I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! We had a great time and I'm sad that it's all over. My hubby and I have no family living here in Colorado. Which makes the holidays feel less exciting at times. I grew up with no extended family around and hated that the holidays always just kinda felt like regular days, just the four of us. After the excitement of opening all of our gifts, it was just us hanging out like we normally did. There is nothing wrong with that! But I always craved feeling the excitement of the holidays and really want to create wonderful memories and traditions with our family while the kiddos are little.
Having family in town over the holidays is always exciting! But it is also a lot of work. Whether you're the family traveling out of town/state or you're the family that is hosting... It is just a lot of work. So with our young kids and growing family, we were kind of excited to stay home and have Christmas with just us five. And it was Blake's first Christmas! I was so excited!!
In order to create that "holiday excitement" I've always dreamed of, we decided to take our little family to the Broadmoor (in Colorado Springs) for a night. We went up before the actual holiday, so we didn't have to pack up all our gifts for the kids! LOL WAY too much work. We had so much fun! Ryder had a blast in the hotel room and thought everything about it was awesome. "Cool! Awesome!" Is his new favorite saying when he likes something. Haha! It's so cute. We have gone to the Broadmoor before on Easter and they really go all out for the holidays! It's so much fun for the kids (and us). We had heard that Christmas time at the Broadmoor would not disappoint, and it's true. They have activities scheduled throughout the day for all different age groups and it's so pretty there! We just hung out the first day we were there and then after dinner, went to Zoo Lights at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. That zoo is awesome. We've been once before, but neither Tim or I had ever been to Zoo Lights. It was great weather. We were lucky it wasn't snowing and it wasn't too cold. So we got hot chocolate and walked around looking at the lights and animals that were still awake. Ryder loved the birds, "LOTS of birdies!" He also loved the alligators and for some reason kept saying, "Looks like Lincoln!" HAHA! (PS Lincoln is our little chihuahua - LOL.) The rhinos and elephants were also a hit. The rhino we saw was picking up a "toy" (I believe it was a large trash can?!) and throwing it around. Ryder loved that. And he loved watching the elephants get the food in their mouths with their trunks. It's so much fun to see the big world through your kids eyes. I never understood what people meant when they said that before I had kids. But it's SO true. Ryder was so cute the entire time we were there! Blakely slept most of the time and I didn't dare take her out of her cozy stroller where she was all bundled up.
That night we decided to split up with the kids. Tooth slept with Ryder (we've never really slept with him!) and I slept in the other bed with Blake. Ryder had such a hard time falling asleep because everything was "so cool!" and once he did fall asleep he was snoring in Tim's ear all night long. LOL! Blake slept great and it was easy for me to feed her when she woke up in the middle of the night. But it was not a great night of sleep for me because I was so worried about her rolling off the bed! She moves so much (and so fast!) these days. I was overly paranoid about her falling.
Anywho... Tooth and Ryder went swimming the next morning. Ryder was so excited about this!!! But once he got in, he was over it. The pool wasn't heated enough for him and he was shivering so bad the entire time! Poor little guy. We also did some crafts, made Christmas cookies, met Mrs. Claus (who sang songs and told stories - Ryder loved this!) and played Bingo. All of these things were provided by the Broadmoor. PS - I WON BINGO!!!! BONUS!! Tim and I are so competitive. We have gotten into some serious fights in our relationship over games. HA! But he CHEATS!!!!! Not cool, Tooth. Not cool. I was very proud of my "winner" status and rubbed it in Tim's face all weekend. Ha!
(Sorry in advance for the picture overload!)
Ryder was SO excited about "presents" this year and if you didn't keep a close eye on him, he'd open them all before you knew what happened!
He loved these mini tic-tac-toe boards and carried them around the hotel (and the Zoo) the whole time. "Mommy, where my ABC's?!" MELT ME.
Blakers makes the same big, pouty duck lips that Ryder made when he was a baby. (Ryder still makes these big pouty lips when he says certain words and I freaking love it. Adorable.) I made the same pout as a little baby and was named "duck lips" by my fam. They still call me this! Ha.
Blakes flamingo that I was so excited about. LOL She seriously does love it though. So cute! Ryder never attached to a stuffed animal and has/had little interest in them.
Ryder thought the giraffe's were "SO COOL!"
I swear this giraffe posed. LOL
Horrible picture of the lights, but we all really enjoyed it!
Ryder and I have a picture by this same elephant when he was about one year old. My how times flies!!!
Blakes got a lot of attention from this vest! LOL It was a hit. And she is just a little doll. So much cuteness in one little baby!
Ryder really enjoyed the crafts and colored four trees!
Daddy and his girl. She's really starting to attach to him. When he comes home form work she just stares at him and smiles so big! She's such a little flirt. ;) She follows him everywhere he goes (with her eyes... obvi she doesn't FOLLOW him) and loves when he chats with her.
I may have enjoyed crafting as much as Ryder! LOL
On our way home from the Broadmoor (on Christmas Eve) we went to Maggianos for family dinner. This is another tradition. We don't always go on Christmas Eve, but we go sometime close to Christmas. I was so bummed that TJ couldn't join us. Sharing kids for holidays is hard. We try really hard to focus on the times we do get to spend the holidays with him. Our family never feels complete without him there. And Tim and I don't take the holidays with him for granted!
We got the kids in their PJ's and I realized I never bought cookies or milk for Santa. OOPS! #MomFail Buuuut.... I heard Santa LOVES popcorn and fruit snacks. This is true, right?! So that's what he got! :) Ryder was really excited about leaving him popcorn and thought it was so funny that Santa would make popcorn at our house.
And then... Suddenly, it was Christmas morning! :)
TJ came out ready to open gifts wearing this robe. Which is clearly a few sizes too small. He told me he had to wear it because he wore it every year on Christmas morning when he's with us. I wish I would have known he loved wearing a robe Christmas morning and I would have gotten the poor kid a robe that fit! LOL Either way, he's a stud.
As usual, TJ was very patient with Ryder and let him assist in opening his gifts.
OMG. That profile. And so focused. #Swoon
UGH, this baby girl. She just loves being naked and grabbing her toes (which she just recently discovered).
Ryder was really excited about these hockey sticks. Which kind of surprised us. We didn't think he knew what hockey was? But sure enough, Tooth and Ryder played hockey in the basement and it was like he'd played all his life.
TJ got a chef hat and apron. When he first opened the hat he was like, "...ooooh... Thank you, guys." BAHAHA He was so confused. It was pretty funny. Once he figured out what it was, he was pretty excited about it. Side note: He also got a hover board which he is super stoked about!
We were all spoiled this year and so grateful for our blessings. But above all else, we are thankful for our Savior, Jesus Christ. I love this family of ours so much and look forward to making more family traditions and memories each year. Before we knew it, all the presents were unwrapped and it was time for nap! Tooth let me take a nap with Blake and surprised me by making the entire Christmas dinner while the whole family was sleeping! He's a keeper, that guy. I sure do love him!! He's a better cook than I am anyway. Ha! I pretty much set the table and that was about it! He did all the cooking and dishes. We spent the rest of the day/weekend playing with new toys, hanging out in our pjs, watching movies and drinking hot chocolate. It was perfect.
Overall, this was a wonderful holiday with very little stress! Very little cooking, cleaning, preparations, etc. Just our family together, making memories and I loved every second of it! I hope you all had a wonderful time with your families as well. Love from our family to yours!
