First snow and Christmas 2013

A few weeks ago we had our first snowfall in our new house. There wasn't a whole lot, maybe an inch or so, but it was really pretty and Shelby had an absolute blast playing in it. We even managed to build a little snowman! Shelby would have spent the entire day outside playing had the snow lasted that long, but she refused to keep her gloves and hat on after a bit of playing. She claimed she was "too hot" and would chuck her hat by the door or toss her glove by the snowman. I finally had to bribe her to come inside so we could watch princess, eat popcorn and sip some rootbeer. I know I know....it should have been hot chocolate right? Somehow hot chocolate and popcorn just don't go together in my mind. Only rootbeer works with that combo! Anyways....here's some of the first snowfall pictures!

Shelby had just woken up and we showed her the pretty snow. She was more than excited to get out there!

I told her we needed to get her hat so that we could go outside and play in the snow. She went up to her room by herself and came back down with this plastic fire hat she got from Pops at the fire department one time. I couldn't help but laugh. It was indeed a hat, but not exactly what I was going for!

Deciding where to go and with a much warmer hat!

A perfect Shelby sized snowman.

Someone got a little tired and cold and decided that stomping around in the melted stuff was much more fun. Shortly after this we came inside to warm up.

Our new house in it's first snowfall. So pretty!

We had to run to Ryan's office later that morning but Shelby didn't last very long in the car. She completely wore herself out and snored the entire way. Unfortunately for me that was her nap for the day so I went without one, but that's alright.

Now for the super fun stuff...Christmas!!! This was Shelby's 3rd Christmas and the first one that she was actually excited about. Being 3 weeks old and then barely a year old for the first two just didn't provide her with memories, hah! This year though I had never seen a kid more excited to see lights or a tree than Shelby was. Christmas trees (mas tees) were the best thing EVER to her. She loves the lights and couldn't stop touching them or yelling "LIGHTS!" whenever she saw them. It was adorable!

Our very first Christmas tree ever in our 3.5 yrs of marriage.

Christmas with a little one who is this excited was definitely the best. If only everyone could be as excited as a child for Christmas. We got our Christmas tree December 8th thanks to my mom and dad bringing one up from Chehalis. We did it that way because we didn't really want to (nor could we) pay $50-80 for a tree up here. The tree farm in Chehalis sells any tree for $20; a much more doable deal. We got the tree up and decorated in one day thanks to Pops helping Ryan get the stand and everything together. We thought for sure Shelby would rearrange the ornaments on the tree within minutes but she surprised us all and only took one ornament off and chucked it across the room thinking it was a ball. Thankfully we have shatter proof ones so all it did was bounce. We quickly explained they were not balls and that she couldn't play with those. The next day I took Shelby to the store so she could pick out her own little ornaments that were a little more kid friendly. She picked out some pretty cute ones and we helped her put them on the tree that evening so they were within her reach. She only played with those from then on. It was awesome!

We had presents under the tree for a few weeks before Christmas and Shelby didn't touch a single one of them until Christmas Eve. I think she had decided she'd waited long enough and went over to the tree, grabbed a present, ran it over to my lap and started tearing it apart. She picked a Minnie Mouse Boutique play set which kept her busy for hours after that. It was so fun seeing her excitement!

Everything set up and ready for Christmas morning. 

Christmas morning was AWESOME!! Shelby got herself out of bed around 8 o'clock headed straight downstairs. I had to distract her for a little bit to keep her upstairs so Ryan could run downstairs and turn the lights on and get the camera and video camera ready. He recorded us making the trek downstairs and Shelby's initial reaction to the tree and her gifts. That alone made all of our efforts and stresses worth it.


Christmas Morning! from Whitney DeCoria on Vimeo.

Her first stop was her new pink tricycle, which she so lovingly calls her "chair" now. After a couple minutes of trying to figure it out she decided the slide would be the funnest thing at that moment. A few slides down and she finally dove into the presents. It took a few hours to get all her stuff opened because all she wanted to do was play with everything once it was opened. She also had to make sure that every little piece of wrapping paper was off the gift before she got excited about what it was. So funny! It was a ton of fun and I already can't wait till next year!

The slide has since become a launching ramp for stuffed animals and hot wheels cars. She can't get enough of it!

Ryan got Bop-It Tetris for Christmas. Sure is a fun and addictive game! Shelby had to try it out for herself.

Oooo...tissue paper!!

Favorite new bath toy. Jake!!

We had to coax her a few times to get another present open.

Great-Grandma and Grandpa Kershaw gave her a little purse with goodies inside. She immediately found the Dove chocolates and made quick work of those. There was only a handful left by the time we realized what was going on and we managed to hide a few for her to have at a later time. She has a 6th sense for chocolate like her mom. :-) We can sniff it out anywhere!

Her new piggy bank and blanket that Auntie Kaeli made for her were big hits for a while. She loves piggy banks (bank banks) so we were lucky when we found one she could haul around and play with whenever she pleased. Her porcelain one from last Christmas didn't endure it's first drop.

She hid herself in the corner and was singing along to the "bank bank" songs.

Her absolute favorite toy is a Princess Klip Klop castle that Mima and Pops got her. She had to help Ryan put it together and as soon as it was playable she didn't stop for the rest of the day. She was even up at 7:30 the next morning and downstairs playing with it.

The horses from the castle even had the privilege of taking a few turns down the slide.

Disney books and Minimus; who could be happier?? 

I'd say she had a pretty good day! She was definitely spoiled by us, grandparents, aunts & uncles and cousins alike. It was a great day and we are so thankful we were able to give her some fun things and a memorable Christmas.

Ryan and I were blessed with some amazing gifts as well and we couldn't be more thankful for what we received. I received a brand spankin new non-stick stock pot from Ryan. I had been wanting one for a while because my stainless steel ones just weren't cutting it. If you know me well you wouldn't think I'd be that excited for a stock pot, but it's funny how priorities change huh? I put it to use that night making Sausage Tortellini soup for dinner.

Love it!!

The funnest thing Ryan and I received was a binder of gift cards that my mom and dad put together for us. My mom must have worked on it forever but she said it was a lot of fun putting together. In the binder was a page for each month of next year that included a gift card for that month. I just have to share it so you get the idea but I won't post every month for modesty sake. It was absolutely awesome and we plan on having a lot of fun with this binder over the next year!

My mom did an amazing job putting this together and we are so excited for it. It was a great Christmas and we are so thankful and feel so blessed. Now we're off to Chehalis for the weekend to spend a late Christmas with my family and then New Years. More fun to come!