A New Year & A Birthday

Happy New Years Eve everyone! We have a relaxing night at home planned this year since Tyson has to work late and I'm definitely looking forward to it. 

Gage however is ready to party all night, as always. 

Check out this flashback of a cute 7 month old Ryder in the same outfit. They look so different! Be still my beating heart. 

What an exciting year 2014 was! Ryder turned 2, Our second son Gage was born in June and Tyson made a big job change. It was full of highs and lows and so many memories were made. I watched my babies grow by the minute and begged many times for them to slow down. There were tears, laughter and plenty of times where I swore I was screwing this mom thing up, but I loved every minute of it. Here are some of my favorite moments of 2014....

There is just something refreshing about starting a new year and I can't wait to see what 2015 has in store for us. As far as New Year resolutions go I am just going to try and focus more on my family and learn to relax a little more. I tend to stress A LOT about little things and I just need to slow down and enjoy life. Oh and what's a resolution without saying your going to hit the gym and lose a few pounds as well! :)

Also, we celebrated Tyson's big dirty thirty yesterday! He had to work late so he opened a few presents, had cake and visited family. I have a surprise getaway planned for him this weekend.

{I love the way his Whiskey cake turned out!}

I'm so thankful to have this guy in our lives and I couldn't ask for a better husband and father to our kids. Happy Birthday Tyson we love you!

Cheers to the New Year and all the exciting things to come! 

Christmas 2014

Well, another Christmas has come and gone. And even though it passed way too quickly, we had a great holiday! Tyson was super sick starting Christmas Eve, Like can't lift your head off the pillow sick so our plans changed a bit. 

Christmas Eve we baked Santa some cookies and we did our Christmas Eve box tradition that night. Every year we open a present after dinner on Christmas Eve that contains pajamas and we wear those Jammie's to the Festival of Lights in our town. 

After the lights we read "The Night Before Christmas" and tucked the boys snug in their beds. Ryder was so excited for Santa to come this year. Recently he met Santa at a family party where he whispered to him that he wanted a ninja turtle then gave him a hug and whispered Merry Christmas. It was so sweet! 

I couldn't wait for the boys to fall asleep so we could sneak downstairs to stuff stockings and set out gifts. Christmas with kids is so magical!

I had such a hard time sleeping that night and was so excited to see Ryder's face light up when he saw that Santa came. 

We all woke up really early that morning to a huge storm and a very very white Christmas, it was beautiful! As soon as poor sick Tyson could manage his way out of bed, we headed to open presents. Ryder was so excited to see that Santa brought him a train, ninja turtle, some cars and other goodies. Gage was just happy to have something to stick in his mouth so he was glad Santa brought him lots of teethers and binky's. He also tried to eat some wrapping paper and the bows were his favorite. 

Ryder yelled "wohooo" with every gift he opened and he was more than happy to help Gage open his presents too. 

"One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don't clean it up too quickly." 

Tyson slept most of Christmas Day so I had the task of putting together all the toys, cleaning up the crazy mess AND shoveling our snow packed driveway. Because he was so sick we decided to not visit family this year and just stay home and relax. 

Gage also decided Christmas night that it was a good day to start to crawl. Yep that's right, my 6 month old is on the move AND his first tooth has broke through. Talk about heartbroken, stay little Gage!! 

It was such a magical Christmas and I felt so blessed being surrounded by my little family. I'm so sad that it came so fast and I'm not looking forward to the cold, dark month of January. Talk about post Christmas blues! Christmas decor has been packed away and we are moving on to Tyson's birthday and the new year. I hope you all had a great Christmas surrounded by the people you love!

Christmas Week

The week is finally here! Christmas is only a few short days away and I can feel the spirit in the air! This week we are going to soak up every last minute of the season wearing our festive Jammie's, doing some crafts and baking like crazy. 

The weather shows it will probably be a white Christmas which I am so excited about. All we've been getting is rain lately which is really weird for December in our state. Ryder loves it though. 

I've been to the grocery store more times than I can count the last few days and I still need to make one last trip. My little shopping helpers are about sick of me dragging them everywhere. 

The presents are wrapped, the stockings are stuffed and we've watched Christmas Vacation 100 times. Bring on Christmas!

Christmas Brunch Ideas

Only 8 more days until Christmas?? I can't believe how fast this month is going. Time sure does fly when you're having fun! With Christmas being so close I have been throwing around some ideas for our Christmas morning brunch. A fun, festive breakfast was one of my favorite traditions growing up and I'm excited to continue doing it with my family. To be honest, we actually don't usually eat a big breakfast, Even Ryder just likes some fruit and yogurt every morning. And since sleep is rare these days I'm planning on doing something quick, easy and fun. Here are a few ideas I found on Pinterest...

 

 

 

 

Shaped Pancakes

Christmas Tree Cinnamon Rolls

 

 

 

Egg Nog French Toast

 

The shaped pancakes would be a big hit with Ryder but that egg nog French toast looks amazing! I also think it would be fun to have a Hot Chocolate Bar and Apple Cider Mimosas that everyone can sip on throughout the day. 

I'm so excited for these two to help me bake in our Jammie's Christmas morning!