Christmas Celebrations: Part 1

This year, with Henley being one, Christmas time is a lot more fun! We are all getting into the celebrations and working on starting new family traditions. Now that there is so much to do, I realize how little time there is between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I thought that I would do one big blog dedicated to Christmas, but that would be way too long. So here is our Christmas Celebrations: Part 1!

After much deliberation, we decided to be optimistic and go ahead and get a Christmas tree this year. We weren't sure how Henley would do with it in the house, with him being so grabby and all. Well, so far so good. We opted for a little tree and stacked it atop an ottoman and a box that I wrapped in Christmas paper. My mom joined us for a little trim trimming party. I made some mulled wine, Cranberry Brie Pastry Bites  and sweet potato gnocchi. It was my first attempt at gnocchi and it was delicious! Get the recipe here: Sweet Potato Gnocchi w/ Brown Butter Sage Sauce It was such a fun night.

Love my momma! 

Gotta get the family picture. 

Checking out the ornaments

Since my mom had some time off work, we decided to take Henley to Knott's Berry (Merry) Farm. I spent many days there as a kid, mostly conquering all the roller coasters of the park. I didn't realize how much there was to do for little guys. The park was only open 8 hours that day, so we actually didn't get to do everything we wanted. The park was dead, and we were able to walk on to every ride. During Christmas time, there is an awesome craft fair at the front of the park. On the weekends, I believe that the craft fair is free. They also have the best Santa's village that I have seen in the area.

Meeting Snoopy!

Hi Snoopy. 

His face when he saw the train.

Peek-A-Boo

Mine Train

We took Henley to see Santa in Downtown Brea a few days ago. I have heard legends of babies being scared of Santa, but Henley is not an easily frightened kid. Apparently, I was wrong, The moment he saw Santa he started crying. We tried to calm him down, but he just could relax. I'm not gonna lie, it was a little funny. He just kept looking at Santa and then looking away. We took a family picture all together, instead of just leaving Henley with Santa alone. Poor baby. We actually just got a printed picture, so I will have to get that up here later.

Downtown Brea @ Christmas Time 

And Lastly, since my mom is once again traveling for work during the holidays, we did our big gift exchange with them yesterday. Of course, Henley was super spoiled. He loved opening all of his presents in his big chair. He got a big barn, a bubble gun, some softy toys, books, clothes and a cool wooden pull-train. Alex got a cool flying thing. haha My parents were super sweet and complied an external drive with all the pictures and videos they ever took of me. I am super excited to look through those. My mom also gave me a journal that she wrote for me starting when I was very little. I need to get myself a big glass of wine and just read through it soon. Also, my grandma got me a.....DISNEYLAND pass. I am so excited! My family is just too much.

This past weekend we also attending my parents annual friendship Christmas party, but I want to do a whole post on that soon. Look out for that. 

I hope you all are enjoying this wonderful season. 

Extreme cuteness-Brought to you by Henley and Tegan

xoxoxo

-D 

Thanksgiving

Hey All,

How was everyone's Thanksgiving? I hope you all had a relaxing and joyous week/weekend. We were lucky enough to have almost a whole week of fun Thanksgiving festivities. We spent most of the holiday down in San Diego and in Brea doing the rounds to see all the family. Boy has a lot changed in a year. Last year, we bravely packed up the car with a 10 day old baby and me being 10 days out from a c-section. I think one day I will be glad that we made that trip, but I'm not gonna lie...it was hard. This year, our baby is just over a year and even though car trips can still be hard, it's a whole different ball game,

Is he really mine? 

We planned on leaving relatively early Wednesday morning to avoid traffic, but we weren't expecting 4:30 am, which is apparently what Henley had in mind! We made a big pot of coffee and hit the road before sunrise. Henley fell right back asleep and woke up just as we hit Dana Point. We stopped for some breakfast and hit the park/beach to stretch our legs. After about an hour or so, we hit the road again and Henley fell right asleep. We arrived down in San Diego right as SeaWorld was opening. Alex had a little work to catch up on, so Henley and I spent the day with the animals. As always, Henley loved SeaWorld. We spent time checking out belugas, fishes, rays and dolphins, went digging in the sand, ran around, played with water and even touched some snow. The whole day was probably the best day that I have ever had with Henley. He was such a happy boy, he never cried, and we just had so much fun together. I will never forget it.

Playing in the leaves @ Doheny State Beach 

Future marine biologist? 

He LOVES water

Still happy at 5pm!

We spent Thanksgiving Day at Nana's house down in Point Loma. The day was nice and relaxing. Hal and Nana made a wonderful dinner with tons of fruits and veggies, a savory pumpkin bread pudding, creamed onions and peas, and a lovely apple, raisin, and walnut pie for dessert. All together the table was just Alex, Henley, Nana, Hal, MM, Brenda (one of Nana's friends) and myself. It's so nice to spend holidays with family.

Friday we spent the day down in Bonita visiting with MM's side of the family. Henley loved running around and crawling up the carpeted stairs. :) We also had a nice dinner and H ate his weight in sweet potatoes.

Saturday we headed back up to Brea for a late Mediterranean Thanksgiving dinner. We spent the day running around and opening toys from his birthday. After dinner, we headed down the street to check out a light show that a local house puts on. Good way to kick off the Christmas season!

We all had such a great holiday. Running all around does get tiring, but it's something that we really missed when we were living too far away. Henley is a happy baby when he is surrounded by tons of friends and family. Happy Thanksgiving!

We are busy getting ready for Christmas already and we are putting tons of thought into the real meaning of Christmas for us. We are thinking of pairing down the gifts this year and really focusing on creating lasting memories and continuing/starting new family traditions. We are very excited. Stay tuned for updates!

xoxoxo
-D