Christmas Day

We had a few rules for Carter regarding Christmas morning - he had to wait until 7am to get out of bed, he had to wake us up before anything else, and since typically Mia sleeps longer, he had to wait for Mia to wake up before checking out the gifts and stockings.  We heard him jump out of bed on the dot of 7 and race downstairs.  We heard a few squeals and giggles as he ran past the presents and stockings but he was a good boy and came right to our room to wake us up.  Mia luckily woke up soon after and they couldn't drag us out of bed fast enough to get to the stockings and presents!

Opening our stockings:

Then, on to the presents!  Santa was very good to everyone this year. 

Later in the day, Grandma Webb, Grandpa Mike, Josh, Mark, and Traci came over for dinner (and more presents).

Mia received lots of cute dress up clothes!

Trying out her new tutu (she didn't take it off for hours).

We had a wonderful Christmas season with all of our family, we hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas as well!

Non-Stop Christmas!

The week before Christmas Aunt Lee, Elsa, and Claire came to Michigan to visit.  We all got to spend a lot of time with both Grandma and Grandpa Baldwin and Grandpa and Grandma Jernstadt and the kids had so much fun playing with their cousins.

One of the first activities we did with the kids was to make gingerbread cupcakes.  I bought a kit which included the mix and lots of candy decorations.  It's one of those projects that you know will take longer to clean up after than actually do.  The kids had a lot of fun with it and the cupcakes actually turned out pretty good to eat too!

Here they are frosting and decorating.

Some finished cupcakes.

Next was round 1 of present opening with Grandma and Grandpa Baldwin.

Here are the little girls getting ready for the party.

Let the unwrapping frenzy begin!

Carter got a really neat Hess truck from Grandma and Grandpa, according to Carter this truck has "a ton of cool lights."

Carter also got a totally awesome Transformer from Lee, Bob, Elsa, and Claire.  It is a gigantic ship one minute and transforms into a big scary guy the next.  What could be better!

Mia received a vintage Cabbage Patch Kid from Lee, Bob, Elsa, and Claire.  So 80's and cool!  She even has Xavier Roberts' signature on her butt like the originals and smells like that distinct Cabbage Patch baby power smell.  Her name is Elyssa and she was born on Feb. 15th.  Mia absolutely loves her.  I love that Elyssa looks almost exactly like one of my Cabbage Patch kids when I was little!

Mia also got a neat Barbie doll with convertible from Grandpa and Grandma.  That convertible has already logged more miles around the house than most of Carter's cars.

Carter playing with the transformer ship.

Elsa and her new La La Loopsy doll.

Later that evening Cheryl, Abby, and Joe stopped over and brought more presents!

Notice the creative wrapping that Abby did with the presents.  Claire was ecstatic when she discovered this Swiss Miss box under her wrapping paper (and she hadn't even looked inside to find her present yet!). 

Carter got his present in this brownie mix box (which is perfect for him since he loves brownies).

The little girls got some musical instruments which they showed off during this dance.

Present frenzy #2 was at Grandpa and Grandma Jernstadt's house.

We had a fabulous breakfast before presents, the kids especially liked the little dining tables.

Then it was on to the huge stacks of presents!

Mia received a Dora tree house, a calendar, slippers, a harmonica, and princess dominoes!



Carter received a Sponge Bob marble game (which he has almost mastered already), a collapsible ball, a Velcro ball game, a super long grabber thing, and a calendar.

Lots of hugs for Grandma and Grandpa.

We had so much fun with everyone and are so glad Aunt Lee, Elsa, and Claire stayed with us for the week.  We missed Uncle Bob though!

Stay tuned for more Christmas celebrations!

December Activities

We had a jam packed December this year.  We did a lot of family activities thanks to our Advent Calendar (thanks again to Lee for making us our beautiful Advent Calendar!), we visited Meijer Gardens twice, plus we had many different Christmas celebrations with family.  We are so lucky!

Some of the Advent Activities that we enjoyed were:

• Board Game nights
• Christmas movie watching - the favorites this year were:  Polar Express, Prep and Landing, and The Grinch (the original cartoon version).
• Driving around to look at Christmas lights
• Baking Christmas cookies
• Hot chocolate
• Writing letters to Santa
• And a carriage ride downtown

Meijer Gardens Visit #1

We went to the Christmas Trees Around the World exhibit at night.   They had lots of activities for kids, tram rides outside in the sculpture garden, and Santa and Mrs. Clause.

The kids had fun chasing the gigantic train that runs through several rooms.  (You can see the train on the elevated track above their heads).

Here the kids are cozying up to Santa (neither would get on his lap). 

Carter let Santa know he wanted Star Wars Legos and Mia barely squeaked out her request of "princesses" for Christmas.  He must have heard her though, based on all the barbies and dolls he brought her.

They did warm up to Mrs. Clause and her candy dish after the forced meeting with Santa.

One of our very favorite activities of December was the carriage ride!  Grandpa and Grandma Jernstadt invited us to go on a beautiful tour of downtown Grand Rapids via horse and carriage.  It was a chilly evening but we saw a lot of spectacular lights and great views of downtown.

Here we are meeting our horse, Sadie.

On the ride.

Meijer Gardens Visit #2

The second holiday Gardens trip was for my work party.  Santa made his rounds at this party as well and Carter actually felt comfortable enough to sit on his lap!

Deep in thought regarding his wish list.

Mia wouldn't even go near Santa this time.

Hanging out in the beautiful greenhouse.

We loved all the Advent activities, the kids are bummed it is over and are already looking forward to it next year!