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

Pumpkins, tractors and "costumes" oh my

Does going somewhere two years in a row count as a family tradition?  I'll go ahead and just say yes.  We headed to Ruth Lake's Pumpkin Patch this past weekend and Mason was so excited about the tractor ride.  This year we all got on the tractor and headed to the pumpkin patch where Mason very quickly picked out a pumpkin to take home.  He then rushed back to get on the next tractor... We all enjoyed this family time; even though Mason still seems on the fence with costumes.  He still doesn't want to dress up and although he doesn't mind others dressed anything that could be slightly scary he does not like.  He has a school Halloween party, parade and sing along this week so we will see if I can get him to dress up.  Although I enjoy all things fall I'm not a lover of Halloween so I guess he takes after his mom.

Last Year's Pumpkin Adventure

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.

Thanks Day 2014

Thanks Day is one of our more recent family traditions!  It consists of getting together with my mom's side of the family which includes my cousins and Mason's cousins.  This pre Thanksgiving and non turkey event is something we all look forward to, however this year was extra special for the Murrays.  Mason had the most amazing time with his older cousins.  Matt and I were both able to sit back and relax most of the evening allowing his older cousins to keep an eye on him and entertained.  The pictures from the evening say it all:

Playing with his new favorite train

Big hugs for cousin Lauren

Eating with the big kids.

More Playing

Family is so important!  It warmed my heart to watch Mason enjoy his cousin and one of our family traditions.  We spent a lot of time with family growing up and it is nice that we will be able to do the same with Mason.

Thanksgiving is tomorrow and I am thankful for so very much!  I'm Thankful for my growing family, my husband who is truly the best and for my parents and sister for always being there for us.  We are so lucky and blessed and I know that.

Wishing you and yours a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Ringing in the New Year; Welcome 2013!

Every year my family and I head to Florida between Christmas and New Years; it is one of my favorite places on earth! Over the years Matt has become very fond of the trip as well; hello he can get some extra golf games in before the end of the year.  When we found out we were expecting we both decided we were going to book our flight down there as usual and if all went well I would stay a few extra days with mom and the baby.  So, on Friday December 28th Mason took the his first plane ride as we headed down to FL.  It so happened that mom, Mia and I were pretty sick for the flight, so in that regard it was miserable.  However, Mason was a champ!

This trip was similar to years past but yet so different (I didn't even bring a book down there to occupy my time, knowing that Mason would do a good job of that).  I'm not going to lie; between being sick and adjusting to "vacation" with a baby it took me awhile to relax.  The lesson I learned here is that mommies don't get a vacation; however I much appreciated being a mom in the warm FL weather (not having to bundle him up was a huge plus).  One of the more special aspects of our trip was that Mason got to meet his Aunt Megan!  Megan, lives in Orlando and took the drive to come see us and hang with Mase Man.  We all truly enjoyed our visit with Megan and Dave and so look forward to seeing them again soon at their wedding in May.

Mason with Aunt Megan

We have one family tradition on our annual trip to FL and that is outlet mall shopping New Years Day! Dad had a plan and boy did it work....while we all speed shopped Dad held Mason the entire time (I'm talking hours).  Mason may look small but that isn't the case... Dad is still recovering from holding our 15 plus pound 3 month old.  The shopping trip was a success mainly for Mason because were able to pick up some really cute outfits for him.

While on our trip we took Mason swimming!  Not only he is the cutest pool bound baby I've ever seen but he truly enjoyed the water.  My mom took him in the water and really got him to love kicking and floating around.  We also discovered that Mason loves being outside; we took lots of walks while we were done there; I'm pretty sure he is missing those walks now.  Just not that doable in the cold Chicago weather. 

Worn out after a few minutes in the pool

Mom and Dad watched Mason while Mia, Marc, Matt and I went to dinner and to play some mini golf!  It was great to go on a double date with my sister and have some adult time!

Sisters

I really got spoiled while I was in FL; having so many extra hands was nice!  They aren't kidding when they say "it takes a village." I really didn't want to come home but I wasn't so sure I was up for the challenge of flying with Mason alone (more so handling all the equipment the little guy comes with).  I feel extremely lucky to have had the time down in FL, for my parents and sister for all their help and for my husband who allowed me to stay down there without him. Next year I plan to stay the entire month of January and I'm hoping some of my friends come take the trip down to hang in the sunny FL weather.

Mase and Aunt Mia

Morning sunshine!

The last couple years have been VERY busy for us; wedding, baby, move and job change!  We will look back on 2012 with fond memories but we are hoping to slow down a bit in 2013 and enjoy each other and Mason as well as get settled in our new house. 

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