Christmas 2009

Here are some scenes from Christmas. It's always good to click play, click "HD" if you like, then pause to let the video (red bar) pre-load.

Merry Christmas!!!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas because we sure did! Be prepared, this post will probably be a long one with picture overload.

Christmas Eve was spent around the house doing some last minute cleaning, and I did a little baking. Nothing like Thanksgiving, just one chocolate chess pie. Cory went out on an adventure to exchange a gift (thanks Kohl's for putting crap back on the shelves that are missing parts AND that don't work), but he found what we needed.

Then we headed to Georgetown for Mass with my aunt, uncle, and cousin during which, it SNOWED. I watched it out the window feeling a little guilty about being sad I was missing it. Mass was lovely though, and the snow conveniently stopped right before it was over. Awesome.

We then went over to Karen and AJ's for food and visiting with some more aunts and uncles. Afterward, we headed home, and E was in bed only a little past his bedtime, and we began the tradition of reading The Night Before Christmas just as my mom did for me. Well, he only made it through part of the book, but he got the vital first and last page. Perhaps next year he'll get a little more.

Christmas morning we enjoyed the fact that Ethan has no idea what's going on, and therefore, did not wake up at the crack of dawn to see what Santa brought him. We'll only have another year or so of that, so we relished it and slept until 8 or so. Ethan woke up and my mom and aunt Paula, whom of which I've spent all of my Christmases with, came over. Ethan attacked his stocking, meaning he had his fill of wrapping paper, and found a couple of toys that interested him. It took him literally all day to get through all his presents, most of which were opened by other people and shown to him. He enjoyed a lot of them though, especially his phones, balls from the ball popper, keys, and books. He also got some clothes, Tonka trucks, and a Melissa and Doug push toy. I enjoyed my AMAZING diaper bag (thanks Mom!) amongst other lovely things and Cory loved his new wireless keyboard and mouse.

Some more family showed up a little later: Papa, five out of seven of his kids, two spouses of said kids, and two cousins. We opened presents, visited, played games, and ate. We cooked a ham and prime rib for the main course, along with loaded mashed potatoes, green beans almondine, salad, spinach, and rolls. Oh, and tamales (an impulse purchase by Cory...yum!). For dessert we had the chocolate chess pie and I also snuck in time to make a pecan pie. There are plenty of leftovers to satisfy us too.

Oh, and the best part? I spent the ENTIRE day in my pajamas. I know what you're thinking, you stay at home with Ethan, don't you do that every day? But, no, I do not, and I enjoyed every minute of it yesterday, thank you very much.

I suppose that's all I have to tell, so on to the pictures. I regretfully forgot about taking pictures, but I still have a lot, and I'm really enjoying the lens Cory got me as my early Christmas present (and I think I'm getting a little better at using it too).

Ethan's Christmas Eve outfit. Yes he wore this to mass. I ran out of time, and really didn't have anything for him to wear. Don't judge me.

Working that reindeer outfit.

On Christmas morning.

"Opening" his stocking.

Opening with Nana

Enjoying his new car.

His new phone from Paula, one of his favorites.

With Papa and Daddy on the couch.

Papa

Paula, who may be mad at me for including this picture, but I like it, and it's my blog :)

Mark and Diana opening a present.


And these are some pictures I took on the 23rd of E and Christmas lights. I've seen a lot of these done, and finally got around to doing it.

It was such a great Christmas and really wonderful to experience it with Ethan. I can't wait until he's older and really "gets" it. Well, I can wait for the crack of dawn thing, but I'm guessing it all be worth it.

Tomorrow's another Christmas celebration for us, and then another one next weekend with Cory's family, so I hope you're not tired of Christmas pictures yet. Merry Christmas!!!

Wordless Wednesday

For Papa

Saw this the other day, and just to had to get it:

He speaks for both of us. Love you!

Christmas!!!

Since I'm a HUGE fan of everything Christmas, I thought I'd share a few pictures of our Christmas decor.

The tree.

Thank you HEB for the great deal. Sorry to all the trees at the tree farm, I'm just too darn picky.

The ornament we bought last year after finding out we were having a boy.

Do I even need a caption?

Shelf over the tv. I heart jingle bells, so I just filled a vase with them.

Christmas card display and stockings, made by yours truly.

I adapted something I saw online, for cheaper of course. I think it all cost me about $18, and I have extra felt in case our family grows. I didn't want to risk not being able to find more stockings that matched if/when we have more kids. Plus, I thought it'd be special if I made them, and I have a felt stocking from when I was a kid that I absolutely love and has held up well.

One more of the stockings. Boys will have stripes, girls dots and snowflakes. And of course jingle bells on the toes :)

3 more days!!!

Trip to see Santa

We took a trip to the Domain this weekend to get the much coveted first picture with Santa. We had lunch with a friend of ours and her two-year-old daughter, and then headed over only to find Santa was on his lunch break. While we waited, we used Santa's chair to get a picture of Ethan and Maggie.

And then Santa arrived, who was super nice, and E had no problem hopping on his lap. The man taking the pictures failed to catch any of the smiles Cory got out of Ethan, but the picture is still pretty cute:
Of course, I snapped some of my own too:


Then we wandered around shopping for awhile. Here's E hanging out in his new big boy stroller:

And then we stopped to take pictures by the Macy's tree:

Rare photo with all three of us.

E with Daddy

A nice shot of his new two front teeth. Yes, I have been singing the song to him, "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth..."

I still have a lot of blogging to catch up on, so I'll be working on it. Yay for only four more days till Christmas!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Well, if I had remembered it on Wednesday, it would have been this:


I've been sick. No fun I tell you. I have some serious catching up to do in all areas of life: laundry, tree decorating, re-thinking E's playroom, moving crap out of the way so it doesn't end up in E's mouth, wrapping presents, and of course blogging. Hopefully, our weekend will be productive.

Thank goodness E doesn't have whatever I have, because taking care of a baby while sick is bad enough. Although, I do think he's getting his two front teeth for Christmas...

We have lights!

I am a huge Christmas light fan. As a kiddo, my aunt Paula and I would spend a day on the roof stapling lights into whatever glorious formation we had come up with that year. My mom would watch from the ground and promptly respond to our calls of "Is this even?" "We need more lights!" and "Dang it, we got the wrong size staples... again!" I believe there was even a year before I was allowed to join Paula on the roof, where my mom held Paula's ankles as she dangled out a second story window just so she could get the lights on. Let's just say, we're a dedicated bunch.

Cory definitely keeps me grounded though, or else my house might be featured on HGTV and I'd be spending 3 months out of the year decorating and taking donations for our electric bill. I try to keep it simple, for me anyway. So Saturday, we spend a few hours putting up lights. Ethan helped for a while, until my mom came over to keep him occupied. Here's the result:



And I already have ideas for next year...

Wordless Wednesday

Forgot to tell you

It's always good to click play, click "HD" if you like, then pause to let the video (red bar) pre-load.

I'm so sorry, with the holiday and everything, I completely forgot to blog about two milestones E hit recently. Last Sunday, AKA Thanksgiving for us, I stuck my finger in Ethan's mouth (for some unknown reason) and low and behold, the kid's got two teeth. Yup, his two bottom teeth came in, totally broke the surface. I guess it's good that we didn't notice before, meaning he wasn't especially fussy or anything. Who knew.

And... last Tuesday, Ethan crawled!! He's been pretty mobile before, but has never actually moved legs and hands in a crawling motion. That day though, he went for it. We even double checked using the remote as bait. Let me clarify though, he really doesn't care for crawling. He makes a huge fuss about it and takes lots of breaks to sit up and look around for awhile.

Since then, he's done it a handful of times and never very far. Though today, he followed me all the way from his blanket in the living room to the kitchen. I was making a bottle, so had incentive. I'm kind of liking that he's able to do it, but doesn't really want to. That way I don't have to worry about why my kid isn't crawling yet, and I also don't have to chase him around too much. He's way more interested in standing and pulling up than in crawling. Anyway, here's a video of the day he first crawled.

Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving dinner was actually last Sunday, but I've been too lazy to go through the pictures and write a post, so sorry.

We hosted at our house for 19 members of my family. I cannot believe we fit all of them in one room, but we did. My mom and I did most of the cooking with some occasional help. We baked the desserts Saturday night and brined the turkey, and my mom came over Sunday morning to put the turkey in while we went to have pictures taken. I have to say, it's gotten easier and easier every year (in the 13 years I've been doing it), and this year was probably the smoothest, and the 2nd or 3rd largest.

We had TONS of food (and still have leftovers). Ethan just had puffs and sweet potatoes at the table with us, but I'm sure he'll really enjoy the food next year. He was pretty good all day and entertained everyone while I cooked. It honestly felt just like Thanksgiving day.

So now for the pictures:

The table. Well, part of it.

A closer look at the runner I made that morning. It's not perfect since I was rushing, but it worked. It's basically like a pillow case with sheer fabric on top, and you leave a little opening to stick seasonal stuff in it like the fake fall leaves I used.

The entire table that took up the dining room and E's playroom.

We used our formal table, the table from the informal dining area, and an old table from my college apartment that we had in the garage.

Ethan greeting his Aunt Mary Lou.

Playing outside on the deck.

Papa ready for dinner, and being goofy for the camera.

Passing the food. It was a long process making sure all 19 people received everything at the table.

Eating.

Enjoying.

Hope everyone else had a wonderful Thanksgiving!