It's the holiday season...

I. Can't. Believe. It's. December.

Where did the year go and who replaced my tiny infant with a 23 pound almost 9-month-old?

Okay, now that that is out of my system, I can happily share what we've been up to for the past month and one day.

We had our first snow and major storm the week of Thanksgiving. I was home with Landon for the two days before Thanksgiving because his school was closed for snow. We went on a long walk, but forgot to bring the camera. This cell phone picture is all we've got to document little man's first white holiday. He sure had fun though!

The holidays are in full season at the Taylor house. We spent Thanksgiving with Jim's side of the family at his dad's house. Landon enjoyed some mashed potatoes and rolls. He was quite the turkey (pun totally intended) at dinner too. When he wasn't getting enough attention he would start laughing or screeching until the entire table of people were looking at him.

Jim wasn't feeling well that day and promptly got the flu...full on nastiness...when we got home. Needless to say, he was banished to the bedroom all weekend while Landon and I spent some quality time reading, playing and watching Baby Einstein DVDs. (Neither of us got sick, phew!)

Landon met Santa at the Festival of Trees on Dec. 1. When Jim sat Landon down on Santa's lap, Landon was looking at Santa very intently. It took a lot of effort to get him to look at the camera for a photo. When he finally did look at me, he realized that a stranger in a bright red suit with a blazing white beard was holding him, so he began his infamous "Ughhhhh" until Jim picked him up.

This past weekend was full of Christmas spirit. We started off with a trip to the Red Barn Tree Farm where we looked (and looked) through their entire inventory before finally deciding on a Shasta Fir. Landon rode in the backpack like a champ and didn't seem to mind the cold. Boy was it cold.

That night we hosted the First Annual Taylor Family Christmas Extravaganza at a local restaurant. We'd been wanting to throw a Christmas party for our friends for the past several years, but our house just can't hold a large group of people. So, Jim had the good idea to host it at the restaurant. It was an ugly sweater party, complete with a white elephant gift exchange. We had about 20 people attend, with their kids, and we had a great time. This was the same night as the Apple Cup where the Huskies BEAT THE COUGARS and clinched a spot in the 2010 Holiday Bowl where they'll play Nebraska Dec. 30. It was a great game!


Sunday was spent putting up the tree and trying to relax.

The Christmas cards have been ordered and feature some great photos of our little family, taken in October before we went to Vegas.

We are busy trying to finish shopping before all of our family get-togethers start. Jim's mom comes to town the weekend before Christmas and will stay with us until the 26th. She's very excited to spend some time with Landon who she hasn't seen since October. (She lives in Virginia.)

Although it will be busy, we are looking forward to sharing Christmas with both sides of our blended families and introducing Landon to the holiday while starting important family traditions.