Waldrup Family Christmas 2017

This New Years, the husband and I were gifted with such a special present. My parents came in town for a belated Christmas celebration as well as to help us ring in the New Year by watching the kiddos so we could enjoy an adult night out. Happy New Year to us!

I am so thankful for this trip. I know that due to my dad's current health situation it is so very difficult for him to travel. I know things are challenging and at times very difficult, but my parents are here. It's been a rough year, but I'm thankful for the opportunity for our children to be loved on by my family. These are definitely memories that I don't want to miss out on and I'm thankful they were willing to travel to be with us this new year.

Our weekend while short was very special. We enjoyed celebrating our Noon Years Eve Eve celebration at the Davis Library as well as a special lunch to the Italian Garden for some delicious eats. But most of our time together was spent relaxing, cuddling, and catching up. It was a perfect combination of celebration and lazy. I couldn't have asked for more.

Saturday after our delicious lunch at the Italian Garden (I absolutely recommend as it was a ton of food, deliciously made and an even more delicious price tag), my mom and I enjoyed our first shopping trip to Dirt Cheap. Wow! Talk about an afternoon of searching for exciting finds.  We were both hooked. It was also a fun little get away with my mom. I so yearn for this time and could not be more excited in our count down until they move up here and we can do this more often. She truly is my rock and I believe she is the strongest person I know. I'm so thankful for her and thankful for these precious moments together. After our shopping trip, my mom and I spent our evening in the kitchen making our Christmas meal, King Ranch Casserole, a few pies (eek they did not turn out right)

and then enjoyed a night time Christmas celebration with the kiddos and family. Here is a fun picture post of our Christmas with Oma and Opa. They definitely came out blurry as our kiddos are always on the move. It was a night of smiles, play time, and time with family.

Our night of celebration was cozy and cold. As New Years Eve was upon us the following day, so was a cold front that would bring our North Dallas lows to the teens and possibly some snow! Yay!

A Noon Years Eve Eve Celebration

On Noon Years Eve Eve, we enjoyed a Noon Years Eve celebration at the Davis Library with sweet friends from our bible study and my parents who had come in town for a fun belated Christmas celebration and New Years. The Davis Library in Plano was holding an hour of family fun and New Year Eve crafts as well as a count down for the kiddos. Crafts included making star wands, New Years hats, shakers, coloring sheets, galore.

While our morning was a bit on the cold and rainy side, and we might have had two sleepy kiddos, overall our time at the library was surely a fun one.

Liam and Kayleigh enjoyed making star wands. Liam loves any type of coloring and continued to say "col-or" with marker and taking on and off the marker caps. He may have disliked when we suggested leaving the coloring station to try our hand at a new craft. The boy sure loves his arts and crafts though.

Henry, the most adorable little snuggle bear, was all smiles as he watched his big brother and sweet friends make crafts for the New Year.

 Blue eyed Jack loved his crafts as well.

 Kayleigh loved tooting her little horn. It was beyond words adorable and great for ringing in our Noon Years Eve Eve.

 Aubrey may have been a little fussier than normal as her further pictures will detail, but she did love making her New Years Eve Eve hat and wearing her party skirt.

Toot Toot Liam to a Happy New Year!

 Sweet Gigi was a ball of crafting fun. Love her precious hugs and smiles.

 Our sweet friends enjoyed a few group photos. Love these sweet Howard boys and Hanks girls.

 {Chatting it up with sweet friends}

 {Our crafter, Ninja, Fussy Pants, Blue Eyed Boy}

 After a few hugs, a fix of her New Years Eve Eve hat, and a piggy back ride, I got this sweety to smile! Love her precious heart!

 Love our minis and their precious parents. Thankful for sweet bible study friendships and for a fun day to celebrate our Noon Years Eve Eve with family and friends!

Most of us were excited about the count down! Ha!

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Happy Noon Years Eve Eve at the Davis Library!

Celebrating the Holidays with our Fant Friends & a little Hair Cut

{Thankful for our Fant family! We love these precious friends and memories of 15 years plus all those to be made with our minis}

 Before Christmas we had a fun night of holiday celebration with our Fant friends. We always love our sweet time with our friends. From a delicious dinner, fun play time with the littles, tasty drinks, and time of catch up with friends, our night was so much fun.

The girls got Aubrey her very own special doll, named Liliya. They had a fun time playing with their little ladies and accessories.

{Hugs to these precious friends}

{This amazing super mama also gave my little the cutest hair cut. Love it #21months}

A Cozy Christmas at Home 2017

This holiday season we enjoyed a cozy Christmas at home in our jammies. While mommy and daddy may have gotten up with baby brother a few extra times due to congestion and ear trouble, after a few more hours of sleep it was time to wake up the kiddos for a fun morning of Santa, sweet photo opts, delicious eats, play, and most importantly cozy moments together.

Santa brought fun Paw Patrol friends for Liam and Aubrey. They surely love their Chase and Sky pups.

Some of the kiddos favorite little gifts were figurines of safari animals and unicorns, balls, cleaning toys from Melissa and Doug, and an ice cream shop.

We loved the special Christmas box from our Alabama family. We loved all the sweet touches plus this adorable picture of them.

filled with adorable sweetness and pillows...

Liam's toy truck was a huge hit! Thank you Nana.

Unwrapping some fun with daddy.

I do love my little dinosaur. A dinosaur says... ROAR!

And Santa brought Aubrey her much requested YO-YO!

The aftermath was a beautiful mess of Christmas wrapping fun. The kids enjoyed a fun morning of play in jammies. Santa also thought it would be fun to take out Aubrey's pool slide, blow it up, and leave it in the living room for us to put all the balls in and play all morning.

The indoor ball pit was a huge success!

 

I am so thankful to have my best friend and main squeeze to enjoy these precious moments shared this Christmas. I love his joy, his comfort, and his love for our babies. But most importantly I love his love for Jesus. I love his guidance with our kids and how he helps lead our family. He is my rock and my bestie. Love him! 

Above all this Christmas season, we wanted to teach our children about the true reason for the season. This Christmas day we had a celebration for Jesus, as He is our reason and our greatest gift.

Aubrey suggested we should make a chocolate cake as Jesus may like chocolate. It's definitely the thought that counts. It was a fun way to explain that Jesus is alive and he's with us. It was a wonderful picture of us celebrating Him.

So thankful for this incredible gift of fun at home with my loves. We were thankful to celebrate Jesus and to make these special family traditions together. We did surely miss our extended family and were so thankful to have special chats with each of them. We will be so excited to make another visit this coming New Year.