School Christmas Program

Last week William had his school Christmas program and party. His teachers read the Christmas story while the children "acted"and put on a little play. William was Joseph.

 His teachers went above and beyond to make December very special and fun for the children. William has come home talking more about the birth of Jesus and the real meaning of Christmas than he has Santa Clause. 

 I love seeing him with his little buddies!

 Joseph required 2 suckers to cooperate and put on his costume. I thought Grant was going to have an anxiety attack at the amount of tantrums, screaming and crying that went on while we were there :) At one point he had to step out into the hall and pace...hahaha!

 Joseph with one of his teachers, Ms. Karen

You'll notice baby Jesus in the manger in the background. He did not move for a solid 30 minutes while the play was going on. It was the most bizarre thing I've ever seen. 

Santa Visit 2014

William enjoyed his visit with Santa this year. He asked for a baby sister, a "tookie" (cookie) and some trains.

Just for comparison...

2013 visit with Santa 

2014 Christmas card.

Christmas Card 2014

Before having a child, I remember receiving Christmas cards and thinking that family/couple/child could not be anymore put together, loving and happy. Since having a child, I now realize that a Christmas card photo session is ANYTHING but easy and enjoyable. Each year, I find myself picking a day and time to "take the Christmas card photo" and that time never seems to be a good one for the men in my life :)

 After having his feet in the sand for 5 days on our Thanksgiving trip, he decided he HATED sand and didn't want his feet to touch it when we set out to do pictures on the beach. Grant thought I "had my priorities all out of order" by wanting to take pictures and do goofy things to get him to smile, although I had prepped him all day for what was to come...

 So after Grant and I had a yelling match on the beach in front of innocent vacationers trying to enjoy a sunset cocktail, we came to an agreement to plop him on a rock and snap some pics. The above face is what he started with when we bribed him with M&M's.

 Then he got very silly for a while and started saying "steeeeeevvvveeee" instead of "cheese."

Love that goofy, toothy grin.

Then he decided to briefly cooperate and Grant had the camera on some crazy setting making William look like a ghost. Typical.

A rare moment of cooperation.

 The one above ended up being one of the pics on our card. Sometimes the serious expressions are my favorite!

 Beginning to fade on me..."are we done yet?"

 I got these last 3 without him knowing I was taking his picture. This is probably why they are my favorite.

 The picture above was the other photo on our Christmas card. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS from our very imperfect, seemingly put together family to yours :)

Thanksgiving Part III

 The last 2 days we caved-in and let William get back in the pool. Needless to say, he was pretty stoked!

 Playing a little morning tennis

 Intense focus while zooming around the furniture

 Waiting to board a board a boat for a sunset cruise

 Fake smile but I couldn't resist sharing this one because of that gorgeous crystal blue water!

 My guys giving me their best fake smile :)

 Models.

These faces are just so William. Had to share. 

Not the best angle for preggo Mommy...haha.

William and his buddy Ah-Dah. 

The last night of the trip William ended his vacay with dancing to reggae music with these precious little girls from Australia. He went nonstop for an hour twirling them around. I could've eaten them up due to their little Australian accents. 

One more post to come and Thanksgiving will be a wrap!!!

Thanksgiving Part II

 The girls from Villa 124. Most nights our entire crew (all 12 of us) would eat dinner together somewhere on the resort. There were 3 different restaurants to choose from each night. Some of the nights, parts of the group ordered room service and lounged in PJ's instead of getting all dressed up. It was nice to have the option to chill after a long day on the water. 

 William hanging out with his uncles :) 

 Dinner. The camera flash may have blinded them ;)

 Sweet William the day after he got his stitches :( 

 Waiting on our taxi before we headed to The Baths

 William and I sat on the beach and built sand castles while the rest of our crew snorkeled around The Baths. The water was really rough so even if William could've gotten his chin wet, I think we would've sat out for this one. 

 Grant and Quin decided not to hike down to The Baths so they stayed at the ocean side restaurant at the very top for drinks while we explored. 

 This was seconds before a wave came crashing in and knocked him down. It scared him to death!

 Enjoying a strawberry daiquiri after his first "hike"

 His sweet curls were in full force with the warm, humid weather. 

 Watching the big boys sail

 Listening to a steel drum band before dinner one of the nights.