A little update on life lately as its been in the Greathouse home! 

Mr. Greyson has an imagination that just loves to run wild. He is constantly copying things that are far beyond his years. & he comes up with the silliest things to say out of nowhere! 

Oh & he's been super interested in dressing himself recently. Although he insists most of the time that we do it, he picks out his outfits. Favorites usually include either a car, truck or sports. And of course "ginger man socks!" 

Slowly making progress on the nursery. Baby girl is slowly acquiring clothes & has a million accessories of course! I've grabbed some headbands & bows here & there and some I've made myself from old shirts. My obsession with baby shoes is real! 

I have an adorable set up for a gallery wall planned for each her room & Greysons that are awaiting being hung. 

Less than 6 weeks until my due date & can't believe we're getting so close already! Better get on finishing my to-do list asap! 

I found out before the start of the NBA season that the Cleveland Cavs were playing the Denver Nuggets right here in Denver on December 29. I had a plan in place for awhile & had to cleverly navigate Greg saying we should get tickets to the game. Luckily, he forgot & didn't really pay attention to when they were playing & I was able to fulfill my plan - tickets for him for Christmas! 

Some friends of ours watched Greyson for us & we were able to get dinner before the game at Rockyard American Grill & Brewing Company, which was delicious. 

When I bough the tickets, they were these Flashseat tickets, which basically attaches your tickets to your credit card that you pay with. So they just swipe your card at the arena & print out your tickets there. A slight error in their system resulted in them printing tickets for the wrong seats, which we found out when the real ticket holders arrived & told us we needed to go to Guest Relations. 

We got to see the players come in & the tip off from the much better seats, which was pretty cool! 

It was fun to be surrounded by a bunch of Cavs fans, despite being in Denver. Of course, most people are LeBron fans, but still fun nontheless! 

I am not a basketball person by any means. Greg watches it & I usually find something else to do. But it was such a fun game! Much warmer than the NFL game & of course it didn't hurt to be rooting for the winning team! A final score of 87-93 brought our fun night to a close! 

Now that we're into January, it only seems fitting to finally share our Christmas! 

We had a very good, low-key day at home. We live so far from family & weren't able to travel this year, so we spent the day just the 3 of us. 

Leading up to Christmas, I had an itch to make a bunch of cookies & some white chocolate covered pretzels so there was a ton of baking & treat devouring around here. Cookies were fun little treats to send/take to work to share with co-workers. Definitely helped get through the week as we were all ready for long weekends. 

I was so giddy with excitement for Christmas morning! I am such a gift giver that I couldn't wait for Greg & Greyson to see what they got. Christmas is purely magical with kids! And I know next year will just be even more fun! 

The bike was a huge hit! It obviously wasn't wrapped so of course it was the first thing Greyson saw when he came downstairs & immediately wanted to get on it! 

I went with a 16" based on sizing I saw & it's still too big for him, which bums me out. But he grows like a weed & his feet touch, they're just barely too short to get the pedal around when it's on the bottom so fingers crossed he's a wee bit taller to ride it by Spring! 

A stocking stuffed with playdoh & hot wheels went over very well with the car-obsessed 2 1/2 year old! It was so much fun watching him open his gifts. And he's in the fun stage where after we coerced him into opening a gift, he insisted on opening the package so he could play with it right.this.second! 

And of course can't forget about Greg & myself! We got so many different things from family, like a new comfy blanket for me & tools for Greg. We even got a Chromcast thing, which we honestly aren't sure how to use but we will figure it out! 

My main gift was a TV stand mantle that Greg built! It has some detailing left to finish it but that didn't stop me from setting it up, decorating & using it! 

And my favorite gift for Greg - tickets to the Cavs vs. Nuggets game! They played here in Denver & he's wanted to go to a Cavs game for awhile. Not my typical gift route, but new, fun experiences are always awesome! 

Already excited for next year & the possibilities! Hope everyone has had a great start to the new year!  

This past weekend, we decided it would be fun to check out the Zoo Lights at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo! They call theirs Electric Safari, but it was fun no matter what it was called! 

The zoo is situated in a very wealthy area of the Springs, so of course lots of the houses were decked out in Christmas lights. Every house we saw that was lit up Griswold-style, & trust me there were tons, Greyson gasped & was just mesmerized! It was really the first year we've lived somewhere with Christmas lights like this so he thought it was awesome! 

The kids enjoyed seeing the few exhibits that were still open during the event. The giraffes & the elephants were the biggest hits! And of course no trip is complete without a pit stop for some drinks & pictures! The zoo even had little fire pits all around for everyone to stop at along the way to warm up. Greyson kept telling us about the fires & how hot they are. Greg even showed him how to stand close & safely warm his hands! 

And because the fire house Santa attempt failed terribly, we tried again with the zoo Santa! He was fantastic for starts! He seemed to much like Santa it wasn't funny! Greyson was a little unsure still, but we convinced him to sit on his lap & take some pictures. He wouldn't share his name or tell him what he wanted for Christmas, but he made sure to ask nicely for a candy cane! 

Such a fun event! I've been dying to go to a zoo lights for years but they aren't something German zoos did & we haven't been stateside for the holidays in so long that this year was our first chance. The lights were fun to see & we always have a good time at the zoo. Plus nothing compares to seeing the magic of the holiday through a toddler's eyes! Everything is amazing & full of wonder! 

Excited to almost be done with my class so we can jump into full Christmas festivities over here! One more day! 

Our local fire station had an open house day this past weekend. It was for one of their fundraiser days to raise money for their station. They had treats for everyone & shirts for sale. And of course there was Santa & fire trucks! 

I wasn't sure how seeing Santa was going to go this year. Greyson has been obsessed with Santa for awhile now but you never know with a real live Santa. He got super shy & clung to me the whole time we were there. And naturally, he wanted nothing to do with Santa when it came to our turn. As you can tell, we found out that pictures inside of a fire station don't turn out very well! 

I will not give up that easily so another visit with Santa is coming again soon! 

We participated in the Holiday book exchange hosted by some lovely ladies again this year. Anything involving books is always a fun time! And of course holiday fun tied in makes it even better! 

This year, we were sent goodies from Bri from School in Our Slippers & her little adorable crew! 

Greyson was a little confused when we handed him the wrapped book, but when he figured out to open it he was crazy excited! He got the classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas & naturally had to read it immediately. He loves it so much we've read it every night at bedtime since getting it! 

And if she couldn't be any sweeter, she sent this adorable card & a pink flower clip for little miss! It's a perfect addition to her growing bow & headband collection she has started already! 

We were paired with Jessica over at Secrets of a Stay at Home Mom to send books to her & her adorable little ones Cam & Emmy. Head over to her blog & see what they got! 

I already can't wait for next year to hopefully be able to participate again! Such a lovely group of ladies in this blog community! 

While I've been in the Christmas spirit by listening to Christmas music for awhile now, I contained myself & didn't decorate until after Thanksgiving. I considered doing it earlier, but was too busy with school work & Thanksgiving prep to let myself take the time.

Plus, decorating on Friday following Thanksgiving has become a tradition so I decided to keep it that way!

We pulled up all the boxes upon boxes of decorations & spent the morning/early afternoon decking the halls!

Greyson was crazy obsessed with the standing Santa Claus when he came out of the box. He stood him in front of the tree, giggled endlessly at him & even gave him a few hugs and kisses.

The trio of plush snowmen were a pretty big hit too! And of course he decided they had to go on the tree! They were too heavy to stay, of course, & he couldn't handle it! We finally compromised & he let them sit on a shelf & hang ornaments instead!

This is the first year we've been able to hang lights outside on our house. I bought a few sets years ago, which happily still work! Greyson helped me untangle them & awed in their lit up glory, insisting I keep plugging & unplugging them.

And I found this adorable mini stocking advent banner at Target (of course) that I had to have! Such a fun tradition to do with kids & I am already excited for Greyson to find the goodies or fun that is planned for each day!

I will share some more pictures of the house all set up! For now, our four stockings hanging on the kitchen island (since we don't have a mantle...yet!) will have to suffice. Seriously crazy to think that there will be 4 of us next year & all of the stockings will be used!