The Zeigler Clan

Our Christmas 2014 {Part 1}

Monday, December 29, 2014

I remember as a child it seemed to take forever for Christmas to finally arrive. Now as an adult a year just seems to come and go before I can even blink. I love the kids excitement though. And I love picking out all their gifts...imagining how much they will love everything. This was one of my favorite Christmas' ever.

Christmas Eve Nathan's parents came up and spent the night with us. The kids were so anxious about seeing their Grammy and Pappy. Once they finally arrived...they all lined up at the front door to greet them. Nothing better then seeing those sweet faces looking at you through the door. It makes you feel so loved!

Grammy & Pappy brought presents for everyone. The kids loved everything they got.

The boys made ornaments for Nathan's parents. They were so proud of them.

We had planned on starting a fire in the fire pit that evening and making smores but it rained all day and we weren't able to. We still let the kids eat all the smores stuff inside though.

I made Chocolate Kiss Cherry cookies that afternoon. They must have been good because they didn't even last 24 hours.

Nathan had to work Christmas again this year so we waited until the 26th to celebrate our Christmas as a family. So Christmas morning after Nathan went to work, Nathan's parents took the kids and me to I-Hop for breakfast. I got Pumpkin Cheesecake Pancakes. I thought I died and went to Heaven :) Seriously, they were incredible.

Nathan's parents went home around noon. It was so nice out I decided to take the kids on a walk.

This girl...I love her.

That smile...her laugh...

Nathan recently put the tray and straps back on the radio flyer bike so that Alanna could start riding in it. She was SO excited about it when I put her in it for our walk.

Liam found "the big hole" and was really excited to see that it is even bigger than it was back when we took our last walk. It's been about 2 months since we went on a walk. The weather has been too cold most days to take a walk or something else has come up.

Liam can ride the bike by himself but I still leave the parent handle on his bike because he gets scared going down the hills on our street so it allows me to help him easier. Seeing the two of them side by side like this makes Alanna look so big. She is growing up so fast!

That evening the two littles talked with thier Daddy on the phone while we all waited for Ruy to come home. Alanna also thought that she could steal a few ornaments off the tree without me noticing.

Ruy came home and we were all excited about celebrating Christmas the next morning. Everyone went to bed feeling very happy and anxious. I tried to grab a quick picture of the kids before I tucked them all in bed but it was kind of difficult. Duke wanted to be on top of the kids and Alanna and Liam had no interest in holding still. But I love how they turned out anyways :)

Our Christmas Day story to be continued...

Making Christmas Cookies With Nana

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

On Monday my Mom came over and made Christmas cookies with the boys. They made the same cookies that I used to make with my Mom when I was little. She even brought over the same cookie cutters we used to have when I was a kid. The boys were so excited about making cookies with "Nana" they could hardly wait for this past Monday to arrive.

She surprised them with adorable little aprons that she had monogrammed their names onto. My mom just recently started monogramming and wanted to practice. I love how they turned out. The boys loved them too.

She also brought Christmas Tea and cookies with dip. Both Ruy and Liam wanted to have tea. Liam drank his so fast. He said "Oh I love tea and coffee." He's only tasted a sip of my coffee twice but thinks it's just about the greatest thing.

We spent the morning making cookies, telling stories, listening to Christmas music...and eating more than a few too many cookies :)

After lunch, we headed outside and Liam finally went "high" on the swing. He told my Mom he wanted to "go high like Bubby!" And he did. He was so proud of himself.

Ruy pushed Alanna on the swing for a while and ran around swinging his Samurai sword that Nathan brought him home from China.

We played tag and Mother-May-I and just enjoyed the nice weather. After that my Mom headed home, Alanna went down for her afternoon nap, and I did school with the boys. We spent the evening just hanging out as a family, reading books, and playing games. It was such a fun day.

Family Christmas Session

Sunday, December 14, 2014

At the end of November we went to a local tree farm to buy our Christmas tree. I was so excited because we have never cut our own tree before and it's something I have always wanted to do. We usually just get a live tree from Kroger or Food Lion, but I really wanted to start a new tradition of cutting our own tree. The boys were super excited. It was a beautiful afternoon...in the 60's and I had high hopes of getting our family Christmas pictures while we were there.

My hopes of getting a family picture or any picture for that matter were quickly crushed though. Alanna cried the entire time we were there. She is usually so happy but she was just so upset the entire time we were there. After 30 minutes of trying to set up the tripod and get the kids to cooperate, I told my husband it was pointless. So we gave up on the idea of getting a family picture and just went and cut down a tree. We picked out an adorable little 6 foot tree. The boys helped cut it down and carry it. Despite the bad picture experience, the boys had a great time and decided we need to cut our own tree every year!

I had decided just to forget about getting any Christmas pictures at all this year but then my best friend said she was coming into town and offered to help me out. My best friend has such a huge love for photographer just like I do so we help each other out a lot. It has been so fun working with each other. I took advantage of her offer and we met up at the Christmas Tree Farm Saturday evening. I'm so happy with how all the pictures turned out. Liam was SO unbelievably cranky the whole time but even with him crying through most of the time we were there...we got some really beautiful pictures.

I realized when we got home that Liam just needed some "snuggle time" with me. We had been really busy Saturday and I hadn't been able to spend much one-on-one time with him, so by the time we got to the tree farm, he was feeling really sad. Once I spent a few minutes reading to him and snuggling him, he was fine. I wish I would have done that before the session, but now I know for our future sessions :)

Anyways...here are my favorites from our session. I hope you enjoy them.

*Pictures taken by Kim will have a photo credit, all unmarked pictures were taken by me.

All were edited my me.