Christmas 2015 Recap!

Happy Monday and Happy New 2016! I can't believe another Christmas has come and gone and we are in the beginnings of a fresh year! Here is a little recap of our Christmas! 

Christmas Eve went better then I could have ever expected! I had worked my self up a little, worried about Sam being at the 7 PM service that has no Sunday school! Eventually, I just realized that my not yet 2 year old is not going to stay still. But as long as he is happy and safe, then that's what will happen. Thankfully he was in a good mood and while he was more interested in being at the front, he was still fairly quiet! 

Christmas Eve tradition continued with a little "T'was The Night Before Christmas", snacks and drinks. A newer tradition that I love and will continue is after Sam is in bed, I play a little Santa and set up all the gifts (all family gifts are there! Grandparents, cousins and etc), after it is all done I just sat back for 10 minutes in the glow of the tree and reflected. It was so relaxing! 

Christmas morning Ryan and I were up before Sam and I was able to make some breakfast. When it was time to get up we were excited to show Sam that Santa had left some special things in his stocking! 

He had breakfast, we opened stockings with my parents and then all headed downstairs to the tree! Sam kept saying "Wow!" It was hard to get him to not open every gift in sight. 

We let Sam open his gifts so that he'd something to play with while we exchanged gifts with my parents. It was a lot of fun watching him explore his new toys. 

Sam went down for his afternoon sleep, Ryan and I cleaned up and got ready for Christmas at his parents! Sam's cousin Sophie is about the same age and I have loved watching them grow their friendship. There are going to be some awesome years ahead. We exchanged gifts there, enjoyed a delicious turkey meal prepared by my MIL and then eventually had to take our grumpy boy home. I think he had had enough Christmas. 

Boxing day was a really enjoyable free day! We basically stayed in our PJ's all day! Opening packages and trying out all of our new stuff. I received a breadmaker from Santa and got to try it out! Let's just say it's not 100% food proof! Woops! :)  

There was lots of snow in the forecast so Ryan had to go to work that night and has continued to work almost every night since. 

But Sam and I have had a great time together and we've tried to get in some Daddy time when we can! 

Our winter has arrived (boo!) but the cold snow hasn't stopped Sam! He LOVES going outside to help shovel! Nana and Grandpa gave him his own shovel for Christmas and he loves using it. 

New Years Eve we had supper at a friends house and I had to snap this picture of these three cuties. They are all around the same age and I am looking forward to seeing them grow up together. 

New years day the weather was pretty mild and so we decided to try our some sliding. I haven't been sliding in YEARS and I was sure that Sam would have been scared. Turns out he LOVED it and as soon as we'd get to the bottom of the hill he'd say "more". It was certainly a good work out climbing up and down that hill! 

The hardest thing about our days was trying to find quiet activities for Sam while Ryan was sleeping upstairs. We hit the road a lot. For boxing day sales (on the 27th), visits, errands and a hair cut (which he hated). But it was nice to have some so much time alone with my boy! I really tried to cherish every moment! 

This has been a very fun and memorable holiday season. I feel as though we did so much and really embraced spending the time together as much as we could! 

How was your Christmas? 

xo

2015 Inductee's Onto Lindsay & Ryan's Christmas Tree

Wow! I can't believe I have been doing a post about our special Christmas tree since 2011! Here's a little review...

Rather than buying a whole bunch of souvenir's when Ryan and I go somewhere together, we always picked up a Christmas ornament instead to remind of us of that special trip. We also put  special ornaments that people have given to us and ornaments that represent a special time in our lives. 

Here's the past posts...

2011 

2012

2013 

2014

Oh I loved reading through all of those and remembering all the fun times that we have had and how much our lives have changed since we started this tradition together! 

Every year my MIL gets the girls a special ornament from her! Last year I received this adorable snow man! 

Sammy also got his own ornament for "baby's first Christmas" from his Nana. A cute little Mickey Mouse! 

Ryan and I were also given our own Mommy and Daddy's first Christmas with Sam! It was given to us by Aunt Shirley and cousin Katelyn! I don't know where she finds these neat personalized ones but she always does! 

We also got this little reminder of our first Christmas as a family of 3! Our first Christmas with our boy, such an exciting time. This ornament was from best friends Amanda and Josh! 

I have gotten so much better at marking the boxes the ornaments sit in to be sure to mark who it is from and the year but somehow this one got missed. Eek. I'm PRETTY sure this one was given to us by our neighbors and family, Uncle Jared, Aunt Holly and Family. A special ornament for Sam! 

This next ornament I picked up on my own, when I was not with Ryan and Sam. This ornament actually represents the first extended time I was without Ryan and Sam on a much needed girls trip with best friend Jilly! We traveled to Nova Scotia to relax and take in all the sights and sounds of the east coast! It was such a fun trip and one I hope we can repeat again! :) 

At our company Christmas party an employee handed me this ornament brand new in the box that he wanted me to have. It had belonged to his Mom and he never used it to decorate a tree. I thought it was so sweet of him to give it to me. I love vintage Christmas stuff. 

This last edition was just given to me on Monday night! Sam's FIRST homemade Christmas ornament! When I was a kid, my parents tree would be decorated with mostly homemade Christmas ornaments that my brother and I had made. It's pretty neat to be able to hang Sam's first homemade ornament. The first of many I am sure! 

Happy Wednesday! 

xo 

Christmas 2014

 

Hey everyone!! I can’t believe that Christmas is over for another year! I’m pretty sad about it! It was such a wonderful Christmas holiday and I don’t want it to be over! I’ve loved having my family all together everyday for an extended period of time!

We had a great Christmas, from start to finish! It all started on Christmas Eve where we got dressed up in our best clothes and headed to church. The service was passed Sam’s bedtime but he did really well throughout the whole thing. As soon as we got home we set our milk and cookies out for Santa and then put Sam to bed. As per tradition, my parents stayed and we had Christmas Eve drinks and munchies before headed to bed.

I was up before the whole house on Christmas morning. I was shocked that Sam was still sleeping (it was already 6:30) so I just laid in bed and thought about the fact that this is the first Christmas to celebrate with my baby. It was the beginning of many exciting years to come.

Finally, it was time to wake up! And Sam was “excited” to see that Santa had stopped at our house! Sam’s stocking was at the end of his crib filled with stuff! 

My parents arrived shortly after and we all headed to our bedroom with our stockings (we exchange names with my parents for stockings) and coffee. It was fun to see who had everyone’s stocking! It has started to be one of my newest favourite traditions. This year I had my Dad and my Mom had me!

We are very slow on Christmas, we like to sit back and enjoy the moment. Everyone takes their turn to open gifts so that we can watch their reaction. It was mid morning by the time we headed downstairs to the tree. And the good news is that Santa even went to the basement!

Ryan and I knew that Sam would have no idea what was going on this year so we kept presents for our boy to things that we bought used and necessities like PJs and food.

Sam in his new wagon!

Sam went down for his afternoon nap while Ryan and I cleaned up and got ready for Christmas with his family! We were excited to get to his parents to see everyone. Sam’s cousin Sophie is about 6 months older then him and they have really started to interact with each other! We are going to have a lot of fun in years to come at future family gatherings. 

Sam was spoiled by everyone and we are so thankful for all the special gifts that he (and us as well) received! Overall, it was an amazing day filled with fun and family! It’s amazing to think of all the amazing Christmas’ that are in our future!

Boxing day was a nice quiet day at home. We got to open and play with all of our new belongings. Finding homes for all our new stuff was on the agenda for the day! It was fun to open something and then try it out for the first time! Sam was having so much fun with his new toys!

Ryan and I played checkers during Sam’s nap!

First wagon ride!

That night we settled in with leftover munchies from Christmas eve and a hockey game! It was to perfect ending to an exciting holiday!

How was your Christmas?

xo

2014 Inductee’s Onto Lindsay And Ryan’s Christmas Tree!

 

Happy Wednesday everyone! I hope that your week has been flying by! We have a such of sick people laying low indoors so far! I’m very thankful that we got sick this week rather then for Christmas!

I wanted to share with you the special Christmas ornaments that have been added to our Christmas tree this year! Ryan and I love to collect ornaments that have special meaning to us so that every Christmas we can open our ornament box and reflect on the good times.

This years first ornament is a special wooden angel given to Sam (before we knew Sam was a he) by our minister! It is an ornament that she purchased from her trip to the Holy land and brought back for all the children. I thought it was so sweet that she let me choose an ornament as well even though Sam was still in my belly.

This ornament is from Sam's Nana. She purchases us a special ornament for our tree every year and I loved this fun nutcracker!

Our most important souvenir from any trip that we go on is a Christmas ornament! It floods back memories from the trip every year that we put it on the tree. Last winter we visited Jamaica to attend the wedding of friends! It was a gorgeous location and our last trip before we became parents!

This year, Sam got to put on his very first ornament! A little building block that we had made with his name, date of birth and other birth information! This will be his special ornament to put on the tree every year!

We received this ornament last Christmas from friends Josh and Amanda. I think it’s so fun to have an ornament that has the nickname that we used all along during the pregnancy! Amanda and Josh were actually Sam’s first visitors to the hospital!

Lastly, an ornament that I made last year for Ryan. It has the sonogram picture of Sam on it and some information on the back.

It has been a big year for some major life changes and some special ornaments to reflect that! Ryan and I sat back and talked about how our ornaments will soon be ones that Sam will make in school! It is going to be so fun to see the ornaments that are to come and tell Sam about all the adventures each of the present ornaments have. Each one tells a story.

Our 2014 tree

xo