2014 Year in Review

I couldn't decide whether to do my annual Year in Review video this year, since I'm working on Cole's Year in Review for his first birthday and I thought the videos would be too similar.  Also, spare time is hard to come by these days, so it seemed overwhelming, and I always have such a hard time deciding what song to use.

But, after seeing Natalie's post today, I was reminded how fun these videos are to watch, as they capture so many fun moments throughout the year, and the many changes that our kiddos go through in 12 months.  (Thanks for the motivation, Natalie!) And I figured that, with a little planning, I could avoid reusing too many of the same photos between this video and Cole's.  So, Jackson and I spent some time today going through photos and he helped decide on a song - he's so decisive, it made that decision quick and easy.

Here's a quick summary of our year, and WHEW - what a year it's been.

We welcomed Cole into our family at the beginning of the year and while life has gotten a whole lot louder and crazier, it's also been so much more fun and we've had so many fun and memorable moments together a family of four.  I just love both these boys so much.

Jackson grew and changed so much this year.  He said goodbye to diapers back in March, he celebrated his 3rd birthday and very shortly after, he tossed out his pacifier.  He started preschool this fall and took soccer lessons for the first time.  He experienced lots of other firsts including seeing Sesame Street Live, watching the Seafair show, riding his first big boy bike and scooter, raspberry picking and rides at Remlinger Farms), and first field trips (to the fire station and to Remlinger Farm).

Cole went from a sleepy newborn to a loud, food-loving, scooting, furniture-cruising baby.  He loves reading, playing with anything loud or that is part of his cleaning set, (happily) yelling, pointing, climbing up stairs, but does not enjoy car rides or sitting still.

We took a day trip to Suncadia for Mother's Day bunch, spent a weekend in Yakima, celebrated Uncle Scott and Anya's wedding in Bellingham, and a family trip to Maui with the Shawver's.  Corey and I snuck away for overnight stays at Salish for our anniversary and Poulsbo for Corey's co-worker's wedding, and a enjoyed a weekend getaway to Santa Barbara this fall. J and I went on an overnight trip to Bellingham to celebrate Uncle Scott's birthday.

2014 included playing at lots of parks, many Starbucks dates, a few naps, many trips to see the nearby "horsies", countless Play-Doh play sessions, tons of puzzles and games, and lots of singing, clapping and waving with Cole.

And now, I hope you enjoy watching our year in review.

2014 was an amazing year for us, and I can't see what 2015 has in store.  Happy New Year!

(PS: Previous year in review posts can be found here: 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009)

Christmas 2014

I couldn't let 2014 wrap up without recapping our wonderful time last week celebrating Christmas four - yes FOUR - times!  

Let me just start by saying we have such thoughtful and giving friends and family - we were all completely spoiled this year.  Seriously.

Our several day celebration kicked off Christmas Eve morning at our place with Joan and Elliott.  We do an Elfster gift exchange with Corey's family, so each person draws a name and buys for that person.  So, while they were here, we exchanged our Elfster gifts and the boys opened their presents from Joan and Elliott and then enjoyed brunch.  Jackson enjoyed putting together his puzzles and new 3-in-1 Lego set from Uncle Elliott, and Cole loved his hammering/xylophone toy and ball popper, among many other things.

That evening, we headed over to Joan's for Christmas dinner, along with Consuelo.  There we all exchanged gifts with Consuelo and then everyone opened their stockings (we all buy each other a few stocking goodies).  Joan made us a delicious dinner and eggnog pie for dessert, before we headed home to get ready for Santa.

Before bed, Jackson wrote a note to Santa and put out a plate of cookies and a glass of milk for him to enjoy during his visit, and then a plate of carrots and pears, along with a bowl of water, for the reindeer.  (Can I just say...I had so much fun making it look like Santa and the reindeer had actually been by to enjoy what he'd left out!)

Once the boys woke up, we headed downstairs to open the gifts that we bought the boys and the gifts from Santa.  J loved opening his gifts and "helping" open Cole's (and by helping, I mean completely opening them).  Cole loved watching Jackson and then checking out everything that was opened.  While Jackson loved everything he received, he especially loved Cole's toys.  [Side note: while I received all kinds of wonderful gifts from everyone, my favorite item was the house cleaning service that Corey signed us up for!  I'd been wanting to do it for awhile since, with two kiddos and a full time job, cleaning takes a very low priority these days (i.e. not much gets done on a weekly basis), but having a messy house or having to clean the critical things (bathrooms) late at night when I'm exhausted drives me nuts.  Well, the first cleaning appointment was today and It. Was. AMAZING!  The entire house is spotless, smells nice and looks so good (way better than it ever does when I'm done). And having the whole house done at once is another huge benefit - when I clean, I do bits and pieces as I have time, so the entire house isn't fully clean at any given time.  We're currently planing to have them come every other week, and I am SO excited to not have to worry about cleaning much. (I'll just do some light cleaning as needed in between their visits.)  Thank you, thank you, thank you to my hubby!]

Later that morning, my parents, grandma and Scott & Anya came over to celebrate Christmas #4.  We all exchanged gifts and given the amount of people and gifts, our living room quickly turned into chaos.  Jackson was opening gifts left and right, and I had no idea who had given him what, or what he'd opened.  He sure had a blast, though.  

That day wrapped up with Joan and Elliott joining us for dinner and dessert here at our, before everyone headed home.

Every year, the holidays get more and more fun as J gets more into them and more excited about everything that comes with them.  I look so forward to them and the traditions we've started and can't wait for Cole to join in more in the years to come.

Corey and Consuelo, trying on the crowns that came in the crackers that Joan gives everyone each Christmas.

Hard at work on signing his name on (and using lots of tape to secure) his note to Santa.

Having a good heart to heart about the weather...something they're both obsessed with.  My parents even bought J his own little weather station - he can tell you the indoor and outdoor temp at any time.

Cole loved the washer at Gramma Joan's...J used to love watching it as well.  Must run in the family.

J loved the bike he received from my parents and while he had some trouble figuring out the pedals the first day (he kept accidentally putting the breaks on), he quickly figured it out the next trip out, and loves cruising around the neighborhood.  

If it makes noise, Cole loves it.

While this may be one of the first times they fought over a toy, I'm SURE it won't be the last...

Cole sharing his train with J, and taking him for a spin.

Cole enjoyed taking everything in...he sat so still at times (which never happens)!

Love this kiddo!

J received bath paints in his stocking.  After Cole got out of the bath, J continued to play and then told me something was wrong with the red paint and he couldn't get anymore out - that's because it was gone!  I knew the paint wouldn't last forever, but I certainly thought it would last longer than one bath!

Cole often makes this impressed/wowed/amazed face and he has this expression in nearly all of the Christmas photos Corey captured...he must have really enjoyed the festivities.

J received a few new puzzles, which he promptly put together.

And J loved his new big boy Lego set.  I think Corey may have enjoyed it almost as much J...

11 Months

Cole's 11 months today!  Here are a few things about our babe at 11 months:

• Will (occasionally) repeat some sounds - "da da", "ma ma" (only heard once or twice) and "no no" (heard for the first time today)
• Still LOVES playing with his cleaning set - after opening his new toys on Christmas, he'd play with them for a bit, and then head right back to his cleaning set. 
• Pulls up to a stand often, and can easily get/sit back down.  He's even known to stand and just lean against the furniture/object he's pulled up on so that he can use both his hands to play (or more often chew on whatever he's holding), or will stand and just hold on with one hand. Today he even took 1-2 steps away from the ottoman he had pulled up on, over to my arms.
• Loves bath time.  On bath nights, he hears the water start and quickly scoots in, no matter what he's been doing prior, and pulls up on the tub to check things out.
• Has been a great sleeper this month - falls asleep almost immediately after we leave the room around 7:15 or 7:30, and we don't hear from him until after 6.  These last few days, he's slept until 6:40 or 7 (and J has slept until after 8!).  On the rare occasions he does wake up over night, he typically just sits up and cries for a minute or two, finds a bink, and then flops back down and goes back to sleep.
• When he wakes up in the morning, or from a nap, he often throws most of his (6) pacifiers out of his crib, right in front of the door.
• Is still extremely squirmy and is very hard to change in/out of clothes or to change his diaper. Changes often require multiple toys/objects to distract him, along with tickles, funny faces and voices, singing, etc.  Quite the workout.

I've officially started the party planning for his first birthday (construction/tool theme, since unfortunately they don't have any housework/house cleaning themed decorations - ha!) and I've started compiling photos and looking for songs to use in his one-year slide show (Jackson's is here).  I can't quite believe that he'll soon no longer be a "baby".

Holiday Festivities

Since returning from Maui two weeks ago, we've been keeping busy with lots of holiday festivities. Jackson is eagerly awaiting Santa's visit, and loves counting down the days until Christmas each day (especially since it means he gets to open a new door in his chocolate advent calendar).

Here's a quick peek at how we've been spending our time over the past few weeks.

Decorating the house inside...

And out...(J loves coming home each day and turning on the tree and outside lights)...

J finding out what Elvis the Elf is up to each morning...

J and I enjoyed Snowflake Lane at the Bellevue Collection:

And J loved (his first) Wendy's Frostie afterwards...

Both boys saw/met Santa (as you can tell Cole wasn't impressed and Jackson pulled his normal funny face the second the camera started snapping pics, but given his fever and cold, we'll let this one slide)...

J rode the Santa Train with Gramma Linda and Grampa Kent...

Corey and I went to the HMG 2014 holiday party at the Westin downtown

J and Gramma Joan made a yummy gingerbread house...

J and I made and decorated sugar cookies...

Cole and J have been wearing matching holiday pjs at home...

 

And also at the Gossetts' Christmas Pajama party over the weekend (such a fun theme and so cute to see all the kiddos in their holiday jammies)...

And I'm thrilled to say that my holiday shopping, which began two Sundays, after our return from Maui (outside of just a few stocking items I'd purchased for the boys before we left), is totally complete and everything is wrapped, and I'm feeling much less stressed. (Note: It's all sitting on the dining room table because Roxy would try to eat and/or attack it all if we put it under the tree.  Seriously, it's like I have three kids.)

We're all looking forward to the upcoming celebrations planned on Christmas Eve and Christmas!

More Maui

Jen captured some great photos during our trip and I loved so many of them, that it warranted a separate post.  (Thanks again, Jen!)

We're fully back in the swing of normal life (work, daycare/school, chores) so it's nice to look back and reminisce about the good times we had last week.

Enjoy!

 

Kiddos spent lots of time doing puzzles. Gotta love the $1 section at Target.

 

Between the wind and J being silly, I love this outtake. Love that Cole could care less and is just posing (very seriously).

 

 There's that pointing again!

 

 

He's such a big boy, but sometimes, I catch glimpses of him from certain angles and still see the chubby baby he once was. Still has those chubby cheeks!

 

This little ledge kept them all entertained for ages.  Who knew jumping off of it could be so fun?!

 

Seriously though, these eyelashes!  I am so jealous.

 

These two!  They did so well together all week.

 

 

He looks so sweet and innocent here...but this was just a few minutes before the big meltdown.  

  

 

A shot of everyone, and everyone is looking at the camera...success!