December Recap

 January is already almost half over as I type this. Life sure does fly. December was fantastic and we had a blast. We celebrated Jayden's birthday and made our yearly 2023 review video. We have also celebrated Avery turning 9 months! So, let's get to the December recap:

The elves returned to our house at the beginning of the month:

The kindness elves. They were mostly good this year with a few mischievous activities (like almost breaking their legs trying to get into our daughter's room). They also made a challenge for the kids:

                                                         

We gave Payton a mental health day and took her to lunch, just her little sister, daddy, and I:

She picked Subway of course! 

                                                   

The kids had pajama day/ugly sweater day at school. The boys were disappointed as they didn't feel like their sweaters were ugly. Better luck next year, I guess. They were still happy and Avery loves any chance to get into the pictures with them. 

There was also a dress up day for favorite Christmas movie characters. Payton was a reindeer and Riley was a wet bandit from home alone (a friend at school was his partner in crime) and Jayden was Kevin McCallister from Home Alone. 

One day, I was driving and we spotted Santa out and about on a motorcycle:

Payton's class opted to skip a holiday party and do a pop up shop sales. They earn cash for "chores" at school and have to pay rent and other bills in an attempt to learn some personal finance skills. Excess money would be used to buy products classmates brought in. Payton made crayon shapes for this:

Grandma and grandpa came to visit. Grandma brought cookies for the kids to decorate:

While they visited we decided to partake in local activities, like gingerbread house making:

And ornament making at the local library, where we also got to ride a horse drawn buggy:

And both events had Santa, which we found Avery to have quite the opinion on:

Maybe next year she will enjoy him a little bit more!

We also made it to the nigh time Holiday Parade of lights:

We piled up in Grandma's vehicle, made hot cocoa, and tried not to freeze. It was short-lived but a lot of fun!

We all worked on a puzzle that grandma and grandpa gave to Jayden for his birthday:

So much work and I dreamt about this puzzle each night. But it was done and so sparkly which made it so fun!

And we can't seem to let a month go by without some sweet baby pictures:

And just  random baby pictures that have made us laugh all month:

Avery looks a tad like the Grinch in this photo to us. 

I made cookie trays and got them taken to friends, family, and school as needed:

We went to celebrate Christmas with my family in my hometown for a few days, just before Christmas. We also were trying to get ahead of the storms coming as well so that made us shift our travel plans a bit. We had a great time but only got one picture during this visit:
                                                     

And then we got to Christmas eve. We got dressed up and we went to church that evening and the kids were part of the Christmas story:

                                                 

The kids left out a tray of cookies (and a carrot for the reindeer) before we called it a night:

Christmas morning arrived. We got a good picture of the kids together:

Then we opened presents and celebrated Jesus's birthday. It was a great time with our little family. Within hours of opening presents, Payton had already completed half of one of her art projects:

She was pretty excited!

The rest of break went so fast yet we enjoyed every minute of the time. I made an ornament I meant to make back in 2020:

I wanted a reminder of the year we paid off the mortgage, a huge feat for our family. And now, I will be reminded, if only for a few minutes while we decorate the tree, each and every year to come.

That storm that we were trying to beat home from my parents house? It did come. And we were home safe and warm. But we also managed to sneak out and enjoy it!

We did take a day to visit the children's museum. 

                                                             

While there I spotted myself in an ornament on the their tree with one of my friends. I was lucky enough to be told I could take the ornament (since Christmas was over) and now I will save it to share with my friend, and I am sure we will laugh and cherish that ornament for years to come:

I tried my hand at homemade hamburger buns:

We took a little time to work on Holiday crafts I had for the kids to do. Even if done after Christmas, at least they got done this year!

Hot cocoa reindeer and Paintbrush Gnomes!

And then New Year's Eve arrived. Monte picked up some macaroons for us all the share and try for the first time together:

                                                        

They were a hit, we all loved them! I took the kids to the library for a noon years eve party. They do this annually but this was the first time we ever made it! We had a blast!

                                      

That night, at dinner, we celebrated with punch and said our cheers! A salute to the wonderful year we had and a cheers to this new year upon us:

What a wonderful, full life we are leading. It is busy and chaotic. I wouldn't have it any other way. Cheers to you, 2024, we are ready for you!

Avery is 9 months!

 I know, we couldn't believe it either! And guess what? Avery gave us this look when we told her, too:

                                                 

It's been a fast 9 months for us. 9 months in and then 9 months out. Life is such a wild ride. We were blessed with one of the best surprises of our lives with this one. Army crawling (not full crawling yet but will get into position) and scooting get her anywhere she wants to go which makes her fast and busy. So busy. She loves being held and loves to explore and go, go, go. Her immediate family members are her favorite people in all the world and she's not afraid to show it. She is very attached. 

Sleep at night goes well but Avery isn't loving nap time most days. I am lucky if she will sleep in the crib for one nap. If we go to school drop off (on the days that we have school but as I write this we just wrapped up Christmas break) I pray she doesn't fall asleep on the ride home. If she does and I wake her, she won't go back to sleep most days. So my other option is to drive around while she sleeps. This is okay but leaves me to get little done around the house. 

So, basically, I get little done around the house. But, that's okay. I love spending my time with our sweet little caboose. 

We are exploring new foods all the time and that has been going well. It's just a slow process at our house but that's okay, we will get there. 

This is one of my favorite ages though for development. Avery is learning so much and I will never ever say I don't love the big open mouthed kisses stage. It's the best. So full of love! I also love to see Avery learn to wave hello and goodbye and babble talk. She's so full of life and just wants to the explore the world with me. A true reminder of how sweet a baby can be. 

I picked out the outfit that Payton wore when she was a baby for her baby pictures (around 9 months as well). I feel so blessed to have saved it. I remember thinking it wasn't worth saving as Payton only ever wore for the one set of pictures. Fun fact, the reason I saved it was because it needed repaired. I planned to repair before parting with but that never got done and it ended up in the baby items. A total win for our family now, a decade later. 

And some sweet pictures of Payton I rounded up:

To me, Avery and Payton look so alike in so many ways but are unique as well. I am so lucky to call them mine.

Avery June, 

Thanks for choosing our family. We are so grateful for you. Just tonight we spoke about how dull our lives would be without you. You were exactly what our family needed. We love you so.

Love,

Mom