OUR CHRISTMAS

/
How was your Christmas friends? This was our first year having Christmas as just our little family. We loved it, but also missed being with family. Most of our gifts were handmade which we loved (more on those later!) Elliott's big gift this year was a train set and he's been obsessed with it ever since. Much of the day was spent playing, napping, playing, talking to loved ones, watching Christmas movies (The Muppet Christmas Carol - perfection!) and more playing. It was really nice to start some of our own traditions as well as stick with some traditions we were raised with. And Elliott of course had a blast.
 His first time trying eggnog...he's hooked :)
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas... now, let's get ready for the new year!

Christmas Time in the City

/
Yesterday we ventured into the city to do some Christmas-y things we have really wanted to do. The first being to visit the Santa at the 34th St. Macy's. 
Turns out, there are several Santas at the 34th St. Macy's. But I think we got the real big man himself. Elliott LOVED it. We were worried that he might get nervous and cry like a lot of kids his age. And he did cry...when we left.
We made our way up 5th to FAO Schwartz where giant pianos were played, toys were played with and thrown and hearts were broken. Sorry son, we can't buy every schleich animal and we certainly can't afford the $250,000 giant piano. And Preston, we can't build our own life sized Indian Jones...well..maybe some day.
On our way back down 5th, we stopped to listen to some Christmas street music to which Elliott danced his heart out and the musicians received so many tips as a result they offered Elliott a position as their full time dancer. We respectfully declined. A little further down the street, Elliott spotted Santa. He ran up to him, arms outstretched and said "Hi Santa! I'm Elliott! I want a TRAIN!"
And of course, we visited the ginormous tree at Rockefeller Center. Beautiful, but terribly crowded. No respect for a woman with a stroller. It's true what they say about the city at Christmas. It's lovely and perfectly magical. So many twinkling lights, amazing window displays and sweet smelling roasted nuts at every corner. We highly recommend strolling up and down 5th around Christmas. You won't be disappointed!

vote for Elliott!

/
Yes, tis true. I sold out and entered my child in a "cutest baby" contest. Maybe I'm biased (of course I am!) but I think we have a contender on our hands. Here are some of the results from the photo shoot. It was cold, and overcast, and Elliott had zero tolerance and no desire to cooperate.
 And my favorite...
The "seriously, I'm done" face. And if we were Christmas card people (oh how I wish we were) this one would be what we would send with a note written on the back in permanent marker "Merry and Bright."

If you have a second, head over to the contest and vote for the picture you like best. If it's Elliott's entry (titled An Urban Christmas), great! If not...we still like you. Also, you can vote every 24 hours...so take 2 minutes every day and vote! Am I obsessed and highly competitive? You bet.

DIY tube sock stocking

/
Finally, our third stocking is done! Preston really wanted his to be funny, and funny it is. I let him take the reins on this one, I just took the pictures :) It's pretty self explanatory, and the execution is really easy. Here we go!
What we used:
Plain white stocking
Fabric paint
Masking tape (ours was pink)
Foam brush
Fabric marker
Card-stock for the inside
Now we have all three stockings done and ready for stuffing! You can check out our other two stockings here and here.