The holiday season is always a busy time of year for our family. Because not only do we celebrate Jesus' birthday, we also celebrate Kass and myself turning a year older (now we are both officially "in our 30s"). To be honest, it doesn't feel any different than being "in my 20s". Aside from birthdays, Christmas shopping and your "normal" Christmas festivities, we tried to make this year extra special for Kaden. You see, this was his LAST Christmas as an ONLY child. Lil' sister will (fingers crossed) decide to make her debut sometime in mid to late January (the sooner the better for this mama). And I'm pretty certain Kass is praying she comes early, because let me just be honest, I'm not that pleasant to be around these days. Even I'm aware of this! Being pregnant this go 'round is completely different!
Here's a little recap of our December...
Actually before the month even rolled around, the boys decorated the outside of our house with lights. I must say, it turned out beautifully. And with lots of help from my mom, the inside was beautifully decorated as well (I just don't have a picture to prove it)!
We spent one Friday evening, early in the month, driving through Santa's Ranch just outside of San Marcos. Kaden thoroughly enjoyed all the lights and the stories Daddy narrated to go along with the different scenes. But most of all, he probably enjoyed the fact that Daddy let him do the driving! A fun time for all of us, but I will say, Santa's Ranch doesn't hold a candle to the Santa's Wonderland I grew up driving through in College Station.
The very next weekend, we visited Santa's Railroad Wonderland at the Texas Transportation Museum, just a few minutes down the street from us. It was there that Kaden met with Santa to let him know he wished for a train table and a wallet for Christmas (to which Santa filled each request). Talk about trains, trains and more trains! From tons of model trains to a night time ride on a real live train, Kaden was in heaven!
We built and decorated "our" first Gingerbread house this year! A certain little person gobbled up lots of the candy before we could even get it on the house. But that's what it's all about, having fun and getting wired in the process!
Santa, being the good guy he is, sent us our very own Elf this year to help keep lil' man on the nice list. Some days it worked, some days...not. so. much. Nevertheless, it was quite magical watching Kaden wake up each morning and begin his search for the Elf. Some mornings, he was quite easy to spot...like the morning he decided to get into the M&Ms! Silly Elf.
Meet Hiccup.
Somewhere amongst the chaotic month, Kass and I found the time to make our annual goodies for coworkers, family and friends. Take our little guy to his first movie ~ Monsters, Inc. 3D ~ which he thought was extra cool...the movie theater popcorn, the gigantic screen and the funky glasses. Catch an exciting, unexpected visit from our old neighborhood friends. Spend a few days out in the country at Nana and Papa's with B and Cody and watch Kaden bottle feed a baby calf (something I did many, many times growing up).
Most importantly, we spent the Christmas season celebrating Jesus' birthday with our loved ones. We had lots of fun and made many memories! Here's to hoping you had a Merry Little Christmas and wishing you a very Happy New Year filled with lots of love, happiness and good health!
