Christmas Break

This Christmas Break was wonderful.
Having Mr. H to ourselves made baby C and I the happiest of all.
There were some stressful times, and times when I felt anxiety creeping into my day.
However, 2014 has been good to our little family.  We have had such a blast being together, and just plain RELAXING.
I have also realized that baby C is no longer a baby.  Man, I don't know why that hit me this break, but he keeps reminding me that he is a LITTLE BOY.  Crazy.  So I guess I will have to start calling him C now. :)
To start off the break:
I was able to have a mini-recital for my piano students.  I've been teaching one girl for the past semester, and have picked up two more students.  It was really fun to have them all together and hear them play.

Mr. H fixed my dresser.  HOORAY! C was so cute as he helped him with the tools.  He loves doing what we are doing. 

My sister and brother in law flew in from D.C. It was so fun to have them around.  I have missed her so much!!!!

My mom, sister, C and me as we shopped the day after Christmas.  I finally bought a leopard cardigan, which I have been wanting for years. :)

Grandma and Grandpa  W and T  gave C this adorable Harry Potter tee-shirt.  On the front it states: "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good" and on the back, "Mischief Managed".  We WILL be a family of Harry Potter Fans. :)

We gave C a basketball hoop for Christmas.  Christmas morning he was TERRIFIED of it.  We could not figure that one out.  He would just point at it, say Ball, and then back away slowly.  But, much to Mr. H's relief, the day after Christmas he fell in love.  Now it's the first thing he does when he wakes up in the morning. 

We were able to go Cross Country Skiing with my family.  It was gorgeous and really fun.  We wanted to bring C, but Grandma W and T were nice enough to watch him for us.  And it was a good thing, because we continued to fall and fall!

Mr. H was also able to go to the temple with his family and do some family history work.  That was so neat for them.  We spent many afternoons in Centerville, and then many again here.

New Year's Eve was fun.  We had some friends over, ate Chinese food, played games and heard some of the funniest first kiss stories ever. :)

Mr. H and I have had the best of the best weekends here at home.  We had our weekly date night on Friday, and Mr. H was a good sport and played my games and made new year's resolutions.

Saturday we were able to go to the U of U's basketball game.  C was really cute.  He got so excited and was good the whole time.  We ended the night at my grandma's 75th birthday party.  Happy birthday grandma!

Mr. H and I are happy.  It's so good being together.  We're excited for what this year is bringing.  

Christmas

So I'm a couple of posts behind.

But I didn't want to forget about Christmas!!!!

I learned a couple of things this year. 

1. I procrastinated everything till the week of, and that was a really bad idea. I learned that there is true wisdom in getting everything done early so that you can feel the spirit of the season.  Sometimes I guess you just have to learn the hard way.

2. 1 1/2 year olds don't need a lot of presents.  Mr. H and I went a little overboard this year for baby C, and then everyone was so generous as well. It was so sweet of everyone!  But I think the lesson I learned was that they can be happy with one or two things.  

3.  Wrap presents BEFORE Christmas eve.  Ha. :)

MOVING on to the big days:

Christmas eve was a lot of fun.  We went up to Mr. H's family's and the boys sledded for about ten minutes and then we tried to put baby C down for a nap, which would not happen.  So we all hung out together.  I love chatting with the H's and seeing all the cousins together.  My brother S on his mission called at one, and so the three of us ran down to my house to skype with him.  He is doing so good, and is such a cutie.  He was so happy and sweet.  Talking to him was a good reminder of what is truly important about Christmastime.  

We then ran back up to the H's, and enjoyed a delicious dinner.  Then came the annual Christmas talent show, which is always a lot of fun.  Our little family attempted to get baby C to perform 'Once there was a Snowman', and we enjoyed giggling and enjoying everyone's talents.  

Baby C finally went down for a nap!  and we got to chat some more, especially with Mr. H's Grandma D.  She is a lot of fun, and it was nice to relax.

We headed down to my family's around four, and we enjoyed hanging out there.  It is fun to have L and J in town for the holidays.  We got chinese take-out for dinner, which was super good.  We played some games, and then did our annual christmas carol sing-a-long.  It was so nice this year: Brother A played his violin and brother O played his trumpet and it was beautiful.  We enjoyed a beautiful evening together.

Mr. H and I got home and put the babe to bed.  We then set out to wrap all the presents.  We always enjoy doing this.  We  are still kids at heart, and wrap each other's presents in private.  We then do each other stockings and set out a present from Santa on the couch.  We cover it up with a blanket, and the last person leaving the room takes the blanket off without looking so the next morning we can both be surprised. :)  

We got to bed late that night, and were both so excited for the  morning.  

We were so excited, we didn't sleep a wink.  Silly us.  We enjoyed our Christmas morning together.  Mr. H gave me a map of the world to start marking off our adventures, Taylor Swift's "RED" CD, pajamas (first ones since I was TEN!) and some cute earrings.  Thanks to my mom, I gave him a tee-shirt quilt of a ton of his shirts he had kept throughout the years.  He really liked that. :)  

We then woke up baby C.  I don't think he appreciated us waking him up, but he got excited when he saw his toys.

We headed into Centerville to the H's house.  We opened presents all together.  It was so fun.  Baby C started getting really good at knowing if you tear up some paper, great things are in store. :)  

We then hung out and enjoyed playing with the presents together.  

After lunch we headed down to the G's house.  It was fun opening presents with my family.  Baby C loved all the attention.  My uncle J came over and we played games, had a delicious dinner and hung out.  It was great.  

After bedtime, Mr. H and I went and saw "Saving Mr. Banks" with the H's.  It was AMAZING.  I had done some background research on PL Travers, and the movie wasn't really accurate, but if you get over that, you will LOVE it.  Such a beautiful story.  I loved how it taught us to live in the present, and not be limited by our pasts.  I loved what it taught us about forgiveness.  I also thought it was powerful to see such a wonderful man destroyed by an addiction, and how addictions can make us lose the most beautiful things in the world: our family.  But I also thought it was powerful to see that (most) sometimes the best of people have addictions, and it is our job to love them and help them.
Anyway--go see it if you can!

We slept over at the G's house.  Baby C had a rough night, so we all ended up on the floor.  One of my tenderest moments from the season happened this night, however.  C was so scared, and it was the most beautiful thing to see Mr. H calming him down.  He was so soft and loving, and I couldn't help but think how lucky our kids will be to have him as a father.  Baby C fell asleep holding Mr. H's hand through the rails.  

We were so grateful for everyone's kindness this season.  It was a wonderful Christmas.

Year Review

2013 was a down year for us.  I kind of think life is that way, you get a jam packed year, and then a down year, and then another big year etc.   

Our first two years of marriage were very eventful, so it was wonderful to get a 'down' year.

JANUARY

Baby C turned 5 MONTHS!

2013 Bachelor Baby C, We finished an 1000 piece puzzle, Mr. H started another semester, Baby C did a lot of hanging with dad, Baby C enjoyed baby food, and we had fun looking at eskimo version BABY C

We also were able to have Kelsie Hill @ Blackbird Design take some pictures of baby C.

FEBRUARY

 

Baby C @ 6 months

Baby C got a lot more comfortable with baby food, Baby C loved taking more pictures, we celebrated a Valentine's at home, and we took baby C to the zoo for the first time

MARCH

Baby C @7 months

Baby C in the tub, Baby C had his first surgery at Primary Children's Medical Center, and we celebrated by 23rd birthday

We celebrated baby C's first Easter

APRIL

Baby C @ 8 months

Baby C got his first swimsuit, liked playing with his toys, and we went the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point

MAY
This was our first vacation month in FOREVER.  I think we went a little crazy, but it was an AWESOME month.  

Baby C @ 9 months

We vacationed in San Clemente and San Diego!  Took in the beach, Sea World, Old Town, and the Zoo. 

We did some family hiking.  We love our mountains!

Mr. H and I went to a REAL soccer game

JUNE

Baby C @10 months, Took our first family camping trip, Baby C got his first tooth

JULY

Baby C @11 months, Celebrated the 4th of July

discovered more and more fruit, did some more camping trips and baby C found a new way to sleep.

baby C loved knocking towers down, and then discovered how to scowl.  And I mean REALLY scowl. 

Mr. H's sister A got married.  It was an awesome day.

AUGUST

Baby C turned one, and we did another camping trip with friends.

We had birthday parties for baby C, and he loved all of his attention. :)

We finished up doing "This is the Place Park" with my family. 

We got one final camping trip in with Mr. H's family.

We went to Pineview with Mr. H's family, and Mr. H had another first day of school.

We had some beautiful family pictures taken by a friend in the ward:

SEPTEMBER

We went on another family hike, Mr. H had a presentation and we headed to Temple Square

We were able to go to the Utah State Fair!

Baby C and I were able to go to Idaho with my mom for my grandma's birthday!

Then Mr. H started getting busy with school, we went to the Leonardo Museum, had a painting date night, and baby C became obsessed with "Good Night Moon"

OCTOBER

Mr. H enjoyed a birthday, we watched General Conference and attended a U of U football game!

We took some beautiful fall drives, went to a pumpkin patch, C and I went with my mom on a hike, and we attempted to carve pumpkins.

We went as Obi Won Kanobi, Princess Leia and a baby Ewok for Halloween.

 NOVEMBER

We enjoyed watching baby C learn to play more, and I captured this prize of a picture of Mr. H

We enjoyed Thanksgiving at my parents, and then headed down to Moab with Mr. H's Family.

DECEMBER

We bought a Christmas Tree.

 

Attended the Mormon Tabernacle Christmas Concert

We enjoyed many Christmas activities with both families this season, in which I failed to capture enough with my camera.  


What an amazing year.  It really puts things in perspective when you see it all thrown together.  Baby C is no longer a baby, and Mr. H and I continue to grow up. 

Here's to wonderful 2014!