Christmas Eve Pictures

Christmas Eve has always been celebrated with my mother's side of the family, only now Greg's mother joins us as well. The kids tend to get a lot of the attention, but I feel that's how Christmas should be, with a focus on children.

I like the photo below because of the details. I am the only one posing. Henry is engrossed in the soft teddy bear. Rusty the dog is also interested in the teddy bear, but for more nefarious reasons. (I believe he likes to chew on stuffed animals.) Nick is looking bored and impatient because it isn't his turn to open a gift. 

Auntie Mandy got Nick a hexbug, which looks remarkably like a cockroach. I told him to make sure not to have it crawling around the floor or I might stomp on it.

Nick also got a nerf gun from his Uncle Andy, and boy did all the guys have fun with it. Even Grandpa Ray joined in.

Henry got the neatest bristle blocks. I haven't seen those in years, and he adored putting them together. I am thinking we'll have to get more so he can build bigger things.

Nick got a V-Reader that he calls his "Nook." It is a kind of e-reader, so he's not too far off, actually.

Grandma Linda was just as excited about her books as Nick was about his "Nook."

Henry adored all of the cars he received. He loves cars, and "Ca!" is one of the few words he has been saying consistently. He also makes car noises.

Grandma Toni had a great time watching the boys play with their presents. I think my sons must be some of the most photographed children in the world. I believe there are over 900 pictures on my computer just from the 24th and 25th of this month.  :)

The boys were MOST excited, though, at the end of the evening, when Grandpa Ray brought out his new helicopter and let the boys play with it. (All the boys. . . Uncle Justin, Uncle Andy, Nick, Rusty, and Henry).

Besides the helicopter, Nick also loved the all time favorite. . . empty wrapping paper tube. Typical.

Here's Henry rocking around the Christmas Tree.

Christmas Eve 2011

I want to share some pictures of our Christmas Eve celebration at my mom's house. It was a flurry of wrapping paper, excitement, lots of cookies, and joy all around. Henry was very excited about the ribbons and wrapping paper. Nick stacked presents in a nice tower.

This was Henry's first Christmas. Six months is a good age. He was awake the whole time and helped pull on wrapping paper. Henry also drooled on everything and smiled a whole lot.

Nick loved his presents, but he liked Henry's presents, too. I think he got double the fun this year. This ball was Henry's present, but Nick loved playing with it, too.

I love Christmastime. It is so much fun to watch the kids having fun.

Christmas Post #2

On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me. . .

Well, it certainly wasn't two turtledoves. Our cats would've just eaten them. Our Christmas #2 was on Christmas Eve, which I've always spent with my mother's side of the family. Nick was excited to see his Grandma Linda, Grandpa Ray, Gigi (Great Grandma), Aunt Mandy, and Uncle Andy.  Above you can see Nick showing off his big boy Christmas argyle sweater, which I love because it looks like something an adult would wear. All he needs is a briefcase, and he's ready for a business casual day at the office.

The good thing about my son is that he gets far more excited about playing with new people than he does about toys. Not that he doesn't like toys, but I'm less worried about him getting spoiled after seeing how much he wanted the interaction. There were so many presents, but he wanted everyone to sit on the floor and play with him.  Here is Aunt Mandy sharing a candy cane with him.

Nick was soon overwhelmed with presents, and he often couldn't be bothered to open new ones because he was so busy playing with the last present he'd opened. One of his favorite gifts was a keyboard--one obviously meant for an older child. Nick absolutely adored all of the buttons. I believe in the video below he's singing a version of "Somebody Come and Play" from Sesame Street.

Nick also loves giving presents. One special one that Nick and I made for Grandma Linda was one of those Shutterfly memory books. It was all pictures of Nick and his grandma together. I think she liked it.

I'll leave you with Nick regaling us with Christmas Carols. Jingle bells is his favorite song, and the only one he knows the words to so far.



Merry Christmas!



I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We sure did. Here is Nick's picture with Santa, taken at an incredibly late date--Christmas Eve morning at 11 a.m. He wasn't even a little scared, and he shouted, "Santa over there!" as we approached his chair. "I see Santa! Santa!" Nick went right to him, and grinned really big, especially when Santa gave him a candy cane. My boy has grown so much this year. Check out his Santa pic from last year:

See the difference? He's gotten huge! But both times Nick showed no fear of the large, bearded man in red. Last year we had to wait in line for what seemed like forever, and I just couldn't stomach the thought of wasting several hours in line to see Santa.

We meant to go a few weeks ago, but we all had a terrible cold and felt lazy. Then, last weekend I had cookie baking, a cookie exchange, and the great diaper explosion weekend of 2010. I went to the mall with Nick on Wednesday the 23rd, hoping to get in, but the line snaked around Fox Valley Mall in a line rivaling those at Disney World. I gave up, but then felt incredibly guilty at home later. Parental guilt is a horrible thing. I know intellectually that my kid will not suffer if he does not sit on Santa's lap, but I still felt like a lazy mom. Nick knows who Santa is, and points out everything that has Santa on it. Last year he wouldn't have known the difference, but this year, he gets it.

So I convinced Greg to go out on Christmas Eve morning. To the mall. Yup. We're crazy. The wonderful thing, though, is that everyone else must've thought it was too late to see Santa, because there was no one in line--not one person ahead of us. Just Santa sitting there taking it easy, resting up for his big night. Next year we'll try to be earlier, but we really lucked out going at the last minute.

We broke the record for last minute errands on Christmas Eve, I think. There needs to be some kind of award for miraculous shopping adventures. We left our house at 10:30 a.m., and got home around 12:15. Here is what we managed to accomplish during that time. It was a true Christmas miracle:

1. Greg filled his car with gas.

2. Drove to Louis Joliet Mall

3. Santa visit, complete with official picture printing.

4. The festive eating of the hot pretzel.

5. Went to Bath and Body works for last minute gifts.

6. Tried three different stores, finally found sweaters and socks for Nick.

7. I got my eyebrows threaded. (Ouch! But it was very quick.)

8. Nick got to ride the big shaking car that costs umpteen quarters.

9. Drove to Best Buy.

10. Located and purchased $57 of ink cartridges. (For printing custom gift tags. That line was hideous.)

11. Drove to grocery store.

12. Greg bought wine and maple syrup. (Gotta have the basics.)

I was so proud of us at the end of that trip. When we left the house, Greg was telling me there was no way we'd get it all done. I secretly agreed with him, but kept my fingers crossed. I remained calm and told Greg not to worry. Both of us were shaking our heads in astonishment when we pulled in the driveway at quarter after 12.

Christmas #2 (At Grandpa Ray and Grandma Linda's House)

On the second day of Christmas. . . we went to my mom and stepdad's house for dinner and presents. This was on Christmas Eve. My grandmother was there, and my sister (who took all of these pictures) and stepbrother, too. Nick got to stay up past his bedtime and eat gingerbread cookies and play with Tigger (the dog). He was very happy, even before the presents started. I'm constantly amazed at how well he sits and listens to books. Each time he received a new book, he wanted me to read it to him. He likes to turn the pages and point to things in the stories. Sometimes if he likes a book he'll bring it back to me again and again.

The photo below has a hilarious backstory. On Christmas Eve, I was trying desperately to wrap presents and get everything wrapped and packed up. Nick was tearing paper and moving htings around and generally causing mayhem. I noticed a couple of times he put stuff into boxes as I was wrapping them, but I caught him in time, or so I thought. I didn't even notice, but he must've put a cat toy (the little ball) into my grandma's gift bag. She opened her gift and looked at the ball, confused. "What is this?," she asked. Nick saw the ball (and heard it, too, because it has a bell) and came right over to claim it. He likes to put things into bags and baskets, and thus the "extra" gift. Later, my mom found a random pen dumped into her gift bag. It must've been the one I thought I lost while I was filling out gift tags.

Obviously my grandma wasn't too upset about the incident. Nick got a nice cuddle and a cup of milk for making us all laugh. My grandma loves sitting with him in the rocking chair. He knows a good lap when he sees it.

Oh, Nick started talking last week. His first real word? Tree. He's been saying Daddy for ages, but not necessarily to Greg. He says it to me, to the cats, etc. He does know what a tree is. Every time he walks into a room with a Christmas tree, he points and announces, "Tree!" Then he waits for everyone to clap. Finally, if he can, he'll go and try to tear things off of the tree, as you can see him doing below. I do have some video of him talking, and I'll try to post it tomorrow.

Greg was in a kind of a silly mood. Not sure why the orange was on his head. My mom puts oranges in our stockings each year. And yes, I still get a stocking, even though I'm 31. She even made one for Greg last year after we were married. I guess Santa never stops coming as long as you believe. It was a nice Christmas--Greg got this cool Cooking Light cookbook and I got some really nice watches and jewelry. But Nick made out like a bandit. I think after the whole 4 Christmases thing, he was probably wondering "When do I get to open more presents?" He didn't understand much about them on his birthday, but he sure understands gifts now!

My mom has been knitting hats again, and she made this adorable one for Nick. I wish I could get him to keep a hat on for more than three seconds. It really is cute and very soft. Nick's Grandma Linda found this string of jingle bells and Nick loved the sound they made. Unfortunately, he also tangled them into a hopeless knot.

you can see Nick clapping for himself after proclaiming, "Tree!" If no one claps for his heroic deeds, you see, he feels obliged to give himself a round of applause. Can you guess he's the first grandchild?

After this, we went to my mother-in-laws to spend the night. It was a busy day, but Nick sure enjoyed himself.