Christmas in Indy

This was our first Christmas in Indiana and our first Christmas without seeing any of our family on Christmas Eve or Christmas day. Last year was the first time we did Christmas Eve and Christmas morning at our house with just our little family, and we really enjoyed it. This year didn't disappoint, though it was much quieter than years past, especially once the kids went to bed (quite relaxing I must admit).

I started out the month with a long holiday "To Do" list with lots of fun places and things to do in the city and various location, not to mention all of the traditional things like wrapping gifts, baking cookies, etc. I definitely got a running start and packed a bunch in at the beginning of the month, but things slowed way down when I got hit with a sore throat and then yucky cough/runny nose right after. The kids both caught it from me, so for a good week and a half we mostly stayed home, watched Christmas movies, and slept.

We finally got feeling better half way through last week. Brian didn't really mind having lazy inside days at home at the beginning of his break because he was so exhausted after finals anyway. We did venture out to a Jazz vs. Pacers basketball game downtown on Wednesday night with our friends The Daetwyler's and The Hobson's. Then on Thursday we went to the Children's Museum so Brian could see the kids with Santa and ride the big Yule Slide. We always have a blast at the museum, and it's fun for Brian to be there with us. I got to go to a girl's game night at my friend Dawn's house while Brian watched the BYU bowl game.

 Cutest cookie I've ever seen, made by my friend Jenny. Maybrie was thrilled to see I brought it home for her!

 Go Jazz!

Yule Slide with Daddy

Visting Santa

Hot Wheels exhibit is always fun!

Maybrie out in our first snow, it came the weekend before Christmas.

Friday... 12/21/12, instead of the world ending, Brian and I celebrated 5 years of marriage. Brian was sweet enough to let me sleep in, leisurely get ready for the day, and run some errands by myself... I love my kids, but it was nice to have a little ME time. I think Brian knew I would have more energy and be in a better mood on our date that night if I had a relaxing day (which is true). We paid our first Young Woman babysitter here (all of our friends we usually babysit swap with are gone visiting family for the holidays). We went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. We had a good time, but honestly our meals were a little disappointing for the price. The cheesecake we took home and ate later was amazing though. I guess we'll just go for dessert next time. With the help of our awesome friends, The Daetwyler's, I was able to put together a slide show with pictures and music that recaps our first five years of marriage. It turned out awesome and totally got me choked up and sentimental. It was a great evening to remember our wedding day and how happy we are with our life together.

On Christmas Eve we spent the morning cleaning up the house and lazily getting ready for the day. We kept things pretty low key, Brian and I wanted to spend more of our time enjoying the kids than slaving over some fancy meals/activities. That afternoon Brian and Maybrie baked sugar cookies during nap time. I helped the kids decorate them while Brian prepared dinner. Thomas mostly ate M&M's and Maybrie dumped the sprinkles. Following Reynolds family tradition we made vegetable chowder for dinner, chicken noodle soup for the kids, with rolls and a cheese ball with crackers. After dinner we did a special family home evening. We lit our candles on our bookshelf for the first time- so pretty. We sang Christmas carols, and the kids moved the nativity pieces while Brian read the story of Jesus's birth from Luke in the bible. It was pretty entertaining with Thomas making animal sounds of the cows and sheep throughout. Then we let the kids open their pajamas, Maybrie got Ariel and Thomas got Mickey Mouse (though his were a little small, the top didn't even cover his tummy completely!). Brian surprised with a nice lightweight pair that I love... I wasn't expecting any cause we had decided not to do them for us this year. We read some Christmas stories, let the kids Skype with their grandparents to show off their new pajamas, set out cookies for Santa, and then sent them to bed. Brian and I enjoyed watching It's a Wonderful Life while we set out the presents and filled stockings.

  

On Christmas morning Maybrie woke us at 5:45, having wet the bed. Typically I would be extremely annoyed by this, but I knew she stayed up way past her bedtime unable to fall asleep due to excitement, and that that led her to wet her bed. We cleaned it up and let her climb in bed with us, since I was too lazy to make her bed and I knew she wouldn't fall back asleep knowing Santa had come anyway. At about 6 she told me she could hear Santa's bells. Then a few minutes later Brian tells her to go downstairs and check if Santa came. She is afraid he will see her and asks me to come with her. Brian's arm was around me and as she tries to pull me out of bed she says, "Daddy, stop touching mommy!" Brian and I had a good laugh, and I went downstairs with her because she was just too cute to say no to. When she saw the presents, our full stockings, and a Cinderella dress laid out for her she shouted with excitement! Brian heard every word upstairs! It was a perfect reaction, and she couldn't wait to run up and tell daddy Santa came. We opened our stockings and got a roast and Pillsbury cinnamon rolls in the oven before Thomas woke up. His reaction to his basketball hoop was just as priceless. Maybrie held on tight to her dress and twirled around the room saying how beautiful it was and Thomas immediately started dunking basketballs. They loved opening presents. It went faster this year because Maybrie was too excited to let us go slow and savor each gift. :) We ate cinnamon rolls for breakfast and played all morning (well, Brian and the kids did, I went back to bed because 4 hours didn't cut it for me!). We had a nice roast dinner and cheesecake with the missionaries that afternoon. It was both their first Christmas in the field. We were glad they were able to share it with us. It was a fun day. We definitely feel blessed and had a very Merry Christmas this year!

Christmas decor

I LOVE Christmas decorations! This year I was so excited, we did it all the day after Thanksgiving. I couldn't wait to throw away the pumpkins (though I love Fall decor too, I was tired of it after two months) and pull out the Christmas boxes. I also found a sign I've been wanting on sale during my black Friday shopping, and it inspired me to finally change-up my boring living room wall. Having some cute new family pictures to put up helped the cause as well. With the new collage wall and the Christmas decorations up, our living room is festive and homey... I love it! This post probably should have been posted at the beginning of the month... but hey! At least it's up before I pull all the decorations down. :)

The sign on the top left is the one I bought at Meijer. It says, "In this house we treat friends like family and family like friends." I love it because it really is how we feel about our friends out here right now... they have become our family while we are so far away from ours. The little white shelf was a yard sale steal I got when we first moved, but it hasn't had a home till now. It gave me one more place to decorate, which is nice in our small space. And of course I am in love with our new family pictures. Basically, I just love how the colors all tie together and make the room cozy. I know it's not extravagant, but it makes me happy right now!

Now our stairwell isn't so bare!

Here are our gingerbread houses that took a couple days to complete due to runny icing and an under-the-weather mommy! This was basically a mommy and Maybrie project. Or rather a me project while Maybrie ate candy and watched!

These are my too pinterest holiday crafts I did... super cheap and super easy. That's probably the only reason they were done at all! :)

 String art tree to hold Christmas cards/pictures

 Peppermint candy wreath

(Funny story. I hung this on our front door the night after completion, super excited. The next morning we opened the door to go to church and the candies were melting... actually dripping off! Our storm door works as a little oven apparently, so the wreath quickly got moved inside. I was going to fix it, but then decided it still looks fine. Plus, I'm lazy! ha ha)

 Stockings hung

 Tree decorated

 Nativity displayed

Yep, we're all ready for Christmas at our house! Can't believe it is only 4 days away! 

One of those weeks

I feel a little hypocritical posting my super upbeat Christmas post at the end of what has not been a super upbeat week. It has been one of those weeks where I have been sick, Brian has been stressed studying like a maniac and taking 4 Biology finals, Maybrie has been throwing massive temper tantrums and has abnormally woken us in the night multiple nights, Thomas has been extra fussy because of new teeth coming in... overall not a good combination for our household! The whining and crying is making my ears buzz (on top of the sore throat, runny nose, and headache) and I feel just plain wiped out... zero energy and zero patience. While I beat myself up for yelling at Maybrie and overreacting multiple times simply because I am tired and grumpy, I try to tell myself that this is normal and tomorrow is a new day. A day where I can try harder, feel a little better, and be one day closer to the end of Brian's semester.

I think that blogging is therapeutic for me. When I need to count my blessings and focus on all of the good things in my life, rather than dwell on the things that are going wrong or bugging me... I blog. I pull up adorable pictures of my children and the good moments where everyone is smiling and laughing. The times when I feel like a good mother that does do fun things and isn't always saying "no" and "stop that!" Life can be a real roller coaster sometimes. I continue to be amazed by how many emotions I can go through so quickly, I know that is a normal girl thing, but I think it is magnified sometimes as a mother. My children can make me laugh and scream in the same minute! Even though I felt my sanity slipping today and had to run to a friend for help so that I could put myself in "time out" from my kids to cool down... I still love them. I still love being a mom. I still think of Christmas gifts I want to buy them or places I want to take them... while they are screaming in their bedrooms! :)

There is always a light at the end of the tunnel, whether it be Brian coming home and helping with the kids for two hours before bedtime or just 15 minutes of quiet while Thomas naps and Maybrie watches a movie. I am grateful that no matter how worked up I get, I always seem to calm down and find something to smile about. Like right now after I swept the floor the kids decided they wanted to help me mop. They are both still pushing Swiffer sweepers/mops around the kitchen floors like it is the funnest game they have ever played! ha ha! And Brian just found out he got an A- in one of his classes! Wahoo! Hard work paying off... always a good feeling. So, here is to hoping next week, with finals  and illness behind us, will be better.

Christmas Cheer

I have been bursting with Christmas Cheer! Ever since the day after Thanksgiving I seem to be going non-stop fitting in as many festivities as possible. We got the tree up and the house all decorated right after Thanksgiving so that we could enjoy it the whole season long. I think we have all been equally excited about the warm holiday reminders that surround us. 

On our first Family Home Evening for the month we got doorbell ditched by Santa with two gifts that could not wait till Christmas, but had to be enjoyed all season long. Maybrie was thrilled! They opened a big Disney Christmas book and the Little People nativity. I have been wanting this nativity for years, and it has truly been a lifesaver this season. The kids love it and it has plenty of pieces for them to share(most of the time!). It keeps the kids from playing with and destroying nicer breakable decor. Oh, and my favorite thing about the nativity is the angel you can push down to light up the star and play "Away in a Manger." Thomas loves it and sings and dances to it every time- so cute! I love it! We have tried reading a Christmas story to Maybrie every night, which doesn't always happen because her fits often send her to bed without stories :(. Thank you Gillespie's for the fun idea (and knock on our door so we could pull it off!) to kick off the Christmas season at our house. 

One morning last week I pulled out the movie Polar Express. Maybrie remembered it from last year and was so excited she laid out blankets for her and Thomas to lay on while they watched. It was such an adorable Christmas scene I had to snap a picture. :)

Our good friend Becca swapped babysitting with us at the beginning of the month so we could each go on a date. Brian and I headed downtown to see the tallest Christmas tree in the country (in lights) on the Saints and Soldiers monument (kind of a fun piece of trivia). There were tons of people out because of the BIG10 football game that was to be played the next day at Lucas Oil Stadium. But we found a spot and strolled through Circle Center Mall and then down the street to the circle. It was so warm outside that we didn't even need gloves or get cold. The lights were magical and I loved the windows on the IPL building that lit up like a tree. We also discovered a new favorite shop call Rocket Fizz. It on the circle and full of every flavor of soda you can imagine- like peanut butter and bacon! Plus it has tons of candy with all of the old-fashioned classics you can't find anywhere else. Super cool! My family of candy lovers would love it! It was a great (cheap) date night... thanks again Becca for watching our kids!

On Wednesday, Dec. 5th we went with our friends the Gillespie's and the Jenks to Christmas at the Zoo. It is probably the closest you get to lights at temple square in Indiana! The lights we so fun to walk through, they had a fabulous holiday Dolphin show that was super fun, and some of the animals are actually more active at night- so it was fun to see the bears walking around!

All bundled up! It was cold, but thankfully dry.

Huge polar bear strutting its stuff!

Liam, Jenna and Maybrie before the dolphin show

The whole gang- Dan, Leigha, Dawn, Jenna, Liam, Dennis, Kristin, me, Maybrie, Brian, and Thomas. Thomas especially got really into the music and cheering of the dolphin show... it was adorable.

Maybrie and Liam in front of the lit "choo choo!"

At least Thomas decided to cooperate and say Cheese!

Inside a giant (fake) snake in the deserts building.

Maybrie and Jenna pointing excitedly at the snakes.

Such a poser!

Mommy and my marshmallow Thomas

The lights of the city behind the lit trees along the parking lot looked amazing. Unfortunately the picture doesn't do it justice... the street lamps got in the way. Oh well. A fun family night with friends... and a needed break from studying for Brian. 

Then on Friday the 7th we had a jam-packed day going to the Children's Museum during the day and the Ward Christmas Dinner Party at night. The kids got to meet the real Santa (by far the BEST Santa I have ever seen!). They both were excited and Maybrie actually ran up to him and recited her well-rehearsed Christmas list for him. It was magical! I hope they do it again when we go back with Daddy next week. They have a special "Jolly Days" exhibit where you can meet Santa, groom his reindeer, climb and slide down an ice castle, ice skate on a frozen pond, ice fish, etc. It is adorable and we easily filled three hours of fun in that one spot. They also have the awesome Christmas Story slide. We went down twice- it is fun for adults too!

They have adorable shop windows filled with toys to look at while waiting in line for Santa- genius idea!

Liam, Jenna, and Maybrie

Look at Maybrie's priceless look of joy in this picture!

Isn't Santa Jolly?

Santa had to cutest conversation with Maybrie. It was straight out of Miracle on 34th Street!

The kids went down this ice castle slide for probably 30 mins. straight!

The giant slide comes down here behind this display from the second floor. Super cool!

Even Bumble Bee was all dressed up for winter! :) I love that we live so close to this amazing museum... it is like every child's dream play land! I am obsessed with it!

The ward Christmas Dinner party was a lot of fun. Good food and decadent desserts (that I ate too much of), fun visiting with friends, kid's coloring and crafts, a nice slideshow program, Christmas carols with all the children to help bring Santa... Thomas was so funny my cheeks ached from laughing and smiling! He danced and applauded every song! I have decided that 18 months and 4 are perfect ages for Christmas... my kids are making this year so fun. 

Happy to be coloring with a fist full of crayons.

Maybrie was very dedicated and focused on making her nativity picture beautiful and realistic, of course!

Can you spot my little cheeseball in the center with his big sister standing very poised? :)

On Saturday the 8th my friend Alanna and I took our kids to the Garfield Conservatory where they had a free poinsettia display, model trains, lights, and treats with Mrs. Clause. It was beautiful and a fun little outing to break up the day while our husbands spent the day studying. 

Thomas and Beckett (both 18 mos.) loved the trains. Isn't it pretty?

Such a cute vintage display.

Kaya, Aislin, Maybrie and Thomas looking at the fish.

Beautiful conservatory oasis in the winter.

The kids loved the waterfalls and the bg colorful fish you could reach out and touch.

Thomas and Maybrie with Mrs. Clause. 

We've had some really fun holiday excursions lately and we're looking forward to a few more in the next two weeks as we countdown to Christmas! Brian only has one final left and then we get him home for 3 whole weeks! We can't wait for Monday to come! Hope everyone is having fun celebrating and making memories with their families. It is easy to get caught up in the business of the season and forget to enjoy the little moments of joy throughout all the bustle. I hope we all get a chance to stop and sip some hot chocolate while surrounded by family, Christmas lights, and a nice carol that reminds us of all we've been blessed with because of Christ's birth.