2 Years

Dearest Hunter,

Happy Birthday my sweet boy. Today you turn two years old!! The last two years have gone by in the blink of an eye. The first year was hard and exhausting but this second year has been FUN. You have turned into such a sweet, funny, intelligent, opinionated and energetic little boy. I can't believe how much you are talking and all the new things you learn everyday. You talk in short sentences and can count to ten, say your full name when asked, sing a number of nursery rhymes, identify many different kinds of trucks and buses, you know your colors and SO much more.

Not a day has gone by that your daddy and I haven't gushed over how cute and funny and smart you are. We still can't believe that WE made you. You are by FAR our greatest achievement and biggest joy. You make us laugh daily and every day our hearts grow even bigger with love for you.

In the past year you've gone from helpless little baby to a walking, talking little person. I get so excited when I imagine the man you will grow up to be. You are going to do amazing things in this life my sweet boy, no doubt in my mind. I am so blessed that God chose me to be your mommy. We love you with all our hearts, always and forever.

Love,
Mama and daddy

Christmas Day recap

Christmas Day went really well. Hunter woke up early and we all laid in bed and watched videos on the iPad until we were ready to make our way downstairs. after getting practice on Christmas Eve he was an old pro at opening gifts. After opening the first gift he wanted to just play with that, we had to talk him into opening the rest. We got him some small trucks and buses and after all the gifts were opened we brought up his "big" gift which was his balance bike. Our neighbors son has one and Hunter is obsessed with it. He got very excited over the bike but is too scared to actually ride, he prefers to just push it around for now.

We had a very lazy morning and ate lunch just the three of us after Hunter got up from his nap. After lunch we headed up to Maryland to see my mom, brother and his fiancee. We all got even more gifts and Hunter had a great time seeing his Nana and Uncle. Once again he passed out in the car on the way home and slept late the next morning. He doesn't even realize that he will be getting even more presents next week for his birthday. Lucky boy!

The day after Christmas we sent Hunter to daycare and I got MY big gift from Kristian. He had given me a few smaller items on Christmas day, some gloves and two pretty necklaces but then gave me a card with money in it and told me that his gift was a day date together which would include a shopping spree for me. He told me that he really wasn't sure what to get me since I didn't tell him anything specific and was afraid he would get me something I wouldn't like. So on Thursday we headed to the mall sans child and I got a bit spoiled. He bought me two new pairs of shoes, a gold watch and a new Coach purse! I think he likes me :) We then went out for a nice long lunch together. Just spending the day together was really one of the best gifts in itself. 

We got this purse for 50% off!! Gotta love post Christmas sales!

I've always loved Christmas but having a little one to celebrate with makes it so much more fun. I was so much more excited to see him open his gifts than to open my own. I was also really excited for Kristian to open his gifts since I got him some pretty good ones this year. I got him a few shirts and a food saver (so he can vacuum seal all the deer meat he gets and freeze it) and also a remote control helicopter (which he wanted) and a Chromecast which allows you to watch whatever you have on your phone or iPad on the t.v. It basically turns your phone into a remote control, so now we can stream Netflix or Youtube from the phone to the t.v. The best part was that we saw this advertised on t.v. (after I had already bought it for him) and he was like "that's so cool, we should get one" So he was so excited to see I had actually gotten him one. He LOVES it! Oh and that $5 stocking stuffer I got him that I knew he would love...it was the Katy Perry movie/documentary on DVD. He loves Katy Perry, she's his "free pass". 

Christmas Eve Recap

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. Watching Hunters excitement over all the gifts was truly the best present. We were truly blessed by all the wonderful gifts we got from family and my house is now covered in trucks, buses and cars.

We spent Christmas Eve at Kristian's sisters house along with his parents and our nieces and nephews. We had a wonderful dinner and spent about 2 hours opening the massive pile of gifts.  Hunter passed out in the car on the way home.

One of the biggest trees I've seen. This was before Kristians parents arrived with all their gifts. The entire floor was covered in presents. 

It's amazing that this was our 6th Christmas Eve together!

And our second as a family of 3.

Hunter with his cousins including two of his new step-cousins. 

The lovely ladies. 

The handsome men.

Hunters big gift from his Aunt and Uncle was this ride on excavator. He LOVED it and spent most of the night riding it and trying to pick up the trash with the digger part. 

He also got his own "laptop" so hopefully he will leave mine alone! 

The funniest part of the night was when my mother-in-law showed up wearing the exact same necklace I had bought her for Christmas!!! What are the odds that not only would she already have the necklace but would be wearing it that night. Not only that but my MIL had bought the SAME necklace for my sister-in-law as a gift!! Every year my MIL and I seem to buy the same gift for someone, I think we share a brain. I told her to just return the necklace and get something else but she insisted I keep the necklace so that all three of will now have it. So I agreed and now I'm on the hunt to get her something else. 

I love Christmas Eve, we always have a great time with my in-laws and still have the anticipation of Christmas morning ahead. 

Christmas Spirit

I love our house when it's decorated for Christmas, it just looks and feels so warm and homey. We started decorating the week after Thanksgiving and I must give my husband credit since he did most of the decorating. I was in charge of the tree (which I love) but he did everything else. I think he gets it's from his mother who LOVES decorating for the holidays.

We are only one of two houses on our street with lights. In fact Kristian added more lights to the bushes on the left after I took this picture. 

Our mantle is one of my favorite parts of the house during this time of year. My aunt made all three stockings. My stocking (the one on the right) is the stocking I had growing up. Hunters is in the middle and Kristian's is on the left (it's a camo hunting boot). 

Our tree is full of sentimental ornaments we've collected over the years as well as some from our childhood. I love going through the ornaments each year and adding new ones. 

I LOVE this view. 

This year we put a mini tree in Hunters room with some of his ornaments that have his name on them. He isn't really into the tree this year. Maybe next year he'll appreciate it more. 

THIS was the shot I was hoping to get. Hunter and Moxie by the tree. I love this photo. 

2012 vs. 2013. 

We still have a few more gifts to buy and some more gifts to wrap but should be finished today and ready to celebrate with our families this week. 

Five on Friday

Happy Last Day of Work until Jan 6th!

Okay that's not totally true, I have to telework next week but at least I don't have to come into the office. 

1. Yesterday while doing some last minute shopping I found THE best stocking stuffer for Kristian which I know he will LOVE and best part is it only cost $5!

2. My friend is coming over tomorrow night for a wrapping party. Wine and wrapping gifts and xmas music and gossip. What could be better?!

3. It's supposed to be 70 degrees here on Sunday! So much for a white Christmas. Though I am excited to be able to take Hunter to the park for the first time in weeks without freezing my ass off. 

4. We are doing a white elephant gift exchange at work today. I really hope I get something good. 

5. I finally made use of the many gift cards I've been hoarding for YEARS yesterday and bought some stuff from Bath and Body Works, Forever 21 and Macy's. And only had to cover either some tax or shipping with my own money so for less than $10 of my own money I got two new candles, some scented hand sanitizers, a new skirt, a new scarf and a new dress that I can hopefully wear to my brother's engagement party. Not to mention the money I earned shopping through Ebates. I've earned quite a bit of money through them this year and can't wait for my next check!

SWW

This week I'm saying So What if:

-I still have Christmas presents to buy and haven't started wrapping anything yet. 

-Friday was so stressful at work that I was literally in tears on my way home. Fortunately all my major headache projects are now done which means my blood pressure can finally return to normal. 

-I'm going to be really pissed if Kristian doesn't get a sizable bonus this year, he has worked his ass off and brought in more money than any salesman for that company ever in a year. He deserves it. 

-I'm a gift card hoarder. I just went through my wallet this morning and found 12 unused/partly used gift cards. I think I might be doing some online shopping later today for myself.

-I'm so depressed that some of my favorite shows are on hiatus until Feb/Mar. What will I do without my Olivia Pope fix every Thursday??

-I can't believe my baby is going to be TWO in less than two weeks. Even though I miss my snuggly newborn, I absolutely love this age. Kristian and I both agree that Hunter is so much fun right now, I sorta want to freeze time and keep him at this age for a while longer.

 

As expected

Even though we already took Hunter to see Santa a couple weeks ago with my friend and her children I really wanted a picture of Hunter alone with Santa, especially since in the first photo from earlier this winter his head was turned and you couldn't really see his face.

I pretty much expected another photo of him screaming and to be honest I kind of hoped for that. I think those photos are hysterical and almost a rite of passage to have at least one of them during childhood. If that makes me a mean mom so be it. It's not like he'll remember this anyway.

So we went to the mall Sunday morning and got there 15 minutes before Santa arrived. There was already a decent line so Kristian and I took turns take Hunter around the play area to entertain him while the other person held the spot in line. We also stuffed him full of pretzels from Auntie's Anne to keep him happy.

He loved the ride-on cars and trucks, even though I didn't put any money in to turn them on. He didn't know any different.

He threw a fit when we left this area.

 

After close to an hour it was our turn. I stood behind the photographer to try to not only get his attention but to get my own photo while Kristian put him in Santa's lap. He started crying before he even sat down and was there long enough to snap a couple photos. But we got the shot I had hoped for and both felt it was worth the hour wait.

If this doesn't scream Merry Christmas I don't know what does!

 

Poor kid was pretty upset but we kept giving him pretzels to try to cheer him up and I think by the time he woke up from his nap later that afternoon he had forgotten all about his traumatizing morning.

 

Hopefully next year he'll be more pro-Santa and actually give a smile.