Merry Merry Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

This Christmas was so much fun because it was Finley's very first Christmas. David and I were particularly excited about starting our own family traditions and teaching Finley about our Savior's birth.

Uncle Donovan came with us to help pick out Finley's first Christmas tree. I must say that we have become very efficient in this process. I remember when I was young spending hours, or what felt like hours, picking out the perfect tree.

We picked out this beauty in 10 minutes!

Then onto decorating it!

Finley was more interested in feeling the tree than putting up the ornaments.

David and Finley danced around the room to Christmas music while we put up all our decorations.

I was especially excited to put up Finley's stocking that we ordered last year. (I wanted to make sure we got one that matched ours before it was too late!)

We took Finley to see Santa for the first time, but it did not go so well. We put him in Santa's lap and he lost it! He usually does so well with strangers too. So I ended up having to hold him and we didn't end up getting the best picture. Boo boo.

It was so nice to have family close by for Christmas and since both of our parents live so close we ended up having three, yes three Christmases! Christmas number 1 was with Grammie and Abuelo!

Finley got this awesome clacking walker from Uncle Greg, Aunt Tami, and cousin Gabi.

Although he got some fabulous presents, Finley was most interested in the wrapping paper and bows.

I just had to stick them on his head :).

Finley also loves this little gator Grammie and Abuelo got him. And what do Tarheels do to gators? They eat them up for breakfast of course!

Onto Christmas number 2!

We celebrated with just our family before we headed to Chapel Hill.

We opened our stockings and the majority of our family gifts. Figuring out what to put in Finley's stocking was a little tricky this year since we weren't going to stuff it full of candy. But I think we did pretty well.

Finley loved playing with the wrapping paper and needed some assistance in completely unveiling his presents.

Mama got him some special signing time dvds.

And some books that she loved when she was little.

While daddy picked out some wooden busy boards and trains to play with.

This sure is one spoiled little boy.

(We just can't help ourselves!)

Christmas number 3!

Which did take place on Christmas day.

We headed to Chapel Hill to spend time with Mimi, Pappy, Uncle Donovan, Aunt Michelle, Great Uncle Michael, Great Uncle Pete & Aunt Dolly, Great Aunt Chantal & Uncle Bruce, 'Uncle' Kenny, and Nani! It was a large crowd, but Finley sure had fun spending time with everyone.

One of the great things about Mimi and Pappy's house is their piano.

Finley just loved banging away on it!

Here we are with Uncle Donovan in our PJs on Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning was celebrated with Finley's favorite food for breakfast - Avocados! The rest of us dinned on breakfast tortillas and potatoes! Yum.

Here are some of the highlights of Finley's gifts in CH. This awesome T-Shirt from Auntie Michelle. (It says someone in Brooklyn loves me)

This beautiful elephant ornament from Mimi and Pappy.

And the piece de resistance...Finley's big present from Santa...an Alphabet Cho-Cho Train! It has all kinds of buttons, lights, music, and interchangeable pieces to help him learn his letters. The best part about it is that he can ride it or push it along.

And to my surprise he actually sat still on it while we pushed him around the house. Finley's first Christmas was so much fun and I am a little sad it is over :(. It was so nice to be able to spend so much time with family and loved ones. It couldn't have been any Merrier.

The Clapper . . .

Look what Finley can do now! We're thinking of buying a "clapper" for the Christmas tree lights so that he can turn them on and off while we're hanging out in the living room!

On a personal note...

Well many of my posts these days seem to be all centered around one thing. Or should I say one person. I think we all know who I am talking about. So in an effort to let you in on a little bit about what has been going on with me, here are some recent things I have been doing/working on that I am very proud of.

• A friend gave me a Super Baby Foods book and I have taken up the challenge of making my own baby food! At first I thought it would be super hard and very time consuming, but it's not. It has even been pretty fun.


• I am doing some work from home for my dad's soccer camps. I am in charge of recruiting teams to our team camps next summer and so far I have 8 teams interested in coming! It feels good to have a good jump on camps and know that I am making some progress.
  
• I have lost all the weight I gained during pregnancy and have even shed a few extra pounds. I realize that my stomach will never look quite the same, but I am feeling pretty good about my weight.
  
• I started playing soccer again a few months ago - the first time in well over a year. It has been fun to get out there and run around again and it makes me feel younger.
  
• I read 10 out of 11 books for book club this year. I have really enjoyed reading for pleasure these days now that I am not working or going to school.

• I have been volunteering at my old school helping the librarian shelve books. It is nice to keep in touch with my old work friends and feel like I am making a difference, even though it may be small.

• I have a goal of cooking 4 home made meals a week (meals that don't come from the freezer) and have been pretty good at keeping that up. I even try to have them at least started before David comes home from work - that only happens about 2 times a week though!
  
• Church wise I feel like I am finally learning the ropes of what it means to be in the primary presidency, I have been reading my scriptures at least five days a week, and am working really hard at doing my visiting teaching just about every month! There is always room for improvement for me in these areas but I think I have a good start.

Looking back on the year - making progress in all these areas on top of being a new mom and a stay at home mom feels really wonderful! Now I need to set some new goals for next year and continue to raise the bar.

Don't mess with Texas!

Every time the NCAA College Cup is in Texas I cringe.

We never win in Texas.

Never.

Well today I am happily eating those words because....

We did it!

2009 NCAA Champs!

What a great year for the Tarheels and my pappy!

This makes his 20th NCAA Championship and he also won his 20th ACC Championship this year as well. I am so proud of my dad and all that he has accomplished. Congratulations Dad!

How about them Tarheels?

I'm Thankful Each Day

This year for Thanksgiving we traveled out to Salt Lake City to visit with David's sister Tami, her husband Greg, and their daughter Gabi. I am always so impressed with the beautiful mountains and scenery...if only it wasn't so cold out there!

This was Finley's first time flying!

He did pretty well on the flights (better back home than out there) but he never did adjust to the time change. That made for many early mornings all to ourselves!

Finley got to spend lots of quality time with his cousin Gabi.

It was so much fun to see these two together!

It was fun to have them take baths together and wear matching PJs. (When we do get around to having another child my kids are in for it because I just love the matching outfits!).

Gabi was awesome with Finley.

She helped change his diaper, stroll him around, hold him, and she shared all of her toys with Finley without being jealous. When the Beans are ready for another child, Gabi will be a great older sister :).

While we were out there we got to do a lot of fun things. Our first outing was to a nearby farm where we visited the animals. I definitely had compassion for this mama pig nursing all her piglets. We went to feed some ducks and it was so cold there that they were hanging out on top of the ice!

Then a gaggle of geese came running towards us!

It was hilarious, but kind of scary at the same time.

Finley didn't seem to mind the animals rushing at him.

Our next outing was to the aquarium.

I love looking at fish and this aquarium was great.

They even had a huge octopus, but we weren't allowed to use flash photography on it, thus no picture. It was pretty cool to see one up close though.

David did get some great pictures of some jelly fish.

As if flying for the first time wasn't a big enough milestone for our little man, he also got to experience his first snow while we were out there!

Here he is touching it for the first time...his reaction was straight to tears after I took this picture. At least we know he has a good sense of different temperatures!

Grammie and Abuelo came out to visit as well and they built Finley this awesome snowman.

Of course no trip out to Utah is complete without a tour of the LDS sites.

First up - 'This is the place'.

We were going to take the train around and tour the little village, but everything was closed for the holiday. Boo.

Next we strolled around temple square.

David and I were sad that we didn't get to go inside the temple for a session like we originally planned. Finley got sick the night before we were suppose to go, and I just couldn't leave him with Tami all sicky and sad. Hopefully next time we go out there we can make it work.

Here are some awesome shots that David took of Christ in the visitors center and the nativity outside.

It was really nice to show Finley the sites and teach him a little bit more about the gospel at the same time.

For Thanksgiving we enjoyed a delicious feast at this fancy hotel called The Grand America.

Here is the whole gang posing in front of one of their beautiful Christmas trees.

Don't be surprised if you see some of these photos on your Christmas card from us.

We had so much fun visiting the Beans and spending time with family.

There are so many things that I am thankful for that I could go on for pages!

So instead of giving you a long list I will just leave you with this:

The greatest blessing we received this year is the newest addition to our family. Finley is such a wonderful baby and I love him to pieces. He has brought so much joy to our lives and he is truly a gift straight from Heaven. He makes me smile every day and I am so grateful that we can now have our own Eternal Family.