Christmas Time

 Here is a little peek into our abundantly blessed Christmas season!  The fun just overflowed...

 This day cracked me up.  It was the beginning of November, which is when we go to tag our tree.  It was probably the coldest day so far, because it has been super mild every since this day.  It was freezing, and the cold came unexpectedly, as you can tell by the lack of jackets.  Also, the girls are in their Halloween costumes because we were on our way to our friend's Halloween charity fundraiser.  Reilly's face kills me. 

We RAN out of the car, bolted through the trees, screaming to each other which ones looked good.  It was so cold, that first Dad just went and we all stayed in the car.  But us girls had to have a look before it was officially wrapped in orange.  We picked it in about 4 minutes, when it usually takes us a leisurely 20 of strolling the farm.  We laughed when we got in the car, joking that in a month when we came back to cut it down, we would be like, "Man, this tree sucks. We were freezing and not in our right state of mind!"

 Here we are with our Starbucks at the mall, ready to see Santa.  The teeny Starbucks kiddie cups make my life a little bit.  This lady was staring at us like we were lunatics taking a picture in Macy's with our coffee cups.  Don't judge us lady, Starbucks is an hour away.  This is a HIGHLIGHT for us! 

 Meeting Santa, and Reagan petting Declan like he is a puppy.  The kids all LOVED Santa, Reagan twirled for him and asked if he liked her skirt, and they both mentioned gifts to him that Mommy had no idea they wanted.  Haha.

 We love seeing Santa!

 It snowed like CRAZY the day before Thanksgiving.  It was stunningly beautiful.  I started getting that panicked-cabin fever-it won't stop snowing until march- feeling as soon as the first flake fell.  And then it melted and hasn't snowed since, and I feel so much better. :) I do think the snow is beautiful and am so in awe of it, as long as I have nowhere to go.  But I usually only feel this way for December, and then I am ready to welcome Spring.

 This was on our drive to great-Grandma Ella's on Thanksgiving. 

The day after Thanksgiving, we always go to get our tree!

 

 We had some sleepy elves by the time we got there. :)

 I officially hope it snows every Thanksgiving - because getting our tree with the whole tree farm covered in a blanket was something out of a storybook.

 It didn't just photograph looking magical...it actually felt magical when we were there.  I didn't edit these photos at all, these are straight out of my camera.  It was breathtaking.

 We woke the sleepy elf for the fun!

 There she is!  Fun fact, it was actually the most perfect tree in the whole farm, and even the owner said so!  Hurray for speedy choosing!

 Reagan's face as the tree was falling. :)

 Never have there been handsomer men than mine.

 When you find a man who can carry a baby in one arm, and a tree in the other, you keep him.

 Accidental selfie with all my babies! 

 This will be the picture I frame for him for his wedding gift. The caption will read: Don't forget who was your first love. Or who makes the best Chicken Marsala.

I'm kidding, Declan's future wife!

A little.

My beauty baby, aka my firstborn, aka Declan's face on a female. :)

More Christmas magic coming soon!

The Big Boy is One!

It has been a little bit since my last post, which is in part due to the fact that we were having computer problems, and in part due to the fact that the Christmas season has way too much fun happening and no spare time! Lots of memories being made with our families, and filling every day with Christmas fun with the kiddies. :)  But before we talking about Christmas...my angel boy turned ONE! 

All about our sweet one year old boy...

 This boy is the light of our lives.  Whenever he wake up from his nap, or in the morning, the girls each say "Babydec, come here, give me a hug!" And he wraps his little arms right around them, and gives them a big open mouth kiss.  His sisters adore him more than any other baby I think has ever been adored.  Sometimes people say to me, "Oh wow, 2 older sisters! Good luck to him!"  If they could only know how he is worshiped and loved by these 2 girls...he is the luckiest boy in the world.

 He says Mama, Dada, Papa, Tickle, and Hiney. Oh, and Reilly taught him how to say Poo Poo. :)

He is such a little cuddle munchkin.  The cuddliest little bug in all the land.  This boy loves being on my hip, in anyone's arms, rocked and sang to.  He especially loves cuddling with Mama. When I nurse him or sing to him, he plays with my hair. I say that my hair is like his security blanket. :)  It has been surrounding him since birth, always in his face, and he never complained it was just always what he knew!

 It does not take much to make this boy laugh.  But all he has to do is LOOK at Reilly and he will belly laugh.  She has some kind of magic making that boy giggle. 

He also giggles every time he looks at himself in the mirror after I comb his hair.  Which is my favorite thing ever.

 (He discovered the tie sticker! Ha)

He sleeps through the night, and will wake up around 5 or 6 crying like a little newborn to nurse.  He is so funny how he doesn't use his words in the early morning to call me, only crying.  He is standing in his crib now!  And he pulls himself to stand on any and all surfaces.  Doors, gates, toys, toilets.  No cruising or steps yet...just like his sisters!

He is in size 24 months, 24 pounds.  And if you ask me, he has the most perfect hair in the history of hair.

 (Here he is saying, Mama, you kidding me with this sticker?)

 He has been wanting to talk a lot lately.  When he wants to have a conversation, he points at something, and makes the most expressive faces, and makes guttural sounds, and raspberry noise with his mouth.  Lately, he wants to talk all about the Christmas tree. :)

 

 He LOVES his Daddy.  When he gets home from work, he is all but jumping at him.  He swings his arms all around when we visit him at work or bring Sissy to school and he catches a glimpse of him from far away.  My boys.

 This boy is the sweetest soul.  He will light up and smile at you with just a glance at him.  His little dimple makes him glow. He is happy as can be to be near the ones he loves - we can be anywhere and doing anything and he is content.  He reminds me of a cuddly little puppy, especially with his deep dark eyes. He is just love, this boy. 

The night you were born, I won't ever forget.  I remember Daddy waking up when I had one contraction, and he was getting ready to go hunting.  By my second contraction I knew you were coming, and I told Daddy I did not think he would be hunting that day. Twenty minutes later we were in the car, and it was raining.  I couldn't look at the clock, so I just told Daddy every time a contraction came, and he kept track of how far apart they were.  I remember thanking God that the rain wasn't snow, on the hour ride to the hospital. Daddy told me the contractions were 5 minutes apart, when they were really 3.  He knows how to keep me calm.

I remember getting to the hospital, and the lady at the desk saying, "So you think you are in labor?"  I said, this is my third baby. I typically labor for about one hour.  I need to be checked right now. I KNOW I am in labor.  Minutes later, the doctor checked me and I was at 10 centimeters.  The nurses were so excited that you were a "Mystery Baby".  The doctor was in the room getting ready, and said, "Tell me when you want to start pushing!" as he walked around the room.  So different from my first babies, I was suddenly the professional in the room.  Then, I knew.  The pain was too much, and we wanted to meet you.  So, I pushed and pushed (one long long push), and out you came.  Then they said, okay, we need to push his shoulders out now!  That's when I knew you were a big guy.  I did not have to push your sisters shoulders out!  And then the nurse said, "DADDDD! TELL HER WHAT IT IS!!" And I knew, I just knew, you were a boy. I held you, all 9 pounds 2 ounces of you, and you were perfect. 

I told you that you were beautiful. I told you that you were so, so beautiful. 

You are so beautiful, my boy.  We thank God for giving us you.

The Boy's First Haircut!

 Last month, the little mans got his very first haircut!  I waited for as long as I could, because I heard that when you take the plunge and get that first trim, they grow up and look so different and suddenly go from "baby" to "boy" in minutes. So in short, I was nervous/excited.  I was so excited to get his little whispies cleaned up so they wouldn't be in his eyes (so was Daddy!), but...would he still look the same?! 

(Spoiler Alert: He still looks adorable. ;) )

A "before" picture of our happy boy!

 We got his haircut in New York, so we could go to our close friend who coincidentally gave Mommy her first haircut. :) As well as did my hair for my proms, wedding day, and every haircut in between.

Also, Lyssy was there, so we have an abundance of pictures, and I am in them! :) Happy Mommy when we have another photographer around.  Especially one is as good as she is!

 Things got a little intense as we started near the eyes.  Declan was a bit nervous, but such a brave boy.  No tears at all!

 How 2 of my 3 children ended up with such light hair, I will never know!

 

 Starting to look so neat!

  
We needed Declan to look down, so the troops got on the floor to make him laugh. Oh, we brought an army to the big haircut with us. Haha.

 Starting to get a little antsy, yet still clapping away!

 Smiling at Mama. :)  Told you there were a lot of pictures!

 This next one gets me.  Daddy loves his boy so much.

 Aaaaaannndd...

 Finished!!  Handsome handsome boy!  Ugh, I melt at his face. And he still looks like a baby, so YAY for that one.

This was one of the big ones...the girls have never gotten their hair cut yet, so Declan was the first one to reach the Haircut Milestone in our house!  It was so fun, I just wanted to squeeze him all day.  And a special thank you to Marianne - we were so happy you could be a part of our milestone!  And he gets compliments on his hair every day, you should be very proud of your work. :)