December 30, 2014

Christmas morning magic-- a little video!




Some Christmas morning magic! This was the first year where Cole actually understood that Santa was coming. He ran into our room early Christmas morning saying "MOM! SANTA ALREADY SNEAKED INTO OUR HOUSE!!!" We had left some cookies out for Santa and a couple of apples for his reindeer and he saw that they'd been bitten into.

Christmas sure is a lot of fun with a four year old :)

I know that Christmas isn't all about Santa and presents (although those things are super fun!) We did tell Cole the Christmas story many times and he's got it down pretty well now ;) One of my favorite Christmas videos put out this year was the one below. We would play this on repeat on the tv and every time the scene with baby Jesus came on Cole would excitedly say "It's baby Jesus!!!" I am so grateful for my Savior this holiday season and always and hope that my boys will always know that HE is the true meaning of Christmas and the whole reason why we celebrate it in the first place.


You are my wild, pt. 3--Christmas jammies edition


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I haven't done one of these in a while, I really should photograph every day life with my kids more! This is the first You are my wild featuring Logan!! Now that Logan is hardly a baby anymore and practically a toddler, Cole and Logan are able to play together more. I let them jump and wrestle around on my bed yesterday and they couldn't have been happier. It didn't hurt that they were both in their matching Christmas jammies. Yesterday was a "wear your jammies all day" kind of day. It was pretty dang cute to watch them running around in those gray and red stripes all day. And it all ended with nap time! (my favorite!!) I'm so grateful to have these boys and I'm grateful they have each other ♥


You are my wild, pt. 1
You are my wild, pt. 2

December 27, 2014

Merry Christmas.


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+Cole's snowman Chritsmas craft (which I probably did about 80% of ;)

+homemade potpourri!! It doesn't look as great as it smells!! All it is is cut up oranges, cinnamon, allspice and vanilla extract. Add some water and bring it to a boil! Mmmm. It sure makes the house smell like Christmas.

+white chocolate dipped ginger snaps! I might have gone a little overboard photographing these babies but they were just so pretty and more importantly, they are SO GOOD. You can find the recipe for it HERE. I've seriously never tasted better :) Cole was supposed to help me make these but all he felt like doing was measuring the baking soda for me and then he was done. haha. This boy does not necessarily like to bake or craft as much as I try to get him to do it ;) We left these cookies out for Santa to eat, Cole was excited about that.

+And my boys matching in their Christmas jammies! I thought they looked so cute in them! Cole is actually completely obsessed with wearing pajamas lately. It is all he wants to wear! All the time! And it drives me a little crazy. The minute we come home from somewhere, he immediately takes off his clothes and puts on his jammies. And even when we go to Steve's parents, he likes to wear his jammies underneath his clothes so that he can just take his clothes off once we get there. Half the time it's a battle even getting him to put clothes on before we leave the house and it's getting exhausting! I'm just hoping this is something he grows out of haha. But all of this was to say that I think those striped Christmas jammies and those gray slippers were one of his favorite presents this year!

And here's few from my phone for good measure! :)

We're lucky enough to spend Christmas with ALL of Steve's family this year...which hasn't happened for 4 years! That means family pictures were in order today! At the end of the marathon photoshoot we snuck this one with my phone :) Christmas has always b
^^Family picture time!! I'm lucky I get to call those good-looking boys mine :)^^
This is why baby Jesus is always the first to go missing! (He's my favorite too :) #merrychristmasUntitledUntitled
^^My cherry red lips and his cherry red nose ;)^^
UntitledSuccessful Christmas morning ✨😘Untitled
^^Steve MADE them this hockey net for Christmas! He was so excited about it, it was so cute. The boys loved it too :)^^
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December 20, 2014

Happy fourth birthday, Nicholas Stephen!


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Oh Cole. Where do I start?! I guess I'll start with these pictures: You are the most adorable, handsome little boy. Sometimes I look at you and can hardly believe that you came from me. I never ever in my life thought that I'd have such a beautiful boy as my own son. Gosh, I love you ♥

Looks aren't everything though, of course I know that :) You are such a good boy too. A genuinely good boy. You are our first child and so daddy and I are still trying to figure out the best parenting style for you. So when you act out or misbehave, we blame ourselves. We know deep down that you are a very sweet boy. You love your little brother. You love to play with friends. You love all sports and being active. You don't like baking or crafting anymore (tear!). You love to tell me that you love me and you look up to daddy so much. I think you can't wait to be just like him some day. One of my favorite things that you do right now is when you snuggle me at bedtime, look me deep in the eyes and say "Mommy, you're the best." I don't know where you learned that phrase from but it melts my heart ♥

Being a good example and a leader to your little brother is what motivates you. Us telling you that your muscles will grow big and strong motivates you to finish all of your dinner ;) You can't wait to be tall and to be a "man" :) You're even looking forward to growing hair on your arms and legs! Ha!

I'm so lucky to be your mama and can hardly believe I've been doing this mom thing for 4 years now. Happy Birthday, Cole! You make me a very happy mama :)


He's less than a week away from turning four! I can hardly believe I've been doing this mom thing for that long. ❤️I am not one of those super cute pregnant girls and I'm definitely not one of those girls who's super cute right after giving birth (kudos to you if you are!!) but I still love this picture probably because I didn't even know it was being taken. I was hol4 year olds don't get much cuter than this. Happy birthday, Cole! I love you ❤️

December 1, 2014

Then and now.





As of yesterday, Logan is officially one! The first video is of the boys a couple days after Logan was born, and the second video was taken about a week and a half ago. I don't film them enough, but they are a year older now and sometimes it's nice to see how much they've grown and these videos make it easier to see. I love my one year old and my almost four year old!!