Christmas

Christmas is getting more and more fun with the kids each year. Carson has really caught on to the whole idea and was beyond excited to open his presents. Brooklyn was a little out of it, but once she opened a few of her baby doll toys she was excited. My parents were here and Carly and Will came over to open presents with us. I love Christmas and the excitement of Christmas morning. 

Carson was excited about all of the stuff in his stocking. He got bubble bath, a new toothbrush, candy, and a coloring pack. It was fun to watch him pull everything out. 

Brooklyn was in love with her baby doll stuff. She got a little crib and a car seat for her baby dolls and she wanted to sit in the crib herself. 

It was a fun morning of opening gifts and hanging out. The kids played and played. I love lazy Christmas days like this. It's nice to just enjoy it all and not be rushing around.

The kids insisted on taking their new pots and pans into the bathtub. They are a favorite toy now! They like helping mommy in the kitchen, so it's fun to have their own pots and pans to cook with. 

We were truly blessed this Christmas - what a wonderful day.

Family Christmas Party

This year for our family Christmas party, we got to have Santa come visit! We met "Santa" at church one Sunday when he came to listen to the primary program. We sat next to him and he played with the kids during sacrament meeting. At the end of the meeting he handed me his card and told me that he makes Santa visits during the Christmas season. We thought it would be fun so we scheduled him to come to our party. 

We set gifts on our porch with the kids' names on them and he put them in his sack before he came in. He came in ringing his jingle bells and the kids were amazed/surprised/shocked that Santa came! It was so funny to watch! They didn't really know what to do!

None of the kids were scared, which was kind of amazing. Even Santa was surprised that the little girls were excited to sit on his lap. Brooklyn was so excited, but she wouldn't smile. It was so funny. She kept standing by him waiting for her turn and when he finally called her name she climbed right up on his lap like she knew exactly what she was doing.

Brooklyn waiting for her turn

It really was so much fun for everyone. The kids had the best surprise and it was so fun to watch. I think it is something we will probably do every year from now on. Before he left we sang Christmas carols and he explained what the colors on the candy cane represent to the kids. Such a fun new tradition!

Adjusting to 3

I was extremely nervous about having our third baby. Everyone kept telling me how hard #3 was and it made me terrified! Brooklyn was/is such a temperamental little girl and I wasn't sure how she would do with another baby here. Carson is only 3, which means I would have 3 kids ages 3 and under. Jason and I want our kids close together so we wouldn't want it any other way, but that doesn't make it any less challenging or stressful. With Jason being in school and working full time, it meant it I would mostly have to do it on my own. I was prepared for the worst.

We brought Morgan home and I just kept waiting for things to explode.....but it never did. The kids have been so excited to have her here and I actually adjusted fairly easy to 3. Granted there are HARD days, and times when I'm overwhelmed, but for the most part we are adjusting to 3 kiddos just fine.

One of the first days home from the hospital, Carson insisted that we make a birthday cake for Morgan. He wouldn't stop talking about it, so one night after dinner we made a cake. I let Carson pick out the decorations, so the cake is very boyish. Morgan slept through her entire "birthday" party.

Carson loves playing in the snow and one day with the girls were sleeping we took him outside and played. He loved it! The snow was too soft to make a snowman, but we made snow angels and ran around.

Jason took the kids to the Lowe's kids workshop to get them out of the house and do something fun with them. They built a Christmas train and got to decorate it with stickers. They always look so cute in their little aprons and they really enjoy building things there, especially Carson.

Brooklyn's hair is getting so long! She looked so cute one day that I had to take a picture.

The kids wanted to make sugar cookies one day so I pulled out all of the Christmas cookie cutters and let them go for it. They had such a hard time waiting for them to bake. They patiently stood by the oven and watched the whole time. Afterwards I gave them each a plate of frosting and the sprinkles and let them go to town. Carson used an entire container of sprinkles on his cookies. The sprinkles on top were thicker than the actual cookie. What can you expect from a 3 year old, I guess. :)

So far our adjustment to 3 kids has been a good one. Morgan is a sweet baby and the kids love her to pieces. Hopefully it stays this way!

Newborn Pictures

Get ready for picture overload! We had Caralee Case take the newborn pictures of Morgan. She has taken the newborn pictures of all of my kids, as well as their first birthday pictures. She is AMAZING! I love her work and her creativity. Here are my favorites -