A Very Merry Christmas

Christmas Baking

All of my sisters came over for our annual Christmas Cookie Day. Here are some pictures of the goodies we made.


My sister Roxanna made a manger scene out of her cookies. I thought it was cute.

And my sister Reanna made these morbid, scary cookies. As usual. My favorite would have to be the prune eye cookie though.

I got brave this year and made bon bons. I always thought they would be difficult to make, but these were so easy and fun! I love how they turned out.

Christmas Festivities

What a great Christmas we had this year! Thanks to some amazing family and friends James made out like a very spoiled little boy. We didn't know how great it was going to turn out because we woke up on Christmas Eve to a very cranky James. One of his eyes was swollen shut and oozing and he was totally miserable. We had plans to go to the annual Christmas movie with my family but ended up in Urgent Care instead. As it turned out the poor kid had a double ear infection that had spread to his eyes and throat. I felt so horrible because the only indication he had given that anything was remotely wrong was tugging at his ear a few days before. After that it was off to the pharmacy for antibiotics and ear drops. Add a dose of tylenol and he was peacefully sleeping in no time flat. We spent the rest of our day catering to the baby and later on we went for a drive and looked at Christmas lights. When we came home we watched Christmas movies before heading to bed.

His eyes were so sensitive to light on Christmas Eve that we had to put his sunglasses on inside the house! He was happier when they were on because he could still play.

James doesn't get how to open presents on his own. He loves to crinkle the paper, but when it came to actually opening them he needed a little help. We would help him unwrap a present, show it to him and then put it aside so he could open another one. This method really made him mad because we kept giving him toys and taking them away. About half way through he had had it with opening and just wanted to play, so Paul and I opened the rest and Paul put all the toys together.

After the medicine kicked in on Christmas Eve. You can still see that his left eye is red and puffy. Poor baby.

Great Grandma Cohoon sent him this sled. SO cute.


Christmas Morning

James got so many presents I don't think I could list them all, so here's a picture of his presents:

For Christmas this year we set a budget that PAUL didn't stick to. Stinker. He sold his books and added it to his budget without me knowing. He bought me a Franklin planner. And not just any planner, but a Jean Chatzky Financial planner! I am SO stoked about this gift. It may seem silly to some, but I currently have been organizing my life out of several binders and folders. Being able to have everything organized is such a relief. I LOVE my gift :) He also got me a box of chocolates. All caramels because they are the only ones I really like. I also got a couponizer (a coupon organizer) from my awesome almost-brother-in-law. Oh, and a sewing machine from my dad. I'm SO excited to finally have a sewing machine. I can not wait to try it out.

I got Paul the Joseph Smith Papers. He's been wanting this book forever, so I broke down and bought it for him. I also got him some cologne by Versace. Mmmm. He also got a watch from my parents and a charging station from my sister.

After our Christmas at home we went over to my parents for Christmas dinner and gift exchange with my brothers and sisters. It was a nice relaxing holiday but I can't believe that Christmas is over and it's time to take down all the decorations. I'm always sad to take down my tree. I love all the lights. I'm also going to have to come up with new things to entertain James. We have been truly blessed this year and I am so grateful to so many people. I hope you all had a happy Christmas!

Cuteness!

I finally uploaded a bunch of videos of our baby joy. Enjoy!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

This time of year I always try to remember why we are really celebrating. This year I've reached this new found understanding of just how big of a deal it was that God gave up his Son to redeem us all. I always knew it, but I've had a major A-HA! moment. I just can't imagine being strong enough to do that. I've also been thinking of Mary, the mother of Christ. What a strong woman she must have been. To be able to raise the Son of God and then to have watched as he was tortured and crucified. I can't imagine being that strong. This has all been in the back of my mind as we've set up our tree and prepared for Christmas festivities. I am grateful for my Savior and for His sacrifice.

That being said, we are completely ready for the holiday! My Christmas shopping is done and the presents are wrapped and under the tree! James loves Christmas, although he isn't fond of the cold weather. I'm sure next year will be different when he can play in the snow. I've always loved Christmas, but now that we have James it's just so much more meaningful and FUN!

This year's Hallmark on the left (Baby's First Christmas) and James' footprint ornament on the right.

Our pretty tree!

I made our stockings. Except for James'. I had this one since I was a kid and just put a poinsettia on it to match the others.

I sit him in front of the tree so he can see the lights and reach for things. He loves pulling the bows off the presents. Such a cutie!

Little stinker tried to pull Santa's beard. Santa didn't seem to be very amused...or jolly for that matter. But James didn't cry and wasn't scared of him at all.

Happy Christmas!

First Thanksgiving

We hosted our very first Thanksgiving this year and it was so great! I didn't grow up liking Thanksgiving. It wasn't a very big thing at our house. We used to decorate for Christmas and eat at a buffet, so this gave me a real appreciation for the holiday. Paul made the turkey (he stuffed it full of onions, celery, carrots, apples, oranges and lemons and seasonings and chicken stock. It was sooooooo moist and delicious. I've been living off of it for days.
I made Lion House pumpkin pie, apple crumb pie, cornbread stuffing, cranberry sauce, Grandma Willardson's frozen dessert, and a delicious sweet potato bake. We did the whole thing from scratch and it turned out fabulous.
This year we have so much to be thankful for. We have a beautiful, healthy little boy, a job, a place to live, the gospel, friends and family who love us and so much more. Life can be hard sometimes, but through it all we have been so blessed. We don't forget this or the Lord's the hand in our lives.

I should have taken a picture of the apple pie also, but...I was busy.


We set our table to send a picture to Paul's grandma. She gave us this beautiful table as a wedding gift. We ended up using paper plates to cut down on dishes, but it sure is pretty :)

Paul's fantastic turkey.

Sampler plate of everything.

My little man is growing up so fast. He was a very patient while we cooked and baked.

All Good

We have been truly blessed this week. We had been very stressed out about the job situation, school standing, and James' health. We have truly felt the prayers of our family and friends. On Sunday our home teacher came over and gave Paul a blessing. It really eased our minds and helped to prepare us for the week.

James had his ultrasound on Monday. The Radiologist knew right away that everything was ok. That right there was stress relieving. I don't know what I would have done had something been really wrong. Poor little kid didn't enjoy the ultrasound AT ALL. He screamed and carried on. Holding a 20 pound squirmy baby in place for 10 minutes is harder than you might think! At that point I tried not to be stressed about the other things (although this was difficult also).

The test that Paul had been studying for was hard, but he got a 92! After his test he went to his second interview. He came out feeling confident. The interviewer told him that out of the 120 applicants for the job it came down to him and one other guy and that we would know within 24 hours if he got the job.

This afternoon we were just about to take a nap to take our minds off of the job situation when his phone rang. He got the job!! We have been so blessed this week it's unbelievable. This job comes with full state benefits and will pay for tuition for us both (at UVU so I'll be doing some classes there and transferring them to BYU...hey, it's FREE). I'm so happy and relieved tonight. I feel like we've been so stressed out lately and now that things have calmed down we're emotionally exhausted. Nothing like a great Thanksgiving weekend to get some much needed rest and relaxation!

Five Months!

Where does the time go? James is 5 months old! He's growing so fast and is such a big boy! He is 26 inches and 19 pounds. I feel blessed every day to be his mom.

This is his favorite toy. It's an octopus with rattles and other baby things hanging off of it.

He despises tummy time. I keep telling him that he has to go through this if he wants to learn to crawl, but he just screams louder.

He "helps" me do the laundry. Mostly he'll just grab at whatever I'm trying to fold, but he stays quiet and amused.

Jumperoo!

His newest habit: finger chewing.

Now that he can actually reach his feet he rarely lets go of them.

He likes cups.

He loves to hide under blankets. If he gets anywhere near a blanket he'll pull it over his head and growl and squeal and giggle until we "find" him.

I love his chunky hands! He grabs for absolutely everything and puts it straight into his mouth. He is just so adorable and we love him so much.

Halloween

I've never been a huge Halloween fan...until I saw James in his costume. We handed out candy for Halloween this year! It's the first time we've been able to and while it probably sounds dumb, it was a lot of fun. Paul carved a pumpkin and James guarded the candy. He's such a cute Pooh!

He was growling in this one. He cracks me up. Every morning when he wakes up he gives us his biggest grin and growls away.

Paul was so proud of his pumpkin! `

And this is not Halloween, but it's cute:

Despite the mess he's a really good eater. He LOVES sweet potatoes. :)