We celebrated our Christmas with Ryan’s mom and Les on Saturday and had a great time exchanging gifts. It was Chase’s first present-opening experience and I think the tissue paper ended up claiming the top prize at first!
Chase received a lot of wonderfully thoughtful gifts and after the tissue paper got a little boring, he moved onto loving the new Fisher-Price Kick and Play Crib Mat that doubles as a mat he can kick at in his crib or play with during tummy time. All of the lights and music were right up his alley.
Ryan’s favorite new toy was the set of layering rings Chase received that he said would “make a good drinking game.” Naturally we tried to toss the rings on the wobbly tower a few times and it was much harder than it looked!
Once we were done unwrapping presents, we decided to drive into Davidson since Ryan’s mom and Les fell in love with the adorable college town during their last visit over the summer.
The weather was unseasonably warm this weekend and as you can tell from the above photos, no one seems to quite know how to dress when the temperatures get so warm in November. (I will always opt for cold weather clothing whenever possible since I rarely got to wear it for 10+ years when we were living in Florida!)
During our time in Davidson, we spent a few hours meandering in and out of the adorably decorated shops along Main Street.
When I saw this sign, it made me laugh out loud:
Exercise with caution, folks.
I didn’t end up buying anything other than a passion iced tea from Millstone Bake House but it was just as tasty and refreshing as I remembered!
Before heading back home, our little gang popped into Carrburrito’s for margaritas!
His and hers margaritas: Watermelon and Orange jalapeño! (I’ll give you one guess which one was mine…)
Once we finished our drinks, we drove back to our house for a delicious ham dinner my mother-in-law kindly prepared for everyone. I missed her cooking! The weekend ended up flying by and we had just enough time to squeeze in breakfast and a walk on Sunday morning before Diane and Les had to catch their flight back to Florida.
(I made an eggnog French toast casserole on Sunday morning… Recipe to come!)
When Ryan left to drive Les and Diane to the airport, Chase and I drove off to the outlet mall to do some exchanges and holiday shopping and arrived home rather drained. The mall was mayhem and I was reminded why I tend to do the majority of my holiday shopping online these days. Phew! We left with a couple of stocking stuffers for my mom and three new 6-month outfits for Chase from Carter’s since our little boy is growing longer by the day! I had hoped to go into more than three stores, but even with a nursing break (bless nursing rooms!), Chase wasn’t having it and wanted to be out of his stroller and dancin’ around, so we headed home after a short little trip.
The rest of our Sunday was spent hanging around outside with Ryan and Sadie and concluded with a movie night and some blog time for me. I’m pretty convinced my eyes are going to close the minute they hit the pillow tonight (I’m typing up this blog post on Sunday evening) and I’m hoping a good night’s sleep awaits.
Enjoy your Monday, my friends!!
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Such a fun weekend! I’m loving all the holiday festivities!! William is still more into the wrapping paper than gifts most evenings of Chanukah!
I listened to the podcast Serial earlier this summer when I heard of it on your blog. I’ve found another great story telling podcast, It’s called Radio Lab, I highly recommend it!
Hi Julie – Just curious where u went to for nursing rooms at your mall? I think the Nordstrom by me has them but just wondering if you had any tips. Thanks! 🙂
I live across the street from a huge outlet mall. I tried to get there early on Saturday and get a couple things done, but it was a total mad house! People were parking on curbs and across the street and there were lines just to get into certain stores. I gave up after about 15 minutes haha.
My son was 7 months last Christmas, and he liked ‘unwrapping’ and then not even paying attention to what was underneath!
Fun weekend! Best part of being married sometimes is two Christmas celebrations! I love just walking around the outdoor mall here it’s decorated so cute! I spent all Saturday at AFAA’s Group Fitness Cert, thanks for all your study tips they were really helpful!
i’m so glad to hear it!!!
i know sometimes ads appear differently to readers than to you, so in case you didn’t know the ads on your page now go over the bottom of all of your pictures, kinda odd :/
Sounds like a great weekend! 🙂 The tree looks great
ughhhh I have been having issues with the ads for a few days now. I emailed my network and am trying to get it resolved ASAP!
Aw, Christmas with babies is the best! 🙂
Downtown Davidson looks absolutely adorable during this time of year; we fell in love with it too on our visit this past August and it looks just as cute as I imagined it would during the holiday season. It’s so fun for me to see it through your pics!
Have a great start to your week Julie!
Christina
We do the ring game too! Hilarious!
Also, we toss our baby’s blocks into tubs across the room.. Haha 🙂
He is so adorable in those last two pics!!! He’s is really one of those babies you just want to pick up and cuddle!!!
Sounds like a fabulous weekend! Quick question: where is your white couch from? Thanks!
There is an awesome outlet mall about an hour from my parents’ house where I go with my mom. I get all my work clothes at the outlets since they have a Theory, Saks Off 5th, and Ann Taylor! Although my rush to get winter work clothes since mine were all lighter from summer internships was a moot point so far since it has been so mild here in NYC as well.
Your tree looks beautiful!! And that striped outfit kills me! 🙂 What a fun weekend!
Oh he is SO handsome and getting big SO fast! I feel like you had him yesterday?! Looks like a fun weekend!
me too!! I feel like he’s already a little toddler!!! wahhhhh
That main street setup is so beautiful!
Oh, shopping with babies is tough…I usually use the Ergo carrier if I know it is going to be busy. Less craziness without a stroller!
Did Chase let you get some sleep? What’s the updated sleep plan looking like after his four-month appointment (if you don’t mind sharing)?
I can’t decide if Chase looks more like you or Ryan…leaning more toward Ryan in these pictures! <3
Our pediatrician advised us against any formal sleep training yet, mainly because Chase is still so small, but encouraged me to try to get him to drop his second nighttime feeding (the one that happens between 3 & 4 a.m. every night). his advice was to give him his paci rather than breastfeed at that time and if he fusses, go back in the room and replace the paci every 5 – 10 min. until he falls back asleep. I like the advice, but it’s challenging because chase really does seem to want to eat a lot at 3/4 a.m. we’re taking it all day by day! sleep is still definitely a challenge.
I opt to wear cold-weather clothes all the time, I can’t get enough! Where are your boots from? I love them! I’ve been on the look out for a new pair, but just can’t find the magic pair!
the brand is corso como (they’re SUPER comfy) and I got them on sale via ruelala.com a few years ago!
Aw! That sounds like a lovely weekend!
I have to side with you; I would have totally been pulling out the cold-weather gear too. 🙂
My goodness, Chase is looking like a little man! I can’t believe how quickly he is growing. 🙂
Looks like a wonderful early Christmas celebration. My fiancé and I are in the process of trying to figure out holidays, so good to see how you guys get that done, too!
Have a great Monday!
The little shops you guys went to remind me of back home! I love going to places like that especially around the holidays!
Main Street Davidson is just darling
Those margs look delicious and OMG Chase has gotten so big! He is such a handsome little dude!!
they were pretty fabulous 🙂
Chase is seriously the cutest!!!
Is it hard for you to maintain Chase’s routine with all of the guests you have had visiting? We are traveling for the holidays and have had visitors too and I find I have to be really assertive about going to bed when the baby needs to and getting his nap in. I have a 2 month old. Just wondered how that’s going for you. I’m especially stressed about it when we go visit my in laws for Christmas.
Hi Julie!
I am so glad that you had a great time with family. It must be so hard to be away from everyone, especially during this exciting time for your little family of 3!
Ryan looks a lot like his mom, eh?
AND I just wanted to say that you are looking amazing! Child birth? When? 🙂 I certainly can’t tell that you JUST had a baby and hardly get a night’s sleep. Not that looks should matter a whole lot, but girl, sometimes it really nice to get a compliment!
I think Ryan and his mom are twins! 🙂 And thank you so much for the sweet words. I am feeling a bit like a train wreck today after a pretty bad night last night, so I really appreciate it!
Chase is such a cutie! Ohmygoodness!!
An orange jalapeno margherita? Sounds… intriguing. But I think I’d opt for your watermelon one. I’m pretty stoked for that eggnog French toast casserole!
Hope you have a fabulous Monday, Julie! 🙂
Outlet shopping this time of year is ROUGH! And how nice you all did an early Christmas. I LOVE those pictures of Chase standing on the counter. Happy Monday, Julie! 🙂
Passion iced tea is one of my favorite warm weather drinks. Yum!
Looks like you guys had fun celebrating an early Christmas with Ryan’s side of the family. That french toast casserole looks delicious.
Looking forward to the french toast recipe! And I am lol’ing at the variety of dress due to the weather, that same thing happens up here (it’s been unseasonably warm, yay!)
Little Chase is adorable as always. Glad you were able to celebrate with your in-laws, sometimes it’s so hard to pack it all in on one or two days, it’s nice to be able to spread it out (and it spreads out the fun, too!) Someday I’m going to have to check out Davidson. We’ve always wanted to travel to Charlotte, NC (and Charleston, SC, and Myrtle Beach, and Nantucket, and and and and…..lots of places we want to go! We’ve traveled a TON, but there’s always more to see!)
I love your boots–super cute!
I too do all my shopping online because I haaaaate the crowds & traffic. We made the mistake of running to a store on Sat….it ended up being like an hour long just to check out a few things (couldn’t find them online). Boooo.
Chase is adorable!!
Chase is so stinkin’ cute with his little romper!! Sigh, makes me miss when mine was that small. And you are looking great, Julie! Hope you can get some quality naps in this week 🙂
Random, but I just noticed it says my comment was posted an hour later than I did. Might just be me though?! If so, nevermind!
Which stroller did you end up going with? I’m knee deep in research and would love some advice as to which stroller you like! Thanks!