Christmas Time Is Here

 Christmas this year was different than any we've had in the past, but that was kind of to be expected based on this year. This is the first year we haven't traveled home for Christmas, but we do have Britt living with us which made it feel a little more like a normal Christmas. This was also the first Christmas for Riley where she sort of knew what was going on and it was so much fun! 

I was very excited for this Christmas for Riley so I may have taken a lot of videos. We knew that asking Britt to be up at 7:30, when we get Riley up, was a little much to ask. So we compromised and decided on a 9 am start. So the day started with distracted Riley in our room and downstairs so she wouldn't see the presents. We did a quick little nativity story with her Little People nativity set and read books. Once it was nine we dragged Britt out of bed and got the party started!

If you don't want to watch all these video I'd recommend at least watching the penultimate one. Riley discovering her new puppy was the sweetest moment of the whole day. 

I was really excited for this Santa gift idea. I felt like she would really enjoy playing with these now and for many years as her imagination grows. What I didn't realize is I was basically buying her a toy to do the thing that I am constantly asking her not to do. She really likes to jump off the bottom step of the stairs and it makes me nervous so I try to encourage her to just slide down. The tallest of these stones is even taller than the step! I'm not sure what I was thinking, but she does enjoy them and we try to encourage her at least only jumping on the carpet. 

One of the best gifts Britt got in my opinion. :)

We were all already done opening our presents and she was still fascinated by her stocking stuffers.

Riley's collection of Piggy and Gerald books just got way better!

Britt still has the BEST reactions to gifts.

Such a fun book from Mom and Dad!

Possibly the best moment of Riley's young life.

And just a video to show off her counting chops. 

Merry Christmas!!

Not my gumdrop buttons!

(This title was written long before the Marco Polo chain where I discovered gumdrops can be triggering for some of you. I apologize.)

On Saturday, against all odds, we made gingerbread houses! I usually have zero desire to go anywhere after Riley wakes up from her nap. Basically after 3 pm I consider it evening and it takes a lot of motivation to get out the house. So making a plan to go to the store and pick out candy to decorate our gingerbread house at 4:30 on the last weekend before Christmas was a lofty goal. We quickly aborted the plan to try Target and went to a grocery store near by. It was still pretty packed, but we made it in and out alive. As we were leaving Ben confirmed with me that we had graham crackers...I said that I had just bought a box. As I was saying it I realized that these houses actually use a lot more crackers than you think so one unopened box isn't actually all that much. Riley had been so grumpy in the store there was no way we were going back, so we decided we'd keep our houses small this year.

When we got home I whipped up some frosting and we fed Riley a little dinner so she would at least be full when we set a bunch of candy in front of her. I know, foolish to think that would actually matter. We constructed a little house for Riley and then put out a few treats on the table for her to decorate with. At first they all went in her mouth, but after some modeling and reminders she eventually started putting the majority on the house. It was pretty cute. 

After Riley went to bed the adults got to have their turn! Britt and I teamed up, since the last time she made a gingerbread house may have been her 5th grade fiasco. We aimed to make a rainbow candy/gay pride house. We kind of accidentally made a hate crime. We were so jazzed about our rainbow door idea. After putting on the windows we quickly realized we had just made a giant frowny face. We weren't sure if we could share pictures of it for fear it would be interpreted as a political statement. 

Ben's house was much less politically driven, deciding to make the hospital he works at. Although, after it was constructed he realized he wasn't sure how to decorate a white and black building when most of the candy we had was rainbow colored. 

(we stuck a heart on the back to try and balance it out)

We soon discovered that our house was actually delicious and...

The lesson learned? Mike and Ikes on frosted graham crackers are delicious!

The Prettiest Sight to See

I was counting down the days to Christmas decorating since November 1st. November was going to be a long month, filled with doctor's appointments for Riley, no real Thanksgiving to speak of, and lots of big school project for Britt. We wanted November to be over before it started. So come December 1st the tree was out, the music was playing, and the wreath was hung. We did a lot of talking with Riley beforehand about how we only look at the Christmas tree and don't touch it. We have to remind her every once in a while, but we haven't had a fall yet! 

It's been so fun teaching Riley about Christmas and seeing her excitement about little things like the reindeer and "guy" in our neighbor's yard.  Due to weather our walks around the neighborhood have become a lot shorter, but we really appreciate the people who decorate their yards. One yard has this giant dragon that flaps it's wings and Riley will sit down on the sidewalk and watch it until I say we have to head home. It's also been so sweet hearing her talk about baby Jesus and how he sleeps in a manger. She knows Mary and Joseph and loves playing with her little people nativity set. 

After decorating the house got us into the Christmas spirit I decided that we should do Christmas cards this year. Maybe it comes from feeling much more isolated from friends and family, but it just seemed like a fun idea to send a photo of our family to people we care about. I was also hoping that if I sent some out this year that I'd start getting more in the future. So once Ben was off nights and was on a normal schedule again we took some family pictures. We didn't get an amazing one of all of us, but we couldn't make Riley stay out in the cold any longer. 

 

Behind the scenes of our family photo shoot. Gotta keep those hands warm. 

Got to take advantage of the days we are actually presentable. 

What do you do other than just smile in pictures?? Answer...climb a tree? Is this what girls do?

Getting real tired of being told to sit still

How everyone really feels about family pictures

After feeling a little sad we never got a really cute picture of Riley for the family photos I decided to give her a personal photo shoot. 

This picture makes me so happy.

I swear she was having fun...not sure why she looks terrified.

The urge to touch to tree is real!

Stay tuned for a Christmas card coming to a mailbox near you! Featuring this cute girl and her puppy.

This is the face of a girl who just discovered we have a tree in our yard with berries on it. 

She had marks all over her fingers after this. She loves picking things, but those little leave are sharp! 

These eyes!

We just love this little girl!!

Sometimes she looks too cute to remind her not to touch

I'm part of a group text that usually feels like I'm just listening in on conversations of people I don't know...because it is. But occasionally it's useful...like when I found out that the Washington DC temple does a lights show like the SLC temple does. The temple is just a 7 minute drive from our house so of course we were going to check it out! During the first weekend there were apparently lines 2 hrs long, but we went right at 6 pm, when it started, and on a weekday so we went right in. Because it was just a drive through we couldn't spend too much time looking at the lights, but honestly, with a 2 year old and a cold night we wouldn't have lasted very long even if we could've gotten out of the car. Britt was looking forward to having the house all to herself and we got back 30 minutes after we left haha. It was so fun to be able to be up and close with the temple, even if it was just in our car. We were so looking forward to moving to a place that was so close to the temple. (We were about an hour from the temple when we lived in Fort Worth.) It was supposed to have the open house this month, but of course that's been postponed indefinitely. It's such a beautiful temple and we can't wait till we can go inside!

 

Also, after desperation overtook me I cut my own hair! Nothing fancy, but it's at least the same length.  

And of course the highly anticipated videos! Nothing too exciting going on in these videos, I just want to always be able to look back and remember the day to day life with Riley the 23 month old. Things you will see in these videos: running around in circles with something in her hands is our favorite activity, her hippopotamus hair clip comes up a lot, our living room is never tidy. 

No clue why this video is sepia color... you can still see the cuteness without the color.