december happenings

To fill in the gaps of our December around the big events of Asher's birthday and Christmas...

Our church had a unique twist on Christmas this year called "Cosmic Christmas" that used parts of the Star Wars story to tell the Christmas story.  Because of that each year a new "special guest" showed up at services.  We are big Chewy fans.  :-)

Asher wasn't so sure, so we had to catch them a little apart - ha!

Darth Vader also made a visit.  Asher was excited to see him but Hadley just clung to me and said "he is not my best friend.  I no see him!" - so we took the picture instead.

I made this top for Hadley when she was just over a year old...it was a dress then.  We squeezed into it for one final Christmas season.  It's my favorite and I'm so sad it will be too small next year.

Me and my best girl sharing some snuggles (with baby brother stealing the foreground - hellllo belly)

Being in preschool means having lots of parties and special events!  Hadley is lapping it up.  Merry Hadley!!

Each month Asher's class writes a book based on the theme of the month.  In November it was thankfulness.  When the book came home for us to look through I teared up at A's page.  I love how he loves her - and vice versa.  I don't know what they'd do without each other.

We have a new niece joining our family in March.  After the Polar Express ride we had a shower for her, so I had to make a few little somethings to put with our gift.  

Speaking of making gifts, I whipped up these apple clipboards for Asher and Hadley's teachers.  I'm still learning how to use my Silhouette, but I love it for gifts like these!  I also did a few Christmas tea towels for Asher's teacher.  Next year I make some towels for me!

One other special gift I made using my Silhouette were these ornaments for my Dad and his siblings and my mother-in-law and uncle.  I was able to scan their parents' handwriting off old birthday cards and create ornaments to remind everyone how much their mom loved them.  :-)

My sewing project this holiday were these cutie pie ruffle Fair Isle leggings!  I love them and the tiny sizes make me swoon!!

Have I mentioned how much I'm enjoying this chalkboard?  So far I've changed it for fall, Hadley's birthday, Thanksgiving and now Christmas.  This was my most involved drawing and I just love it.

I bought this PlanetBox lunchbox for Asher last summer after reading lots of great reviews on it.  We've used it everyday so far and I l-o-v-e it!!  So great for packing while using zero zip bags!  Asher is a grazer too, so he loves the small amounts but wide variety that it allows for.  A+

Asher started playing basketball through the Y earlier this month.  The first night was for everyone to come at once, meet their team and get jerseys.  It was CRAZY.  Kids running everywhere - tons of noise!  Asher and Hadley bravely entered the fray hand-in-hand.  

I love that birthdays are a big deal in Kindergarten.  I was able to go and celebrate with Asher by reading a book to his class.  Then he put on his crown and we all sang to him.  He was just beaming and SO excited that I came.  Love, love, love this 6 year old!!

Every year I like to add one tradition to our Christmas season.  This year it was Christmas bedding!  I thought about getting Asher Grinch sheets (he loves the Grinch) but I realized that we wouldn't see them much since they'd be under his covers 99% of the time.  Instead I got the Grinch duvet cover and it's perfect!  The duvet insert is so soft and fluffy that baby brother and I decided to put our feet up on Asher's bed one day at nap time.  It was a great idea.

Baby bear and I had our first pregnancy hiccup when we failed the 1 hour glucose test.  I sailed through that test with the other 2 kids so I'm not sure what was different this time.  I was really sick for over a week leading up to it, so maybe that caused a problem?  At any rate, we got to spend Saturday morning at the lab getting blood drawn every hour for 3 hours.  Luckily we passed the 3 hour test, so no gestational diabetes!

Drew and I have been talking to the kids about how Christmas is about much more than getting presents and Santa.  We decided to be "the Wilkinsons who care" by baking cookies and taking them to the nurses who take care of Grandpa Fred.  One Sunday after church we packed up our cookies and headed over to the nursing facility.  Both Asher and Hadley were excited to bless the residents and nurses - they fought over who got to carry the cookie tin.  Of course.  haha!  The older folks just love little kids and we got lots of smiles during our visit.

One not so great part of our December was getting Hadley's allergy testing done.  She had an immediate reaction to a tiny bite of walnuts when she was about 18 months old and we simply avoided them as a precaution.  Her preschool needed a doctor's note saying she either wasn't allergic or that she had an Epi-pen on hand in case of emergency, so I made an appointment with an allergist for testing.  It turns out that she's still highly allergic to walnut and also showed a reaction to pecans.  Now we're the proud owners of an Epi-pen!  Bless her heart.

Drew and I decided that Hadley's crib will be used for the new baby, so we went ahead and ordered her new big girl bed.  She loves it!  I can't believe she's ready for a bed already, but it's been a few nights and she's sleeping great with NO falling out.  Hurray!

These kiddos headed off to their last day of school before Christmas break in full festive mode!

For Christmas Drew gave me a great Yoda shirt so of course I had to wear it when we took baby bear to see the new Star Wars movie on New Years Eve!

christmas 2015

If you remember, last Christmas we were in New Jersey but the kids both got SO SICK that we ended up driving back home to North Carolina on Christmas Day.  This year we're living in New Jersey so we were hoping that being in our own house would mean we wouldn't have a repeat of 2015!  And we didn't!  Everyone was healthy and oh-so-happy.

We began the holiday on Christmas Eve, opening presents with our family we wouldn't see on Christmas Day.  Having kids around is the best at Christmas!

In the evening we headed over to have dinner with Drew's extended family.  It was wonderful living close by this year so we could attend all the fun events without making a big trip out of it.

Look at these two in their Christmas finest!

Aren't they so sweet?

Asher is effectively hiding the baby bump, but believe me, he was there too.  Love this family of mine.  :-)

Cousins make the best friends.

Even with all the fake, forced smiles - ha!

These were some lucky kids because while we were there Santa stopped by!  He had an early present for everyone.

Mr. Henry was NOT Santa's biggest fan.  Bless his heart.

Hadley wasn't afraid though.  She ran right up when the big guy called her name.

And proceeded to show him her shoes.  ha!

Until it was time for the important things...

Asher is a total Santa pro by this point, so he knew just what to do.

After dinner we headed home to get some kids in bed and prep the house I mean, get some rest.

I just love Christmas Eve after everyone has gone to bed.  So peaceful - and full of anticipation.

The next morning Asher and Hadley were so excited!

They still like to look over each present as they open them which I LOVE.  Makes the whole experience last a little longer and makes us appreciate the gifts more.

Somebody got raptor claws - ha!

Hadley and I both got carriers for our babies and we love them!

It was such a great Christmas and our last one as a family of 4.  I can't believe that next year we'll have a baby boy celebrating his very FIRST Christmas with us - yay!