Christmas Eve stockings

We did our stockings from my parents on Christmas Eve.  We all loved all of our gifts, as always! :)

Showing Daddy her new wipes

Makenna opening up her gifts

Yay!  Diapers! :)

I love how he looks when he's concentrating on something

Christmas festivities with Grandpa

Kaden loves his Grandpa VDH.  They're buddies for sure.  Kaden had written up a whole list of projects he wanted them to do together while they were here, and of course, I don't think Kaden really cared what they did, as long as they did it together.  Kaden decorated cookies, made a gingerbread house (had some help from Grandma on these projects, too), and built a birdhouse together.  Kaden also got to run some errands with Grandpa, played with Grandpa (and the rest of us) at the Children's Museum, and talked Grandpa into playing with all of his new toys for hours.  

Not a day goes by where Kaden doesn't talk about Grandpa or wish that he lived closer.  We miss you Grandpa (and Grandma- haha!  Something about that boy bond :)

Christmas with Grandma Rysdam

As always, we split our Christmas celebrations up over a few days.  This made it more fun, as I'm always up for a party and yummy food!  This also helped keep the kids from being too overstimulated.  They got so much stuff, it was nice to spread it out over a few days!  Our first official Christmas was with Grandma Rysdam on the Sunday before Christmas.

Kaden with the mug he gave Grandma

One of Kaden's favorite gifts this year- Buckey!

Go figure- another favorite gift was this playmobil castle from a garage sale :)

The girls had tons of fun walking around with presents

Makenna playing with new toys

Maya and her new Leap book

Mommy and Makenna

Kaden was very excited about his cake pop kit!

Nothing says Christmas with toddlers like empty boxes :)

A popular gift among the girls this year

Phew.  All of these festivities make me thirsty!

Annual Christmas calendar

Kaden showcasing his new Jake PJ's and Spiderman slippers.  They make him look so skinny- ha!

Simple festivities

Wow.  I haven't blogged in a month!  It seems like the month of December got away from me.  Ironically, we really didn't have much going on.  Somehow, though, it's after Christmas and I haven't shared our festivities with my blog followers!

This year our Christmas preparations and festivities were simple.  Christmas felt different this year.  I think because we weren't in our own home, and couldn't decorate or do any of the usual Christmas traditions we've done in the past.  Most of our Christmas stuff was packed away in the storage unit, so we encouraged Grandma Rysdam to put some of her decorations up.  I put a few things up in the basement where we mostly reside so it felt a little Christmas-y down here :)  Our only Advent activity this year was simple- we did the traditional 25 Christmas books.  I wrapped up 25 of our favorite Christmas books, and Kaden opened up one each night.  Christmas Day was a new book to add to our collection.  I love this little tradition.  It's simple, yet encourages the excitement of sharing in so many wonderful Christmas stories.  We of course baked Christmas cookies (and decorated them... thank you Gordon foods for your shaped cookie dough!), went and saw Christmas lights, wrapped presents, went Christmas shopping, got Christmas cups at Starbucks (my heart always skips a little beat when they start using the Christmas paper cups!), and put up a Christmas tree.  Here are a few pics of us decorating the tree.  I mostly stayed behind the glass with the girls.  It was safer that way :)

Next on the blog list... sharing pictures from Christmas in MI this year.  Stay tuned!

Technology

This is technology at its best here folks.  Wow.  What ever happened to having a conversation?!?

Thanksgiving 2012

This year we had the privilege of going to NJ for Thanksgiving to spend time with my family.  Christmas is in MI this year, so we knew that our family in NJ wouldn't get to see the kids and wanted to give the great-grandparents some time with the kiddos!  Despite battling the flu that hit our whole family before we left, we managed to have a successful flight to NJ.  We toted lots of stuff with us- 3 carseats, suitcases, backpacks, diaper bag, stroller..... you name it, we probably had it with us.  Uncle Brian flew on the same flight as us and was super helpful keeping Kaden under control while we dealt with the girls! :)

We had a great time catching up with family, hanging out, eating lots of great food, and of course doing some tax-free shopping.  The best part was being all together to give thanks for the many blessings God has given to our family.  While things aren't always perfect and we sometimes question God's plans, we know that He is completely in control, and we give thanks for that.  We are thankful that we can spend time together, for good health, and an abundance of blessings that go beyond just meeting our needs.  Thank you, God, for another year of blessings and your provision over our family!

Yup, this is how we roll.  Andy is superman.  Car seat carrier on back, car seat in hand, rolling the suitcase, backpack in front.  Aren't we quite the site! :)

I like wearing your hat, Grandpa!

The 3 cutest kids I've ever seen

Brian carving the turkey

The girls enjoying their Thanksgiving meal

The whole clan (minus extended family members- we missed you!!)

Kaden got to take his first trip to Madison Square Garden in NYC to cheer on the Wolverines at a MI basketball game.  He was super excited to go and had an awesome time with Uncle Brian, Daddy, and Grandpa.  Kaden wasn't a fan of the smell in the city.  He said, "Dad, the city smells like food and trash."  Yup, pretty much sums it up, Kaden!

Snack time for the girls!

A lazy morning hanging out with Daddy

My Grandma VDH with Makenna- I treasure these moments.

Our family.  WE. ARE. BLESSED!

Giving up

I wish I had an explanation for it, but it seems like lately Kaden has had his fair share of temper tantrums.  He gets overtired and then there is no reasoning with this child.  Nothing you say works, he just loses it.  The other night, after a battle about which toothbrush to use (because "he doesn't care if his teeth fall out"), which PJ's to wear, etc., we were at a loss for what to do.  I told Andy to just leave him in the hall where he was throwing a fit.  Usually us trying to solve it or talk calmly to him makes it worse.  After 15 minutes, we went to check on him upstairs.  We figured we'd see 1 of 3 things: Kaden laying in his bed sleeping, playing upstairs, or sitting in the hall calmly.  Well, we found a combo of those things.  Sound asleep in the middle of the hall.