Christmas 2015 & A Surprise

Another dreamy Christmas has come and gone. Although I'm super sad it's over, this Christmas was one for the books! 

Sunday through Wednesday everyone in the house except for me had the stomach flu. I was up to my elbows in puke and spent days sleeping on the boys floors and going from one room to another cleaning up vomit. Anyone who knows me well knows I can't deal with throw up. I. Just. Can't. So it was a loonnnggg three days. But prayers were answered and everyone woke up 100% Christmas Eve morning. 

We try to make Christmas Eve as low key as possible. We had a family breakfast planned for the morning and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. 

After dinner, Ryder and Gage opened their Christmas Eve present which had their Eve Jammie's. Ryder obviously was on the naughty list at this moment. 

The rest of the night we built a gingerbread house and frosted santa's cookies that the boys Elf left for them. 

After the boys finally fell asleep, we got to work being Santa's Elves as the snow started to fall outside. Having a white Christmas is a dream come true!

Both Ryder and Gage slept in Christmas morning. Thank you Santa for the Christmas miracle of letting me sleep in until 9am. When Ryder saw that Santa came all he could say was "oh my goodness!!!" And the sweet little soul that he is showed Gage all of his presents before even looking at his own. 

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas!

There was wrapping  paper and toys everywhere, permanent smiles on the boys' faces and nothing but love in our home. It truly was so magical! 

If you follow me on Instagram {@whitrichins} you saw that Santa also left us a HUGE surprise in our stocking this year....baby #3.

And when I say he left us a surprise I mean it was truly a surprise. When we first found out I was a little scared. So much changes with baby #3 -our basement isn't finished yet so the boys will need to share a room for a while and also my car isn't big enough for a 3rd car seat. Gage is still so young being 18 months old and he is a total mama's boy so I was also concerned about how he is going to handle it and also the financial aspect of it. I'm a big time planner so when a surprise this big pops up it throws me off my game a little bit. But, we are SO excited! What a perfect Christmas gift and we are truly blessed. We are so very thankful that we have  been trusted to bring another baby into this world and we cannot wait until August! Obviously since I have two boys and this will probably be our last baby I would love a girl. But I just want the baby to be healthy and I will be just as happy with another boy, and I do have a tiny feeling it might be a boy. 

So bring it on 2016!! We are SO excited for what you have in store for us! 

Christmas Week

Merry Christmas week friends! I am so excited for a fresh new week full of festive -ness and healthiness. The boys caught a cold last week which of course went right to Gage's ears like always. He is prone to very bad ear infections that come on quickly and a lot of times result in his ear drum rupturing. They are concerned about him losing hearing So he has an appointment with an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist this week for a tube consultation. However, I did learn something new thanks to the sickness! Since Gage had a hard time breathing at night when he had his cold I put a pillow or two in his crib to keep him propped up. For the first time since he was born I got a full night's sleep, and he has slept through the night ever since! Since he has sensitive ears it apparently helps the pain to have him propped. This is so big for us because he would wake on average 3-6 times a night. Hallelujah!

Now Gage and Tyson have a bad stomach bug. My germaphobe self is in full anxiety mode right now praying Ryder and I don't get it. This is not the week to be sick! All I want for Christmas is a healthy family. 

Despite all this sickness, we did have a great weekend full of Christmas parties and ugly sweaters. The boys saw Santa one last time before the big day and made sure he knew what they wanted. I also heard it's going to be a white Christmas this year! Dreams do come true. 

Our Festive breakfast's and cookie making is on hold until we get this bug out of our home. But we will indulge in plenty of baths, pj's all day and Christmas movies on repeat {with a side of Lysol and plenty of prayers}

Hope you all are having a happy and healthy start to Christmas week!

Snowed In

We are smack dab right in the middle of a huge snow storm, and we are loving it! It's one of those storms that snows for for 3 days straight and is nothing but huge, fluffy snowflakes! That also means we have no plans to go anywhere the next few days. I did have to make a quick trip to the post office this morning and I hope my neighbors thoroughly enjoyed watching me eat it ten times while I tried to shovel my driveway. I really need to learn how to use the snowblower. 

The boys were mesmerized by the blanket of white they woke up to. 

Gage and I got colds over the weekend and Ryder woke up with it this morning. Gage definitely has it the worst and I spent my weekend sleeping on the couch with him, if you want to call it sleeping that is. Being elevated is the only thing that helps him and I can't complain about the Christmas tree view and cuddles. 

Ryder has been asking me all day when we can go build a snowman or go sledding, but with our colds we will be hibernating for a few days. His response is "I'm not sick mama, see!" As he wipes snot all over his face. Sorry kid. He's also pretty bummed that he'll be missing his last week of school and all the festivities that come with it. Nothing a few Christmas crafts can't fix!

Hot chocolate, Christmas movies and warm blankets have our names written all over it today. Sometimes being snowed in is the best thing ever. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! ❄️

Friday Favorites: Gift Ideas

Happy Friday friends! wow I forgot how busy the Holiday season is. I swear we haven't slowed down for weeks. Gift buying, school, parties and Christmas preparations have us a little crazy these days. School break starts soon and hopefully time will slow down a little bit.

Today my Friday Favorites are all about gift ideas! My small and in a nut shell version of a gift guide! And I know you could all use ANOTHER gift guide :) 

 

 

For Her:

Cup O Coffee Face Mask || Printed Cotton Leggings || Rose Gold Bag || Marled Camp Socks || Purity Face Wash || Essie Mocha Nail Polish || Mug || Also, Old Navy's Gift Guide is awesome!

 

I just recently got that Coffee Face Mask and I LOVE it! It's perfect for the Coffee lover in your life. And you seriously can't go wrong with anything from Lush.

 

For Him:

Wireless Speaker || Roku {Streams Netflix, Hulu etc to TV} || Dollar Shave Club || Custom "Dad" book from Chatbooks || Loungewear || Beer Crate || Ribbed Beanie

 

 

For The Kids:

Cash Register || Bounce and Ride Elephant || Plush Dog House || Play Doh Cement Mixer || Tonka Front End Loader || KidKraft Kitchen {I have wanted to get this for the boys for the longest time but Tyson won't let me because it's too "girly". Insert eye roll emoji here." DaDa Book || Little Owl's Night Book

 

Ryder specifically asked Santa for this Batcave or this Treasure Tracker Truck and we got Gage this Toy Cell Phone so he can stop walking around "talking" on mine. Also, Gage hulk Smashed Ryder's ceramic piggy bank into a million pieces and I found the cutest Batman Money Boxes that I want to get both boys.

 

We are keeping it pretty simple this year as far as gifts go but the boys are at such an easy age for gift buying and I know they will love everything we got them. 

 

Happy Friday and Happy Shopping friends. Only TWO more Friday's before Christmas!  

 

 

Nuby's New Bath Toys

Nuby has just released a new set of bath toys, just in time for the Holiday's! We are huge fans of bath time in this house, like multiple baths a day kind of fans and these bath toys do not fall short of our bath time fun standards.  

 

 

Tug Tubs Floating Bath Boats are such a fun and interactive bath toy. They float and squirt water out of their mouths, plus they are a lot softer than most bath toys made out of this material which makes it super easy for kids to hold and squirt. They are BPA Free and for children ages 6 Months+.

 

The Little Submarine is probably the boy's favorite bath toy of all time. You pull the string and it moves and floats in the water. The string is easy to pull so even Gage had a blast with it. It is Also BPA Free.

 

These Bath Links were also a huge hit. You can link them all together and it comes with suction cup attachments that make it so you can string them in many different ways. This entertained them for the longest time! They are really easy to put together and pull apart so again, Gage was able to play with this as well. It also came with some cute little sea creatures that squirt out water. I love how it helps teach coordination and of course it is BPA Free.

 

 

These would make the cutest stocking stuffers for the little bath time lovers in your life. To keep up with Nuby and all their amazing products be sure to follow them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Happy Tuesday friends!



I received these products as a part of the Nuby Parent Blogger program. All opinions are my own.

Santa Claus Is Coming to Town

Christmas is in 18 days. EIGHTEEN. We all know this time of year flies by so we are making sure each day counts now until Christmas. The stockings are hung, most presents have been wrapped, the elf has been moved every. Single. Day. And A Charlie Brown Christmas has been on repeat. Nothing beats this season!

Festive Friday

Festive Friday...it's is a thing...right? No? Well it is in our house! We've been celebrating all things Christmas this week and it started with our Elf "Leland" showing up with Jammie's and chocolate milk for the boys. He was a few days late but hey, he made it! The boys thought it was the coolest thing ever and I'm just over here enjoying using it as a threat. "Oh did you just push your brother over? I bet Leland isn't happy about that hopefully he doesn't tell Santa" 

This morning Leland was sitting in Ryder's recliner in his room reading a book and I'm pretty sure Ryder was thoroughly creeped out waking up to that. I would be too kid. We'll keep him in the kitchen and living room from now on. 

The post office in our town has its own mailbox for Santa and it totally blew Ryder's mind. So, we put a lot of thought into their wish lists and dropped them off in his mail box today. Ryder made sure Santa knew he's been good this year because he has been feeding a stray kitty that he named Black Jack and when I asked Gage what he wanted to ask Santa for he said "baaallll!!". Done. 

The magic of this season is just amazing and seeing it through a child's eyes is even more magical. Stay little my babies. 

Have a great weekend friends!

Family Pictures 2015

Year after year family picture time arrives and takes my stress to a whole other level. I finally find matching outfits, a good location on a day with pretty weather, bribe the kids to smile, stay clean and don't mess up their hair then pray the poor photographer got atleast one smiling picture in between tantrums, fighting and rolling around in the dirt. Then I get the photos back and suddenly on the work was worth it. I mean, look at those little smiles.

Be still my heart. 

Boys Jeans | Boys Vneck Pocket Tee's | Button up by Quiksilver from Zulily | Quilted Chambray Vest sold out similar here | Moccs | Next Step Moccs | Knit Dress | Scarf |  Tyson's Button Up |