A lot can happen in a month

Oh man... I can not believe it has been over a month since I last posted. We have been crazy busy and I feel horrible because I know my blog is a great way for my family to get to see pictures of our adorable baby and to keep up with what's going on in our lives. So after numerous family members questioning "why haven't you blogged lately?" I guess it's time to ramp up the blogging to turbo. So what's happened in a month? Well, we had our first Thanksgiving dinner which I made myself. It was a lot of food for just the three of us but it was so worth it.

My first Thanksgiving dinner made by me for my little family of three.

My adorable little boy trying out some of Mom's mashed potatoes.

After Thanksgiving dinner we set up the Christmas tree (a tradition in both of our families we want to carry on).  And of course Kevin tried to help decorate and hang up the stockings.

Later this month we took this "little helper" to go see the big man himself... of course we mean Santa. I think he was pretty excited.  The pictures turned our pretty dang cute, he was very intrigued by Santa.

Since this was our first family Christmas we decided to carry on a few things that are traditions in my family. One is the ornaments. Every year since I can remember my Grandma Woods has sent ornaments with her Christmas care packages. And every year when it comes time to decorate the tree my favorite part would be to look at all the ornaments from years past and be reminded of her love with each ornament I hang. Each one has the year and my name on them. One of the most special ornaments are the very first ones we received...the block bears. My. Favorite. Handmade with love and now this year we were able to hang not only mine and Ken's but also Kevin's.

 (Ken's, mine, and Kevin's, all handmade, all super adorable)

My Grandmothers care package this year not only included our presents and ornaments, but some homemade hot chocolate mix (the best by the way). And another Woods' family tradition... the rocking chair. My Grandpa has been making rocking chairs for his grandchildren for a long time, and now he is making them for his Great-grand kids.

We spent most of the month getting adjusted to my new job watching an adorable 4 month old. Which can sometimes be a little hectic but I am loving it. Kevin had quite a few accomplishments this month, the first major one would have to be being able to pull himself up and stand, which he LOVES to do!! He also finally mastered crawling, giving kisses, and officially has all of his front teeth as of Dec 24th. He is now getting to the point where he is starting to cruise along the long couch we have and he LOVES to hold your hands and walk with you. He is getting so big! We also started signing with him which by the huge smile he gets when we sign food and bath (his favorite things!) I think he is starting to comprehend them a little bit. 

   Which brings us to Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve was also filled with a lot of traditions from both of our families, we spent the day baking cookies just like Ken's mom would (chocolate crinkles are amazing!!). Then at night before bed we read the scriptures, sang Christmas songs from my Grandma's hymn book and started a new tradition of reading a story called The three little trees. Which is an amazing book that absolutely makes me cry every time. Then we went to bed and woke up Christmas morning to witness the magic that Santa left.

What we woke up to Christmas morning.

 Kevin investigating his loot.

 Trying to get the hang of it.

 Watching Kevin trying to open presents was such a fun experience.

 Crawl along snail: $16

Busy ball popper: $ 25.99

Watching your baby boy having more fun playing with the $ 2 wrapping paper: Priceless

 He was absolutely having a ball with the paper most of all. And I didn't care one bit.

 Ken and I also had an amazing Christmas filled with great gifts, memories and so much more but as I look back on the pictures the greatest gift I received all year was not one found under the tree, or in my stocking... it was the gift that keeps giving back to me in every smile, kiss and snuggle.... 

This amazing beautiful baby boy.

Thank you God. I. Am. Blessed.