Christmas 2018

We are fast approaching the end of 2018 and gearing up for a New Year's Eve slumber party with some of our closest friends, so before that happens, I wanted to share a few photos from our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Christmas is always one of the most magical days of the year, but it just keeps getting better and better as we add little ones to our family. Having Lincoln and Finn and seeing their joy on Christmas morning is one of the best parts of being a parent. Lincoln is still loving his choo choo train days later and Finn is, per usual, just happy to be here.

Without further ado, below are a few photos of our fun!

Our 2018 Christmas Card!

Now that I've mailed out all of our Christmas cards, I can post it here! These are my favorite things to send and receive in the mail, especially this time of year! We get our cards almost every year from Shutterfly!

Links to past year's cards are below:

2015

2016

2017

Spokane Winterglow 2018

Give me all the holiday traditions! This really is my most favorite time of the year. This past Friday we took the boys to look at all the holiday lights, specifically the Spokane Winterglow Spectacular down in Cowley Park.

KXLY, a local news station sponsors the event and they place the lights right outside the Children's Hospital so the kiddos can enjoy. We warmed up hot cocoa, snuggled the boys up and went to walk through the park. We ended with a drive down Christmas Tree Lane and Candy Cane Lane right off of 37th and Tekoa.

It was a great way to spend the evening, and even better it was free! A few photos from our fun below:

Santa! I know him....

I couldn't let a day go by without posting this year's visit with Santa! Don't let this photo fool you, little Finn lost it about 30 seconds after this photo was taken...but I'll take what I can get :)

Only 12 days till Christmas!

Gingerbread Buildoff 2018

Holiday traditions are my favorite and the Gingerbread Buildoff supporting Christ Kitchen is one of the most fun! Each year a select number of bakeries and chef's create gingerbread masterpieces. The viewing takes place the second Sunday in December down at the Davenport Grand Hotel.

In addition to viewing, families can purchase mini gingerbread house kits to build on their own. It really is the most fun activity for the kiddos. This year we brought our friends Zeke and Morgan and followed up the Gingerbread viewing with hot cocoa and french fries in the hotel restaurant. A tradition, I hope to repeat for years to come. Below are a few fun photos!

Christmas Tree Hunting 2018!

This past weekend we kicked off December the best way! We headed up to Greenbluff to count down our Christmas Tree! Kevin and I started this tradition the year we got married and we love taking the boys up too. Lincoln has been waiting to decorate since Thanksgiving was over so he was so excited!

Each year since Lincoln has been born, we've headed up to Hansen's. This is such a kid friendly place and makes the experience so fun for the little ones. They have a bonfire set up and give out goodies to make s'mores prior to heading out to get your tree. In addition, they serve free hot cocoa for little ones and let them pick a free ornament off a tree for them to take home. Lincoln looks forward to this every year!

I recently found out that you can actually get a permit to go into the forest and cut down your own Christmas tree for only $5, Griswold style. This is most definitely something I want to try and do next year!

For the time being, below are a few pictures from our weekend...next up is the Gingerbread Buildoff!

Finn || Nine Months

Finn is 9 months old!! On Saturday actually....woops! I tried so hard to not be that mom that missed updating on time, but man two kids is real. He's weighing in at about 20.8 Lbs and around 29 inches long, but we'll get his official stats at his 9 month check up in a week or so.

Anyways, our sweet baby Finn turned 9 months old and is already crawling!!! He started right around 8.5 months and there is no stopping him. It's throwing me for a loop because we didn't need to baby proof all that much with Lincoln. He just didn't seem interested in things that were behind closed doors and always wanted to be close to me. Not true of Finn, not true at all. He is into all the things! Sticking anything and everything in his mouth, yes including dog hair and dirt and if you lose sight of him for even a minute, he's into something, he most definitely should not be. Also, why? Why, why why does he find cords so interesting and lunging off of high places, fear of heights he does not have.

Our Finny boo continues to be the happiest boy on the planet, even while having almost 6 ear infections over the past 3 months. Poor kid can't catch a break. He does officially have his referral with the ENT set for December 4th though, so hopefully tubes and healthy ears are on the horizon.

He popped through his first official two teeth this month, the two front bottom ones, so that adorable grin is even cuter these days. It's also helped him in the eating department now that he's able to chew a bit more. More finger foods are headed his way!

He absolutely LOVES his brother Lincoln. Hundred percent Lincoln is his favorite person on the planet right now and watching their relationship develop is adorable. I sure hope they always love each other this much when they're older.

We celebrated his first Thanksgiving and Nana's birthday last month so Finn got his fair share of new foods including a few Lebanese dishes thrown in. He loved all of it! He's a pretty good eater just like his brother was, but tends to be a bit pickier. He's also a fan of throwing food and his water cup on the floor which is new for us. Lincoln wasn't much of a thrower!

All in all it's been a wonderful month with our little huckleberry Finn! He's the best addition to our little family and we can't wait to celebrate his very first Christmas in a few short weeks!