It’s been a great December! There’s been lots of cookie making, cozy snuggly days, and of course all the Christmas festivities. We loved shopping for a Christmas tree with the kids this year. I loved all the giggles and excitement and the happy memories we made picking it out and decorating it.

We visited Santa at the same place we did last year and got a really good amount of quality time with him. The kids were both pretty unsure about sitting on his lap this year. When I placed Oliver in his lap this time he kinda stared at me like “what the heck, mom?” But there weren’t any tears so that’s a plus, haha.

Everly turned 3 1/2 on the 8th, and it’s so hard to believe. She’s been an amazing big sister to Oliver and has the sweetest heart. She is our happy, spunky, sassy, and sensitive girl. One day this last month she came up and crawled in my lap and leaned her head on my shoulder and said “You’re such a good Mommy.” It’s amazing how powerful those words are coming from a toddler. It makes any challenging day or moment so worth it.

We took Papa Carlson out to see the Cambria Christmas lights with us this year. We had such a magical time together. It makes my heart so happy that the kids get to make all these special memories with their grandparents. It truly is such a precious time and I’m doing my best to be in each moment. Being a mom to now two toddlers isn’t the easiest at times but I’m learning, growing, and doing my best. I also know that before I know it, this season will be over and will become some of the best memories to look back on.

We just recently celebrated my Dad’s retirement! After 47 years working full time as an X-Ray Tech he is now officially retired! We all celebrated together at a local resort and got to spoil him a little. We stayed with our family for the weekend and had the best time. So many happy moments, lots of smiles and memories made. Daniel and I were so excited to surprise my Dad with a lens for wildlife and scenic photography. Something that he said he was looking forward to after he retires was Photography so I can’t wait for him to enjoy it and can’t wait to see all the beautiful images he captures with it. We also got to celebrate our Christmas a little early with our whole family. The kids got to exchange gifts with their cousins, and the adults got to exchange gifts as well. And we got to celebrate my aunt, sis, and Dad’s birthday too! There were beautiful sunsets each night and the weather was great. We got some pool and hot tub time and the kids got lots of time to enjoy all their new fun gifts for Christmas. Super thankful for all the quality time we got with each other.

A few days before Christmas we had my mom and dad over for dinner. Daniel made our homemade spaghetti and we watched “A Muppets Christmas Carol” movie and had a peaceful evening together. On Christmas Eve, I was able to do worship with Daniel for our church’s candlelight service. A highlight was definitely having all the kids up at the end of the service singing Joy To The World together. On Christmas Day, we took our time and had a slow and peaceful morning watching the kids open their gifts from us (and Santa). Everly asked Santa for a Belle dress from Beauty and The Beast and he did not disappoint. She put it on right away and spent the rest of the day wearing it and sharing multiple dances with her Daddy. For the longest time she has been asking me if she could have this specific picture we have in our house framed for herself to enjoy in her room. It’s a photo of her and I wearing white dresses at our 15 year anniversary party. She said, “mom, can I please have this picture for my room?” So I bought her a similar oval frame and got the same print for it and gave it to her Christmas morning. I got the sweetest hug from her and she said sweetly “Thank you Mom.” She went right into her room and showed me exactly where she wanted to hang it. She got a toy ice cream set that she was stoked to get, some more Disney Barbie dolls to add to her collection, and we of course had to give her a Belle barbie to match her Belle dress. Oliver was just the cutest and most precious thing to watch. He has been really into dinosaurs these last couple months and he just started singing the Blippi Dinosaur song around the house randomly. For Christmas we got him a little Jurassic Park dinosaur that pops up and down. His reaction was so adorable. Right when he opened it he squealed “Die-ah-so!” He was perfectly content with this little dinosaur and would have been fine if that was the only gift he got. He’s also been into Puppy Dog Pals so we got him a little Bingo and Rolly bath toy set. When he opened them he squealed again and said “Pup Pup!” My heart couldn’t handle the sweetness. I couldn’t give him enough hugs and kisses and he couldn’t be a more sweet boy. Another cute reaction is when he opened up a toy truck that his Daddy got him that looks exactly like his truck in real life. He opened it and said “Cool car!” We set up a tri-pod in our living room so we could video the whole morning together and I’m so glad we did. What a special Christmas. After Daniel and I exchanged a couple gifts to each other, we went over to my Uncles house for our annual Carlson gift exchange with my moms side of the family. We got to visit Papa Carlson and give him a gift and then we went home and enjoyed all the Christmas gifts and fun Christmas mess from the morning. We just checked the weather and tomorrow there is 100% chance of rain, so there is 100% chance that I will be making cookies again my sweet girl. This time instead of ginger bread cookies, we’ll do our family’s recipe for sugar cookies. Hope everyone had a blessed Christmas! So happy to share some of our highlights with you. My dad took us out for some family portraits a few days before Christmas so I’ll be posting another blog soon to share them with you. Love you all ❤️