Christmas 2015

There have been very few Christmas' that we've spent at home, one in Cayman and one in Boston, so I was very excited to have a chance to do Christmas in our new home in Lawrence. Plus Christmas is more fun with a child that can understand what is going on a bit and get excited. Cedric was excited for Christmas starting the day after Halloween, maybe before because of the decorations in Hobby Lobby. We celebrated Christmas morning at our house on Christmas Eve morning then drove down to Wichita in the afternoon. Here is shot after Santa came on Christmas Eve eve.  

Christmas Eve morning I actually got out of bed before Bob and ran downstairs to turn on the lights and put some cinnamon rolls in the oven. I went to get Cedric at 7 and Christmas started!

Santa had filled our stockings and gave us a few other gifts (I think?) but we didn't push the idea this year and I'm not sure I will. 

Clara watched Cedric open all her presents and enjoyed the tree and the wrapping paper. 

Good thing Clara is a good sport, next year will probably be a different story!

Cedric's big present from us was a motorized ATV type toy we got on Black Friday from Target. We didn't intend to get it but the deal was too sweet. Bob and Cedric went across the street to try it out while I made eggs benedict (with mimosas!) and Clara napped. It was a relaxing Christmas morning and I was happy to have time to ourselves to do it! Part of the perks of being back in Kansas, being able to have our own holiday traditions. 

So we drove down to Wichita on Christmas Eve afternoon and had a low-key dinner with my family. Then woke up to Christmas morning, again!

Cedric loved having another Christmas morning, this time at my parents house. Who doesn't love more toys and candy?

Next we headed to my grandma's house in Kingman for lunch and presents.  Here is a great shot we got of my mother and Clara in her Christmas outfit (She had three, two casual and one fancy). 

And Clara finally got to meet her Great-Grandma Mason. They are a nice pair, don't you think?

I tried to get some nice shots of Cedric and Clara before presents but someone was always making a face or moving. That's probably just the way it is going to be for a while!

And then Cedric opened more presents. The kid has too many toys. 

Then on New Year's Day we celebrated Christmas at the Podany's. More chances to wear our cute Christmas outfits and more presents!

Do I have the cutest kids in the world or what? 

Look, I was at Christmas too!

And the luckiest boy in the world got more presents. Seriously, next year is money for college and zoo memberships. 

I didn't get the kids with Bob's grandma this time but I did get some nice ones of Bob and Anne. It was a great Christmas season - I was definitely exhausted but it was nice to be in Kansas to do it all!

Holden Beach 2015

Those of you who've known me a long time know that my family spent time in the summers on the coast of North Carolina. We'd go as a "family reunion" of sorts with my grandma, a few of her sisters and their children/families. We had great times going over the years and hadn't been in 8-9 years. Mom organized for us all to go July 11-18th, along with my Grandma, brother and his girlfriend, and my in-laws. 

Cedric has been growing up going to the beach periodically (Cayman and Boston) so he was familiar with the sand and surf. He loves sand boxes and so loved playing every morning and afternoon on the beach. He couldn't last more than 2 hours though, sometimes less depending on how hard he was working on his sand castles, big holes and racetracks. 

We did get out a bit, first on the classic trip to the USS North Carolina, a battleship museum in Wilmington. It was very hot on the ship (always is) and so we only did a short part of the tour. 

 Cedric enjoyed the periscope on the big guns. He kept looking for alligators off the side of the ship and kept asking when we were going for the boat ride. He was a little disappointed the boat wouldn't move for us. 

We also went down the North Myrtle Beach to see the Ripley's Aquarium. They have an amazing shark tank and sharks in a touch tank that made it worth the trip. We also stopped for lunch at Cpt. Nance's in Calabash on the way back and it hadn't changed a bit. 

At the aquarium Cedric was able to pet a moon jelly fish, which seemed like a good idea until we caught a jelly fish later that day. It washed up on the shore with a little crab, so I naturally caught them for observation. The crab we let go but the jelly was sent to the dunes. 

One of Cedric's favorite parts of the trip was the access to frozen treats. Every day after our morning swim we'd have a fudge pop or mini cone while we dried off. Then Cedric would play inside and take a nap during the peak sunburn hours. 

After dinner we'd try to go for a walk or just spend a little more time out on the beach before bed. 

For some reason Cedric spent most of the trip avoiding the camera. It was very hard to sneak in a shot or to catch him smiling. He'd yell or run away when he noticed I was taking pics, until the last day when it was time to take a family photo. 

We had a great time at the beach, though it would've been more fun if Bob could have joined us. He had to work :( We had planned the week of the trip to keep me from traveling too close to the end of my pregnancy and then it was the worst time for Bob to be off work from his new job. Oh well, maybe next time!

Christmas in Kansas

Wait a minute, weren't we just in Kansas for Thanksgiving? Why yes we were! This year we made the effort to go back for both holidays. Of course, this was on a year when they were less than a month apart. Not great planning on our part. We started in KC this time. Hear we are toasting to the holidays and new family with a nice wine that Anne bought in Italy, like 8 years ago. She's been talking about drinking it for years, glad we finally got around to it!

Someone was a little excited.

Bob and I then got a night out from the babe and spent it on the Plaza. It was great to see the lights but it was 0 degrees F out and the windchill was insane. Of course, it was the Plaza and Christmas so the fountains were still running. Ridiculous. 

 Finally it was Christmas! We opened gifts at the Podany's on Christmas Eve. Cedric enjoyed trying to open the presents at first, then it became my job to open and pass him toys. 

He had a great time sitting on Bo Pa's lap, checking out his new stuff. 

Christmas morning we drove to Kingman to be with the Mason's. 

Cedric had a nice time checking out his great-grandma's gifts. He loved her new shoes. 

I think coming back to Kansas so quickly was good for Cedric. He was much more comfortable everywhere we went. He slept and ate better and just seemed happier overall. 

And it wouldn't be Christmas without a selfie!

The weather was snowy in KC but warm in Wichita. Cedric had fun playing in the melting snow. 

 We also took Cedric to PF Chang's and he had a great time trying to use the chop sticks. Not much else to say, it was just really cute.

It was nice to spend time with my family, here is Cedric with my mom and brother "Uncle Clif".

We were in KS for two weeks and did get to see lots of friends. Sadly, I only took photos of this get together. Probably because it was the only one with multiple kids. Cedric was moderately interested in Lindsay and Travis' son Bennett. He wasn't jealous at all while I held him and generally kept his distance.

Here is Cedric with Ellie, BJ and Shannel's daughter. They ignored each other most of the time as well but did bond over arrowroot cookies and puzzles. 

Doesn't Cedric look so old here? He really is becoming a big kid. 

We flew out on New Year's Day and so got to take a quick photo of our "baby new year". Thanks to our families for being so wonderful to us over the holidays. We were very spoiled and thank you all for everything!