20 Weeks

On January 27th, Luc turned 20 weeks old. The poor little guy has a terrible rash on his neck from drooling so much. It keeps improving overnight, but during the day it gets worse again. Luc has been napping really well this week, averaging about an hour and 40 minute naps, but overnight he is still terrible. He is waking every 1 or 2 hours and almost always struggles to get back to sleep. Sometimes he even stays up crying for an hour to an hour and a half in the middle of the night. Luc started working on rolling over this week and at 4am on the 27th, he decided he needed to master this milestone. He rolled over multiple times and scooted all over the crib. I went to take a picture of the monitor, but my phone was full and by the time I got Nic's phone I had missed it. I still can't believe this kid chose 4am to achieve this milestone, but we were proud nonetheless. 

Sleep Training

Luc has been napping pretty well lately. I swaddle him, give him his paci and usually rock or nurse him to sleep. He has been doing about 1 hour to 2 hours, usually averaging about 1 hour and 40 minutes. Overnight he is awful though. He wakes every 1 to 2 hours and almost always struggles to get back to sleep. Sometimes he even stays up crying for an hour or two so we decided that for our sanity, we needed to sleep train. 

On January 23rd we began sleep training Luc. I was really nervous going in, but optimistic. With Hudson we had no expectations going in and in 3 nights he went from waking every two hours to sleeping 11 hours straight, with if memory serves me correctly, a 53 minute first stretch of crying and a little over an hour being the longest later that first night. Now I will say I always put Hudson down awake and he always went back to sleep as long as I fed him, whereas I spend a lot of time getting Luc to sleep every night, sometimes put him down asleep and he often wakes randomly for long periods of time overnight. We knew Luc seemed worse than Hudson going in, but we were still very hopeful that in less than a week we would be getting some much needed sleep. 

I made some allergy free fruity pebbles and printed out our sleep chart and mentally prepared myself for night 1-the most exhausting and difficult night. We ditched Luc's paci and the swaddle, kissed him goodnight and prayed he would magically be easy to sleep train. Boy did I underestimate this child! I was not even close to prepared for the stubbornness that is Luc! Hudson whimpered and tried to get himself to sleep from the beginning. Luc SCREAMED and I mean SCREAMED for an hour and 40 minutes. He finally passed out from exhaustion and I burst into tears. It was such a long, miserable 100 minutes that I must have eaten the entire tray of fruity pebble treats. Too bad I was still nursing because tequila probably would have been the more preferable option. Just when we thought it couldn't get any worse, after only 10 minutes of sleep, Luc starting hysterically crying again. After another 45 minutes, at 10:15pm,  I couldn't take it anymore and went in and got him. Which is probably the worst thing I could have done because it just re-enforced to him that screaming and crying gets you what you want, but I just couldn't take it anymore.I went in, fed Luc, then put him down awake in his crib. He got himself to sleep at 10:30, but only slept for 20 minutes. He put himself back to sleep at 11, but woke up 20 minutes later crying again. At that point we were so exhausted we brought him into our bed. Half way through the night Nic swaddled Luc and put him back into his bed. It was an exhausting night of no sleep and a big fat F in the sleep training department. 

The next day, January 24th, we decided to continue with the sleep training. They don't recommend starting with naps so it would have probably been better to wait until that night, but I was nervous to spend too much time continuing our old habits-especially since we needed to utilize the weekend so I would have Nic's support.

We cheated during the first nap- we swaddled him with his arms out and gave him his paci- but he knocked it out immediately. He still cried with the occasional scream, but he at least had a few moments of quiet trying to get himself to sleep. At one point Hud grabbed the monitor and said, "Luc please go to sleep."

Luc did a little bit better with his naps throughout the day and even seemed to be trying to learn to self soothe, but night two was miserable again. Luc cried for an hour and a half to start off the night and did another hour and a half of crying at 4am and those were just the highlights. 

On night three, January 25th, Luc seemed to be asleep after only about 20 minutes of crying, but he only slept for 55 minutes before waking and crying again. Before we began the sleep training, some nights (and naps) Luc would cry regardless of what I did-hold him, rock him, walk him in the stroller etc. so the crying isn't as torturous as the screaming. In fact, that was the discussion I had with both Dr. Sethi and Dr. Braskett. I told them he cries no matter what I do-and for hours-so it seemed as though we might as well go for it with the sleep training. It took Luc another hour of crying before he finally fell asleep. He slept for 20 minutes again before waking up crying! He just sleeps long enough to take the edge off then he seems to have recharged to protest with crying again. 

On night four, January 26th, Luc decided that he needed to learn to roll at 5am. This kid would apparently rather do anything other than sleep. I hope his determination and stubbornness serve him well someday. 

After a few more nights of this torture, Nic and I reviewed our notes. The author of the Sleep Easy Solution has you keep a chart so that you can see how your child is improving each night (as is the case with normal children). When we looked at Luc though, there was no improvement at all. Every night he is averaging about 3 hours of awake time crying. There is absolutely zero improvement. He wakes anywhere between 4 and 7 times a night and he has no patterns to his waking. We decided we were too exhausted to continue and it felt hopeless anyways so we called it quits. Perhaps Luc just isn't ready yet. 

Park Play

On January 23rd, I took the boys to the park. We met up with one of my mom friends, Briana, who has two little boys similar ages to mine. It was nice to get out of the house for a bit and the boys definitely enjoyed themselves. I just adore them! 

Luc Allergy Doctor Appointment

On January 21st, I took Luc to see Hudson's allergy doctor - Dr. Braskett. We spent a lot of time talking to some in training doctor so the appointment took forever. I went over the last few months, my food journal and Luc's symptoms with the trainee then again with Dr. Braskett. Dr. Braskett agreed that Luc had some sort of intolerance and that his stomach seemed to be bothering him. She suggested we take Luc to see a Pediatric GI doctor. She also didn't want me doing any sleep training until after the GI doctor looked at Luc and gave us her opinion. I was so desperate for sleep though that I pretty much convinced her to give me the ok to sleep train. Dr. Braskett agreed that I should continue with the elimination diet and she was hopeful that it would just take a bit longer to see Luc improve as opposed to the possibility that I needed to eliminate more things. She said it was too early to allergy test him and food intolerances, which is what he currently has, wouldn't show up anyways. So I unfortunately didn't leave with much helpful information. 

Dr. Nelson

After acknowledging that I thought I had post partum depression, I procrastinated on making an appointment with my doctor. It was hard enough to admit it to myself and then to Nic and I was extremely nervous to take that next step. I finally forced myself to make an appointment with my gynecologist. I had been planning to make an appointment anyways because I was having really bad pain in my chest, plus I was too chicken to tell them PPD was the main reason I was coming in. 

While I waited for my appointment to roll around, I reached out to a sorority sister who had been open about having PPD. She had some really great tips for me and mostly it just felt nice to have someone to talk to who could relate. She said my number one priority was to sleep train Luc. I knew I couldn't do that yet as his pediatrician and allergy doctor both felt we should wait, but I knew that finally getting sleep would be a huge turning point for me emotionally. She also suggested exercising, getting outside, making time for date nights and finding some time for me each day. It's funny, every suggestion she gave me were things I was already trying to do or had been thinking about, but couldn't figure out a way to make them happen. I had asked for babysitting as my Christmas gifts, I had my nanny working an extra day (which was supposed to be so I could sleep, tackle my to do list and pamper myself a little, but instead had been filled with running the kids all over the place to doctor appointments and Gymboree classes), I had been taking the boys for walks to the park when things got rough and I had been talking to Nic about getting back to doing our gym dates like we had done after Hudson was born. Sometimes I guess you just need to hear things from someone else to confirm that they are important. They all seem so simple and things we totally take for granted before we have kids, but putting her suggestions into practice was actually really hard and I think that is partly what was tearing me up emotionally - that realization that simple necessities like sleep, exercise, and me time were so difficult to make happen. 

On January 20th, I had my doctor appointment with Dr. Nelson. I was so nervous. I have a really great relationship with my doctor and I felt ashamed to admit what was going on. I didn't want her opinion of me to change or for her to see me in a negative light. As soon as I said I think I might have PPD I burst into tears. I did a lot of crying as she asked me questions, but the worst moment of the conversation was when she said, "but you haven't had thoughts of hurting yourself or your baby right?' and I had to answer yes. I felt like such a horrible person. After talking for a while, we decided together that I would try therapy first, then if I didn't feel better, she would prescribe me medicine. I was relieved that I wasn't going to have to take meds as that scared me and my doctor definitely made me feel very comfortable, normal and optimistic that things were going to improve. I left so relieved that I had overcome the next step in my journey.

19 Weeks

On January 20th, Luc hit the 19 week mark. I don't have much to report again this week. My only notes are again about sleep, or lack thereof. Seems to be the only thing on everyone's minds these days. That 4 month sleep regression combined with Luc's tummy problems and the start of teething have made for some rough nights. He is continuing to grow though and is so darn cute. 

Disneyland

On January 19th, Sabrina and I took Hudson and Luc to Disneyland. We ran to the Frozen area because I had heard it was always packed. Sabrina got in line with Hudson to get us seats for the sing a long theater show while Luc and I waited for a pager for Olaf Fest. I got the pager quicker than I expected so I ran and got fast passes for the Elsa and Anna meet and greet too before running into the theater just in time for the show. The show was so cute. Sabrina and I joked after that we were both fighting back tears through most of it. I'm not sure if it was all the little kids singing along, the snow falling and the end, or the excitement in Hudson's eyes, but it was so sweet. 

By the time the show was over, our pager started going off and it was time to head into Olaf Fest. We got in line to meet Olaf first. Hudson was pretty excited-maybe even a little star struck! haha. 

Then we played in the snow and Hudson and Auntie Beena went sledding. Hudson loved it! If the line hadn't been so long, I think he would have gone sledding a few more times. 

It was already getting close to our fast pass time for the princess meet and great so we headed over to get in line. I must admit, I hadn't really thought of taking Hudson to meet any princesses before because it seemed like a girl thing, but when I thought about it, he loves Frozen and is just as familiar with Elsa and Anna as little girls are. I'm so glad I thought to get the fastpasses because Hudson loved it. His face lit up more talking to Anna and Elsa than it did meeting Olaf and Olaf is his absolute favorite. He told Anna all about how he had met Olaf, and saw snow and went sledding. She quickly became his new best friend, lol. 

We finished Frozen Fest, our only real plan for the day, so much faster than we expected, that we decided to head over to Disneyland for a bit. We took a few photos in front of the castle and then Luc napped while Auntie Beena and Hudson rode the teacups (Hudson's favorite ride at the moment). 

After that we hopped in the car to head home. It was a really fun morning at the Happiest Place on Earth. (that is until a few days later when new articles about the measles scare came out and I instantly regretted taking Luc and panicked so much about him catching the measles that I even e-mailed our pediatrician)

Have I mentioned how much Luc hates the car? These photos were only taken a few minutes apart. The first is Luc right after I nursed him and the second is right after I placed him in his car seat and started driving home. He screamed most of the drive home! 

Sabrina's Birthday Dinner

On January 18th, I did a bunch of meal prep for the week. I made 6 dinners and blueberry muffins. It is a lot of work on the weekends- it takes me a while to write a grocery list, Nic a few hours to do all the grocery shopping and me a few hours to make the meals, but it is so worth it during the week when we can have healthy, allergy free meals without much effort. 

While I was in the kitchen, Nic spent time with the boys - lounging and napping by the looks of things. hehe. 

That night, we got dressed up and went to La Chene for dinner to celebrate Sabrina's birthday with my parents, Sabrina, Justin and our clan. The waiters asked about my diet restrictions and then made me the most delicious dinner. It was so nice to go out to dinner and not feel totally deprived of the experience. It was a really fun night.

Time with my Boys

On January 16th, Luc had the cutest little outfit on so I decided to snap a few pictures of him. I just adore this little dude. (even if he doesn't sleep!).

I've been trying really hard to be conscientious of Hudson's feelings throughout the last few months. I'm sure having a new sibling who steals all of mama's attention is challenging for such a little guy so I try really hard to have special outings with just me and Huddy Bud. On Jan 17th, we went to Magic Mountain for a few hours. We had the absolute best time. Hudson rode his first roller coaster and loved it! He also rode a train ride all by himself (literally he was the only person on it) and we went on the swinging pirate ship together. We pretty much rode every ride in Bugs Bunny World and had such a great time. I love this special time I get to spend just the two of us.  

Luc's 4 Month Well Check

On January 15th, Luc had his 4 month well check appointment.He weighed 16 pounds, was 26.75 inches long with a 41 inch head circumference. He is in the 60th % for weight and almost the 97th % for height. Dr. Sethi tested his diaper and it came back positive for blood. She said his lower left tooth is coming in and that he is very advanced. She was impressed with how sturdy he was,how great he was at tummy time and that he is scooting already. She was hesitant to give us the green light on sleep training and said I should wait to see what the allergy doctor says before moving forward with it. Other than the sleep issues and blood in his stool, Luc seems to be a very healthy boy. 

Header Update

Luc is over a year old and still hadn't been added to the blog header....oops...so I finally updated our header. I hope you like it.

For fun, here are the old headers:

18 Weeks

On January 13th, Luc turned 18 months old. Not much to report this past week except that the sleep struggles continue. I feel so bad for Luc, but I don't have any ideas to help him. I hope we get this figured out or that it is just a phase that passes quickly. Thank goodness he is so stinkin' cute because this not sleeping thing is very challenging. 

Tom Davis' Memorial

On January 11th, I went to the memorial service for our family friend Tom Davis. Jennifer, Tom's daughter, and I grew up dancing together and our families have been friends pretty much since we moved to Acton. Tom had been battling lymphoma for about a year. At Jenn's wedding last October, we were trying to remain optimistic, but it seemed as though he was doing everything in his power to make sure he was there for Jenn's wedding, in the best health possible for her special day, but it was pretty clear that his health was deteriorating. Tom was such a kind man and I truly admire how selfless he was, he always put his family's needs ahead of his own. It was a really sad, but beautiful memorial service. Many people gave wonderful tributes to Tom. After the memorial service, I went home to nurse Luc, then Lindsay and I drove to Acton for the reception. Jenn had mentioned that whenever she saw a rainbow it reminded her of her dad and on our drive Lindsay and I saw a beautiful one. It was really special.

It was a sad day, but the one strange thing about funerals is that it always brings people together. I got to see a lot of people I grew up dancing with that I haven't seen in a long time so that was really nice. 

*I thought we had taken a few pictures at the reception, but I wasn't able to find anything.

Rough Day

It is crazy to be writing this blog post almost exactly one year later. Part of me hasn't wanted to share this. I try so hard to portray this perfect, happy life and admitting that I struggled a lot this past year is difficult. The other part of me feels like a burden will be lifted for sharing my story, especially now that I am no longer in the thick of it. 

It was January 9th, 2015 and it was one of my hardest days as a mom. It seemed almost inevitable that this moment was coming. I am a control freak and perfectionist and having two young kids, especially one who doesn't seem to be sleeping, is a recipe for disaster. The biggest problem was that instead of being honest and reaching out for help, I was trying to convince myself and everyone around me that I was fine. As evidenced by my post about my sister's birthday celebration, I was going to great lengths to make it seem like I had this motherhood thing totally under control. I was back at work, not sleeping, navigating my new diet again and still managed to clean the whole house Monday, make a pot roast dinner, and desserts (all that followed my new diet) while watching both kids that day. When Sabrina and Nic got to the house it was spotless, dinner was ready and I had birthday presents and dessert displayed on the table. We played wii games with the kids, then Sabrina and I stayed up watching the Bachelor premiere and drinking champagne. How could you not think I had it all together?! lol. From any outsider it would seem that I was doing an amazing job, but inside I was majorly struggling and could barely keep up. By Friday, I was exhausted and had a long day of just me and the kids and I fell apart. Luc wouldn't nap, Hudson wanted all my attention and I was at my breaking point. I remember that I didn't answer any phone calls that day because I just couldn't emotionally deal with pretending everything was great. By 1pm, Luc had slept a total of 20 minutes the entire day so I plopped him in the stroller and we walked to the park. Hud was able to play and I was really hopeful that Luc would fall asleep, but he just kept fighting it. It looked as though toothpicks were holding his eyes open-he was so tired, but refused to give in. 

Numerous times that afternoon, I collapsed in a ball on the ground and cried in front of the kids. I texted Nic begging him to come home ASAP because I just couldn't keep it together. I was in total survival mode and all I could think to do was throw Luc in the stroller and get the kids and myself some fresh air. Going for a walk definitely helped (I hoped it would because the park walk, although unsuccesful in the sleep department, had been helpful), but as soon as I got back in the house I was an emotional wreck again. I was just so teary and couldn't seem to control the overwhelming sadness. 

By the time Nic got home, I had done some research on my phone and was pretty sure I had post partum depression. Nic of course felt horrible when he got home and I broke down and told him. I was so scared to say it out loud to him, but knew I needed to make some changes because I didn't want to have a repeat of that day. It was awful for me (I had some scary thoughts that I didn't ever want to have again) and I didn't want the kids to see me as such an emotional wreck again. Nic felt so bad that he didn't leave work when I asked him to. He thought I was just being dramatic and from what he had seen I always had everything together so he didn't realize how badly I was struggling. He also felt bad that he hadn't noticed as we had talked about me being at risk for PPD while I was pregnant. I told him not to feel bad and instead lets work on coming up with a plan moving forward to tackle this. Opening up to him was one of the hardest things I've done, but Nic was very supportive and a weight was immediately lifted. 

4 Months

On January 9th, Luc turned 4 months old. He weighs 15 pounds 12 ounces. Our stubborn little boy finally drank out of a bottle this month. Luc is laughing a bunch now, grabbing his feet and he is teething like crazy! He is so drooly and constantly has his fists in his mouth. Luc celebrated his first Christmas and first New Year's this month and he has his first zoo trip. Luc has been having trouble sleeping lately and seems to be extra gassy and uncomfortable. Other than that he is such a sweet, easy going little boy and we just adore him. 

Luc Doctor Appointment

Luc had a doctor appointment on January 7th and they suspect intolerances to food I'm eating may be causing some of the issues because other than his diaper testing postivie for blood, he seems perfectly healthy. Since I am desperate at this point (and since it is the start of the year when everyone eats healthier and goes on diets anyways) I decided to do the elimination diet at the start of the year to see if it makes a difference. Obviously a week in it hasn't helped, but I'm hopefully that we will start to see some improvement. On a side note, Hudson was so funny at the doctor appointment. He brought his doctor kit and kept giving Luc shots and taking his temperature. He is such a funny kid. Since Hud has had a cough they tested him for whooping cough while we were there. He was so brave! He asked to sit in my lap. I prepped him by telling him it tickles and makes his eyes water. He was so calm and didn't make a noise. I commented how brave he was.. He said yeah as his right eye was watering and his bottom lip was quivering. I asked if he was ok and he again said yeah fighting back tears. I asked if he needed a cuddle and he said yeah as one tear trickled down his cheek. After the cuddle he asked to get down and he was as good as new. I was so proud of him!

17 Weeks

On January 6th, Luc turned 17 weeks old. He weighs 15 pounds 10 ounces. Luc has been so drooly and he is now developing a bad rash because of it. He has also been really fussy lately, sleeping terribly and seems to be really squirmy as if he is in pain. Even when being tapped, held, rocked, walked, shushed, swaddled, etc. he cries and fights sleep. Luc will also sometimes just be up for an hour or more in the middle of the night. The last few nights this week, he has been so gassy and upset-I got 5 hours of sleep Sunday night in 1 hour increments, 3 hours Monday night in 1 hour increments and about 4 hours total Tuesday night in 1 hour increments. As you can imagine this has been really rough. I'm not sure what is going on with my little guy, but I hope we can get this figured out. I feel so bad for my little man. 

Birthday Celebration for Auntie Beena

On January 5th Sabrina came over to watch the Bachelor premiere with me so I thought it would be nice to celebrate her birthday. I made a pot roast, mashed potatoes, and cupcakes for dessert. Sabrina brought the boys gifts back from her trip to London, which they were very excited about. We played the Michael Jackson Dance game on the wii, sang Auntie Beena happy birthday, then Sabrina and I stayed up and watched the Bachelor premier

Secret Holiday Sister Reveal

My Mom's Club Group does Secret Holiday Sisters every year so I joined in this year. We gave a $5 gift each week then a $25 gift at the reveal party. Nicole hosted the party on January 4th. I didn't have time that day to shower, but decided that I should go anyways. It was fun to spend some time out of the house even if I did look like crap, lol. 

Visiting Papa Fred

On January 2nd, 2015, we drove down to Orange County to visit Papa Fred. On the way down, we got a flat tire. We were in Burbank, so we went to our friend Chuck's gas station. It turned out that we needed to replace the tire, so they sent us down the street to a tire place. When we got there they told us it would be a quick fix, but then some piece of equipment broke. At that point we were kind of stranded with two little kids-talk about fun! To kill time, we walked down the street to grab some lunch. Once we got back from lunch, the car was finally fixed, thank goodness. 

We hopped back in the car and continued the trek down to the OC. It was worth all the trouble though to spend time with Papa. It was his first time meeting Luc and I know he enjoyed our company. 

New Year's Day

It's a brand new year! I can't believe how fast 2014 went by! We added a new member to our family and watched Hudson grow up in the blink of an eye. We started 2015 with a cinnamon roll breakfast and by watching the Rose Parade. 

I also looked back over my resolutions from the previous year and realized that I failed miserably. I have never really been very good at resolutions. For 2015 I am only going to give myself two resolutions and just accept now that I most likely will fail at them, but I am at least going to give them a try. 
1. Date nights once a month (at home or out). I had this as a resolution last year and even though we didn't accomplish it, we did make an effort and I think this is so important that I am making it a resolution again this year.
2. Spend less time on my phone. I am slowly becoming more and more addicted to my phone and find that it is a quick and easy escape. I really want to be more present in the kid's lives and not waste so much of my precious time staring at a screen.
We had a great start to the year and look forward to seeing what 2015 has in store for us. 

New Year's Eve

We had the perfect New Year's Eve. The Mirkovich clan came over for a bit to celebrate with us. The kids had a blast in the photobooth, they played in baby jail and they had an indoor snowball fight. I made cupcakes, salted caramel pretzel bark and rice krispy treats for everyone to enjoy. We sang Happy Birthday to Gracie and Tim, Hudson held Gracie's hand, which was just the cutest thing! We even played Rock Band and the Michael Jackson dance game. 

After Tim, Lindsay, Brooke and Gracie left, we rang in the New Year as a family with NYC. Hud loved these special pop rock things you throw at the ground outside, we did poppers inside and kissed at midnight. It was perfect! 

Then we put the kids to bed, popped open a bottle of champagne and Nic and I rang in the real New Year together. It was the best way to ring in the New Year. 2014 was a really amazing year and we are excited to see what 2015 has in store for us. 

16 Weeks

On December 30th, Luc turned 16 weeks old. He weighs about 15 pounds and 5 ounces. He has started wearing size 3 diapers. Luc has had a few good nights of sleep including a 7 hour stretch on Christmas Eve, but most nights he has been terrible! He has been gassy and has a cold and as a result has been up every 1-2 hours almost every night. Luc is also super drooly! He can soak 3 bibs and 3 outfits in one day! 

Luc loves grabbing his feet and rolling on his side. One night while putting on his lotion I rolled him onto his side, then he rolled onto his tummy.  When lying down he tries to lift his head up and sit. He loves sitting up. When propped in a sitting position, he tries to lean forward now so he ends up tipping over or bending in half. He is also loving sitting in his bumbo at the moment. He loves his piano activity mat. He will tolerate a few minutes on his tummy kicking his piano before he rolls over and grabs the toys above his head.

He is getting a little better about the car, but he still isn't the best passenger. He usually spends most of the car ride trying to get to sleep then falls asleep right before we arrive. For most naps, he has to fuss a bit before he settles.  He is very smiley and giggly, but only for short windows of time. 

LA Zoo

Last Christmas, the Bells gave us tickets to the zoo as our Christmas gift. Somehow time just slipped away from us and we didn't use them. We wanted to squeeze a trip in before the end of the year so we went on December 27th. We had so much fun! We saw the giraffes, monkeys, gorillas, tigers, hippos (including a baby one), rhinos, elephants and tons more (except Luc who was awake the entire car ride then slept almost the entire time we were at the zoo)! Hudson's favorite was the gorillas (he kept making the sounds hee hee who haa) and the peeing rhino. He also loved all the water features in every exhibit. He liked when the monkey crossed the waterfall with the baby and when the hippo drank water. We had a little trouble finding the Bell family, but we eventually found them and had fun spending some time with them. What a great day and a wonderful gift. 

2014 Christmas Card

Here is our 2014 Christmas Card.I think it is my favorite one so far. 

We got so many beautiful cards this year from family and friends that I had to come up with some new ways to display them all. I hung a ribbon from our pantry and displayed cards using clothes pins. I also hung some string across our shutters and hung cards from that. Christmas cards are absolutely one of my favorite holiday traditions.

Christmas Day

Hudson woke up so excited! He couldn't wait to get downstairs and see if the reindeer had eaten the carrots he left out. Once he got downstairs though, he spotted the train set he got the night before and got totally side tracked, lol. We reminded him about Santa and video taped him running into the room to see his kitchen, checking on the cookies and milk and going outside to see the half eaten carrots. He was really into it all which makes it so fun for us. 

Then the boys had so much fun opening the presents from Santa, their stockings and the rest of their presents from mama and dada. Hudson opened most of Luc's gifts, but Luc did dig into his stocking a bit. 

Once all of the gifts were opened we drove up to my parent's house. We had our traditional breakfast-one of my favorite meals of the year- Nic and I made Oma's potatoes, Sabrina made grandma's scalloped eggs, my mom made Scrapple, my dad made applesauce sausage from Shreiners, bacon, and hot apple cider and we had cinnabons to top the extravagant meal off. Yum! My mouth is watering just thinking about all that delicious food.

After eating and everyone got their Luc cuddles in, we opened gifts. Hudson was loving it, but he was also so sweet taking gifts over to grandma and kissing Luc. Luc was happy as can be too, sitting in his Bumbo and hugging his new Olaf doll. 

We took family pictures in front of the tree. I'm sure we would have taken pictures with my parents and siblings, but I don't have any on my camera? Grandma loved all the photos and really enjoyed her time with the boys. I think Will enjoyed the morning with us too. 

That afternoon, we took Hud out to drive his car. He was hilarious! He kept taking his foot on and off the gas pedal. He was jerking around and giving himself whiplash every time he raced off. We were all cracking up! He also almost crashed into my sister's car! Crazy little driver! 

Then while Hud took a nap, my mom, Sabrina, Luc and I went over to the Mercier's house for a quick visit. Rochelle and Luc were so cute together! Adorable little love bugs on their first Christmas. 

That night my mom made a delicious prime rib dinner. Justin and Hudson had a dance party in the kitchen before dinner and Luc took a little nap in the carrier during dinner, haha. After dinner we pulled apart our crackers, read our jokes and put on our paper crowns. We had a really nice evening. 

I hope the boys enjoyed Christmas as much as we enjoyed watching them experience it.