Merry Christmas

The very best present I got this Christmas was not having to go into work, which means I got to spend the whole day with my loves!! We started the morning off by coming down to all our presents. Emry actually "got it" better than I thought she would. She loved to pick a present and then sit there and open it. Thankfully, most of the presents were hers so it didn't even matter which ones she picked because it was probably hers! We opened maybe half the gifts and then took a break to make a yummy breakfast.

After a delicious breakfast (homemade pancakes, bacon, sausage, hash browns, and Orange Julius) we finished opening all the presents. Ryan got tired on a full stomach and decided to take a nap so Emry and I played with all her toys until her nap. 

After everyone's nap, we decided to take a trip to visit Olivia's grave. It was a special time to have our whole family together again on Christmas. We miss that little baby every day. 

On our way home, we stopped at Ryan's Aunt Julie's house and played some games with their family. Then we headed home to have a thrown together dinner of whatever we could find. 

All in all, our Christmas was wonderful and filled with the Spirit of Christ. I feel like we had such a simple Christmas and so we had a lot of time to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas and really spend a lot of time together as a family. We hope you all had a great Christmas this year!! 

Our tree all ready for Emry to come down and open present! It was so fun being Santa Clause. I think I was the most excited person Christmas morning!! Couldn't wait to see Emry love her present!!

 This girl LOVED her new car. She kept getting in and out and telling us "bye bye" and "see ya later" Totally adorable!!

Daddy helping Emry open her gifts

My new scarf from Ryan

Ryan giving Emry a "ride" around the house.

Emry's new piano. Our life just got a whole lot noisier!! haha

Ryan loved his new golf club too. He is pretty much the easiest person to shop for sometimes. New golf clubs=happy hubby!!

Ryan and Emry at Olivia's grave

Not the best picture quality but it's the only picture we got of our family on Christmas. LOVE these two!!!

Christmas Eve

This year for Christmas, we had our first Gardner Family Christmas at home, just our little family. I was scheduled to work Christmas day, so we had to stay home and we couldn't convince anyone to come hang out with us, so it was just us! I was worried it wasn't going to feel like Christmas, but we had such a fun  holiday together. It was nice to just slow down and be together as our own family.

Christmas Eve day, we had a fun day playing with Lynne and her kids. We played in the snow, sledded, and built a snowman. It was a fun day hanging out with family.

Needless to say, Emry didn't like the snowman much...

Christmas Eve day lunch with our cousins. So happy they are all best friends!! 

Christmas Eve, we decided to have dinner with Kris & Bjorn and their family. We had a delicious ham and potatoes and then we had a program of Christmas songs we sang. It was a simple night focused on family and Christ. It was a great night.

Emry on Christmas Eve

Maddie, Emry, & Gabby in front of the tree

Emry working on her Christmas Eve gift

She loved her new Christmas PJ's and wanted to put them on immediately. Such a cutie!!

Ryan and his new PJ's (can't leave out the adults with all the fun!!)

18 Months

Emry is getting so big and I've been so bad at recording all her new fun things she does, but I guess better late than never, right. Stats:

Weight: 23 lbs 14 oz (70%)

Height: 33 inches (85%)

Head: 19 inches (75%)

*Talks in sentences now. Mostly it's 2-3 words but she has said full on sentences before. It's awesome hearing her grow up! She sounds like a little girl now.
*She still doesn't ever say "yes." She will either grunt in agreeance or say "K" It's my favorite when she says that because she sounds like she is 14! 

*She likes to hold hands when she's in the car seat. Not all the time but when she gets fussy, holding mom or dad's hand makes everything better.

*Loves to hear her kids music. If I'm listening to my own music or even Christmas music in the car she points to the radio and says "No. Dancing!" which means she wants her own music to dance to. It's pretty adorable.

*Eats anything we eat. She is still a pretty good eater. One of her favorite things is a frozen Go-gurt. She knows exactly where we keep them and goes over to the freezer and says "this" The girl knows what she wants. She also is getting really good at eating with a fork and a spoon. Big girl!

*Still loves to watch videos of herself on our phones. Her favorite thing ever!

*Loves to read books all day long. Her favorite is Elmo.

*Loves to go swimming. We have an indoor pool at the nearby rec center that she loves to play in. She loves to wear her puddle jumpers too. 

*She loves her daddy. Every morning before he leaves she says, "miss you" and won't let him go. It's adorable!! I love that she loves her daddy. 

*Loves her cousins so much! She is constantly asking about Lila, Owen, and Lynnie and whenever she sees the picture on our fridge of the cousins, she has to point out Cadence and Cameron. She loves to look at the babies on our fridge too (Rylee and Leah). 

*She loves babies so much. Whenever she hears them crying she says, "baby sad" and then says "be happy." She loves to kiss them on their head and give them loves. 

*She is learning how to say her prayers and it's adorable. She always wants to pray for Owen, Lila, Lynne, Grandpa, and Daddy. And she says Jesus, Amen. Every night we say prayers I just melt with cuteness and love for her! She is so sweet.

At our Doctor appointment. She looks so old here to me.

She loves to do puzzles and she is getting pretty good at them too!

Looking happy as can be