1. I can’t believe Christmas has come and gone. It’s been SO crazy around here. Just adding the holidays to every day life with 4 kids, several businesses, homeschooling, etc. and it feels like life is a tornado some days. I think this year was really different because I normally don’t work in December as I’m wrapping up busy season. This year I did and man did the holiday sneak up on me! Thank goodness for amazon prime and fast shipping on Christmas gifts for my kids. Doing the whole 4 gifts thing again this year totally saved me too and made things much easier. Want, Wear, Need, Read…..I love you! Thankfully once Christmas arrived we slowed down and it was so fun to experience Christmas with the littles. Teagan Jude is at such a fun age, his face lights up and he’s genuinely so thankful for each gift. He loves the paper and bows and just everything about it. I love that. He loved his bike from Santa and of course his legos. Taryn loved her roller skates and wanted to sleep in them that first night. She does really good on them too, I’ve been impressed. Ty loved getting his ipod fixed (it was his want item) as the screen was broken and a bunch of itunes gift cards. Jonah, he was just happy to eat, sleep and be cute. Jason’s grandparents weren’t able to make the trip up this year so his parents came the weekend before Christmas to celebrate. We really missed “The Greats” as we call them. And it was different having a house void of grandparents and great grandparents on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. It’s the first time it has just been us since we’ve lived here. Instead, when my mom arrived the day after Christmas, Jase was here to visit for a few days and then made a trip down to Corpus to visit them for the holiday. The timing was perfect, he had a great trip to see his parents and grandparents and I had help here since my mom was in town. Overall, very good holiday, we are so blessed with by our family. My crew on Christmas…

2. The highlight of Jason’s Christmas was winning $1,000 on a Florida scratch off lottery ticket my mom bought him! It was THRILLING! He didn’t just win $1,000, he won it $100 at a time so it kept building up and up and up! So flipping exciting! And I’ve convinced him to NOT spend it on bills, me or the kids. He’s spending it on himself, just as he would a gift. Free money rocks!! I will admit that we read the back of the card just to make sure it wasn’t a practical joke and fake. HA! Sorry we didn’t trust ya there for a minute mom! I really wish I had video recorded it as he won. From here on out, I’m video recording every time someone plays the lottery around me, it was SO exciting!

3. Santa baby

4. Jason’s dad snuggling with Jonah during their visit.

5. Teagan Jude has officially been asthma free for 2 years as of December. We are so very thankful for that! One of his triggers was smoke but he’s been exposed to it several times with no issues. We decided to celebrate the 2 year mark with a fire in our fireplace for the first time since he was under a year old. He did great and he and Taryn loved having a fire. Our house sure felt cozy. A fireplace was one of our must haves when house shopping 5 years ago so it felt good to use it! Being healthy and asthma free rocks! We have made so many sacrifices that are not easy so it’s really fun when a reward comes along.

6. Jonah says Hook ‘Em Horns! Thanks Uncle Scott for the new getup!

7. One of the rugs I bought to use as a backdrop for Jonah’s newborn photos has been demoted and is now being used as an actual rug in our house. I put it in front of the kitchen sink. And don’t you know that Maggie has decided that this is “her spot”. Which would be fine if it wasn’t in front of the sink AND the exact same color as the dog. She is constantly underfoot and many times we don’t see her sitting on the rug before we step on her. I like to tell her she “blends” in my favorite My Cousin Vinny voice. She could honestly care less, as long as we don’t expect her to actually move. This is her “this is my spot please don’t make me to move” face….

8. My mom arrived the day after Christmas to spend 5 days with us. I love having her here. It’s been so nice to have 2 visits from her within a 2 month time frame and the kids are totally loving it. Jonah has changed so much in the last 8 weeks. I love these photos of them together.

9. Jonah’s first time in the bumbo tonight. He still needs a little bit of help and is a bit unsteady, but he liked it. Probably because he LOVES dinner time and socializing with the family. Duder eats it up. I love the photo of Duder kissing Jonah’s feet and Jonah cracking up laughing. So freaking cute!