Five on Friday...Holiday Fun Edition

1) We have had our decor up since Thanksgiving weekend and it has been a struggle since day one...and it's not getting any easier either! Little man is so, so interested in all the ornaments and lights on the tree.  He has a really hard time keeping his hands off of them!  And he's having an even worse time trying not to mess with the pretty bows and tags on the presents.  We always catch him rolling a ball under the tree on purpose or acting like he is just driving his cars/tractors along and just so happens to drive over a present!  

Mr. Mischievous

2) I have been finished with my holiday shopping for about a week now.  It is all wrapped and ready to go, down to the cards/cash/gift cards and even stocking stuffers.  One thing Brent & I are tempted to do before Christmas, however, is to go buy our little man his own recliner or chair.  We had his extra car seat in the living room for a few days awhile ago and he loved crawling up in it and watching TV (something he NEVER does!).  So we still may have one last purchase to make!

3) I am in the process of finishing my holiday baking.  I don't usually do traditional cookies because Brent & I aren't the biggest sweet eaters.  Instead I do lots of Chex Mix!  I did a few batches for us and for gifts and parties, then Brent requested that I make some for him to take to work the next few days, so I have some in the oven right now.  Carter and I also made our first salt dough ornaments from his hand and footprint.  I just pulled them out of the oven and am not ultra-impressed at this point, but hopefully once I get some paint on there they will be a little more impressive.  They were easy enough that I won't have wasted too much time or ingredients even if they don't turn out okay.  I followed this pin. I'm thinking of making the hand a Santa and the foot a Christmas tree, but I may end up just painting them red and stringing some cute ribbon through them and calling it done!

Chex Mix and Salt Dough Ornaments in Progress!

4) Last weekend, we tried out the glow stick bath after I ran across some Christmas tree & snowman glow sticks at the dollar store.  Carter was so surprised when I turned out the lights and tossed them in!  We enjoyed it for a few minutes until my little mister decided he just couldn't keep them out of his mouth.  Good thing they only cost me a few bucks! :)  We will have to try this again in a few months or so.

5) Sunday night, after Brent got off work, we took Carter and my little sister Raylee to Noble Park to see the Christmas lights.  We went to Buffalo Wild Wings for some supper (little guy did amazing!! I think we can finally eat out in public without too much hassle!).  Then, once we got into the park, we pulled Carter out of his car seat and let him sit up front with Daddy so he could see better (he is still rear-facing in the car seat).  We expected him to like it since he loves to point out any light fixture in the house, but we were amazed at just how much he enjoyed it!  He loved watching the ones that moved/blinked. We will definitely be fitting in another Christmas light viewing before it is all over!

Lots more holiday fun is headed our way this weekend.  Tomorrow we are preparing by getting little man's first haircut!  Then we are headed to meet Santa.  Last year, he was only 2 months old and we got a great picture with him.  This time, I'm unsure of what to expect.  Our little guy is super social and not usually scared of anyone, but it seems that every kid I see around his age is screaming in their Santa pictures!  We shall see.  Then we have Christmas with Brent's parents and sisters tomorrow night, where I expect Carter will get spoiled rotten!  We will probably need to rent a Uhaul to get it all home.  

Sunday should be a laid back day, and I am off all of next week, so I'm hoping to get pictures of our holiday home decor and get a post up.