Christmasy Timey-Time!

Christmas Vaca in Cali

Although we traveled to Washington State for Christmas, Jordan, Jackson and I were excited to have our own family Christmas.  Well, Jackson was happy, but I'm not sure how much of that had to do with celebrating Christmas early or the fact that we were playing on the floor with him, haha.  

Anyhow...

For the past two Black Fridays I have made a Christmas shopping list and hit the sales.  I love shopping sales!  I can spend the same amount of money, but get many more gifts :)  This year my major goal was to buy a Christmas tree.  Last year we tried to get one after Christmas vacation, but there were only pink and white Christmas trees or "California palm" Christmas trees (both a bit on the abnormal side for me).  I wanted a tree that looked real!  And I found one at MICHAELS!!!

It may only be 4 feet tall, but it's ours and we love it!  There's something about lit Christmas trees that always speak to me!  It's that special Christmas glow of having the lights out and the tree lit that just gets me tickled about this wonderful season. 

This is Jackson "opening" his first present.  

He was having a bit of trouble and asked mommy for help :P

And I know he's a boy...but don't all kids just love sticking the bows on their head?!  It's like a 3D sticker, right?  ...Or a huge band-aid :)

Jordan headed up the "scissor required" presents:

The day after "Christmas" we headed out on our first flying trip with Jackson.
Here we are, waiting in the airport after getting through security.

I was so happy he stayed groggy till take-off.  Jackson is a pro flier!  He ate for 5 minutes at take-off and landing and slept the rest of the way.

Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's

For the Christmas half of our vacation we visited my side of the family, the Allen's, aka Grandma and Grandpa's.

And I must say, Jackson LOVED the attention.  He was held almost every minute of every day!!!  Ok, that's an exaggeration, but you get the picture.  One of the most important visits we made was visiting my Grandma Willey!  She is soooo excited that Jackson is here!  As number one great grandson, he inherited her favorite baby outfit from when my dad was a baby! Here's great Grandma Willey holding Jackson:

My Grandma and Grandpa Martinson and Great Aunt Peggy stopped by a couple times and couldn't get enough of Jackson!




We also enjoyed spending time at my Aunt Patty's home.  We enjoyed games, dinners, and visiting.  Jackson fell in love with my cousin Jill too, haha.  Here they are:

And I can't forget cousin Tommie either!  He loved chilling with her, hehe :P

For Christmas Eve my family has a tradition of getting together at my Aunt Patty's home and having a huge Christmas dinner.  Afterwards we just hang out, sing Christmas carols, and then SANTA COMES!!! Jackson wasn't scared at all, he likes Santa.

Santa Clause also gives each child their first Christmas gift.  Jackson got a board book called "Goodnight Moon".  I love that book!  Jordan and I had so much fun showing off Jackson!!!  I call him my angel baby, hehe.

Christmas morning dawned on a Sunday.  And it was quite a busy morning.  We decided it would be best to postpone opening Santa Clause gifts and what not until after 11am church.  So, we set about getting dressed, eating, and making it to church on time!  Jackson was ready first...and I must say he is quite the looker in his Sunday outfit!

And he was quite content hanging out with Uncle "Rick"while the rest of us (my younger brother, older brother, sister-in-law, baby cousin Zoey, Grandma, Grandpa, Great Grandpa and Grandma Allen, Jordan, and I) finished prepping ourselves for church.  

After church, Jordan thought it would be a good idea to re-dawn our Moose PJs (thanks Ryan, Karin, and Hochstrasser boys!) to better relax and enjoy the Christmas festivities.  I thought it a good idea too.  Here's our little Moose family!

(...Grandma gave Jackson a moose hat which just added to the whole effect of our outfits, hehe)

The rest of the week we enjoyed spending quality time together: 

Playing with cousin Zoey! (We are all very excited to have cousins soooo close in age)

Uncle Tanner acting as book holder so that Jackson could enjoy a bit of light reading!!! 

(Yes, we have a genius baby)

Playing games!

And, of course, enjoying Jackson and the time we have together as a family!!!
 Jackson looks surprised here from the flash, but he LOVES it when Daddy plays with him :)

Overall, we had a wonderful Christmas and loved spending so much time with family.  

Blog post to come: New Years Eve with the Hochstrasser Side :)

Goodbye 2nd Trimester!

The second trimester is coming to a close and the third trimester is about to begin.  I can't believe how fast time has gone by...already 26 weeks!  And for the first time, just a couple days ago, a stranger asked when I was expecting.  That was an exciting moment - knowing that I've "popped".  

With the end of the 2nd trimester, also comes many new and exciting changes for Jordan and I.  First of all, I quit nannying a week or so prior to our St. Louis trip and am now prepping for our big move into a 2 BR apartment.  House hunting is slow, but keeps me busy.  I even put together a "packing/cleaning plan" so that come the moving date everything is ready to go without rushing to get things done at the last minute.

Granted, life would be pretty tedious and boring if packing and apartment hunting was all I did.  Another pass-time that has brought many hours of entertainment and great deals is freecycle.  This is a website that allows people to post things they're getting rid of for free in the area.  I signed up for the Los Altos group...it's a more established and well-off part of the Bay area.  One of my first finds was a Christmas Advent Calendar.  

This project was started, but never finished by its previous owner.  So I took on the task.  I nailed, sanded, painted and assembled most all parts.  I must say, I was pretty excited with the end result.  

Each day leading up to Christmas the numbered boxes have a new ornament to add to the tree.  By Christmas you have a decked out tree: 

With the stockings I'm making and this new advent calendar, I'm feeling our home will be much more of a Winter Wonderland this year :)

Freecycle has also been the source of many great finds.  This past week, I found a Pali crib being given away for free.  Come to find out, the crib was in practically new condition - barely a scratch or ding to be seen!  (Not viewed below because it's now disassembled for the move).  After packing up the crib, the family also asked if we'd like a portable high chair.  Of course, I said yes.  And after washing it up, it's also proven to be quite a find.  Not only is it in great condition, but I was glad that it has neutral coloring!  

Jordan and I are feeling so blessed right now.  Yes, the expenses of a baby aren't too extreme, but when you think of all the little and big things you absolutely need it's sometimes a bit overwhelming.  The generosity of our friends and family in helping us to prepare for our little guy has meant so much to us.  And receiving the crib and high chair in practically new condition, for free has been the cherry on top...filling us with much gratitude.  

Lastly, I'd like to share my most recent baby project - a swaddling blanket.  Some of you may remember that I made one for my Visiting Teachee.  It turned out so cute I just had to make one for our little guy too.  You can' have too many blankets!

In case you can't tell, the back is checkered yellow and white, the front has little elephants all over that say "stomp".   

I suppose it's no wonder with following freecycle, house hunting, preparing to move, and doing baby crafts that time has flown by.  With each day and each kick from the baby I get a bit more excited for our little guy!

Christmastime!!!

Christina and I had a wonderful time this past Christmas. We left California for Washington on Thursday, the 23rd, and came back late Sunday evening, January 2nd. Part of that trip we spent in northern Idaho at a cabin high in the Rocky Mountains. But first, Christmas!!

The Christmas weekend we spent with my family in University Place. On Christmas Eve my mom made a bunch of hors d'oeuvres and we had some family and friends over. It was a lot of fun! 

Christmas morning came and we were the first one's up (as a side note, we were the only "kids" at home, one of my sisters and her family live in Tacoma, but they didn't come over till 10am.) It's my family's tradition to get your stockings off the stairs when you wake up, but then wait for everyone to go into the living room and open presents.

We ate breakfast so that we could wait for my sister, Angela, to arrive with her husband, Keenan, and two girls, Daysha and Jayla. Here's Christina and I with all of our Christmas loot!

I got some good stuff, including: Toy Story 3 dvd, shirts, gift cards, The Book Thief, John Adams, Up piano book, a tie, and the board game Pompeii.

Christina got a cake decorating kit and other cooking things, a spa kit, scrapbooking supplies, sweaters, gift cards, Blokus travel addition, and a candle warmer. 

Daysha sure enjoyed having us around, especially Christina. They played a lot.

Jayla has one of the biggest smiles!

Daysha and Christina showing off some of their bling.

We'll talk about our trip to Idaho in a new post. New Year's Eve was fun too, although we don't have pictures. My home stake rented out the local YMCA. It was a bit crowded, especially in the pool and the racquetball courts, so we didn't do those two things. But we did attend the salsa class my mom taught, played a little wallyball, used the eliptical (which is cool for people that don't have a gym membership anymore), and met up with some friends. 

The rest of the time at home you would find Christina, my mom, and me playing games like these.