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.

Halloween 2016

Oh, Halloween.  You are my favorite for sure.  I love everything about this time of the year.  Cooler weather, fall colors on the trees, and of course pumpkin everything.  Just like last year, this year we crammed about a weeks worth of seasonal activities into a span of a few days.  By the time Halloween hit I think Arlo was like - "I get to do this again?!"  This year Arlo wanted to be Handy Manny, a cartoon handyman that is todays bilingual version of Bob the Builder.  I would be lying if I said I didn't put the bug in his ear to be Manny after falling in love with the show last winter (yes, I actually think about Halloween ten months in advance.)  Thankfully Arlo was still on board with the idea when October rolled around, although he did say a few times when asked that he also wanted to be a dinosaur and a monster.  Keeping with my current theme of keeping things as simple as I could, I did the best I could to put together a Handy Manny-like costume without worrying about being too spot on.  I ordered the hat and shirt (a close enough match for me) online, made his tool belt from inexpensive craft felt I already had on hand (the night before our first Halloween event I might add), and dressed him in a pair of slightly too-big pants so we could cuff them.  He also wore some boots we already had on hand, and the tool set was bought on Amazon.  He was super excited to dress up and loved telling people he was Handy Manny - and had to correct about half of everyone because they all thought he was Bob the Builder, ha!  Oliver spent all his time at the Halloween events in the carrier so he wore the pumpkin hat I recently crocheted for his two month photos. 

Our first Halloween event was one we also did last year - story time and trick or treat around our local library.  So fun!  We went with Arlo's little friend Noah who was dressed as Daniel Tiger.

The Friday before Halloween we went to visit Erik at work where they had trunk or treat and games for the kids to play.  After we left we headed to the nearby community center where they had a huge halloween event - more trunk or treat and a gym full of games.  Arlo had so much fun, Oliver slept happily in the carrier the whole time.  I was happy to learn that all of the stops had non-candy options so Arlo came home with a lot of stickers, pencils, and small toys instead of candy that he wouldn't be able to eat.

Saturday we went to a local farm and pumpkin patch.  I had been looking forward to doing this all month, and it was so worth the wait.  They had animals to visit and feed, a giant corn pit to play in (equally fun for the adults!), a corn maze, tire swings, and several other fun activities for the kids.  We ended the visit with a hayride to the pumpkin patch where we picked out our own pumpkins.  We stayed there all morning and when it was time to leave Arlo ran away from us crying and yelling that he didn't want to go, ha!  Visiting this farm will definitely become an annual B family tradition.

 

Sunday evening we carved our pumpkins.  Keeping things simple we did just two this year.  Erik made a traditional jack-o-lantern face and I let Arlo pick out the stencil for his pumpkin, he choose a spider which is no surprise since he has a slight spider obsession lately.

notice the spooky Lucy face in the background?

Monday was finally Halloween and of course that day both kids napped until dinner time so by the time we got costumes on it was almost dark and I couldn't take any photos outside.  So here are the kids before we headed out:

 

In case you are wondering how vegans do Halloween... Well, we are still figuring that out year by year.  Arlo doesn't eat candy so it still isn't an issue for us.  He loved picking out candy from the bowls but really had no idea what he was choosing since he's never had a kit kat, skittles, or even a sucker.  We don't intentionally deprive him of these things, he's really just not interested in them yet and we certainly don't encourage it.  So when we got home we quickly swapped out the collected items for some we had ready to go - vegan gummies, fruit ropes, and fruit snacks.  Arlo didn't notice things had changed likely because he was so excited to find his favorite fruit ropes in their place.  I think he ate something like four or five packages of fruit snacks but I suppose that is what Halloween is all about, right? 

Easter 2016

The weekend before Easter, we took Arlo to a local egg hunt.  It was huge, and had multiple fields set up for various age groups.  Arlo was in the 0-3 group, and there were (what we were told) thousands of eggs on the field.  Once they blew the whistle everyone stormed the field and it was an egg collecting frenzy.  Arlo was not in any apparent hurry and was rather gentle about his collection process but still managed to score 10 or so eggs in the short time the hunt lasted.  I was confused to find that nearly every egg contained a tootsie roll which is both a choking hazard and super unhealthy for such a young age group, but Arlo didn't seem to care that we opened them and gave the contents away pretty quickly (note to self - this won't last forever, have a backup plan for next year!)  After the hunt he played with another little boy about his age and they ran around dumping out their empty eggs and recollecting them.

The best part of the hunt was meeting the Easter bunny, which Arlo didn't get to do last year.  He was a little apprehensive about approaching him by himself, so Erik held him for a picture.  Before we walked away we asked him if he wanted to hug the Easter bunny and he did not once but twice, and with a big smile on his face.  It was pretty sinking adorable.

 

This past Sunday was Easter and I spent the evening before putting together his basket and filling up eggs with treats and small trinkets.  Erik saw everything I had set out for Arlo to find the next morning and joked that the Easter bunny was a little too generous at our house this year.  But my defense was that when your kiddo's birthday is just six days from Christmas the other holidays throughout the year are good opportunities to add in a new book, puzzle, or toy.  I always feel guilty buying him stuff for no reason and rarely do but to me Easter is a perfectly good reason for a few new things!

Arlo was pretty excited to find his little pile the next morning, and almost looked at us confused like "is this for me?"  His basket had a sketch book, crayon/paper set (for taking on the go), sidewalk chalk, kinetic sand, a little tow truck, a new book by one of our favorite authors and cute wooden alphabet puzzle.  Of course his favorite things were the $0.40 plastic wall walking bug I bought on clearance after Easter last year, the paper grass, and the basket itself which he loved wearing around all day on his head.

Since the Easter bunny wasn't sure if it was going to rain that morning, he waited to put out the eggs until the weather was clear.  Fortunately his timing was spot on, and we were able to have a little egg hunt right in our front yard, and made it back inside just minutes before the rain started.  There were three jumbo eggs with small toys inside - a talking Thomas Train in one, bubbles in another, and a light up bouncy ball in the third.  The rest were small eggs filled with mini play doh, stickers, fruit snacks, and probably half had organic animal cookies in them.  Arlo opened up the big eggs first and the look on his face when he found Thomas was priceless.  I was afraid that after he found the train it would be game over since he likely wouldn't want to put it down, but once he discovered the snacks he went from egg to egg, opening them, eating the contents, tossing the empty egg on the grass, and moving on to the next.  The fruit snacks were equally as exciting to him as finding the train.  This kid isn't much for sweets but is crazy for fruit snacks and gasped every time he found one.  Now please indulge me as I include all of my favorites from our Easter photo shoot....

telling us about the clouds and that rain comes from them

 

Even though it rained most of the rest of the day, we accomplished what we had hoped to and spent the afternoon mostly being lazy and flicking Arlo's new wall walking bug so many times that eventually it stopped sticking to the wall.  I guess I know what I will be filling his basket with next year  ;)

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