ho, ho, holidays 2016

It's February and I am just now posting this?  Oops.  It was written last month and I never got around to hitting post.  So, better late than never...


I had plans to give each holiday its own post.  But between all the other birthday and milestone posts I've been working on these past few weeks the holidays kind of fell by the wayside...  So, here's a combo post with a little bit about the entire holiday season of 2016.

thanksgiving

Our theme, if you want to call it that, after Oliver was born, has been to keep things as simple as possible.  We didn't plan a lot, or anything really, in the months that followed his birth.  We decided before he was even born that we would stay home through the holidays this year, and invite family to come to visit us.  In years past, we have always traveled to DC to be with Erik's family for Thanksgiving, and Tennessee to visit my family for Christmas.  Keeping in the tradition of spending Thanksgiving with Erik's family, they opted to come to our house.  His parents flew down, as did Scott and Caitrin.  We were also lucky enough to have our friends Anne and Zach join us.  Anne and Zach are both vegan and Zach is also a food blogger who loves to cook.  So when he volunteered to make most of the Thanksgiving feast, I happily agreed to it.  And feast it was, there was no shortage of plant-based deliciousness on our table.  I think there were three different kinds of "meat" plus all the usual fixins.  And pies, three delicious homemade pies (thanks Zach!!)  Even the non-vegans agreed it was a wonderful meal.  And during the gathering it was realized that we had all sort of matched our outfits, completely unplanned.  So here is the photographic evidence of our well-coordinated gathering...

family pic minus the babe who was napping

Arlo, me, Erik, Caitrin, Scott, Jill, Rich, and a Lucy head

plaid boys

grey girls

The rest of the long weekend was pretty low key.  Erik and I got to enjoy a date night out with Scott and Caitrin while the grandparents watched the kiddos.  Arlo was sad to have everyone leave, but no one was more upset than Lucy, who entered into a full 24 hour depression after Papa Richard left.  He spoils her with two walks and more attention in a day than she receives all week.  She has fully recovered thankfully and I know we are all already looking forward to their next visit.

christmas

Before the holidays even hit this year, Erik and I planned on a very low key Christmas, keeping the gift giving as simple as we could.  Even though it doesn't feel like we buy much for the kids throughout the year, the little toys here and there, combined with gifts and free secondhand toys given to us by friends and family really seem to add up.  I spent hours in the weeks before Christmas clearing out toys and books from the playroom, and packed up several grocery bags worth of stuff to donate.  I knew more toys were coming and "too much stuff" in general has been a big stressor for me lately.

When we asked Arlo what he wanted Santa to bring him for Christmas this year, he initially told us "a pillow, a Christmas flower, and a spoon and fork."  Later in the month he decided on a flashlight and was consistent in his request from then on.  Fortunately, flashlights are easy to come by.  We also bought him a memory matching game and a Richard Scary book, which is definitely his new favorite book.  I loved Richard Scary books as a kid and even though compared to todays books they are rather dated, I knew Arlo would love his style.  Since Oliver is a baby and needs nothing at this point in his life, we opted to wrap up a few of Arlo's old baby toys as his gifts.  It ended up working out great, Oliver is just coming into the age where he can start playing with baby things and as well it was a great transition to hand down some of Arlo's old toys.

We went with friends to visit Santa the week before Christmas.  Arlo was so excited to see him and both boys sat on his lap without any tears or meltdowns. We went to visit Santa at a new location this year, a local sporting goods store that really goes all out for the holidays.  They provide you with a free professional photo and wooden frame, as well they let you take as many of your own photos that you want. There are also kids crafts set up along with all the other fun things the store has on display year-round.  We made a whole morning out of it and Arlo had a great time.

My family came to stay with us for Christmas this year, including my sister Megan who flew in from Chicago. The days leading up to Christmas had Arlo asking us which morning that Santa was going to come.  Finally, Christmas eve arrived.  We all watched Elf together (and Home Alone after Arlo went to bed - this is a tradition Megan and I have done since the year it came out) and after the movie we put out cookies for Santa.  Except we didn't actually have any cookies so Arlo suggested we leave Santa cashews and almond milk.  And since Santa gets so many cookies already we decided that was a fine idea and Arlo happily put them next to the fireplace.  And then proceeded to eat nearly the whole bowl, ha.  I did convince him to save a few for Santa before he went off to bed.

The next morning Arlo was very excited to wake up and see the presents under the tree.  We waited for the whole family to wake up and migrate downstairs, by which time Oliver had already fallen asleep for his morning nap.  So we let him sleep while we all opened presents and set his gifts aside in a pile.  I promise kid, we won't do this in years future.  My favorite part of the gift opening was how Arlo responded to it.  He would find a present under the tree, and we would tell him whose name it had on it.  He would then take the present to that person and either help them open it or stand next to them and wait patiently while they opened it, and then reacted with amazement at each gift.  He was as excited for everyone else to open their gifts as he was when he found one for himself.  Geez, I love him.

The rest of the weekend with family was spent much like Thanksgiving, somewhat lazy but also productive as Erik and I got to sneak away for a little alone time again.  And I decided to go for a hike and then run four miles all on the same morning which was a terrible idea because I am still, nearly three weeks later, dealing with a knee injury.  Gah.  Anyway, another nice holiday season with family in the books.

Christmas twenty-fifteen

We are well on our way into 2016 already, so I realize I am a bit behind in my blogging just now getting to post about Christmas.  But, better late than never!

We were lucky this year that we got to spend the holidays with both sides of our family.  The week of Christmas was spent at my parents house in Tennessee, and the following week Erik's family came to visit us.  Two weeks of family time (and having Erik home on vacation) was pretty awesome.

Arlo and Grandpa the day we arrived

The week of Christmas was pretty low-key, as usual.  Arlo had so much fun at Grandma and Grandpa's house and loved "helping" Grandma do chores around the house.  Here he is peeling potatoes and washing dishes:

And then dish time turned into "put the toddler in the sink and call it a bath" time, ha!

Playing Santa on Christmas Eve was so fun.  There were gifts for my parents, sister, Erik, me, and Arlo (something like half were for him!) so there were a ton of presents under the tree when we put everything out.  I thought Arlo would be a little more excited than he was on Christmas morning, but he just kind of blankly stared at all the fabric-bag wrapped gifts for a minute before being distracted by the tree.  I think if we had put out a few unwrapped toys he would have been more excited as I don't think he had any idea what the gift bags even meant!  As we slowly worked our way through the pile it became obvious that Arlo was a bit overwhelmed with all the new toys.  He would open one thing and just want to sit and play with it, not caring about opening anything else.  Here he is playing with some of his gifts:

Erik and I bought him the Ikea car rug and Melissa & Doug garage (which is highly recommended if you are ever looking for a toy like this) and a bunch of books.  He also received a submarine, helicopter, clothes, dump truck, farm set, giant slinky, and stacking car garage, among other things.  Stockings have always been a big tradition in my family, and we usually wait until afternoon to open them.  Arlo's was huge this year, filled with so many treats and treasures.  Here he is opening it up, the thing was big enough for him to climb inside!

Other random photos from the Tennessee trip:

don't get used to this kid, only allowed with Grandma is in charge!  ;)

eating lunch hipster baby style at an all-vegan restaurant in Asheville on our way home

A few days after we got home, Erik's family arrived.  I feel terrible that I didn't take many photos while they were visiting, but we had a great time with them and were glad they could be here to celebrate Arlo's second birthday.  Arlo received double presents on his birthday because we also did our Christmas gift exchange with Erik's family that same day, and was given a wooden block set, chalkboard/dry erase box, train book, and boat.  Does anyone see a theme here?  Do you think he's a kid that likes cars/trains/boats??  ;) 

I hope in years to come that we are lucky enough to spend time with both sides of our family around the holidays.  It is certainly one of the most wonderful times of the year  ;)

Christmas "cheese" face

ho ho ho. holiday fun, twenty-fifteen

There is nothing like a toddler or little kid to bring on the holiday spirit, is there?  Now that Halloween and Thanksgiving have come and gone, it is all about the Santa, Elves, and twinkly lights over at our house.  We arrived home from our Thanksgiving trip and the next morning boxes and boxes of decorations were carried down from the attic.  In addition to the Halloween decorations my parents gave us this year, we also received tons of Christmas stuff too!  Which came at an excellent time because Arlo is at just the right age to really start to enjoy it. 

Two weekends ago we attempted a family photo shoot.  I say attempted because most of the few group shots I was able to capture looked like this:

and this...

I guess that is what I get for taking the photos myself, without a working remote for the timer (essential for successful DIY photos!!) and trying to make a rambunctious toddler and confused dog all look at the camera at the exact same time, when all the while I was running back and forth to the tripod and camera to press the timer button.  Sounds fun, doesn't it??  Thankfully, we managed to get a couple decent ones:

After the oh-so-fun group shots were done we let Arlo run around and I took some photos of just him.

Last weekend we went to visit Santa.  I wasn't sure how he would go over with Arlo this year.  Right now Arlo is a little Santa-obsessed and excitedly says "ho ho ho!" every time he sees a decoration of any kind with Santa on it.  But I knew that Santa decorations were a lot different than the real thing.  Not being big on mall Santas (and the long lines and high prices that come with them) I did some research and found that a free Santa was visiting the Hallmark store right down the road from us.  This Santa was the real deal I tell ya.  He was so kind and patient and even said to us right away "no picture is worth making your child upset."  So when we went up to him the first time, Santa offered to let Erik and Arlo sit in the chair together, while he stood behind them and let Arlo warm up to him.

We then walked around the store for a bit until Arlo seemed ready to greet him again.  This time I went up with him (and a Minnie mouse doll for comfort) and surprisingly Arlo was willing to give him a high five at this point:

Finally, we approached him for a third time.  By this point Arlo must have really been okay with him because he sat right on his lap without a problem.  He gave us a little grin and even when we were done with photos continued to sit there like "what's next y'all?"

Let's look back to last year's photo for a minute.  Even though the kids were totally upset this is still one of my all-time favorites of them.  Classic first Santa photo!

And lastly a few shots of our holiday decorations.  This is the first year we have put up a tall tree (previous years have just been small table top trees) and it is also our first Christmas in our current house.  So, it was a lot of fun to decorate and Arlo has loved every part of it.  Our tree is one that we randomly picked up at a yard sale for like $6 a couple months ago.  Its not a bad tree and originally came from Target, but I think eventually I might like to pick up one that is pre-lit and maybe a little fuller looking.  But this one is great for now.

At the end of November my parents sent Arlo an advent calendar.  We had one of these when my sister and I were little and the highlight of the day was moving the little mouse from pocket to pocket every morning in December until Christmas.  Arlo's is a magnetic board with a movable "candy," and he loves it!  Every morning I tell him it's time to move the calendar and he runs right to it.  There is another advent style calendar on the mantle where we hang a mini ornament on the tall wooden Christmas tree, and he knows that is part of the routine as well.

Last year we were gifted an elf of the shelf and while Arlo wasn't easily able to run around the house and search for him then, he sure can this year.  Providing mom and dad remembered to hide him the night before (otherwise it's done secretly while Arlo is busy eating breakfast) he will search high and low for that little elf and then yell and point when he finds him.  Here are a few things our little elf has been up to...

and in case you ever wondered - elfs poop purple play doh!

A couple of nights ago we took a ride around our neighborhood to look at all the Christmas lights.  Arlo got to sit on my lap as we cruised around our virtually traffic-less neighborhood at about 5 mph and he thought it was completely awesome.  Everytime we would come upon a house with a lot of lights he would inhale sharply, say "wow!" and point to them.  Melted my heart every single time.

this house had musical ornaments and also some large inflatable decorations that moved!

Arlo has no idea what he is in store for in just a few days.  I can't wait to see his face on Christmas morning.  I always thought Christmas was the best thing ever when I was a kid, but I don't think it even compares to seeing it through the eyes of your own child.  We will be spending Christmas with my parents and then the following week Erik's family is coming into town.  Looking forward to a couple weeks of rest, relaxation, and fun family time.  Merry Christmas from our family to yours!