Christmas Craziness!!

I don't even know where to begin.....Tonight is the first night since December 21 that we were home for dinner and the boys were bathed and in bed by 7:30. These past few days have been a whirlwind. I love the craziness and the "go-go-go," but it sure is nice to be snuggled up on the couch knowing that we have absolutely NOTHING to do tomorrow!
We kicked off the break with Will's cousin Emma and his Nouna and Nouno (Godparents)....On the 23rd we hit up Starbucks and drove around looking at Christmas lights. I told John I think we might have started a new Christmas Eve Eve tradition. It was so much fun-even Bentley got to join us!Christmas Eve we made cookies for Santa...And then headed to my cousins for Christmas with my side of the family...
Will is finally old enough to play with the big kids and it was on this day that he discovered the trampoline. Not sure life will ever be the same for him :)We came home and put our matching pj's on and put out our cookies for Santa (and marshmallows aka reindeer food because according to Will, that is what reindeer eat). If you are wondering why his lips and cheeks look shiny, it is because we loaded them up with Aquaphor. They were super chapped after all that trampoline fun!We enjoyed waking up at home Christmas morning (Will was up at 5:50, though I have to admit I had been staring at the clock since 5am anxiously waiting for him to wake up!). Both sets of grandparents joined us for breakfast and to see what Santa brought (Yes, Santa came through and delivered drums, even with such short notice!). Santa got creative and set up a battle scene - dinosaurs vs. army men...
Then it was naps for everyone before heading to John's parents house for Christmas dinner and more presents.The day after Christmas my brother, sister-in-law, nephew, and niece rolled into town and we ate more food and opened more presents! The stockings are always a huge hit and it amazes me that my mom is still sane after carefully selecting items for 13, yes people, 13 stockings....6 adults, 4 children, and 3 dogs.After the rip fest, we went downstairs for more gifts with my EE and Uncle Mike. This is where Will really started to show his tail. As I mentioned in a previous post, this break he has become a challenge. Looking back, I feel sure that his sugar induced, sleep deprived state over the course of a few days in no way helped AT ALL. That was our fault. He is still little, not even three. Days of madness was a lot for me to handle, let alone his poor little body. But at the time, I was frustrated, mad, embarrassed for his behavior. He didn't want to open gifts, he didn't want to say thank you, he didn't want to take pictures....he did, however, want to flail around on the floor, yell at the top of his lungs, pout, cry....you get the picture. It would come in spurts....he would be totally fine one minute and then lurch into complete psycho mode. I wanted to shake him! For pete's sake it was Christmas-there were new toys galore, cousins to play with, and tons of SUGAR. We survived and I think a few days resting and getting back into a routine will do wonders for our sweet little boy. As we near his 3rd birthday, people keep telling me that 3 is worse than 2. Say it isn't so!!So there it is. Our Christmas came and went in a blink, much like I knew it would. There were things we didn't get to do that I wish we would have. There are times that I wish I would have taken more pictures. We tried really hard to keep Christmas simple and to not get wrapped up in all the hub-bub. Now that we have children of our own, it is clear to us that even at a young age, kids can "get it." Will soaked in the Christmas story and after being told only once, could tell you who Jesus' mommy and daddy was, where He was born (Befelhem), what they put Him in, the name of the Angel (Gab-br-briel), why we celebrate Christmas (it's Jesus' birfday party), and why Jesus is so important. Jesus shouldn't have to compete with Santa Claus. His story is much more miraculous and enchanting!!!

I will leave you with a picture of Will's Nativity Scene. We have the Little People Nativity Set and I highly recommend it if you are in the market for one. Will LOVES it. I found some interesting set ups this season and I tried to snap a picture when I came across something funny! In this one, baby Jesus is on the roof and the Angel of the Lord is where Jesus should be. Will said that the Angel of the Lord was telling everyone all about Jesus. Makes sense to me.... I hate that I didn't take a picture of the T-Rex who came with the wise men to visit Jesus. That was my favorite!!

Stay-At-Home Fun!

I knew that once school was out and before John was off of work for Christmas, I would need to have plenty of activities planned to do at home so that we could have a laid back beginning to our break while still keeping Will entertained. I didn't feel like starting off my break with the boys in the car running errands all over the place. So Thursday, we stayed home ALL day and stayed in our pajamas! I read about making cinnamon salt dough ornaments on a friend's blog and they seemed easy enough, even for me. While Alex was down for his morning nap, Will and I tackled this project and Will loved it! He loved rolling out the dough and it kept his attention long enough to cut out about 6 "shin-sher-bread" men, Christmas trees, and stars....then he just wanted to play with the dough. Such a boy...I looked over and asked him what he was doing and he told me he was "rolling poop..."I finished cutting out the rest of the dough and got them in the oven. The house smelled so yummy while they baked. Once they were cooled, we kept them au natural (i.e. I was too lazy to get out paint and create more of a mess) and tied a ribbon through the top. I loved having something that we made together for our tree and the grandparents loved them as well!

Merry Christmas!

The saying on our card makes me laugh considering that this Christmas break Will has become quite a challenge....perfectly precious one minute and possessed by something evil the next! Alas....Merry Everything! Happy Always! We are extremely blessed and I find myself repeating that mantra to myself 862 times a day here recently, taking it all in stride, when I'd rather be saying something else. More to come on our Christmas!!

We have a "sitter upper!"

And just in time for Christmas! Someone is going to enjoy his new toys a whole lot more from his new perspective...

Brothers

I have had SO much fun dressing the boys alike this holiday season. They have matching PJ's and then 2 outfits that coordinate. We have washed those outfits over and over so we could get our moneys worth during the month of December!! Here are some pics I snapped of them in front of our Christmas tree before we headed to John's side of the family.








I love all of their expressions!! It is such hard work to get them both looking at the camera, much less smiling at the same time, but I love all of these!!

HO HO HO

We've already had A LOT of Christmas around here! In between two family gatherings, we went to see Santa. We went to Bass Pro Shop again this year. I think it is the perfect place....there are tons of activities to keep Will entertained while I wait in line with yummy, freshly popped popcorn and diet coke! Both boys did great! Will was not super personable on Santa's lap, but there were no tears from Alex or Will so I would call it a success. Alex was asleep in the stroller and we literally woke him up and sat him on Santa's lap. He just looked at us a little confused, but did not seem bothered :)

When asked what Will wanted Santa to bring him, he has always replied dinosaurs and dump trucks. This has been his standard answer to anyone who asked-it has not changed! So when we visited Santa yesterday, on the way there, we told Will what he should expect. We were going to sit him on his lap, Santa would ask for his request, and he could tell him what he wanted for Christmas. He told us on the way that he was going to tell Santa he wanted dinosaurs and dump trucks. Fine...no surprise there. So we get to Santa and sit Will on his lap. Santa asks him what he wants for Christmas, and what does he say??!! Drums??!!! What in the world?? We have no clue what on Earth made him say that or where it came from. I guess we should take Will to see Santa before the week of Christmas....sadly, Santa has already finished his shopping for the year! I'm also pretty sure that Santa would be on my naughty list if he brought a drum set into my house :)