Decorating for Christmas

It was so much fun this year decorating the Christmas tree.  Noah was a huge help and did the kids Christmas tree all by himself and I didn't really have to make any adjustments because he did such a good job.   We got a couple new ornaments he helped pick out and he really liked that we added those on the tree too.  I see a tradition happening.
Since we got a way too big tree (oops) and had to cut the top off, we had to buy extra lights to fill up the whole tree.  We headed to Target on none other than early morning on black Friday to pick some up and finished decorating the tree by the end of the day.  Peyton was pretty useless but he sure was cute in his Christmas PJ's. We really thought he would be all about pulling things off the tree but surprisingly our little naughty boy has been pretty good so far. Well, minus my favorite pig ornament he keeps trying to take off and snuggle.   I guess I can't blame him, that pig is pretty cute.

At the end of the night after we put Peyton down for bed Noah and I stayed up and talked about all the things he wanted for Christmas and wrote our own Santa letter.   He was really excited to give it to him when we saw him this week and told him all about his batman legos.   We're prepped and ready to go for Christmas!

Picking out our Christmas Tree

We were on the ball this year and picked out our tree the day before Thanksgiving.  We were hoping we would have the place to ourselves and we were right!  I guess everyone is busy prepping for the holidays to come pick out a tree.  We were one of the only ones there which made it so much more fun.  Peyton patiently waited in the sled while the rest of the family walked around looking for the perfect tree.  We found it, or so we thought, until we brought it home and realized it was about two feet too tall.  Oops!

Christmas Pictures 2017

We got on the ball early this year and took some family pictures. I waited until the last possible moment last year hoping it would snow and we could get some fun snowy white pictures and we just ended up freezing our butts off, sipping hot chocolate in the car every couple of minutes to warm up.  The kids were actually really great through it all but I figured it would probably be better if we just skipped that hassle and got them done just a tad early.  As usual, Kelly did an amazing job and although we had two kiddos who weren't all that into it we managed to get a couple good ones to use on our Christmas cards. Plus I got to wear a tulle skirt so all is well in the world.

Peyton - Fifteen Months

Noah Fifteen Months
Seriously, I feel so bad this is the first update for Peyton in forever.  I haven't even done a one year update.  What happens to parents who have five or six kids?  Do they forget things this bad too?  Oh man...   Honestly, the only reason I even checked was because we think that Peyton is transitioning to one nap and I wanted to check when Noah did that.  Then I scrolled back to Peyton and... whoops.  So here we go.  Fifteen month update for Peyton and I promise at least with these I'll get better.

• Stats: Size 5 Diapers | 18mo clothing
• Size: 23.9lbs (67th%) - 30.5in (23rd%) My poor little shorty
  
• New Abilities: His walking is getting better but nowhere near where Noah was at this point.   He can get around a couple of feet at a time.  Mostly best when he's barefoot and on carpet but he slips and falls a lot and trips over his feet and mostly just ends up crawling.. but at least he's trying right?  He's getting there, just taking a little (lot) longer.
• Communication:  He can say "mama" & "dada" and can do signs for "more" and "milk".  He can also shake his head for "no".  He babbles a ton and is always singing and making noises.  He can point to whatever he needs and mostly gets his message out. Personality wise, Peyton just does what he wants.  He's quite the stinker and thinks everything is funny, even when he's being naughty. He gets into everything and wants to be where ever I am.  His most favorite things to do is be in the kitchen right up next to the stove and watch and help cook.  He likes to stir things in the pan and is a pretty good helper. He's one loveable kid though.  His cuddles are amazing and will snuggle with you most of the day if he's not in his exploring mood.  He loooves his brother and can hold his own with Noah.  He even has started hitting him or pushing him out of the way.  *eye roll*  He's one tough little guy. 

• Sleep: His sleeping in probably not as consistent as it was with Noah but goes down great at 7:30pm and wakes up around 6:30-7:00am with no wake-ups at night. When he's a school he takes three short 40mins-1hr naps and when he's home he takes one really good nap and one shorter nap.   One 2ish or more hours and the other 1.5-2.  Recently though he's refused a second nap after a super long ( like three hourish) nap and he can stay up the rest of the day with only a little grumpyness.... hence the maybe he's going to one nap?  We'll see.
• Mom Check-In: I'm doing great.  It's so crazy to see the difference this kid is for my attitude and with Noah.  I feel so much more happy in general and I'm much more healthy and it just makes me more excited for life with these kids. I'm really excited for this holiday season and just being together more as a family.  There will be a lot more days off with vacations and holidays and I can't wait for everyone to be together.