December in Pictures

Wow, I feel like I am always trying to play catch-up with this blog. I can't believe that we are already almost to the end of January...for real?!? I figured that I would use pictures to illustrate our month, and then I realized that I was just about as good at taking pictures as I have been about blogging. It really was sad to see my lack of pictures, especially for Christmas. Anyway, here is a glimpse at what we have been up to:
I decided to take the kids to Fotofly for Santa pictures. I figured that since Jaxson is getting to the age of "stranger danger", I might as well have them taken with me so that we would hopefully get some good Santa pictures. Well, Jaxson did great, but unfortunately Aynsley wasn't too into it. She seriously cried for pretty much the entire time. I really think that she was just too hot in the tent, because she calmed down right after we left, but it left us with some interesting Santa pics. Aynsley was either crying or pouting in all of them. Maybe we will have better luck next year?

Aynsley is getting SO big! It is crazy to see how fast she is growing, especially since she is doing things a month or two ahead of Jaxson. In December, she was so good at propping herself up on her arms, and now she is already starting to sit up. And yes, she is not even five months old yet! I keep saying that she had to listen to us brag about her brother the whole time she was in utero, and now she is just trying to play catch up. I am trying to cherish every day that I get to have her as still being a baby.

 I saw this cute idea on Pinterest where they had taken pictures of kids with Christmas lights. I thought it would be such a great idea with Jaxson since he has absolutely loved seeing all the lights. Sadly, he did not agree that it would be a fun way to have his picture taken, and did not cooperate at all. I tried it a little with Aynsley and it still didn't quite turn out right. But, since I pretty much took zero Christmas pictures, I will take what I can get.

Christmas was so great! I was a bit nervous about how Jaxson would do because he started the week out with a bad cold and ended it by getting an ear infection.

We had my family come over on Christmas Eve and we did our traditional Swain Family Christmas lights drive and Christmas book reading. I think that these are two of my favorite holiday traditions, so it was so fun to spend that time with my family and also share them with Jaxson on Aynsley.

On Christmas morning, we had a bit of a slow start and ended up having to pack up everything to take to my family's house. We then spent Christmas morning with my family, the afternoon with Mike's dad, and the evening with his mom. It makes for a busy day, but we are truly so blessed to have all of our family so close and be able to have such fun times with them. We were definitely spoiled, but as I said, it really was great to just spend time with family. I think I am realizing that more and more now that I have Jaxson and Aynsley.

Sadly, I hardly took any pictures at all on Christmas. But, here is Jaxson loving his cars and also playing with his cousin Kambri. He loves playing with her!