Little Snowflake Shower

Let's talk about being spoiled.  For my third baby, I was given two baby showers.  I feel so lucky and this baby is officially the most spoiled baby in utero. 

My sister-in-law, Rachelle, threw the baby and I a lovely girl's night baby shower.  It was absolutley beautiful.  She had the house decked out in a winter theme with snoflakes everywhere.  And I mean everywhere.  We played a game where we had to guess how many snowflakes were hanging around and the number was ridiculous.  It was just the girls (my mommy friends) and we spent the night visiting and laughing.  So perfect.

 Rachelle was able to get a few advance copies of our maternity pictures to display around the house.

 Snowflakes everywhere.

 Some of the girls.

 I had forgotten how cute baby boy clothes are.

 A few of the girls got me a new stroller.  I'm not gonna lie.  I am super excited to try it out.

The yummiest strawberry cake made by my friend, Maria.  I took some of it home and 'The Hubs' and I were fighting over the last bite.

Thanks, again, Rachelle for such a fun night and for showering me a baby Liam.

More Christmas Day

I found more pictures!  We'll just call this extreme present unwrapping and toy playing.  Because that's what we did the whole.day.long.

 Merry Christmas!

Christmas Day

Christmas Day was amazing this year despite all of my holiday Scrooginess and waking up that morning with the flu.  I tired my hardest to pull it together all season long and the flu was just the final touch to a melancholy season.  I thought I pulled it together as best I could.  The kids had a wonderful day...they were in their pajamas the whole day long.   I served a nice breakfast and Steve stepped in a made a great dinner.  Most importantly, we were a family and we soaked up the traditions we have created for 'The Littles'.

Our tree, in the wee small hours of the morning after Santa left.

 Christmas morning.  This picture reminds me of how much I absolutely love our house.

 Coming down the stairs in our pj's.

 'The Boy' belined to his side and went straight for his stocking.

 He knew it was full of goodies.

 'Munchkin' kind of got the idea and headed over to the pink side.

 But, then she saw that Santa hadn't eaten all of the treats we had left for him so she decided to help him out.

She took her treats back to her new chair.  Santa did a good job...she just loves little chairs.

 We read a letter Santa had written us and then started to open gifts.

 He loved his new superheros...

 And Cars 2.

 She opened up her Mrs. Potatohead and then wore her glasses for a while...

 ...even while opening her presents.

 'The Hubs' sporting his new polarized sunglasses...

...and checking out the details on his deep sea fishing trip.

 I always get tricked.  'The Hubs' has been wrapping my presents in strange boxes since we were dating.  This Diet Coke box contain a pair of maternity yoga pants I had asked for.

'The Boy' helped 'Munchkin' open her Disney Princess kitchen.  A gift they both loved.

Very excited for new Hot Wheels tracks.

Feeding her new baby...

 ...and herself.

 A few hours later, Gigi, Pop and Uncle Michael came over for brunch.  Note: 'The Boy's' crafty centerpiece.

We ate a very yummy breakfast before opening more gifts.  It seriously takes us so long to get through them all.  I can't even imagine what it is like for bigger families.  We enjoyed our family and watching 'The Littles' play with their new toys in their pj's.  Seriously, they wore them to dinner.   Pop made us a lovely dinner but I stopped taking pictures after brunch because I was just feeling worse.

This is the aftermath.  I was a bit late in taking the picture this year.  'The Hubs' had already started cleaning a bit. 

We had such a wonderful Christmas this year (despite the bah humbugs) and we're looking forward to a very happy New Year.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve always has had a habit of lasting all day long for us.  The night before, we had a gift exchange with 'The Hubs' family and most of the kids spent the night at Mimi and Papa's.  It was a nice break for us but, we had some over tired, cranky kids on our hands the next day.  We started the celebrating at Gigi and Pop's for lunch and opening a few presents for 'The Littles'.  'Munchkin' also took her celebratory 3 hour afternoon nap.

My Mom's tree.

 'The Boy' opened a few new boxes of Lego's (a huge hit) and he and 'The Hubs' and Pop spent the rest of the afternoon assembling.

 So surprised with the finished product.

 Uncle Michael took his celebratory afternoon nap, too.

 'Munchkin' woke up and took a ride on the Pop roller coaster before getting dressed in her Christmas best.  We love that she closes her eyes for an even bigger thrill.  She is definitely our roller coaster girl.



 Me and our baby boy @ 30 weeks.  I still cannot believe how fast this pregnancy is going!

We tried about 100 different takes and this was the best we could do for a family photo.

That night, we headed to a Christmas party with 'The Hubs' extended family.  It is always so nice to see his family all together as it happens only twice a year.  We visited and ate delicious food and exchanged gifts among the little cousins.  All of the little kids were so tired, some even asking if they could go home to sleep.

 'The Boy' fell asleep on the car ride over and didn't wake up until five minutes before we left.  Such a party pooper!

 'Munchkin' fell asleep on the way home so 'The Boy' had the very important job of getting ready for Santa's visit.

 He signed his own name this year!

 Treats for Santa...and a book.  'The Boy' thought he might enjoy something to read while he enjoyed his snack.

 We ended the night with a reading of The Night Before Christmas.  I love how our little family is creating our own holiday traditions.  Then we were off to bed...