Saturday, February 22, 2014

Christmas Morning

After putting Charlie to bed on Christmas Eve, both Trevor and I were SO excited for Santa to come and leave presents under the tree. We just couldn't wait until the next morning when Charlie would see the new surprises waiting for him!
Finally, the next morning came. We went in to Charlie's room together and told him that Santa had come and he had some fun new things to play with! But first, he had to be patient and let us change his diaper. Sweet face :)
Finally, it was time! Here's his reaction upon rounding the corner and seeing everything (Sorry it's all so blurry... bad lighting combined with being too excited to check my settings means that all the photos turned out pretty crappy. Oh well, at least it's still documented!)
Needless to say, he was pretty excited about all the new things laying out for him to play with!
A grill, just like Daddy's!
Trevor showed him how to put ketchup and mustard on his food.
Lots of new hotwheels cars and a new car mat!
Vroom vroom.
Overall, I'd say he was a pretty happy boy. And that made us, as parents, pretty happy too!
We also got to open the presents wrapped under the tree and our stockings, which included the letter revealing the girl gender of our new baby! Some other notable gifts were socks, clothes/PJs, and a Mickey Mouse book set with electronic pad for Charlie. Trevor got a wallet... and it's funny because I honestly can't remember any of the other gifts at the moment. :P In our stockings we got lots of treats and Trevor gave me some yoga gear and a cover for our new iPad he had won at work. 

Holiday Season 2013

We enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner at Trev's parents house this year. It was SO delicious, especially the mashed potatoes, which I've been craving this pregnancy. Grandma had also put together a little Thanksgiving goody bag craft for the kids to do! They made the turkey's tail feathers with outlines of their little hands. It was so cute, even if Charlie wasn't TOO interested and it was all I could do to get him to sit still long enough to trace his hand.
The Saturday after Thanksgiving, as is our family tradition, we went to see the lights on temple square. Fortunately it wasn't too cold this year... just cold enough to appreciate our coats and gloves. Charlie really enjoyed it, especially when we stopped in front of the temple and sang "I Love to See the Temple" together.
Look! It's a picture of me and the hubby. Just us two! It's a miracle! And the second picture is the whole Shipp clan (minus Mical's kids, Troy, and Trent who is on his mission!). 
Thanksgiving quickly came and went, and then it seemed we were sent spiraling into the Christmas season FAST! We made sure Charlie went and saw Santa at the mall, and had a neighbor help us put up Christmas lights on our house before the first snow fell in early December! I decorated the two tiny trees in my front yard. Do you like my "tornado" tree? Throw one end of the strand up there and then run around the tree and this is what happens! Haha!
We also decorated our little 4-foot Christmas tree, and put it up on a table to make it seem taller. Haha :) It's probably a good thing, though, because these little grabby hands couldn't get to as many ornaments! Charlie LOVES the tree. Every morning he would wake up and run around the corner, talking about the "tree" and insisting I turn the lights on. If the lights weren't on whenever he saw the tree, he would become very concerned and even upset, and sometimes would try to plug in the lights himself. Ahhh!
One snowy Saturday, Santa drove around Eagle Mountain on his awesome firetruck, with sirens blasting, to wave at all the kids and throw them candy! Charlie really liked seeing the truck drive by! We also attended a special Christmas-themed story time at the Lehi library, where Charlie got to shake a jingle bell while singing "Jingle Bells". Now, ever since, even months later, he sings Jingle Bells whenever he shakes anything that rattles or sounds like bells at all. It's SO cute!
He was also my little helper in the kitchen while we made some batches of Christmas shaped sugar cookies with sprinkles on top!
He was pretty good at pressing out the shapes, especially for a two-year-old!
We finally hung some new shelves in my living room so I could have a place to put my stockings and ceramic nativity set.
I baked a couple batches of my favorite Christmastime treat, Fool's Toffee! I learned that baking it on parchment paper is a thousand times better than using aluminum foil. Just a tip for myself for the future. :)
On Christmas Eve, we went back to Grandma's house for the Shipp family gift exchange and a delicious dinner. Grandma, of course, had a craft for the grandkids again, and they got to decorate gingerbread houses! Charlie sort of got the concept, but he probably ate half of his candy before it even got a chance to go on his house. Haha! I really had to coax him into actually decorating the roof, but with my help, he finally got a decent-looking finished product.
Here I am helping Charlie decorate his house, and try to keep him from eating ALL his candies! :) (Picture courtesy of my sister in law Meghan)
It's so fun to have a little one who is starting to grasp the fun and excitement of holidays, especially Christmas! :)