a magical christmas

it was a busy, but oh so magical christmas season. i feel like we squeezed in most all that we hoped to! having jon home all last week was incomparable & moving ahead to 2016 & the birth of our third daughter has my heart overflowing. 

crafting their names on christmas trees-

sugar cookies- by far our messiest endeavor of the season! [partly because we had to shut our water off & bring a plumber out in the middle of it, as jon was fixing lucy's new bedroom shower & made a wee little mishap...]

decorating a life-sized gingerbread lucy :)

union station santa train magic- a wonderful tradition!

a snowball fight between goofy santa & miss cinnamon :)

cousins [& best friends] at meme's <3

nice job, daddy!

christmas eve crafting- gingerbread men that we baked, painted & hung on the tree!

the dandurand girls on christmas eve pre-mass. eloise stayed at meme's, while jon & i took lucy, as we knew the overly crowded service wouldn't be the most successful environment for our wild woman :) she had a blast with her cousins!

receiving this in the mail was a highlight of the season for me-

the girls had so much fun with this special advent calendar this year! their aunt jane [lucy's namesake] had it made for her son many years ago & we were honored that she chose to pass it on to our family. 

christmas morning santa success!

first batch of cookies in the books!

santa babies-

jon & i hosted christmas dinner & the very best part was that my gramma helen gifted me her beloved gold silverware for christmas! i have loved & admired this set for years & couldn't believe my eyes when i opened the package! i'll cherish it always.

so blessed with cousin time-

a memorable, beautiful holiday. one of my favorite memories was the kids running around our living room, finding books & toys to wrap up & gift to meme. tasman played santa, lucy helped wrap & there was so much joy in their hearts as they watched meme's big reactions!

today is the first snow of the season & i can't wait to get the girls out in it when they wake up! my mom spent the morning helping me finish the big closet switchovers. hours & hours later, i am thrilled & relieved that with a few finishing touches from jon, our house & bedrooms are officially ready for our 3 precious girls to each have their own special space!

jon & i are having dinner with our close friends brett & christina at union station this new year's eve- it will be the first time jon & i have been out on new year's for literally years! 

bring on 2016!

-ivy

so much to update, so little time! december is such a full month & we have been busier than ever this december preparing our home for our newest pink bundle [as i've mentioned in every previous post of the past month!] jon's been working non-stop on lucy's new room & i am so excited to say that it's nearly complete! it's really about putting everything together at this point & finishing the closet & dresser switchovers. my mom & i worked for a few hours last week going through tubs of baby girl clothes in the basement, moving eloise's clothes to her new closet & lucy's new closet is all set with her wardrobe. our goal is to have everything completely finished by january 3, but with jon having finished up the paint on lucy's bedroom furniture, we may be done even sooner! this is such a weight off both of our shoulders. we're due 6 weeks from today & at this point with both other girls' rooms, we were finished & sitting back basking in the glory of jobs well done! oh, how everything changes & you learn to prioritize [as there's no other choice!] as your children grow :)

eloise has been putting 2 & 3 words together. my favorite is her saying, "a LOT!" when she asks for food, and racing lucy up the stairs for bubble bath, throwing her arms in the air & shouting, "I WIN!" even when she's a good 10 seconds behind her big sister :) lucy's been busy teaching eloise steps from her dance class & eloise really does try to do just as lucy does. at library story time, i've noticed how much lucy looks out for her sister. she'll always make sure she has the same story props as the other kids, and will take eloise by the hand at the end of the session to walk her to to the front for a hand stamp. best buds :) crazy there will be another sister the same age gap, right behind eloise. what blessings & what a privilege to be their mama. 

santa photos from jon's work winter wonderland-

making tree ornaments from old christmas coasters-

a clap & cheer each time she put a bead on a glue dot :)

i tied them up with twine & lucy loved choosing the perfect place to hang them on the tree-

lucy finished her first session of gymnastics like a champ! so much fun. we're taking january & february off for the baby [she'll still have dance each week], and we'll pick back up with tumbling after spring break. 

paper plate trees- eloise-

& lu-

we did a little christmas stocking letter matching activity with the girls' names-

eloise loved taking the stockings in & out of the envelopes-

graham cracker gingerbread houses- bad idea pre-dinner! lucy exclaimed several times "i just LOVE fwosting!"

handmade christmas thank you's ready to be filled in!

daddy/daughter date to the sion [my alma mater] vs. st. james basketball game!

stellar seating :)

& friday we went to the community center for the mr stinkyfeet christmas concert- eloise ran around like the wild woman she is-

lucy sipped hot cocoa-

& got to be a part of the jingle band for the show!

gingerbread bingo to learn how to spell "beatrice" :)

miss cinnamon delivered snowball donuts one morning- a huge hit as we've heard about it non-stop ever since-

meme has the table set at her house for family to arrive this week!

& lucy skipped nap saturday to paint her nails red, bake eggnog bread & watch eloise at christmastime with me <3

sunday morning matching minnie christmas jammies & magic snow powder fun [a complete mess!]

& meme & i took lucy to see her dance school's production of clara's dream-

she so wanted to be up on the stage dancing!

jon took this week off & this morning we all slept in, went to breakfast then headed to the ice rink for lucy's first time skating!

she loved it!

...& is completely zonked out now!

looking forward to an afternoon of making sugar cookies with the girls. they're excited to decorate & frost! & family arrives tomorrow for our christmas festivities to begin!

merry christmas to all!

-ivy