Merry and Bright

We have been in full swing holiday mode around here since the beginning of November. Finn's class had the sweetest little Thanksgiving party complete with a performance. Ryder and Jude were my little tagalongs . Ryder loves going to Finn's class, because he knows it means he'll get snacks and usually a baked good or five.

Someone wanted in on the action and wasn't napping like I'd hoped.

Jude is getting a little better at tummy time, so long as he's facing the Christmas tree.

This Thanksgiving was the first one we've ever celebrated with just our little family. Since we are now a party of five and Jude was only 8 weeks old, we made the hard decision to stay home. The day ended up being such a sweet little time for our family and was the first one we were able to celebrate in our new house.

We snuggled in blankets and watched the parade.

I made a traditional Thanksgiving meal, but halved all of my casserole recipes so we wouldn't have a massive amount of food. It ended up being the perfect amount for our meal and a day or so of leftovers. I was very impressed with myself. Dustin ate every bit of it and the boys each ate one roll. I know one day I will miss these days when we have three teenage boys eating everything in the fridge.

The next day we went and got our Christmas tree at such a cute little lot at a nearby church. The proceeds supported a women's and children's shelter and the trees were just cut down the previous week. Win. Win.

Finn and I went on a little date to see the movie, The Star and loved it! We met my friend, Heather and her oldest son, Ryan. The boys loved it and the mamas couldn't get over how easy it felt to just be at the mall with one preschooler each instead of our usual six combined.

Our church is full of sparkle and twinkly lights.

I dressed #3 in an actual outfit instead of just leaving him in pj's all day, so I had to take a picture.

We went to the mall to ride the Pink Pig and see Santa.

And this was the best we got only after some jelly bean bribery.

Ryder hasn't fallen asleep on me for at least two years. He wasn't feeling well and all he wanted to do was snuggle so I soaked it up.

Our Tigers are #1 in the country and headed to the Playoffs for the third year in a row!

Our neighborhood does the cutest little cookies with Santa event. Since Ryder was sick, I just took Finn on a "mommy date" as he calls it.

We've watched a lot of Christmas movies.

We built an assortment of gingerbread houses.

And during naptime, I watch cheesy Christmas movies with hot chocolate in hand.

Until this one wakes up and I get some one on one time.

Yesterday, we braved the biggest Southern snowstorm in 25 years to make it to South Carolina for Christmas with Dustin's side of the family. We were only there for a few hours, as we had to be home that night, but we made the most of it. The baby cousins finally got to meet. Miller and Jude are only 3 months apart.