We spent a quiet New Year's Eve at home this year, and I'm pretty sure we were all asleep before ringing in the new year. Gotta say, the last part of 2015 has been hard & I'm not too sad to put it behind us...I'm looking forward to a fresh start in 2016! Excited to see what God has in store for us.
Beautiful girls! When I look at pictures like this, I'm overwhelmed with thankfulness that they have each other.
So, Jonah is 3 years & 4 months old and still sleeping in his baby bed. We have known it was time to put him in a big boy bed for a while, but I honestly was just dreading it. It's such a huge milestone and sign that he is growing up so fast. On top of that, this baby bed has been in our house for the last 9 1/2 years, and now it is going in the attic. SAD. Especially since in my mind, another baby would be using it in June. =0( Anyway, enough of the sadness...
We decided since it was the last night of 2015, putting Jonah in his new bed would be a good way to bring in the new year! Jonah was super excited about his new Mickey Mouse bed! I wasn't sure if he would stay in it or not, but surprisingly he went right to sleep that first night! It took him a few nights to realize he had free reign and could get up anytime he wanted. After a few weeks of sleeping in his new bed, he started waking up in the middle of the night and making his way to our bed. We are too tired to take him back to his bed, so he has developed a nightly habit of spending the last half of the night with us. I don't even mind it at all...way too soon this phase will pass and he'll be too big for that. For now, I just love the way his little leg feels hiked up over my side, and the sweet warmth of his breathe on my back.
And who knows, maybe one day we will need the baby bed again?!
Mickey Mouse & Paw Patrol...every little boys dream bed!
I love the way his room looks with his new bed, trampoline and train table. So fun!
After we got his room situated, Jonah laid on his bed and rested with my phone. (with no pants--I mean NO pants--because we were trying to get him to use the potty).
He was getting his exercise before bed...we figured it would wear him out so he would go right to sleep!
I always love the week between Christmas and New Year's because we just get to relax and be together, after the busyness of the holidays. We slept in, played with new toys, Daddy took the girls to see Star Wars one day, we put together (endless) Lego sets, played out in the snow, and we cleaned out and organized the play room...had to make room for all of those new toys! Sweet times!
I seriously have never known a child to love stuffed animals so much. I wish I knew how many stuffed animals we have in this house...I bet its over 100 for sure. No, really...for real. And if we ever try to get rid of one, she instantly cries and tells the story of where it came from, what its name is, and why she loves it so much.
This is my new favorite video EVER! Daddy made up a "Jonah Mark" song...and Jonah's ending is epic!
We got a very small amount of snow, but ANY snow is enough to play in! I'm so glad we let them do this, because this is the only snow we got this winter.
Jonah is really into doing whatever his big sisters do! Those are some cute snow angels!
Daddy did this...
Rockin' her new Star Wars outfit and house shoes...she was determined to wear this to the movie theater to watch the movie...why not?!
Madison decided at the last minute that she wanted to go too, so Mackenzie let her wear her new Star Wars nightgown! Jonah and I enjoyed some peace and quiet at home!
Legos, Legos, and MORE Legos...
If only it stayed like this for more than a few hours...
Just resting and watching a little Mickey Mouse...
After a fun Christmas morning at home, we got ready and headed to the lake to have Christmas with Grandma & Grandpa Baldwin. I couldn't believe how warm it was...we got there before everyone else and we had the best time playing outside, throwing rocks in the lake, taking pictures & riding on the golf cart. We had Mexican food for dinner and then the kids were ready to dive into the presents! With 11 grandkids, there are a LOT of presents & the noise level is...well, LOUD!! Let's just face the facts...Christmas with your cousins is just fun! The kids got lots of new toys & cute clothes from Grandma & Grandpa Baldwin. My favorite gift of the night for sure was that Grandma Baldwin made a new quilt for Madison. I have been just sick ever since we lost the one she made for her birthday a few years back. Somewhere in our move from the old house, it just disappeared. I've been too sad about it and didn't want to admit that we lost it, but apparently the girls told her, because she made another one! She's the best!! =0) Another thing I'm excited about is the new sewing machine she got for the girls and me...now I just have to figure out what to do with it!! Mackenzie was running a fever all day long, but she was a trooper...just not fun being sick on Christmas. Christmas Day at the lake has become a fun tradition that I'm so glad we have.
Now, Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!!
Jonah and Madison were both asleep by the time we got there...they were exhausted from the excitement of Christmas morning at home!
Jonah really, REALLY likes Grandma & Grandpa Baldwin's Christmas train...it's just SO hard not to touch it!!! He sat in this chair for probably 30 minutes and finally he just couldn't resist...there was a bit of a casualty with one of the train cars, but hopefully Grandpa Baldwin can fix it!
I really, really disliked these family pics, but oh well!
This was the best one, because I wasn't in it...
Sweet little Elijah's first Christmas!
Ready...Set...GO!!!
Jonah loves his new "mow lawner!"
The banana in Jonah's stocking is one of my favorite Christmas memories! So, so funny!!!
It's so special that the kids have things like this that Grandma Baldwin made for them!
