Jacob : Carlye : Claire : Stetson

One of our newest traditions ( as of last year ) -- a real Christmas tree!

I protested greatly, but it's actually turned out to be one of my favorite things about Christmas. 

The whole point was to cut down our own and make it a family event, but somehow that hasn't happened yet and our 2 live trees have come from Home Depot! :) Oh well, the thought that counts, right?

We got our tree right after Thanksgiving, so the fact that it was barely alive by Christmas didn't surprise me. I'm just glad it held on till the big event.

No worries - that tree was out of the house and gone-zo on December 26th. 

This is what happens when your too lazy to move and everyone else is going home... we take pictures of ourselves. 

Once we got home the kids went down for bed so Santa could make his stop. 

Both the kids actually slept really good -- thank heavens! I was just as excited for Claire to wake up and see her gits and she was. Some days I wonder if she really understands the whole Christmas/Santa thing but apparently she did because she was up at 7 and anxious to see what Santa had left. 

She scanned all her presents that weren't wrapped and then proceeded on to the ones that were all within 5 minutes.  

She paused for a few moments to play with her toys....

But then moved onto Stet's since he was still sound asleep! 

Once Stet's finally decided to make an appearance, he was delighted with all of the toys Santa had brought him. Can you tell? Sadly, I think Claire has enjoyed them more then he has. Hopefully by the time he can play with them Claire won't think they are hers. 

After we finished at our house, all of my siblings met up at my parent's house for stockings and more presents! 

Claire opted to stay her jammies all day - nice and cozy for opening more gifts and playing with toys !

Jacob got money for his gift and I got a new watch and pea coat! Something about Christmas that makes you feel like a kid again. 

All in all, we had a great Christmas! They just get better with kids! 

Merry Christmas from the Montague Fam!

My baby is already 1 month old!

Where has the time gone? 

And just as adorable as the day he was born! 

Of course sister had to be in on the fun.... doesn't she look so big compared to Stets!?

Love these 2! 

B - I - N - G - O!

Such a fun tradition! Proves to be a little harder to play with children present, but still just as fun! 

Although Claire didn't actually play, she won a set of Little People Princess'. She instantly pulled them out of the packing and begin arranging. Yes - my child has OCD.

I'm blaming not winning, even once, on having to take care of the kids! 

Lucky us - Santa visits every year and just happens to bring gifts for all the little ones. They kids get so excited, its so fun just to watch the excitement on their faces. 

Before Santa can come the kids have to sing him in with some classic Christmas songs. Kole and Claire were all sorts of into it this year - actions and all. 

She loved him until it came her turn and then she wanted nothing to do with him, of course. Complete and sheer panic kicked in and she had the tightest grip on me ever. 

There was no letting her down for nothin'. Not even the present could entice her. 

Stets on the other hand was in love with Santa! :) Perhaps it's because he was half asleep when his name was called. 

He was an absolute gem, only because he didn't know better, I guess we will see if he has the same reaction next year.

Kids are hilarious... I wonder what makes Santa so terrifying. Cracks me up! 

Temple Square is always a fun tradition to do each year. Although, each year when we go we seem to always make a comment about how it's not as fun as it used to be and it's too crowded and cold. Spoken like true lame old people! HaHa 

It was a little more fun this year because Claire was actually enthralled with all the lights and enjoyed running around the temple grounds. We went on the weekend, so it was crazy busy! Trying to navigate a double stroller among thousands of people, not the best idea I've had. 

We went with some friends of ours this year who have a little girl that is close to Claire's age and then a little boy that is a few months older than Stets! 

It's a fun tradition to start out the Christmas season. Although we end up complaining about going every year, I'm sure it's something we will continue to do for years to come! 

If anyone knows me, they know I'm not a winter person, not a snow person and not a cold person. Therefore - I really dislike Winter. Poor Jacob loves winter and Claire is learning to love it, thanks to Jacob, but I just can't bring myself to "love" it. I can tolerate it if I must! 

So.....

on one of the first snow falls of the year we suited Claire up and took her out for a jaunt in the snow. 

She LOVED it! 

Till she realized she couldn't walk in it and that her hands were freezing and then she wasn't sure she quite loved it anymore. 

Once we brought out the sled it got a little more exciting, but she didn't want to ride the sled - she only wanted to pull it. But again, her hands were freezing because her awesome mom hadn't bought gloves for her yet! 

So we spent the next little while watching her walk around the yard pulling the sled. 

After a small fit, she hopped off the sled and strolled around stomping in puddles and just being a cute 2 year old. 

Love this picture... Looks like such an intense conversation between the 2. Or at least dad trying to tell Claire something super important. 

So, I think if I can get her some gloves, not make her ride in the sled and teach her how to walk in the snow we may have a snow bunny on our hands. 

Jacob's whole family loves the snow. So when we had them all over to our house they decided to all get suited up and play night games out in the snow with hope that a snow ball fight would break out. Funny to see a bunch of adults get this excited about snow. :) Luckily I was super prego and Claire was asleep so I stayed in the house while they all tromped around in the snow. 

I'm learning to love the snow more; deciding that the key is being warm. Nothing is worse than being cold. If it's gonna be cold there may as well be snow - so I hope this winter is full of snow, until February, then I'm ready for Spring! 

Picture Perfect! 

All my loves in one place. 

Movie time has been happening a lot lately,

Good thing we all love it! 

Sure wish Summer would come soon.....

Stet's loves to take baths. He is totally chill and just lays there! Of course he cries when you take him out and he's freezing cold, but otherwise, it's a breeze! 

Of course we did a photo op for his first bath, but he was only looking at the camera for the one picture. Go figure.