Getting ready for Christmas...

The Hammans household has been very busy decorating and celebrating the holiday season. This year is especially exciting because it will be Jackson and Bo's(his cousin) first Christmas! The past few weeks have been filled with fun and exciting events like Christmas parties, gift exchanges, looking at Christmas lights and getting our own house ready.

I love the whole holiday season: decorating our tree, the Christmas cards, the music. It just puts me in a wonderful mood. I love sitting by the fire with a cup of hot cocoa. I love the smell of pine and cinnamon floating through the house. I love making cookies and soup and other yummy holiday treats.

We are looking forward to a "white" christmas up in Oregon with the whole family. Something about the Northwest makes it feel a little more like Christmas! 70 degrees in southern California just isn't the same :) Even though Jackson is still too little, I am so excited to start new traditions with our family and watch Jackson tear open presents, come running down the hall on Christmas morning one day and learn all about baby Jesus and the reason for the season. I am especially blessed to have this precious little "gift" this holiday....my heart is full this Christmas!!!

Taking our family picture for our Christmas card!

Our little Christmas tree...

Santa's helper

Watching the lights on Garrison St.

Jordyn and I being silly

Jack's favorite girl Emery!

Dads and their babes

Look at all those lights

Jackson visiting Santa

Helping Dad with the tree

Time for the ornaments

Where should this one go?

Our beautiful tree...

Holiday Card Time!

Ok, I know I am a little early but Christmas is right around the corner which means it is time for my favorite part of the holiday.....the Christmas cards!!! I absolutely love getting the mail around the holidays and opening up all the unique cards from my family and friends. So I am jumping on the bandwagon and letting everyone know about this FABULOUS deal that Shutterfly has going on right now for the holidays. They are giving away 50 holiday cards for FREE. If you have a blog and would like to pass on the great news then go to http://bit.ly/sfly2010,

answer a few questions and voila!

We LOVE shutterfly. Every year we pick out the cutest designs for our family Christmas cards. They also have great ideas for Christmas gifts too, like albums and mugs. We just made Kyle's Dad a mug for his birthday with pictures of him and Jackson in Hawaii.....He LOVED it!

So.....if you are looking for a Christmas card (it's just right around the corner!) go to Shutterfly and take advantage of this great deal. We can't wait for you to see ours this year.....the hard part is just picking out one.....there are sooooo many!!!

Aloha!

I am a little late with this post but at the end of October we went on our first family vacation to Maui. Kyle's parents have a timeshare at the Westin Villas....soooo beautiful! The month leading up to Hawaii, I swear I was having ulsers thinking about the flight. Not only do I have a little flying anxiety, but now we were attemping a 5 hour flight with an almost 8 month old. Jackson did AMAZING! We were lucky to have an empty seat between us so he could lay down and play. Such a good baby...Phew!

Maui was so great. The villas are so beautiful and we got hooked up with a ground level villa looking out to the ocean and directly in front on the pool. It was perfect! We brought the baby monitors so we could take them to the pool while Jackson was napping because we were so close! We also rented some baby stuff from a company in Maui and it was so helpful. He got a baby bath, and jumper. Super cheap and they delivered it right to our hotel when we arrived. (For all you Moms out there, seriously check into rental companies when you go on vacation! It was awesome!)

Kyle, Jackson and I had such a wonderful week swimming, kayaking, eating and just relaxing with his family. They are so wonderful and they LOVE Jackson so much. Kyle's Dad (Papa) and Jackson were attached at the hip. They would go on walks together, swim in the pool, run errands and just play. We are so lucky to have such an incredible family. On a sadder note, 1/2 way into the vacation, Kyle's Mom got a call that her Dad had a major stroke. Kyle is very close to his Grandpa and the new devestated the whole family. Kyle's Mom had to jump on a red eye that night and leave Hawaii early. It was hard to see her go but we knew she needed to be with her Mom and Dad. We tried to make the best of the rest of our vacation despite the sad news. We left Hawaii with a ton of pictures and a lifetime of memories. Jackson loved Hawaii and we cannot wait to bring him back for years to come.

Aloha, I'm in Hawaii!!!

Swimming with Papa

Family pic at the pirate ship.

The whole Hammans gang!

Just hanging out by the pool in my jumper.

Snuggling with Mom at the pool.

I love the water!!

Dinner in Lahaina

Best Mai Tai on the island!!!

Last night in Maui...

A beautiful way to end our fantastic vacation!!!

Halloween!

We had been looking forward to dressing Jackson up for months and taking him out trick o treating for his first Halloween! Yes, we know he is only 8 months old and doesn't even know what candy is. But we were so excited to get a little costume for him and take him around to a few houses with some of his buddies. We decided to get the most adorable bat costume from Pottery Barn Kids. And Kyle and I didn't want to miss out on the fun so we dressed up too! On Halloween we met up with some of our friends and their kids. After the mini photo session, we headed out to a few houses to get some candy for the daddies of the group! Jackson looked so cute and he actually loved wearing his little bat costume. It was a fun night and a great first Halloween for our little "pumpkin!"

My first Halloween!

Aren't I the cutest bat you have ever seen?

Vampire Dad and his little bat.

Spooky family.

Just hanging with my friend Jacob the monkey

Yay! Time to go trick or treating with Wyatt and Jacob.

Heading to the first house with Dad.

Lets get some candy for Daddy!

Pumpkin Time!

Yesterday, we took Jack to Bates Nut Farm (Pumpkin Farm) for the first time. We had been looking forward to this since last year when we saw all the pictures of our friend's babies playing in the hay and looking at all the pumpkins. Now we finally got to take our little "pumpkin!" I pretended it was fall for a while in my scarf until it got up to 90 degrees....what is going on? I am getting desperate for chilly weather, boots and scarfs, warm soup and pumpkin bread....all signs of fall. But not yesterday. Shorts and flip-flops were more appropriate attire! Jackson loves being outside and he seemed to love looking at all of the pumpkins and fall decor. It was fun hanging out with his friends Wyatt, Landon and Jake and their Moms and Dads. After a few hours, the babes were getting tired, So we said goodbye to the Farm. Now, more than ever, I am looking forward to the Fall season and Halloween in a few weeks. Here are some highlights of our fun day!

Looking for pumpkins with Mom!

With my friends Jake, Landon and Wyatt

Family pic in the pumpkins!

Farmer Jack!

I found some pumpkins!

Which one can we take?

I love Fall!

With Mom and Dad

Just hanging with my friends in the wheelbarrow!

Checking out the cornfield with Mom!

I'm a little punkin!

Our Visit With Bo

Last weekend Kyle, Jackson and I headed up to L.A. to visit my nephew Bo. He is already 2 months old and getting bigger by the second! My Mom and I went with Haley to his doctors appointment and he is already 13 lbs 5 oz! That is the 90% percentile!!! To put it in perspective, Jackson was 9lbs 6 oz at 2 months so needless to say he is a great eater!!!

It is so fun watching Bo. He is beginning to smile and loves taking baths. Jackson really loves his cousin too. He always wants to touch him and see what he is doing. He even starts to cry every time he hears Bo crying. I am really looking forward to watching the boys grow together. They are going to be the best of friends. I definitely miss having my family close by. They are such an amazing support. But I look forward and savor the times we are together. Can't wait for more adventures ahead...

What a sweet face!

With Uncle Kyle

Hi, Cousin Bo!

Do you want to play?

Cheese....

Bath time

I love him!!!!!!!

P.S. Jackson is 7 months today....pics to come!