This was such a fun year for Christmas and all the festivities that go along with it. It's so much more fun when you have little kids to enjoy it with. Here is a look, through pictures, of what we did in the weeks leading up to Christmas:
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| In Flora, there was a horse carriage ride through the local park to look at lights. It was my first time ever in a horse drawn carriage (I always imagined it being with Chad on a romantic getaway or something!) and was fabulous, yet cold! |
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| The honeymooners :) |
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| We put up the tree when the kids were still awake, but very wisely chose to decorate it once they went to sleep. |
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| Nope, he's still too short to hang the star! It won't be long, though, especially if he gets his height from Chad. |
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| Meredith helped me cut out snowflakes and we hung them in our front window. |
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| I think she got more enjoyment standing on the chair than helping me hang the snowflakes. |
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| Hard to believe at the beginning of the year I was still pregnant with Luke and now he is here! |
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| A week or so before Christmas, we got our first big snow of the year. I'm so glad we left the slide outside and didn't end up bringing it into the basement. It's nice to forget things sometimes. |
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| This is Luke's first time playing out in the snow. I think he liked it! We got a pretty good snow in February, shortly after we brought him home from the hospital, but he was too little to play in it then. |
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| Mommy's big helper. She helped me make cinnamon pecans for her teachers and in this picture, she is helping me stir up chocolate chip cookie batter. |
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| This was the first year we made it over to East Peoria to see the Festival of Lights. It was shorter than we expected, but fun nonetheless. Both kids seemed to really enjoy the bright lights. |
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| "All Mommy Wants is a Silent Night!" This is a hand-me down shirt from his sister (I won't be able to do that very often) and still rings true :) |
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| Cookies and milk left for Santa. |
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| "The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...". Ironically, we bought the blue stocking for Christmas last year, before we knew if we were having a boy or girl. Looks like we picked correctly! |
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| Pre-Christmas Eve service. It was VERY difficult to get a good picture of both of them in front of the tree :( |
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| At church before heading in for the service. Since there was no childcare, both kids sat with us during the service. They didn't do too bad! |
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| On the move! |
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| In early December, Luke visited Santa for the first time. He was cool and calm! |
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| Meredith, on the other hand, was scared and wanted Mommy to stay with her. |
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| Mr. Big Boy |
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| Getting such long hair! |
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| The Prentice Family, 2013 |
