20
2011
What a wonderful time of year this is. I just love all that comes with it. The crafts, the outings, the shopping, the yummy treats, Christmas lights and so much more. What a special time to have a baby
I wanted to share all the fun things we’ve been doing over the past couple weeks!!!
We took Brooklyn on her first outing last week (in the car only) and we went to see the decked out neighborhood of Christmas lights. The kids sure loved that. Look how cute she looks in her little car seat
Sean and I have been out on a couple dates since she’s been born which I think has saved my sanity. It’s important to schedule alone time with your spouse, especially the more kids you have. I finally know what people mean when they say adding a third child to the family changes everything. We are having a lot of fun, but it’s definitely harder to get that alone time with one another. So that’s why we PLAN it. Thanks to Sean’s mom we’ve been able to get out and leave the kids knowing they are safe and well cared for.
I pretty much spend most of my day nursing, which I LOVE, but I feel bad I’m not getting as much time with my other
two kids. It’s definitely a balancing ac trying to fit it all in each day, but I’m starting to figure it out. Thank goodness for Sean, he’s been helping me out so much, doing dishes, making me breakfast lunch and dinner. He’s also making up for all the time I’m NOT spending with the kids, and they are loving it. People are always asking if Oliver is getting jealous of the baby, but he’s totally not thanks to Sean. He’s been keeping Oliver pretty busy with sword fighting, wrestling, dinosaurs and playing the Don’t Break the Ice game over and over and over. Such a good dad he is.
He’s doing stuff like this all the time. The kids just can’t get enough of him he’s so fun!
We tried to add a little Christmas to their bedroom. Here’s the storage space turned reading nook play room. Isn’t it fun!
Yes, that’s marker on the wall. I told Lily she could do it. I figured a kids gotta have a place where they can actually color on the wall and get away with it.
Here’s a festive lunch idea I made for the kids the other day. I’ve just been taking advantage of all the Christmas cookie cutters and making their sandwiches a little more fun.
Then we made some Christmas ornaments out of homemade playdoh and green food coloring. After the kids did their little prints we just baked them in the oven for about 20-30 min at 400 degrees.
And here are some popsicle stick Christmas trees we made yesterday. I just hot glued them together after breaking them into the right sizes (I trimmed the rough edges with scissors). Then we colored them with marker and decorated them.
I found a fun little fine motor skills activity on Pinterest. You can get access to the printout HERE.
We got Lily’s friend gifts all ready to deliver. These are little homemade play doh kits (also an idea I found on Pinterest, go HERE for recipe).
Lily had her Christmas dance recital yesterday. It was adorable!!!
And Sunday we tried to get some family pics. I didn’t get around to sending out Christmas cards this year but I thought I could at least manage to get some pictures of us all to email out to everyone.









































Oooohhhh!!! What beautiful pictures. Looks like Brooklyn’s first christmas is going to be fantastic!
Happy holidays!
Lots of yummy love,
Alex aka Ma What’s for Dinner
http://www.mawhats4dinner.com
I love your family pictures! You have so many creative mommy ideas.
LOVED those photos…. but still want to see that placenta!!!
Oh my gosh Crystal!!!!!!!!!!!! You just totally AMAZE ME! How do you do IT ALL!!! The placenta encapsulation MUST work wonders because look how much you are able to do and how well your brain is working after just giving birth! lol
ps- and you look freakin’ amazingly gorgeous as does the rest of your family
Thank you for sharing your life with us. It is a great way to get to know you better. You are so creative and a SUPER MOM and at the same time working through everyday life issues like we all are. It is such a blessing that you are a part of our lives.
MERRY CHRISTMAS, sherry
Wow! You are one busy new mom! You do so many fun things! You look great too! I’m glad everything seems to be going well for you! Merry Christmas!
Ps-I totally want that nook area for myself!! How fun and festive!
Hey Crystal. I tried clicking the link for the playdough recipe and it didn’t seem to work. Can you send it to me again? Thanks!
It’s awesome that the older kids can still have love and attention while are able to take care of your newborn! What a great team you two make.
Great job on giving the kids something fun and creative to do that also builds fine motor skills. You are gonna make one amazing home-schooling Mama! xo
Oh Crystal!! Loved this post!! You are such a fun Mom! Beautiful family pictures and such fun and creative ideas!!!
Thank you for posting this beautiful addition to your Blog. I love the Blog Christmas Card Photos! Brooklyn is a beautiful addition to the family. I love the kids book nook/break room! Merry Christmas!