Christmas 2015 {Brief Recap}

Christmas Eve at the Baldo House

I know, I'm totally late in the game with the whole Christmas recap but life....it gets in the way.  And the recap is just as much for me 10 years from now as it is for you to keep in the loop with what we are up too.

This year Louie, the elf made an appearance .  Mason didn't grasp the whole concept of the elf keeping an eye on him etc. but her sure did enjoy look for Louie each morning.  I'm looking forward for him to join us again next year and being a bit more creative with his hiding spots.  Mason didn't really get why Louie like being in the fridge....  Ava even enjoyed seeing Louie on the last morning up on the window sill pointing at him all day.

Mason wanted three things for Christmas this year but he wanted absolutely nothing to do with Santa.  He had a hard time figuring out how Santa was going to come in the house while he was sleeping.  He kept looking up the chimney asking us how and why he was going to come down with his gifts.  He had a hard time wrapping his mind around all this along with all the excitement of Christmas and receiving gifts.

Mason's Wish List:
1. Marker Maker
2. Electric Guitar with a cord
3. A Music Stand

We celebrate both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with our usual family traditions. Christmas Eve included a fish feast at my parents' house with lots of family and fun.  Christmas Day we opened presents from Santa at our house in the morning then headed back to my parents' for more gifts and yummy leftovers.  After we all took a little nap we headed back out to my Uncle's house for more food and fun.

Here are some pictures of our amazing Christmas!  We are so blessed and lucky.

 

 Christmas Morning:

Mase and his new music stand

Christmas Recap {2014}

Christmas 2014

This Christmas was both extra special and extra tiring. Christmas 2014 marks Ava's 1st Christmas and our 1st Christmas as a family of four. Although, Ava surprised us by being 3 weeks early (which is even earlier then I had anticipated) we were all set for a memorable Christmas. The house was decorated and presents we all bought and wrapped. Thank goodness for being prepared.

Miss Ava's 1st Christmas

Christmas Eve was spent at my parents. In the morning we "helped" prep for 30 plus people and our traditional fish celebration. Even Mason got his hands dirty this year by helping Papa ans Daddy open up clams.

Mason learning our Christmas traditions

Very focused on the task at hand

Christmas morning Matt and I opened up gifts from each other and tried to get Mason into opening his Santa gifts. He received this cash register and it caused all opening of presents to come to a halt. Once we realized none of his other presents were going to be opened we headed back to my parents; where we opened presents and enjoyed leftovers. As we all took turns opening up gifts Mason started to catch on. He finally dove into his pile of presents and was truly excited about Christmas. 

We were all exhausted by this point so a nap was in order before heading to uncle Neal and Aunt Rose's for dinner. It took some motivation to get both kids out the door but it was so worth it. Mason played with his older cousins and had the best time. It is heartwarming to see him interact with them and give them hugs (this is unusual for Mase, seeing he isn't big on hugs and kisses). 

This Christmas is one to remember! I also took an important lesson away from this season of craziness: Christmas is just as exhausting for the adults as it is for the kids. All the prep work is well worth it but by the end of the day Mason was exhausted. It was just a little too much. 

We are so blessed to have such a wonderful little family of four, that Ava is healthy (she just needs to gain some weight), that Matt has some time off work and that Mason is happy & healthy too. We still have adjusting to do with our new addition but we are slowly creating our new norm. 

We hope you had a very Merry Christmas! Till next year. 

Love the Murrays


What a difference a year makes, check out last year's Christmas post.

It was a Merry Christmas

 I was very much in the Christmas spirit this year!  I was so excited to decorate our house for the first time and share some of my Christmas spirit with my son.  DIY holiday projects and online shopping were major part of my holiday prep. I usually prefer the hustle and bustle of mall shopping but with the extreme cold temps online was a much better option.  Plus it put me ahead of the game.  I was happy with my online purchases and I believe my recipients were too. Thank you GAP, Shutterfly and Amazon for having just what I needed to complete my list this year.

Mason loved seeing Christmas trees and saying hohoho when talking about Santa but the whole concept of Christmas and opening presents didn't matter to him. Just because he didn't want to unwrap his gifts didn't mean he didn't love them. This was the year of the kitchen for Mason; complete with play food, pots and pans. I think this is going to be a great addition to the toys he already has; he can cook while I cook (and just maybe he will open the cabinets in his kitchen instead of the ones in mine). Mason received several items from Melissa & Doug (great quality toy brand by the way) his favorite so far being the broom (he is still sweeping away). His other favorite gift this year was a firetruck from Uncle Tony & Aunt Sherri (Matt likes this one too because it is a remote firetruck). Matt and I only got Mason a few small things this year but Santa along with everyone else went above and beyond; we are truly blessed.  Watching Mason oooh and ah over the past few days filled my heart with joy.  It also shed Christmas cheer among those around us.  We certainly are lucky. We hope you had the same magical experience in your house this Christmas.

His new favorite Firetruck 

Aunt Mia & Mason Christmas Day

Checking out his new car

Baby's First Christmas!

 Christmas is always something I look forward to each year; great food and lots of family time!  This year was extra special because of Mason.  Every year we celebrate Christmas Eve Italian style at my parent's house; lots of fish and lots of eating. Who can resist a spread consisting of fish salad, baked clams, stuffed artichokes, fried calamari, pizza bread, crab and much much more (believe it or not)!?!?! Per usual everything was delicious and my parents did an amazing job making the night a success (no surprise though). Mason was the hit of the holiday and was passed around like a hot potato while meeting his cousins, aunts and uncles!

Christmas Eve Dinner

Mason received so much love from ALL his older cousins!

Aunt Rose finally got the little man to sleep (I need her to come over and work her magic  when I'm trying to get stuff done around the house)!

 Christmas morning is always fun for us; we open presents from Santa and then each other!  We usually spend the night at Mom & Dad's but this year we woke up in our own home Christmas morning (no need to sleep in my bed from high school when I live 10 mins away).  We packed Mason up Christmas morning and headed over there in our pj's to celebrate our usual Christmas Day traditions.  Presents are always something I look forward to; it is always fun to see what others decided to get you (and their reactions to what you gave them)!  However, another tradition that makes Christmas morning fun for us is heating up all the leftovers from the night before and  pigging out.  The food always tastes better the next morning and it is always nice to gather at the table and reminisce about the night before.

Christmas night we head over to Uncle Neal and Aunt Rose's house and see the rest of my moms family (we weren't sure we were going to actually make it due to getting lost, haha)!  Mason met more of his cousins but was a bit exhausted after two days of so much excitement.

Gathering with the all the family over the holidays and spending Mason's first Christmas in our new home was just another reminder of how furniture we truly are! We hope you had a very Merry Christmas.

Love ~ The Murray's and Baldo's