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!

Downtown Tree Lighting

You better believe that right after Thanksgiving ended, I put my Christmas party pants on and dove straight into all things full of festive and cheer. We started our first official holiday weekend with a trip downtown to see Spokane light up the big tree in Riverfront Park.

They had a band, photo ops and Santa was there with the local fire fighters. In addition the skating rink was open for people to ice skate all evening. We had our picture taken with Santa and both little boys were fascinated. A few photos below!

Thanksgiving 2018

Thanksgiving 2018 was another one for the books! It was Finn's first Thanksgiving and the first time the Alexander's hosted. We had a small gathering this year, just my parents, my sister, Amy and our little family of four, but it was quaint and cozy and full of good food.

I had prepped all week so the morning was laid back. We had picked up a gingerbread Turkey from Trader Joes for Lincoln to put together in the morning and then we made pumpkin spice chocolate chip cookies to deliver to our local fire station. Lincoln was so excited to drop off cookies and they took him back to see the big trucks and flash the lights. We didn't snap any photos, but you can be sure fun was had by all!

After that we headed back to the house to put Finn down for a nap and prep the appetizers. My parents came over a little after 11 to start the festivities and we had appetizers and mimosas all morning and afternoon while watching football.

We are pros at eating for the holidays so of course appetizers ran all the way into dinner. We sat down around 4:30 for dinner and after stuffing ourselves completely, we settled in for our annual Christmas movie marathon. Finn thoroughly enjoyed his first Thanksgiving and got to participate in all of the tastiness as well!

Both Kevin and I have been home for a long weekend so I've included a few additional photos here as well, including our holiday Christmas box that helped us kick off the official Christmas season. This year's box included Charlie Brown's Christmas movie and The Jolly Postman book, along with our annual family Christmas jammies!

We decorated the house yesterday, but have yet to go chop down our tree since Thanksgiving is so early this year. We're headed up next Saturday to tree hunt!

I hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving! It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Halloween 2018

Halloween has come and gone and it was a good one! While both Finn and Lincoln have been fighting some sort of stomach bug, they were well enough for us to have a few friends over and go trick-or-treating.

Lincoln had an absolute blast! Finn was just happy to be along for the ride...until he wasn't, which is when I hustled him and I home to get dinner started for everyone else.

We all met at our house, the kiddos got some goody bags Lincoln and I threw together and then we headed down our street toward Manito Blvd. Each year, the houses on Manito Blvd put together a flash mob to Michael Jackson's Thriller and we wanted to be sure the boys got to watch! It was entertaining for all and then we headed back to the house for movies, candy sorting, dinner and drinks!

Halloween pictures are the most difficult to take because of lighting, and I'm never home in time to capture them in their costumes during daylight. Because of that, the photos aren't that great, but I think they capture the spirit of the evening perfectly.

Until next year!

Baby Finn || Eight Months

Finn is eight months old today! October was a big month for our little guy. He is eating 3 solid meals a day, starting to rock back and forth on all fours (I'm pretty sure he'll be crawling any day now), and is finally feeling better after being hit was the plague for 2 solid months.

We haven't had much weight gain the past few months because he has been so congested for so long. He is weighing in at 20 lbs and is 29 inches long. He even got hit with a double ear infection this month....one more and it's likely we'll have to do tubes. But through it all, he's remained the smiliest little dude around.

We're headed into the holiday season so it's going there will be a lot of upcoming first for our little guy. He had his first trip up to Greenbluff for the pumpkin patch, his first Halloween Carnival at school and his first Halloween (he was a little convict). I am a holiday loving machine, so getting to celebrate with both my little guys is always a treat.

This month Finn has been all about his brother Lincoln. They grunt and scream at one another, each trying to be louder than the other. While it can get rather loud, and I want to shut it down, because who likes to hear kiddos screeching at one another, it's just soo cute, so we let it go for a bit here and there. Finn lights up when he sees Lincoln and watches him like a hawk. He's realizing how autonomous Lincoln is compared to him, and that has him itching to start moving on his own.

Sleep is still a struggle for Finn, but we are officially trying to crib train now. We had tried to start last month and then again at the beginning of this month, but he just kept getting sick and it broke my little heart to try and crib train him while he was struggling to sleep already due to the congestion. He's been in his crib for about a week now and while we're still having to get up with him, he's making good progress.

Time always goes by way too quickly when they're this little. I'm still sad that I haven't had a chance to stay home with Finn as long as I did with Lincoln, but his personality is so happy and he's so easy going, that it doesn't seem to both him that much. He's adjusted to daycare rather quickly and while he doesn't cry when he's dropped off, he is definitely happy to see me when I walk in the door at the end of the day.

Every day, we learn something new about our little Finny boo and I can't wait to see what next month entails!