Christmas in GA and MN!

Happy New Year!  We hope your holidays were great!  I know I say it every year but - November and December seem to go by so fast!

We celebrated Christmas with the Slagles the week before while we were still in town.  We enjoyed opening gifts and eating Linda's famous lasagna.  Connor seemed to really enjoy opening up the presents... and playing with each one after it was opened - what a time consuming process! :)

On Monday, we headed up to Minnesota to spend Christmas with Pop Pop, Grandma Cathy, GGMa, Uncle David, Aunt CB, and Chad!  Oh and how can I forget Connor's favorite furry friends - Colby, Nellie, and Harley!  While in MN, we got to see some old high school friends, baked tons of Christmas cookies, visited Santa downtown Minneapolis at the Macy's 8th Floor Santaland, explored some local breweries, spent time with GGMa, and headed up to Lake Vermillion for some cabin-time.  Unfortunately, there wasn't more than a few inches of snow but we were able to go out on the iced over lake and Connor seemed to really enjoy his short ride on the snowmobile with Pop Pop!

In Minnesota, Connor continued his latest obsession with "lights"... he refuses to go into a room until you turn the light on.  He continues to be a bit of a picky eater - but thankfully I rediscovered those fruit and veggies pouches - since that's the only way he will consume them!

We came back from MN to Connor having a double ear infection and Mattie having an ear infection as well - how fun!  This week has involved getting those 2 feeling better and working on home improvement projects when Keith has been off.  Up next: re-doing the master closets and painting/framing the mirror of the master bath!  Pics to come :)

Pre-Christmas Festivities

With the hustle and bustle of December, we have been super busy!  My Etsy shop, The Orange Monogram, has been super busy!  I had to temporarily shut it down so I could complete Christmas orders and local friend orders in time for Christmas!

We have done lots of Pre-Christmas celebrations!

We started by decorating our house - it's always hard in a new house because we had to come up with new places to put everything!  Believe it or not, the tree hasn't been too much of a distraction for Connor - we thought for sure he would be pulling off ornaments all month but he enjoys looking at it and demands that the lights be on - "lights ON!!!" he says!

One day, Connor and I ventured down to Lenox Mall in Buckhead to ride the famous Macy's Pink Pig with some friends.  My mom always tells me that she would take my siblings there every year (I wasn't born yet when they lived here) and they loved it.  I learned that it has evolved a lot through the years and is now in a big pink tent outside Macy's and is a short train ride on a giant pink pig.  Connor (with his new obsession with planes, trains, and automobiles) loved it!  We even rode it twice :)

Our church has an annual Christmas event called "Christmas Packages" which involves pretty much any Christmas activity you can think of.  Connor mostly loved the cookies, petting zoo, and train station!  At the nativity petting zoo, we had to keep reminding him to not hit the animals, but pet them gently - what a hard concept for him!

Grandma Linda and Grandpa Ed hosted their 4th annual "Cookie Baking Day" on the same day so we had fun hanging out with friends and family and baking/decorating a LOT of cookies!

Here's also a photo of Connor attempting to help me make some cookie dough - he wasn't a fan of the adult apron I tried to fit on him...

Our couples Bible study group also had a Christmas party - which, of course, was a blast!  We went home with a "lovely" snowman lotion bottle from the White Elephant gift exchange!

Last, before our upcoming trip to MN, we decorated a Gingerbread House with some friends!  It was pretty hilarious to see a 20- and 23-month old decorate it - without eating the candy :)

We hope you and your family have a fantastic Christmas and New Year!

Thanksgiving in KC!

I always forget how quickly time goes by between Thanksgiving and Christmas - it seems like just yesterday we were in Kansas City!

Keith had the opportunity to travel with Connor by himself from Atlanta to Kansas City - he said Connor did great so kudos to him!  I met them up there after going to Tampa, FL for my friends Kristen and Christopher's beautiful wedding!  It was so fun to catch up with my college friends!

In Kansas City, we stayed with Connor's great grandparents - "Nana" and "Papa Russ."  Connor loved playing outside when it was warm enough and exploring the nearby parks.

On Tuesday night, we got together with the Slagle side and had a blast hanging out with them and Connor loved running around the private room with the other kids!

Thanksgiving was spent at Aunt Beth's new house - where we played, watched football, cooked, ate, and everything in between!  We also celebrated Christmas and Great Grandpa Russ' 90th birthday all in one day!

The flight home with Connor was the worst we've had so far :/  We thought he was becoming a pro-flyer but he decided to scream 90% of the time and the other 10% was spent turning on and off the overhead lights (while accidentally hitting the flight attendant call button a handful of times lol).  The only way to get through that flight was with a sense of humor - and a glass of wine when we got home!

When we returned, I packed back up and headed out to Vegas with my sister Courtney and mom to celebrate mom's 60th birthday!  We had so much fun walking around the strip, shopping, trying new restaurants, seeing the Michael Jackson One cirque du soleil show, and exploring the Hoover Dam!  What a great girls getaway - we're already starting to plan our next girls adventure! :)

All 3 of us are finally back together and preparing for Christmas - which will be here before we know it!

Here are some photos from our trip to KC: