A Christmas for the Record Books (2011)

I have so many wonderful childhood memories of Christmas and how special my parents and grandparents would make it for me. As a mother, it is now my turn to do the same for my child (soon to be children). And this year was the perfect year from me to do just that. Our traditions started with making Christmas cookies together, hiding our elf Lego each night, and reading Christmas stories such as the Polar Express and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. We decorated the house and tree together and we listen to Christmas music (Eddie was not a fan of the music???). And each night before we fell asleep, I tried talking to Eddie about what Christmas really means. I made sure to tell him that it was about giving and being around family. Although, I did have to throw Santa in the mix since he is only three and told him that all good boys get visited by Santa too! I wasn't quiet sure if Eddie understood our talks about Christmas until I had the privilege to host the most important Christmas tradition, dinner. YES!! I had the privilege to have both sides of the family over for Christmas this year. On Christmas day we had prime rib roast, shrimp, salad, cheese, twice baked potatoes, green bean casserole etc... and desert. Most importantly, some of the Mueller family came to our house. Eddie truly enjoyed spending time with his grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins. And then the day after Christmas the Alberts family came over. We had wings, shrimp, cocktail weenies, chips and dip, and fruit! And once again our little man enjoy spending time with his grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins. At the end of the each evening he did not want them to go and since then has asked when they are coming back to his house. Here are some pictures that captured our Christmas holiday!
Eddie with Mema on Christmas Eve:Opening one Christmas present from mommy and daddy on Christmas Eve:And of course, leaving out milk and cookies for Santa: The priceless look on Christmas morning:

And even more priceless look:Hanging with cousins Haley and Heather:

Hanging with cousin PJ: Some of the Mueller girls:

Wrestling with Peepaw:

Daddy sporting his new hunting overalls:Hanging with cousins Mark and Jason:

As you can see from the pictures, we will have many great memories of this Christmas. And since I am not quite sure how soon we will have the opportunity to host Christmas dinner again, this Christmas definitely is one for the record books.

Dinner with Santa 2011

Each year the school district I work for puts on a dinner with Santa for the kids of the employees. It truly is a wonderful and magical event for the kids. They all sit at their tables, somewhat eating their dinner, waiting to hear the bells jingle as Santa approaches. The look on all of their faces is priceless but of course no look is more precious then your own child's. And although our evening started out a bit rough from a very busy very long non sleeping weekend, the even turned out just right. As Santa sat in his chair and called out the names of the many kids awaiting their present, Eddie sat their patiently waiting for his present with his friends.

Here is Eddie with Santa: And here is the priceless look on his face when he open his present, a giant harvester!!!!

Country Lights 2011

Sunday 12-11-2011 we took our little man to our annual Country Lights outing at a local park near our home. At Country Lights, our little man got to make a toy in Santa's workshop with an elf and then decorate it with paint and glitter before we went on our wagon ride around the park to see all of the beautiful Christmas lights. Once again, we had an absolute awesome time together. Eddie really enjoys the activities and seeing the Christmas lights. This year as he looked around the lobby he was able to identify the different characters we have watched in movies and have read in books. He pointed out Rudolph, took a picture with little Cindy Lou Who from "How the Grinch stole Christmas", and also took a picture with the Grinch!

Here are a few pictures of our evening together:

Putting some glitter on our tractor with daddy: Painting the tractor with daddy:

Making the tractor with mommy and the elf:

Hanging out in the lobby with mommy and daddy:

The Grinch:

Little Cindy Lou Who (or at least that's who we thought it was):

Santa and Our Elf- Lego

As usual, the day before Thanksgiving we took our little man to get his picture taken with Santa. We decided that this year we would make it our Christmas card since come April it will no longer be just the three of us. Yes! There will be four of us and our picture with Santa will no longer just be our little man. The next time we go to take our picture with Santa, it will be Eddie with his baby sister. We are all very excited for the new addition to our family!!! However, there are times that I sit here an think.... WOW! There is going to be four of us. It's no longer going to be just the three of us!!! And although I am very happy, part of me feels a tiny bit sad. So, I wanted to capture this moment with my little man and with Santa as just the three of us!

And since the holiday season and festivities have begun, this year we added our elf Lego to our Christmas traditions. At first, Eddie didn't really understand the magic of Lego but then when he started to show up in strange places throughout the house, the magic set in. Every morning Eddie wakes up he either tries to find Lego right away or one of us will say, "have you seen Lego?" And then the search begins. When Eddie finds him he will run to one of us and say, "look, look I found the elf." Once he has found Lego he usually stands there with his mouth open and pointing for us to see while letting out a kind of silent laugh. Daddy has really come up with some creative places to hang Lego and I think that even makes it more fun and special for Eddie. Meanwhile, Eddie's behavior has been terrific because he now knows that Lego reports to Santa each night. I know one little boy that will definitely be getting a visit from Santa this Christmas.