15 Weeks

On December 23rd, Luc turned 15 weeks old. Luc loves standing. He has finally gained a bunch of weight and jumped up to 14 pounds 15 ounces this week! Luc slept a 6 hour and 22 minute stretch this week. Luc has started getting a rash under his neck. I think it is from all the drool and am praying it isn't an eczema rash. Luc is laughing a bunch now. He seems to be on an eat every 2 hour schedule these days. He loves sucking his fists and grabbed his feet for the first time. 

Aubree Elf Day

On December 22nd, my little elfs and I prepared for Christmas. I had a little extra help that day-Aubree came over to play with the kids. She and Hudson decorated sugar cookies together. Then the kids and Aubree had an indoor snowball fight. They had a blast with Aubree and it helped me get some much needed holiday prep done. 

2014 Holiday Ornaments

Every year we get personalized ornaments. We get one family one and each kid gets one. Hudson got to pick his this year. He changed his mind about 15 times, but finally decided on Santa in a train. After Magic Mountain, we came home and put our new ornaments on the tree. Then we all watched as Dada placed the star on top. Hudson was so excited about it that Nic picked him up so he could pretend to place the star too. :)

Pancakes, Cookies, Santa and Magic Mountain

On December 21st, We started the day off with holiday pancakes. I love making pancakes and try to do it as many weekends as possible. Hudson loves it too! How cute is his bed head?!

After pancakes, we worked on our sugar cookies. Hudson loved it! 

Then we tortured Luc (and Nic) with an at home holiday photo shoot. haha. I so desperately wish I was good at taking pictures. I see so many amazing photos on social media and want similar ones of my kids, but I can't force my family to do professional photo shoots every week (although I secretly wish I could) so I sometimes attempt pictures myself. It usually just ends with me frustrated that I am not better at photo taking, but once some time has passed, even my bad photos are better than none at all. Maybe some day I will find some time to take a photography class or something, but for now, this is the best I can do. ;)

That night, we took the kids to Magic Mountain. It was a really cold and windy night so they cancelled the water show (poor Hudson had been really looking forward to it), but we still had fun walking around, looking at the light show, walking through the snowy winter wonderland, meeting Santa Claus and Hud had a blast running around in the snow during the "water show" ie the music played with lights and snow falling, but without the visual water show Hudson ran around like a maniac instead! haha. This time of year is so fun and I'm glad we have been able to make so many special memories with Hudson even with little brother in tow. 

Back to Work and Holiday Pajama Party

On December 18th, I had my first day back at work. I can't believe how quickly it came around. I could easily have taken tons more time off, but at least I can work from home and my schedule is flexible. 

After a busy day of playing catch up at work, the kids and I got in our pajamas in preparation of a holiday party with my LACHSA friends. Yesenia hosted the party and we got on the topic of Hudson, Liam and Gracin happening to show up in matching pjs to the holiday party we had when they were babies and we thought it would be so cute for Luc, Lachlan and the new Liam to get a photo in the same pjs. Sadly, Jordan no longer had hers, but we thought pjs would still be cute, then the older kids wanted in on the action so I just suggested we make it a pajama party. It was the best idea ever since it was so nice for us adults to be so comfy and it made getting the kids home and into bed easier too. I am all for easier these days! Woohoo! Apparently, Jordan and I think alike, because we showed up in matching pjs this year, haha. We all brought something to eat and had a really great night! It is really fun to watch our kids play together and I'm hoping we can make this an annual event. 

The kids and I were killing time waiting for dada to get home so we took a bunch of selfies in front of the tree. 

14 Weeks

On December 16th, Luc turned 14 weeks old. He still weighs 14 pounds 4 ounces. He finally took a bottle this week-Jenn got him to drink 5 ounces while in the Rock~n~Play, which was a huge accomplishment! Since then he has been taking bottles no problem! Way to go Luc!

MNO Cookie Exchange

On December 15th, I went to a mom's club event at Alka's house. She made a delicious traditional Indian meal and we had a cookie exchange. I made delicious mini chocolate chip m&m cookies using this recipe from Picky Palate. I was trying to make cookies similar to the mini ones from Corner Bakery and these were perfect. I ended up bringing Luc along and he of course managed to have a huge blowout diaper as soon as we got there, then he fussed most of the remainder of the time. I felt bad that I was disrupting everyone else's night away from their kids with my fussy baby so I didn't stay too long, but it was fun to get out for a little bit. I forgot to take pics at Alka's house, so I'll just share a few of my cookies and Luc in his adorable outfit from Sheri pre-poop explosion. 

Disney on Ice, CHLA, Disneyland

On December 14th, we went to see Disney on Ice. I honestly am not sure who enjoys this more: me or Hudson. I remember going as a kid and love that I now get to share the experience with my sweet, little boy. I get a little teary-eyed watching his eyes light up as he excitedly watches the show. We had such a great time and even Luc enjoyed parts of the show (when he wasn't snoozing). As we were walking in we bumped into Joyce Sharmin, Nancy, Cindy, Lorin, Theresa, Jim and all their kids so that was really fun. 

After Disney on Ice, we went to Rachelle and Brandon's house. They put together a wonderful volunteering opportunity for us to participate in. Along with a few other families, we sponsored a family from Children's Hospital Los Angeles. We were given a wish list and between all of us, we were able to give the family almost every item they requested. Rachelle invited us over to drop off our gifts and help with wrapping everything. We had a lot of fun and it felt so good to do something charitable. I hope this will be something we can help with every year.

Straight from the Bell's house, we were off to California Adventure for our annual dinner and World of Color holiday show. We made plans to meet up with Brenda, Craig, Tim, Lindsay, Brooke and Gracie so when we arrived we had to race over to Cars Land to meet everyone for a group photo. 

Then we were off to Wine Country Trattoria for dinner. We planned it perfectly so the parade was going by while we ate. After dinner, we took turns going on Mater's Junkyard Jamboree with Hudson. Then we went on the Little Mermaid Ride before heading in for World of Color. 

I absolutely love the holiday version of this show. There is tons of Frozen, a jingle bells sing a long and my personal favorite the Toy Story Nutcracker Suite. 

We had so much fun and Luc was such a trooper. It was a long day even for us adults and both boys were really good all day and seemed to really enjoy everything. 

Labor of Love Playdate

On December 13th we went to the Coleman's house for a holiday play date. The kids had so much fun and us adults had a great time catching up as well. It has been such a joy to watch these kids grow up together.

Santa Visit

Tonight, December 10th, we went to see Santa at the mall. Hudson was so excited about it! While we waited in line, he ran around, watched the water jumping (the fountain) and threw coins in. We bought a fast pass, but still had to wait for quite a while; I honestly don't think it was much faster than the regular line (faster for them because they didn't have to process our payment or wait for us to decide on a package, but they took more people from the regular line than ours so our wait was about the same. Anyways, my point is, that since we had to wait my timing with Luc wasn't as perfect as I wanted. He was fed, happy and content when we arrived. Then he started his crazy drooling so I had to attempt to save his outfit while standing outside in the cold and just before it was our turn, he pooped! Thankfully it didn't leak, that would have been a nightmare, but we didn't have time to change it so Santa got to hold a stinky little boy on his lap. Luc was pretty calm about the whole thing and just stared off at the lights. We squeeked toys at him and called his name, but we couldn't get him to look at the camera. Oh well. Then we added Hudson into the mix. Hudson did his usual stare face, but after we asked him to smile, he at least gave us a half smile. (We are making progress!). I wish we could have taken video of Hud and Santa our at least a few of our own photos. (When you have purchased the package already, what is the fear in us taking our own pics?) Hud was so cute. He told Santa he wanted toys for Christmas. I have asked him a few times previously what he will ask Santa for. One time he answered Buzz and Woody and another time he said a skateboard? Today he has been saying toys pretty consistently, but who knows what he will want tomorrow. Lastly, Santa gave each of the boys a candy cane and sent us on our way. Hudson loved the candy cane! He was so excited about the whole 5 second encounter, haha. 

On our way home, we stopped at the very impressive street in our neighborhood to look at the lights. Hudson is obsessed with Christmas lights so he of course loved it! In fact, he is obsessed with all things Christmas (he really is my child!). He loves our tree, the lights, the ornaments, jingle bell, our elf, the fireplace, the lights on the houses, everything! I didn't know it was possible to love Christmas more, but every day enjoying it with him, even little things like changing the number on our countdown to Christmas calendar, has been so special! 

Christmas Tree Pictures

We had planned on taking Christmas Tree Farm photos with my friend Maggie Minhas, but she was having medical problems and had to cancel. I found an affordable local photographer through a friend and booked a mini session last minute. On December 13th, we drove down the street to a local Christmas tree farm to take some family photos. The photographer was really nice and patient with a very fussy little baby. Luc hated the wind and was pretty miserable for a good portion of the shoot. Considering that, the cost and the last minute scheduling, I think we got some great pictures. I must admit though, that they aren't my favorite. They seem too photo shopped or something-I guess I just prefer more natural lighting and colors in my photos. If this style is your preference though the photographer is called Forte Fotos. You can check out our photos here.