Cohen Christmas Pictures 2016!

Here are our Cohen's Christmas pictures from this year. I can't believe how big he is getting. You will notice that there is only one picture of Cohen looking at me. He refuses to look at the camera when I'm taking pictures. I will say, "Look at Mommy!" and Cohen will say, "Look at Mommy!!!!" and not look at the camera. He is a terrible little model, but I do love him so.

Our Christmas Tree 2016

When Cohen was born I decided to start buying Christmas ornaments when; we traveled, to mark significant events that occurred during the year, or to represent something that Cohen loves. I love adding a couple new ornaments each year and remembering the fun times we have had together. This year it occurred to me that I should be buying two ornaments instead of just one. One for me and Jeff and one for Cohen to keep when he moves away from home (and if he isn't sentimental and doesn't care, like Jeff believes he will be, we can just keep them...the more the merrier, right?). So, since I have come to this realization, I have been letting Cohen select his own ornaments. It's been very entertaining watching him pick out his ornament(s).

2016 Ornaments:

Grandpa Anderson: My dad made us 5 beautiful ornaments that he gave us when he came out to visit earlier this month. I love the ornaments that my dad makes. They are so special to me and I know I will treasure them for always.

Disney Cruise: In September Jeff, Cohen and I joined my family and Jeff's sister's family (Sharon, Ben and Atticus) on a Disney Cruise to the Caribbean. We had a fantastic time and I can't wait till we can cruise again...especially if we get to go with the same amazing people!

AMNH - American Museum of Natural History (NYC): When I lived in New York the first time I probably only visited AMNH 4 times and it was alway when someone came to visit. Well, we have been in the city for two months and Cohen and I have already gone twice. He's constantly talking about going to see the dinosaur bones. Last time we went he learned in a video that the dinosaurs died and he had a hard time coming to grips with that. I decided since dinosaur bones have become a favorite of Cohen's, I should buy him a dinosaur ornament from the museum shop. I picked mine out and was planning on buying the matching one for Cohen, but Cohen saw a different one and insisted on getting that one instead. He has been pulling it off the tree everyday this week and playing with it. He loves it!

Three Little Bells from the Murch's: The Sunday before we moved to New York, Brother Murch walked up to me and handed me two little wooden boxes (with three little bells inside). He also gave me a letter that told the story of It's a Wonderful Life and how every time a bell rings an angel gets its wings. They hopped every time we heard the bells ring we would remember our time spent in the Eatontown 2nd ward.

Move to New York City: One of the biggest events of our year was moving to NYC. We have been working on this move since June 2015,  so I thought it was important to get an ornament to document the event. Cohen has been obsessed with riding the subway. He asks everyday to go to the train station to ride the train. I have even taken him for a ride on the subway just to turn around and come straight back. This boy loves his trains. So, I took Cohen to the NYC Transit Museum store in Grand Central Station. They have a holiday train display up and Cohen sat and watch the Polar Express going around and around for over 30 minutes. We bought two little glass subway cars to go on our tree. Cohen insisted on getting the red train, he wouldn't hear of getting anything else. :)

Grandma and Grandpa Anderson come for a visit....Day 2 - Making Christmas Ornaments and Getting Our Tree!

On Day Two Grandma and Cohen made some Christmas ornaments for Cohen's very own Christmas Tree. They made snowmen out of clothespins, stars and trees out of popsicle sticks, and little snowman out of little lights. Cohen really liked painting, but got a little tired of it so Grandma and I had to finish.

I was excited to go get a Christmas Tree from one of the charming Christmas Tree stands in the City. We went to one near our house. We asked about the price of a nice tree and was told it was $220 - $250 (It needed to be measured for official price). Well, I couldn't bring myself for paying that much for a treat, so we all jumped in the car and drove 20 min to Home Depot and bought a $40 tree. :)

Grandma and Grandpa Anderson come for a visit....Day 1

Last weekend Grandma and Grandpa Anderson came for a little visit. The main purpose of the trip was for Grandma to make sugar cookies with Cohen. I love my parents and their willingness to spend so much time with me and my family. They are amazing grandparents to Cohen. He has no idea how truly lucky he is.

On their first day here Grandma and Cohen made a gingerbread train. Cohen totally got into it! He really enjoyed eating the candy and frosting.  Some of the train was made of fondant and when we weren't looking, Cohen would sneak and piece and eat it. It was really cute.

We then headed to the Plaza for lunch. We had pasta and grabbed some black and white cookies for the road. The Plaza is decorated so nicely for Christmas and they have some some totally delicious treats. 

A Very Merry "Train" Christmas

Trains was the theme for Christmas 2015. Grandma and Grandpa Anderson gave Cohen the Thomas and Friends Up & Around Sodor Adventure Tower, Kari gave him Percy, Grandma Neu gave him some cool train cars, and Jeff and I gave him a bridge and a Talking Emily Engine Let's just say Cohen was THRILLED!

I'm so happy my family was willing to fly across the country to spend Christmas with us. Christmas just wouldn't be the same without family. I'm so grateful for them and all their love and support. Cohen has been thrilled to play with them. He keeps asking for Grandpa and Grandma to play with him. Luckily for him, they are totally willing to oblige.

The Christmas Express with Santa!

Jeff, Cohen, and I joined the Klarin Family on a trip down to Allaire State Park to ride the Christmas Express with Santa. Cohen has been so obsessed with trains that I thought he would enjoy it. To tell you the truth, I'm not really sure if he did or not. He was super crazy wild before we got on the train, but the minute the train started moving he got all calm and snuggled in with Jeffrey. He just stared out the window the whole time, which I guess is a perfectly fine thing to do on a train. When Santa came by, Cohen barely looked at him and then just continued looking outside. Then we got off the train and he went crazy again....oh, well. The Klarin kids seemed to really enjoy the ride and Santa!

The picture on the top right is Jeff putting his hands over Cohen's ears. Cohen is amazingly sensitive to loud noises and doesn't handle it well, so every time the train came by and rang the bell and blew the horn, Cohen wasn't very happy.

Another Trip To The City!

I really miss the city. I especially miss Christmas time in the city. I wanted to take Cohen for a little Christmas trip last year, but it just didn't happen. So, this year I convinced Jeff to let me and Cohen tag along with him on one of his trips into the city. It wasn't a long trip, but we spent some quality time at the Rockefeller Center Tree and walking up Fifth Avenue looking at all the decorations. Cohen really enjoyed himself and I'm glad we got to spend some time together as a family.

We stopped by Maison Kayser for a little lunch. They didn't have a kids menu, but they recommended the macaroni and cheese. I was skeptical since Cohen actually doesn't really like macaroni and cheese, but we figured we would try. Cohen LOVED it! Totally Cohen...KRAFT Mac & Cheese? NO, THANK YOU! Fancy, expensive, gruyere baked macaroni and cheese? YES, PLEASE! Like father, like son! We really liked everything we had there. It was a nice find.

 

A Christmas Tree for Cohen

Cohen is currently obsessed with Christmas trees. Every time we go into a store that has Christmas decorations, Cohen points and says, "Tree!" Usually Jeff and I buy our Christmas tree closer to Christmas, but since Cohen loves them so much, we decided to get one last weekend. For the past several years, Jeff and I have bought our tree at HomeDepot, but I decided that was lame and wouldn't make for cute pictures. So, we decided to wander around to some of the local farms to see if they are selling trees. Luckily A Casola Farms was selling some! It was so cute watching Cohen walk through all the trees and point to one and say, "Tree!"  He was so upset when it was time to leave. I'm sure we are going to need to come up with an ornament placement strategy, since Cohen is currently going through a phase where if something is in his reach, he must have it and play with it. Not good for glass Christmas ornaments.

Gingerbread train and village with Mom and Angela

Whenever I visit my family in Washington we always get together with my moms friend Angela. Usually we go to see the Zoo Christmas lights, but this year we got together to make gingerbread houses and a train. It was so much fun watching Angela work! She's just so creative.

The Tree Wisemans....picking out our Christmas tree

So, Jeff and I have been buying our Christmas trees at Home Depot for the past few years, and I just have to say it's totally lame! At least the Christmas tree lots in NYC are charming! I'm sure there are tree farms in NJ, but Jeff and I have never taken advantaged of them.

I'm so grateful that Cohen and I joined my parents and sister in picking out a Christmas tree this year.  It's one of my favorite family traditions. We went to the Tree Wisemans. Isn't that just the best name ever!

I think Cohen's two favorite moments were watching Grandpa cut down the tree (he was totally intrigued) and watching the men that work wrap the tree so we could put it on top of dads Jeep.

Cohen totally got into watching Grandpa work, but when Kari handed him a piece of the tree to touch quickly learned it was prickly and didn't like it. It was so funny.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Christmas time is my most favorite time of the year! I'm totally sad that I won't get a chance to get into the city to see the Christmas decorations (December in NYC is awesome). Luckily, I had the chance to see the Christmas lights at Temple Square in Salt Lake City. They were absolutely beautiful!

Jeff and I decided to take a quick trip to Utah to visit family. It was so much fun catching up with family and friends, but I wish we could have stayed a little longer since I missed seeing some people. Hopefully next time!

Christmas Book Countdown!

I've been wanting to do a Christmas Book Countdown for a long time! I finally got my act together and started collecting Christmas Books this year. I have 25 right now (thanks to my mom for buying a whole bunch for me), but let me know if you have any favorites that should be part of my collection!

Cohen is kind of young for this (he likes to suck on books rather than read), but I figure I can enjoy the books until Cohen is old enough to join in on the tradition.

I thought it would be fun to display the Christmas books in our house because a) we would remember to read them (ha!), and b) I thought it would be a fun Christmas decoration! So, I recruited my dad to build me a Christmas tree bookshelf. I designed it (kind of) and my dad did his best to interpret my plans (I'm not a designer or wood worker so my plans were not the best), but my dad did an amazing job! I think it turned out great!

The tree bookshelf is not 100% done. I need to put some yellow stars under our name and I think I might speckle some white on it to help it stand out from the wall a little better. All in all, I love it!

Thanks DAD!

First book to kick off the countdown...The Christmas Train by Thomas S. Monson!

Neu Christmas Treats

Our first Christmas together, I asked Jeff what were some Neu family traditions. Us Anderson's are really into traditions and have a lot around the holiday season, so I wanted to make sure to incorporate some of Jeff's family traditions. The only one Jeff told me about was that they made spritz cookies. Not a whole lot to work with, but we made them that first year.

Well, Sharon and Ben (Jeff's Sister and Brother in-law) joined us for Christmas this year and Sharon shared a few more Neu family traditions. According to Sharon, her parents would buy tons of baklava and petifores to eat over the holidays. Sharon bought some for us to munch on this year. All I have to say is I'm totally behind this tradition! The baklava was amazing! I will make sure we repeat this next year!

Cohen's First Christmas

I'm so happy that my family could be here for Cohen's first Christmas! We had a fun time opening presents Christmas morning and eating a delicious (not so traditional) Christmas dinner! Cohen slept through the whole things, so I'm sure he enjoyed the day too.

Cohen got some nice presents. Lots of books!

Dad (aka Grandpa) gave Cohen a Tonka dump truck. I laughed because clearly Cohen can't play with it and the minimum age for the toy is three! Dad told me the he has always wanted to buy a Tonka truck for his grandson, because they are the best trucks! Dad wanted to make sure that he got a chance to do it! Some of you may not know, but my dad was in a bike accident in April. We are lucky to still have him with us and I think we all realized how precious life is and we really shouldn't procrastinate the things we really want to do.

What did we have for dinner? Well, for Jeff and my first Christmas we stayed home (and no family came to visit), so we decided to not go with the traditional Christmas dinner and decided to made ribs. Since I convinced Jeff to registered for china for our wedding and we ended up getting all of it, we also decided to use it for our first Christmas dinner. Yes, we ate ribs on china! We decided that that would be our family tradition! Luckily our families were ok with jointing us this year.

Kari and mom set the table and did an amazing job!