Its beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas around here!! We decorated this weekend and it's putting me in SUCH a Christmas-y mood!!

Here Jeff and Landon are hard at work:

The finished product:

I LOVE that we have a fireplace this year!!

Then last night we went to the Riverwoods for family home evening. It is SO pretty this time of year - they have so many lights, it's really magical. They even have free horse sleigh rides: 

Horse ride!

Pretty lights!

And SANTA! Landon sat on his lap and told him everything he wanted! It was so cute! I got a video, but I can't seem to get it to load - but I did get this super cute picture!

We are so excited for Christmas around here!!

Giving Thanks

I can't believe Thanksgiving is tomorrow! Where have the last 11 months gone? I was sitting here thinking about it, and with my sweet boy napping, and before the holiday hoopla begins I wanted to do a little reflecting. 

To say it has been a whirlwind year for our family would be the understatement of ... well, the year! But with it all has come more blessings than I could have ever imagined. We came off 2011 a little beaten up. I'm not one to over share (particularly on cyberspace) but suffice it to say that it was a good year, and a hard one. One I hoped not to repeat. 

But 2012 came in with open arms to welcome us. The first blessing was Jeff's new job. It did inspire us to move north, but it also allowed us to do so. And gave him the change of scenery he was looking for at the time.

The second blessing would be to find out our second was on his way!! We were thrilled to find out and while reality has hit that he will arrive in the next 9 weeks (wow!) and we are a little scared, we are so happy and so excited to meet him.

This summer we found our new home. It happened so fast that I feel like I have whiplash. But everything just fell into place and it has been a good move for us so far. We moved from a great ward, and I was pretty certain this ward was failing miserably to live up to them when we first got here. But you know what? After we got past the "weird" Sunday schedule we were having and settled in a bit they have been wonderful - welcoming and ready to make us one of them as fast as possible. 

As we round out the year and head through fall and into winter it has been wonderful to reflect. The biggest and most present blessings in our lives have been here the whole year. The first being each other. I'm grateful each day to be making this crazy journey with Jeff, who is my best friend. To wake up loving the same person is a blessing each and every day. He is my rock. And Landon - who we could not be more grateful for. He challenges us to be better people and to learn how to be parents each and every day. And with that he brings more sweetness, tenderness, laughter and love than we could have ever, ever imagined. We can't wait to see him as a big brother and to meet our new little man.

We are blessed with families who love us dearly and have come through for us more this year than we have needed them to in ages. They essentially moved us because we couldn't do it ourselves and have shown up time and time again to help do projects, etc. without ever asking for anything in return. And friends who have become more like family - who have been there through thick and thin (and moving!) and still love us despite our flaws. 

We are blessed with the gospel. The knowledge of eternal families. Our steady jobs. And our health. It has been a great 2012 so far and the next few weeks are shaping up to be filled with holiday magic. 

We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Cute Things from Landon Lately

Sometimes kids say the cutest things ... and I always worry I'll forget! (Which, currently is a huge concern ... I can't remember anything!) Landon keeps getting more articulate and comes up with some pretty cute things.

*He has taken to saying "That's MY mom!" He will tell this to kids on the playground, when we're out places, to people in our new ward he doesn't recognize yet. And every time it makes me want to get all teary-eyed. Like he thinks I'm really someone worth knowing. I know we'll go through times when he might try his hardest for people not to know who I am ... so I savor it every time I hear those words. And I tell him ... "you're MY Landon!"

*We love to ask him what we're naming baby brother. He hasn't ever come up with a weird or off the wall name ... we occasionally get our friends' kids' names, but generally he sticks to one of the two on the list. You just never know which one he's leaning to at the time. But it's pretty adorable to hear him say Emerson or Liam (which is a bit more like Liamum still)!

*The other day I took him in to the baby's room, which contains his crib (and is where he slept until we finished his big boy room in this house). We had put a baby toy in there and I wanted to explain to him that it will be something that we play with baby brother with, etc. I want him to feel really involved. I also don't want him to think it will still fit him in it :)! He was THRILLED by it - he said "mom, it's baby Einstein!" Seriously, the kid was brainwashed at some point :)!

*That same day he stood up and started walking along the crib running his little hands over it and said, "mom, baby brother is going to sleep in my fishy bed!" (he has fish bedding...). I couldn't believe he told me that - we haven't really gone over that yet, so I was really surprised. I know we'll have some adjustments to make and I'm sure there will be some moments with the new baby, but overall he is so, so excited!

*Last night we were looking through the baby clothes to see what we might need to fill in. Landon picked up a tiny pair of baby Puma's and said "Puma shoes! I love Puma shoes!" Jeff was sitting right behind him. I thought he was going to literally burst with pride. Those two are seriously so much alike :)! 

*Speaking of which, Landon has hit a huge "daddy phase." He has been getting up really early in hopes of seeing Jeff before work (adorable, but I miss our old wake-up time personally!), and the first thing he asks me is "where's dad?!" He waits by the door before he comes home and night and commands all his attention for some post dinner play time. It's super cute!

*I love asking him what he wants for Christmas - he always says "more trains, trucks and legos!" every single time. Luckily nothing too outlandish has made it on to the list. I'm just impressed that a kiddo his age understands what I'm asking him and can give such a consistent answer.

Big Boy Room!

A few weeks ago Jeff and I started putting together Landon's big boy room. I was hesitant for a long time - he still slept so well in his crib and was so contained! But with a new baby on the way we didn't want him to feel displaced and we just knew it was time. I have wanted to do wainscoting in his room for forever but we never had ... so it was now or never! 

We (and by we I mean Jeff and my dad) put up the wainscoting and then we had it painted. We put it all together and decided on a random Monday night to put the bedding on since we had just finished purchasing it. We wanted to let Landon help in hopes of it getting him excited for the big move. 

He was thrilled! Here he is working really hard at bringing in all his blankies.

And he slept in there that night like it was no big deal! He LOVES his new room! Nap time proved to be a little more of a challenge (ah that containment issue) ... but Landon is apparently very motivated by stickers and a treat after nap time! So for now that is working!

Here he is with bear showing off his (their!) new room!

 

Since moving in that first night we have added curtains and his fish tank ... we still have a bit of actual decorating to go (another pillow or two and his finished nightstand), but we're close enough. And he loves it! Such a big boy!!

Halloween 2012

Halloween 2012 ... a review in pictures!

We kicked the fright season off right by scoring an invite to a couples Halloween party. We rocked it as a preggo-Pink Lady and her 50's greaser. 

Love that the bats behind us give us pseudo horns :)!

And it wouldn't be complete without a visit to the pumpkin patch ... that includes a strange managerie-sort of petting zoo.

 A serious night of pumpkin carving/painting ... followed by trick or treating to grandma & grandpa's door. Landon scored a book as his treat that we have read approximately 1.2 million times since!

Cornbellies with friends!

Dad is SO much fun! They rode everything together!

We also went to our ward's "harvest party" which was really fun - we talked to some really nice people and felt a little more like we belong. And scored another great invite to a Halloween breakfast - delicious!

Halloween Night!!

Landon told me about a month ago he wanted to be Pongo from 101 Dalmatians. And he never wavered from it (which I found amazing in and of itself!). So I found him this cute costume, and he LOVED it!

He had so much fun trick or treating ... sometimes he even barked instead of saying trick or treat :)! He was so into it this year he didn't even want Jeff and I go to the door with him. He looked SO stinking cute (especially with that tail wagging!).

The night began by Dad helping Landon get ready: 

Serious business!

A pensive Pongo...

Just before we left to trick or treat!

Cutest. Pongo. EVER.

Just the three of us :)!

The night ended with dad carrying a tired puppy home!

 We had a great Halloween and hope you did too! Now on to Thanksgiving!!