Emily & Jason: January 2016

These last 2 years have gone by so quickly, it scares me. It seems like yesterday that I first became a mother and Jason and I brought Ivy home from the hospital. How is my baby already 2 years old? I cried as I looked at her baby pictures and realized that my baby had become a full-blown toddler. Jason took off work, which was SO nice. We put balloons in Ivy's room while she was sleeping. When she woke up, she was so excited to play in the balloons. We then gave her her first present, a Frozen blow-up tent with play-balls inside. She LOVED it and hung out in there while watching Frozen. After breakfast, and watching Frozen in the Frozen tent, we headed to the Treehouse Museum. Ivy had never been here before and had a BALL. She ran from area to area, playing in the school area, the restaurant, building blocks, sitting in the "oval office", and playing instruments. Ivy didn't spend much time in each room. She'd play in one room, then run to another. She had an absolute blast.

After the Treehouse Museum, we grabbed some lunch and headed home for Ivy's nap. After she woke up, we went to McDonald's play place for a cheeseburger and some play-time in the indoor playground. Ivy would take a bite of cheeseburger, then go play, then come back and take another bite.

By the time we got back, our family was arriving to celebrate Ivy. We had donuts, sang to her, and Ivy blew out the candles on her Frozen cake like she'd been doing it for years. She got spoiled of course with everything Anna, Elsa, Hans, Olaf, Christoff & Sven, got a cute scooter and a balance bike. We had such a great day celebrating Ivy Grace.

GOOD MORNING B-DAY GIRL!

LOVING her Frozen tent

AT THE TREEHOUSE MUSEUM

Fun at McDonald's Play place.

My attempt at making her Frozen cake.

Opening presents.

Carrying around her new Anna & Elsa Backpack (batpat) and wearing her new Elsa shoes.

On her new scooter.

I'm playing a little catch-up as always. Christmas this year was amazing and magical. It went by more quickly than any previous Christmas. It was the summer and I was swimming with Ivy, and then I blinked and it was Christmas. Ivy didn't really get the concept of Santa until I took her to Station Park to sit on his lap. She loved talking to him, but you can forget about all the love when I tried to put her on his lap. She didn't trust that guy for a second! He did get her talking about Anna, Elsa & Hans, but she still wouldn't sit on his lap. She sat next to him on her mom's lap. Ivy loved Christmas. She opened presents like a champ and was spoiled by both of her grandparents. Her favorite toy from Da was a Cozy Coop purple and pink truck. She plays with it all the time and says "bye....da", which means "bye mom, I'm going to see Da." And then a second later, she will say "home," which means it was a short visit and now she is home. Her favorite toy from her Grammy and Gpa Davies was her ride-along minnie car. She loves riding it around the house!

Jason and I gave her one of those adorable play kitchens. The cute white one that is the kitchencraft brand that everyone complains about how hard it is to set up. It took Jas 2 hours, but man was it cute, and worth every second of set-up time to see the light in her eyes when she opened it and when she plays kitchen. Below are the holiday and Christmas festivities that happened over the best time of year.

Thanksgiving with the Davies family.

This was my window display at Christmas. When we were little, every year growing up, my mom set up the elves in her front window. We LOVED the elves and looked forward to when they'd appear there. They've been in my moms basement for about 10 years, because no one had a good front window to display them. Our house has a great window, and it felt like the good old days when we were able to set them up.

I've been wanting a flocked Christmas tree for my house for awhile now. I got one this year and LOVED it.

Taking Ivy to see the lights this year was kind of a nightmare. The lights were gorgeous as usual, but she just ran EVERYWHERE! She doesn't have a sense of "I should stay by mom and dad," so we just chased her around Temple Square the whole time. Good thing she is so cute.

We went to see the Grand America windows twice this year...once with Myra and Jenn, and once with my mom and Kels. Love that tradition!

It snowed for a full day (it didn't stop once), so Ivy and I decided to go out and play in the snow. I was FREEZING, but she could've played out there for HOURS. I couldn't get over how excited she was and cute in her coat and boots.

This was her face when I told her it was time to go inside!

Standing in line to meet Santa

Telling him about Anna, Elsa & Hans

The freak-out on Santa's lap.

Mom and a candy cane to the rescue!

That time that we went to see the new Star Wars with our neighbors, and Kirsten and I took a picture with the hugest Darth Vader ever. He was like 7 feet tall. I was a little terrified.

Ivy in her Christmas dress.

Ivy was supposed to be the angel at my Grandma Love's yearly Christmas party. Let's just say she didn't take the role seriously. She screamed and ran away when the angel was supposed to appear to the Shepherds. Better luck next year.

Ivy's Christmas present that Jason spent 2 hours setting up. What a champ...and ain't it so purdy?

Santa Jason came by for a visit on Christmas Eve. Let's just say that Crew, Ivy and Parker weren't big fans. Santa was scary when you see him up close.