Greg is still in the midst of enjoying 6 days off in a row!  Our plan is to finish decorating the house for Christmas, get some odds and ends done around the house, wrap presents and then ditch Noah for one of those days so we can get the rest of our Christmas shopping done (and even have a date night)!!  =)

And the Baby is a......

GIRL!!!!!!!!

This actually comes as a total shocker that we know (and have known) already!  We hadn't planned on finding out the gender until Jen's 21-week appointment. But when a friend of Jen's (who also happens to be the ultrasound tech at her OB/GYN's office) offered to scan her to pass the time while she waited to see the doctor, she absolutely couldn't refuse! 

We couldn't be any more excited about adding a little GIRL to the family!!!  People have been asking since we were pregnant what we were hoping for.  And, in all honesty, we were truly hoping for either gender!  Both had pro's and con's.  It always made us laugh how people assumed we'd want a girl just because we already had a boy.  Or that people predicted we were having a girl, just because we already had a boy.  WE really didn't have any feelings either way as to the gender, but now that we know, we are quite ecstatic and look forward to having a lot more pink around the house.  ;)

It was hard keeping the secret, but sharing it with our family and friends all at the same time made the wait completely worth it.  Here's what our gender reveal looked like this time:

It's a girl!!!  A GIRL!!!  Isn't she beautiful already???  =)

 

 

Consider Yourself Warned.....

It's gonna be a long post.  We have a lot of catching up to do on here.  The last few weeks have been quite eventful, to say the least.   


Pumpkin Patch
The first weekend this month, we headed out to the pumpkin patch!  We went to a new one this year.  We were so-so impressed with everything, but made the most of it.  Noah had a good time - but then again, he usually has a good time anywhere he goes!  ;)  (anyone else find the last picture amusing?)

Circus and a weekend in Denver
The next weekend after the pumpkin patch, we took Noah up to see the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus and spent the weekend in Denver (we got upgraded big time when we checked in to our hotel - gotta love "key car access only" to get to your top floor room!). He was less than thrilled with the acrobatics but perked up more with the animal stunts.  We enjoyed them both.  Either way, it was a super fun weekend and it was nice to get away for 48 hours. 

I spy...... a moose!!!!
Not only have there been 2 moose in our neck of the woods, but Greg keeps seeing a moose almost every day on his way up to work (near Castle Rock).  It may be the same one that was in Monument and he just decided to ditch his brother and do his own thing and head North.  Regardless, it's been super exciting and Greg's been getting some fantastic pictures!!

Google Maps!
While in Arkansas this past Summer, when Greg and Noah came home from a (long) walk to the park, they happened to spot the Google Maps car!  Well, lo and behold, 4 months later, they officially made it on the world wide web and are famous!  =)  Don't believe us? Look it up!  =)

A BABY!!
Cousin Judah has finally arrived!  After months and months of the longest wait ever, he finally decided to show up.  We are crazy smitten with this precious baby - he's quite addicting.  ;)  Noah tells him over and over how sweet he is, that he loves him and that he is his best friend.  He's even held him more than the rest of us have! He was quite possessive and overprotective of that little guy - always wanting to help and see everything that was going on.  He was also SO sad that we couldn't take him home with us after visiting Brian and Becca in the hospital. We told him soon enough we'd have a baby of our own to take home.  ;)  Pretty sure he's gonna make a FABULOUS big brother.  =)  (does anyone else think it's cool that Jen and Judah have matching hair?!?!) 

Jen's Birthday
Another year bites the dust!  Jen had a great birthday this year.  But what birthday wouldn't be complete without a nice dinner out, (cheesecake factory) cheesecake brought home for later, gifts and memories to last a lifetime? 

Pumpkin Fun
We carved and painted our pumpkins again this year.  We mostly did it because Noah has such a good time painting them AND because we like to roast the seeds.

 

 

 

Fall Festival
This past Saturday, our church had their annual Fall festival in the late afternoon/evening.  SO.MUCH.FUN. They had quite a few things this year that they didn't have last year and everyone seemed to have a blast!  THIS is the fun part of Halloween.  =)  (Jen couldn't convince Noah to be anything but Mario, otherwise we ALL would have dressed up as characters from Duck Dynasty).  ;)

 

"Boo at the Zoo"
The next night, we went and trick-or-treated with the animals at our local zoo with some good friends. We had never done it before and thought this year would be the perfect time to try it and see what it was all about. Noah ran himself ragged, hit the mother lode in the candy department and promptly crashed when we got home. 

 

"Safe Trick or Treat" in Downtown Monument
Tonight we went to downtown Monument with some different friends and did their "safe trick or treat."  The kids had a blast and it was actually a pleasant night - until the very end when it got windy and chilly.  We had good timing.  ;)  After dinner together, the Dad's took the kids back out and around the neighborhood to do even more trick or treating.  It's mind-blowing to see how much candy we have in the house at this juncture.  =)

 

Oh.... and by the way.... someone learned how to whistle this month. All on his own.  He whistles all.day.long.  =)