Welcome Briar Boy!

On February 9th at 7:49 AM we added our newest addition to our little family, Briar Ian Alexander. He clocked in at 7 lbs 0.5 oz and 19.75 inches long. Having a baby during a global pandemic is a bit of a surreal experience, but I can say without a doubt, no matter what, bringing that new little baby home is still the best experience ever....pandemic or no pandemic. 

Right after he was born, he had fluid in his lungs and struggled to breath a bit so he was sent up to NICU where he spent the first 5 days. While we were anxious to bring him home with us, a NICU stay was not new and we knew he was in good hands. After C-PAP treatments and phototherapy for high bilirubin levels he was finally able to join us at home on Saturday! 

His big brothers immediately fell in love and could not get enough of our little Briar boy, wanting to hold him and take turns feeding him. Funny enough, they don't want to help with those dirty diapers, ha! 

We've been slowly adjusting to this new life as a Party of Five and I'm loving every minute I get to spent snuggled up with Briar on the couch while he snoozes away on my chest. Those first few weeks of baby snuggles are seriously, the best. 

He's learning to eat well and sleeping most of the time in that sleepy newborn stage, but I know these days are limited and he'll wake up more and more soon enough! 

We are so so happy baby Briar is here to complete our family! 

Igloos at Bark Rescue Pub!

 With the upcoming arrival of baby Briar, we wanted to take the boys out to do something special before our little family of four becomes a family of five. Options are limited these days with so many restrictions still in place because of the pandemic, but we were able to reserve an igloo at Bark Rescue Pub to have a special dinner and visit with the puppies one evening! The boys loved it and now all they can talk about is when we're getting a puppy! A few photos from our evening below...

Christmas 2020

 A few photos of Christmas, and events leading up to Christmas below! These include a horse drawn carriage ride through Riverfront Park, Cookie decorating and delivering, a Christmas puzzle that defeated us (we couldn't finish it!), our annual Christmas tree campout, all dressed up for Christmas Eve mass and cookies and milk for Santa!

Santa Brunch

 So many things looked different this year for so many people. I love planning and doing so many fun and festive things during the holidays. This year, we had to get very creative with so many local businesses and events shut down or cancelled due to the pandemic. 

Visiting Santa is something our kiddos look forward to every year (like most kiddos). I didn't think it was worth it to try and do the usual mall Santa photo when we'd have to cover up their cute faces with masks and separate them from Santa with plexiglass. 

So...with a bit of coaxing, I convinced my dad to play Santa! And of course, the party planner in me, didn't need much more than him agreeing to turn it into a family only, COVID-friendly Santa brunch. We had my sister and her kiddos and my mom over for brunch and gingerbread house decorating and shortly after they arrived, Santa made a surprise appearance. Lincoln clued in pretty quickly that it was papa, but the kids loved it! I don't think I'll ever see a mall Santa again!

2020 Annual Christmas Tree Hunt & Decorating

 Every year we head up to Greenbluff the day after Thanksgiving to cut down our Christmas tree. 

We did so again this year, and I'm so glad we stuck to tradition, because trees sold out quickly this year! With so many activities cancelled this year due to COVID, more people than ever opted to do the same thing this year. Most farms had to shut down within a week of opening because every tree was gone! 

Photos from our tree hunt and decorating are below!