Holidays 2018

The Christmas decorations are almost all down at our house. It's always a bit sad when the holidays are over, but looking back we were so blessed to celebrate with our families!

Halloween this year can and went pretty quickly this year. We didn't go trick-or-treating this year so Claire just used one of the costumes my mom had from when my brother was little, so no prep required and we saved money! Claire was a big help passing out candy at my parents house. She actually did a really good job and got to show off her cutie tiger costume. She also got to do exciting Halloween activities at Daycare. She built a haunted gingerbread house - although I think she probably ate more than she put on, had a spiders web (spaghetti) and a ghost (banana) for lunch and, got to see a costume parade, and hang out with all her friends in their costumes. She did a good job of leaving her costume on, I don't think it bothered her at all.

Every year and every day we have so much to be thankful for, but it's always nice to set a day aside to celebrate and spend with friends and family. This year for Thanksgiving we packed up and headed to Muscatine to celebrate with the Mann family. We had a great time seeing everyone and enjoying some delicious Thanksgiving food.

Christmas time is probably my favorite holiday season, and I couldn't wait to decorate this year! Maybe it was because I got to decorate a new house and find new places to put everything, or maybe it was because each year Claire gets older it gets more fun to celebrate and do things with her. Either way I love Christmas decorations! I love the lights at night in the house. It feels so warm and cozy.

As Claire gets older, it's fun to see Chris get more into Christmas. He willingly watched Christmas movies on Netflix and Prime with me (they were all super cheesy, but so fun to watch), and got excited getting her toys for Christmas. We weren't exactly sure how much Claire would be into Christmas this year, but then we saw a video from daycare of her with the other kids opening present and we couldn't wait. She was so excited seeing the older kids unwrap presents and was squealing with excitement the entire time...however when it came time to open presents at home it wasn't as magical as expected.

I knew grandparents would get her so many presents so I didn't want to over do it. So I got her 4 presents for Christmas: 1) something you want, 2) something you need, 3) something to wear, 4) something to read. So of course with a 18 month old the something you need isn't that exciting (or so you'd think)...I got her cups. They were the first thing she opened and she wouldn't open or play with anything else. Even the awesome bike Chris picked out for her, she wanted nothing to do with. It was like we were torturing her, putting her on it and showing her how to use it. Since Christmas Eve she has come around to it and enjoys scooting around the house.

Of course I was right; grandparents, uncles/aunt, friends all were so kind and Claire got more gifts than she knew what to do with. The present winners this year were a baby doll from Grandma Connie & Grandpa Joe, a shopping cart and cash register from Grandma & Grandpa Sprengeler and probably the most creative gift she got, from Uncle Aaron, a kitchen counter stand that she can climb up to be at counter level in the kitchen. She uses it every day and especially loves bringing her toy pots into the kitchen, standing on her stool/stand and cooking. Claire's Kitchen is very busy and she is becoming quite the chef coming up with some great recipes.

These past holiday months have been so much fun! Getting to spend the holidays in our new home was wonderful and we can't wait to continue to fill it with love during the holidays.