*santa*

~Kaden and the big man.

So we finally got Kaden over to see Santa. We have made it a tradition (ok, so it's only the second year we have actually lived here, but still) to go see Santa at Outdoor World in Stapleton. There are a million other places we could have gone to see him, but we like to go to Outdoor World for several reasons.....Santa is awesome (and apparently has tats all over his arms we noticed after he headed to the restroom), there is a whole winter wonderland set up with fun rides/activities for the kids, there are a ton of boats, four wheelers and tents to play in for everyone, the ginormous fish tank and hello a free photo, which is really hard to come by these days with Santa! So it's no wonder that this Santa has been in high demand, and actually had a SIX hour wait to see him the previous weekend before we decided to go. We tried to find a time during the week to go, but only had Friday night free. I figured no one else would think to go on a Friday night....I was wrong! I got there at 5pm, with plans for Chad to meet us there after work. I walked up to the booth where they give out little "fast passes" to see Santa, and the guy's face said it all. He had given out all the passes for the evening, and maybe I would want to come back two hours before they opened in the morning? I was so sad, I even caught myself getting slightly misty over the big man. Kaden and i had talked about Santa all day and we were pretty stoked about the visit! I had caught him talking about santa during his nap, saying his name over and over again several times.

Some sweet angel lady must have seen me about to have a mental breakdown, and walked over and offered me her pass. This, of course, did make me start to cry and she must have thought I was a complete spaz when I gave her a huge hug and babbled about how insanely grateful I was. Yeah, I get a little nutz sometimes, espcially when it comes to my little guy and seeing him smile.


~practicing his santa sprint.


~waiting to see the big man.








~christmas cookie baking extravaganza with friends Ryan and Casey. Holy chaotic messiness.


~reading his favorite bedtime "story" with daddy, the photo book gifted from my brother of our visit to Roch-cha-cha. He relives every moment and every story as we go through it.


~kaden likes to have garfield ride Bjorn-style in the front of his jammies.

In other big news, Chad said goodbye to his beloved Mazda this past week. He has had that truck since our first days together, and I know it was really hard for him to say goodbye. I have such crazy memories of pulling up where we used to work together and feeling butterflies when i saw his truck pulled in the parking lot. I remember crashing out in the back and sleeping off a night of drinking, the road trips that we used to take with it, my first "camping" trip with him when we just pulled up the truck on a dock in Santa Barbara and slept with the back open....my kind of camping!

He had thought about getting rid of it when Kaden was born, and somehow it just stuck around for the next three years. For the past few months, he has been browsing for something that can tackle the winters in Colorado, but also be good for camping and family road trips. He settled on a Toyota Highlander, and he is so ridiculously happy in it!











We had a pre-Christmas party at Mamaw's house this sunday with the Sextons. It was a good time as always. The Broncos were playing, but sadly did not come through this time...better luck next time. Yep, I don't really know anything about football, nor do I really care all that much, but I love all the positive and crazy energy in the air when they play, so I guess that makes me a mini fan.


~a typical colorado christmas outfit


~Natalie not loving her white elephant gift so much.




~the fart bank was the prize white elephant gift and provided kaden with many hours of giggles.


~fart bank giggles.


~not your typical 24 week pic.

I'm feeling really hyper emotional with this pregnancy. Not so unlike my usual self, right? This is pretty intense. I cry whenever I hear that damn "Do they know it's Christmastime at all" song on the radio, I cry over santa, and I cry a ton about simple little things that should make me smile, and I cry for so many of my clients that are really struggling and going through such a hard time this holiday season. I am doing some serious cleansing of the tear ducts! On a happier note, all that nauseua and weird 3pm sickness I was having seems to have subsided for now.

and how about just a tiny linky love!

If I had the energy or the time, I would so LOVE to pull off this amazing Elf themed party. Completely amazing.

I really want to eat this, but it almost is too pretty to eat!

If you have a little one and you have yet to check out this blog, you must do so immediately. I have gotten so many amazing ideas from her and she is just incredibly creative! check her out.