"Christmas Morning" 2014 in NYC

When we got home from our trip to Utah, we decided to have our own Christmas morning celebration as a family. We didn't want to bring any of our gifts out with us, so we opened them a few days after Christmas! Sally didn't know any differently, and Johnny and I didn't mind waiting a few days. With the move being so hectic, we pretty much just told each other what to buy for the other one this year. Ha! It was a weird, but we'll do better next year.

Sally's main gift was a scooter. She was so excited, even if she insisted on calling it a bike for weeks after getting it. We spent much of the rest of our winter break helping her ride all over the apartment and Riverside Park. She still loves this scooter, and we can't wait to let her take it outside more once the weather warms up.

Christmas Day 2014

The night before Christmas, we got a ton of snow. We stayed at my sister Sarah's house while we were in Utah, and her area got more than other areas. It was a white Christmas!

For Christmas morning, we headed to Johnny's sister's house. Breakfast was scrumptious, and we also opened up our Secret Santa gifts together.

Johnny enjoyed the girls' new Frozen karaoke machine, of course.

Sally got a lot of fun gifts from her aunts and uncles and grandparents. We didn't bring her any gifts to open, so it was fun to see her open gifts on Christmas morning. She got a little too giddy by the end, which resulted in some tantrum-throwing. But we couldn't really blame her because it was one of the most exciting mornings of her life to date! On the drive back to my sister's, she screamed for about five minutes and then passed out the rest of the way. It was quite the eventful morning for her, and she was exhausted.

With all the fresh snow, Johnny my brother-in-law, and my nieces and nephew all went sledding. Sally and Ingrid were napping, so Sarah and I stayed home with them. When they woke up from their naps, I couldn't resist the opportunity to take a few pictures in the fresh snow.

Sarah and Greg were the perfect hosts. We loved being able to relax at their house and spend time with their kids and them. It was a short trip out West, but well worth it to see family over the holidays!

Christmas Eve 2014

The first few photos are actually from Temple Square on the 23rd. We'd spent the whole day running errands, and I was insistent on going to Temple Square that night. It was probably a little too much to pack into one day, but Johnny obliged me because he knows how crazy I am about that stuff. I get these expectations in my head, and I can't let them go. But I'm glad we went because Sally loved the lights. It was pretty frigid while we were there, but it was a fun, festive outing together.

And Christmas Eve! It was a really fun night with Johnny's family. Before we found out we were moving to NY, I'd already committed to hosting Christmas Eve dinner at our house. But that ended up not being possible, so Johnny's sister was kind enough to host. It was so fun to watch Sally with her cousins. Her cousins love Frozen, and Sally quickly caught on and started yelling/singing "Let it gooo!!" as loud as she could, over and over. I swear Sally isn't happier with anyone than our extended family. It's so fun to see her with all of them.

Johnny's sister Sarah and I are due just one day apart from each other, so it was fun to compare bellies. Leaving Utah was sudden and unexpected, so coming back and seeing everyone at Christmas was just what we needed!

Putting Up the Tree and Exploring Our New Neighborhood

The moving process out to New York was rough. And I mean rough. It's not that anything went horribly bad. But the process was so quick that if anything went wrong, it made things especially overwhelming. We had five days to pack up after finding an NYC apartment, and that was insane. Sally got babysat nonstop by my sisters, especially Jill and Melyssa. And I packed from sun up to sun down. And then once the movers came, we lived out of our suitcases for two weeks and slept on an air mattress. It was intense. 

But we made it to NY in one piece! Well, mostly. The night of our red eye, Sally started running a 103 fever. We got her to the pediatrician right before they closed, and the doc was able to rule out the flu. He said she had some sort of respiratory virus, though. So the flight to NY as well as the first few days in the city found Sally very, very sick. We were giving her round-the-clock doses of Ibuprofen and Tylenol, but her fever stayed between 101 and 103 at almost all times. Plus, the first night in our new place, I got food poisoning. So both of those factors really complicated the unpacking process. 

One perk of our new place is that it has a storage locker in the basement, so we were able to bring our Christmas tree to NY! Before our house was even done being unpacked, Johnny declared that we needed to put up our tree. It was such a simple, fun evening in our half-unpacked apartment. I love my little family so much, and it's especially fun to introduce Sally to the holidays. She was a little too obsessed with the Christmas ornaments. And she thought they were all toys to be played with, but it was still fun. 

During one of our first days in the city, we headed to a playground near our house to let Sally play. There are so many playgrounds near us, and I can't wait for the weather to warm up a bit so we can use them more. Although, Sally loves them even if it is freezing cold outside.

I was 23 weeks pregnant at the time of this picture, and I wasn't even feeling pregnant at all. I'd gotten over my sickness, and I could just enjoy feeling good for a while. The second trimester is the very best.

Christmas Day 2013

I was so excited for Sally's first Christmas morning. Since getting up early is the usual with Sally, Christmas morning was just like any other morning in our house. Sally woke up at around 6:30 or 7:00, and we all headed upstairs. We placed Sally's gifts in front of her, but she wasn't interested in opening them. And so I proceeded to open them for her to see if she liked them. She loved her baby doll, as well as a rabbit my parents gave her. She was pretty indifferent about everything else. Then Johnny and I stuck Sally in her bouncer so we could open our gifts from each other. We each took turns, and then Johnny announced that he needed to go out to the car to get a gift he'd "forgotten." Ten minutes later, he returned with two ginormous boxes! He'd gotten me a digital piano, which he'd had delivered to his work and then kept in our storage room in the parking garage. I was so shocked and so excited. I didn't take a picture of it, but it is glorious. I love it so much.

After opening gifts, we got ready and went to Sarah's (Johnny's sister) house for breakfast with Johnny's family.

Of course, I had to document Johnny and his turtleneck... he puts it on right before handing out his dollar store gifts to everyone. Those are always super normal gifts... or not.

After Sarah's house, we went to the other Sarah's house (my sister). Her kids got a great dane puppy for christmas, and it was too much cute to handle.

It was a fun-filled day with family!