The Christmas Card That Never Was

This will be the last post about Christmas 2013, promise!

I had every intention and hope of sending out a Christmas card this year! But....it didn't happen :(

Did I ever tell you how last May I found a pile of stamped, sealed, addressed and ready to go Christmas cards that I never mailed? I felt terrible! I vowed to do better this year and even took some pictures of the boys to use on the Christmas card before Thanksgiving.

But then December just went and FLEW by on me. I blame December. It got to the point where I realized that I could either be stressed about getting this done and spend a good chunk of time addressing cards or I could let it go.

I chose to let it go.....and vowed that next year I will start in September getting pictures taken and getting the cards ordered! (If that really happens people, it will be a Christmas miracle!)

It was the right decision this year. Once I decided not to worry about sending cards, I instantly felt lighter and space for other things opened up. Like playing in the snow with my kids, helping the boys make wrapping paper and sending my 93 year old grandmother hand made ornaments and drawings from the boys. I can honestly say that we really enjoyed the holidays this year in part because I let much of my "to do" list  fall away. 

For a minute, can we just pretend this is our Christmas card? Can you pretend that the mail man just arrived and you are opening our card? And could you maybe pretend that it's not January 13th??

From youngest to oldest, here's the crew!

Owen

Finn

Everett

Carter

Colin

Wishing you a blessed 2014!!!

Christmas Morning

Here are a few last pictures from Christmas morning. The boys were so excited, especially Colin who led the charge to see what was awaiting them under the tree.

Owen was there too, cheering on his brothers from his jumper.

My Dad gave Colin a bag of tools with a lot of "stuff" in it. It used to be my grandparents and they kept it at their apartment just in case they needed it. Well rest assured, Colin will take VERY good care of it from here on out!

The boys gave Chris a superman t-shirt which we thought was kinda fitting. I think next time he takes all five boys to Lowes or Meijer (yes, he does that sometimes!) he should wear this shirt!

The only bummer of Christmas was that my niece's Macy and Reese got the flu and pretty much quarantined themselves in the basement for the rest of the week. The cousins hardly got to see each other :( I felt so bad for them- and for my brother and sister in law!

Over the holidays I came across this quote and it made me smile. 

“One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day."

So true.

Christmas 2013: Santa's early delivery

On Sunday morning we had our family Christmas at home which gave Santa a chance to deliver a few big items early, before leaving for my parents house. It also allowed us some special family time which last year we realized we enjoyed too.

Here are the boys waiting for the go ahead to run downstairs:

Wait, where's Owen? :)

Alright, now the crew is complete. :)

Whataya know? Big boy beds under the tree!!!

The triplets actually had a very casual response to these. They seemed happy but cool and collected. Not quite what we were expecting.

Also, Colin got a REAL drill. Funny story about this drill is that it was a last minute gift. We thought that we should have something for him to open since the triplets were getting beds, so Chris picked up a ten dollar drill at Menards.

People, this drill has not been out of his possession since being unwrapped!! He has even been sleeping with it. On Sunday night he ended up crawling in bed with us in the middle of the night. At 5 a.m. I rolled over and there next to my pillow, in between Coin and I, was the drill!

The other big gift I alluded to in this post was a bounce house.

It's huge but Thankfully it JUST fits at one end of our basement. It's an indoor/ outdoor one but obviously in the winter it will live indoors.

The boys were pretty shocked to find a bounce house in the basement and have been enjoying it so much. It's kind of a gift to Chris and I too because it occupies them and tires them out!!

Peace

We are at my parents house on the east side of the state. It is very snowy here and beautiful out. My parents were one of a handful of houses in the neighborhood that didn't loose power due to the ice storm. Thankfully, most other homes in the area had power restored by Christmas Eve.

We had a wonderful Christmas and I hope you did too!

For me Christmas day ended with Colin and Cooper asleep in my lap as I sat by the fire and the Christmas tree.

It was so so peaceful.

More pics to follow in the next few days :-)

Goodbye cribs, hello big boy beds!

The boys received a letter today which arrived all the way from the North Pole. It was from Santa and apparently Santa has a few big gifts that he can't haul all the way to Mom-mom and Pop-pop's house for Christmas (aka, not all the gifts will fit in our minivan!).

So tonight the boys left out snack for Santa and his Reindeer and they are SO excited to see what Santa brings.

I'm excited too because I know how thrilled the triplets will be when they see three BIG BOY BEDS under the tree. From the first time someone asked them what they wanted for Christmas, they've always all said, "I want a big boy bed like Colin." It surprised Chris and I when we heard that because we hadn't ever discussed it with them. But it had obviously been on their mind! I think they are going to freak out with excitement!

Tonight amongst the busyness of bedtime, I almost, almost forgot that tonight will be the triplets LAST night in their cribs. When I realized this, I had a little twinge of sadness (and ran to get my camera!). My teeny little babies are growing up and it's happening so fast.

But that's part of the deal right? New exciting milestones means we must also say goodbye to stages past.

So, goodbye cribs

Finn, little does he know what awaits him in the morning :)

And Owen, Merry Christmas to you too! You get a BRAND NEW CRIB! Your pick :)

Just what you wanted, right?!

(Owen, who is almost 7 months doesn't have a crib yet. I refused to buy a fourth crib, I mean seriously! So he sleeps with us and seems perfectly happy with that but he'll need a crib eventually!)