Christmas is next week? Unbelievable. Moving into a new house has made December fly by. Yet, we've tried to make it slow down and take time to get into the holiday spirit as much as we've can. We've been going to for walks in the cold, listening to Christmas music lots and lots, and reading some Chistmas stories. A couple weekends ago we were invited to a Santa play date at our friends Sarah and Carter's house.
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| Sarah and Carter |
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| Meo and Quinn playing truck |
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| Meo and Addilyn |
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| Meo and Addilyn |
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| Sarah and Addilyn |
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| Carter trying to enjoy a peanut butter sandwhich |
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| Mischievous Meo and Carter |
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| Mischievous Meo and Carter |
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| Meo taking Carter's socks off |
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| Quinn and Dakotah |
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| Meo helping himself out to some of Charlie's snacks |
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| Meo helping himself out to some of Charlie's snacks |
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| Meo helping himself out to some of Charlie's snacks |
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| Greyson (10 months) |
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| Greyson (10 months) |
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| Meo and the Greyson obstacle |
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| Carter and Quinn playing trucks |
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| More snacks for my growing boy |
Sarah's Dad got dressed up in a Santa suit so the babies could all meet Santa and sit on his lap for a picture. Santa even gave each of the babies a sweet little board book as an early Christmas gift; it was adorable and some of the babies loved it. Some did not however. Meo was one of those kids who was rather fearful of Santa.
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| Meeting Santa |
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| Hmm, not really sure about this |
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| "I do NOT want to sit on Santa's lap!!" |
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| Mommy, Meo and Santa |
At the Santa play date, Sarah also got each of us a plate to decorate with our hand prints (baby and Santa/parent). What a great idea Sarah! We love how our plate came out and found a place to hang it in the kitchen. I think it will be something we hang up each Christmas, to remember how small my sweet Meo was at one time.
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| Painting Meo's hand |
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| Our plate |
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| Our completed Christmas plate |
Thank you Sarah for your generosity, hospitality, and a sweet escape to play with friends amidst the unpacking chaos.
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| Leaving Sarah's house |
We had to leave the play date a little early because it was the second weekend of December and we still didn't have our Christmas tree. When we first thought about moving into our own house, I had visions of how wonderful it would be to sit as a family underneath our very own tree in our very own home. One Christmas came and went, and as the months ticked on by, I was almost certain another Chritmas would come and go. That was fine, we loved spending the holidays with Grandma and Grandpa! But when we started to look for a house and found one so quickly, I slowly started to realize that we might actually be in our own home this Christmas. And now, here we are, just a few days before Christmas with a beautiful tree, a warm home, and a happy family. We feel blessed. As is our family tradition, we went out to cut a live tree. We asked Robbie's parents to join us, and they got their own tree as well. Mattimeo loved walking with Grandma and Grandpa as we hunted for our tree.
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| Daddy and Meo |
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| Meeting up with Grandma and Grandpa |
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| Walking with Grandma and Grandpa |
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| Walking with Grandma and Grandpa |
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| Walking with Grandma and Grandpa |
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| Walking with Grandma and Grandpa |
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| Meo and Grandpa |
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| Meo and Grandpa |
All of the trees at this place were rather small, and we were concerned that they were not going to work for us. We found the tallest one that was left and hoped it would look nice on our brick hearth.
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| Picking out our tree |
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| Picking out our tree |
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| Picking out our tree |
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| Picking out our tree |
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| Picking out our tree |
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| Picking out our tree |
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| Picking out our tree |
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| Grandma and Grandpa walking back to the car |
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| Robinson family |
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| Robinson family |
When we got the tree home though, we were amazed at how perfect it fit on the hearth. There was just enough room for the star! It's a good thing we settled on that tree and didn't go someplace else seeking a taller tree. Our tree is perfect!
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| Robbie putting on the star |
Decorating the tree is a special time for me, and it has always been a tradition to eat cookies, drink hot chocolate, listen to Christmas music, and take turns putting ornaments on the tree together as a family. Each year, we pick out one or two special ornaments to add to our collection. We also like to collect ornaments from places we travel. Thus, when we decorate the tree, it is fun to recall the places we have been together and the adventures we have already shared.
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| Christmas cookies |
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| Sharing a cookie with Meo |
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| Meo wanted to feed me a cookie |
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| Meo wanted to feed me a cookie |
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| Hot chocolate with homemade whipped cream |
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| Sumatra, Indonesia |
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| Redwood Forest, California |
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| Paris, France |
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| Canterbury Cathedral, England |
Meo was only able to help decorate the tree for a little while because soon he started getting very sleepy and we took a break to put him in bed. It was sweet while it last though!
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| Tree investigation |
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| Picking out ornaments |
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| Meo and some ornaments |
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| Helping mommy decorate the tree |
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| Helping mommy decorate the tree |
Robbie and I had fun finishing the tree and hanging up our beautiful handmade stockings (I didn't make these, but someone on Etsy did!). I am excited to sit beside the tree and open presents Christmas morning!
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| Our Christmas tree |
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| Our stockings |
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| Christmas tree and stockings |
Oh, and Robbie's mom and dad got us this beautiful wreath to hang outside our door. I think it looks perfect, thank you so much!
I hope everyone is enjoying this wonderful holiday season and finding some peaceful quiet time to enjoy your friends and family and the beautiful snow.
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