Christmas #2 of 3

So right after lunch, we headed over to Wade's parent's house for the Strzinek Family Christmas. Tate was ushered into a bed for a quick nap. So Will got to be my photo subject while we waited for everyone to arrive. Love this boy and his baby blues!

Will, Mo Mere, Poppy, & Wade.
Later that afternoon, Tate woke up and the rest of the family arrived. Here are Tate and his older cousins, who he absolutely adores! They are so great to him, and he loves spending time with them both. I hope the feeling is mutual for many years. :) And yes, the boys are in matching Christmas argyle sweaters. Those were one of the first matching things I bought when I was pregnant and found out Will was a boy. Wade rolls his eyes a little at me, but I think they look adorable.
This picture cracks me up. Tate had just opened a present that was a duffle bag with his name embroided on it. Can you see the excitement all over his face? He wasn't showing it then, but seriously, he thinks it's pretty cool and has asked to pack things in that bag several times already.
Then it was time for the biggie. Wade's parents got one for Trip when he was Tate's age and were excited to do the same for Tate (and what will be for Will one day also). Tate had no idea, which was fun.

It was waiting out back.
Close your eyes.
Now open!
He never screamed or yelled, he just laughed and had the absolute biggest grin possible. He hopped right on and seemed to know just what to do.
Now this picture is either totally gross or hilarious. I vote for hilarious. It was freezing cold outside, and Tate started getting a cold that day. So in the midst of his pure excitement and laughter, quite the snot bubble had formed.
Time to lay down the driving rules.
Back to the fun.

The Gator was obviously the highlight of the Strzinek Christmas. But also this year the adults did a gift exchange. Wade & I ended up with a Home Depot gift card and a clothes steamer. Not too bad. Although we were totally exhausted by the time we got home, we were all thankful for another fun Christmas with the Strzineks.

Christmas #1 of 3

What a fun Christmas this year. It was Will's 1st Christmas, and I can tell that each year for Tate it gets even more and more fun. He loved it.

One thing I hadn't thought about was that this is the first year Tate could come downstairs on his own. (Yes, he was locked inside his own room last year...don't judge.) So I was bummed to miss seeing him come downstairs to discover what Santa had left. He actually stayed in his room like he's supposed to until 7:00 (normal morning rule) and then bounded into our room yelling, "Come look at the giant sock!"

Our stockings have been hung along the stairs, and I guess we hadn't talked about them much. He was quite amazed at the giant "sock" that was now in front of the tree and full of goodies. Pretty funny.

So the fun began, and he got to open (Wade has always been adamant about keeping his family tradition of wrapping stocking presents...very odd to me) the things inside his stocking.

And we probably could've stopped opening presents after the first one...a "monster motorbicycle and monster motorbicycle guy." He LOVES this thing. The Leapster and bathtub boat were the other hits of the morning.
Some fun glasses in the stocking.
And baby brother wasn't left out too much. He did get a brand new shape sorter! :)
Although he would've been perfectly content just playing with the wrapping paper and eating the bows.

Before we had kids, Wade started a fun tradition with our older niece and nephew. We would make cookies and bring them to the fire station for the guys that have to work on Christmas. Tate was excited to help this year.

And before we could blink, it was over. We had a couple of hours at the house to enjoy the new toys before we headed out to the next Christmas.

The Ginormous Post of All Things Pre-Christmas

Leading up to Christmas may be more fun for me than Christmas itself. Is that bad? I just love all of the fun activities and sights to see. So here is our December celebrating in a (kinda) nutshell.

Laura & I determined that this is now an annual activity since this is our 3rd year in a row to get together for a Christmas craft. So hard to believe Jackson & Tate are this big now. And I love that Anna joined in the crafting. The felt Santa ornaments and gingerbread cookie pops were a hit!

Sweet baby brother had to watch from the sideline as I'm pretty sure he would've been eating the glue.

Our trip to see Santa was pretty perfect. In the past, we've gone to the local mall. They have a great Santa, but the lines and the cost always made me wonder if it was even worth it. So when the place where both boys have done physical therapy said they have a free Santa AND you can schedule a time slot. Ummm, yes, please.

He was a super sweet Santa, and both of the boys did good. Tate hopped right onto his lap, and Will stared at him like he was the strangest looking thing ever. Tate told Santa he wanted a Leapster, (check!), a Batmobile (check!), and a robot (huh????). This was the first I'd heard of a robot. But Santa came through on 2 of the 3. Pretty good odds. And we got a chance for a photo with the boys and our favorite physical therapist, Ms. Carolyn. A BIG thank you to OCH for the sweetest, easiest Santa experience ever!

Next up was the preschool Christmas party. Fun, fun, fun. And it gives me even more appreciation for the hard work of his teachers. :) Everyone got to decorate a gingerbread cookie. And clearly, Tate listens to Ms. C well because after she told them not to squeeze the icing too hard, he would barely squeeze any of it out. The M&Ms wouldn't stay on. That was fine with him, of course, because he just promptly ate them all off. :) And the book exchange game is always fun as well.At home, I put up most of the decorations after the boys were asleep. But I did let Tate decorate the tree in the playroom. I put up the garland and a few ornaments up high, but he put all of the other ornaments on the tree and had fun doing it. I was pretty proud of myself for leaving them where he put them ALL in the front lower half.
For our 2nd year in a row, we had a family night of Christmas PJs, treats, Christmas music, and driving around looking at lights. We got some matchy, matchy brother pictures before (wonder how many years I'll get away with that) and then loaded up the car. One fun memory is that we happened to be driving by Tate's friend Annie's house. So we let him run up to the door (in PJs) to wish her a Merry Christmas. He's usually not nervous about many things, but this gave him some cold feet. He ran from the car to the door and back to the car probably four different times before he got up enough nerve to ring the doorbell. It was pretty funny to watch. Bummer that Annie was already asleep! We'll have to try again next year.

Next was our day at the Gaylord. We went on a weekday morning, and it was still packed. Didn't get many pictures of the decorations, but it's always beautifully decorated.

We decided to do their version of a snow hill. Not sure if I'd call it snow, but it worked. Funny thing was that when getting the tickets Wade just assumed it would be he and Tate going down the hill. Hey mister, I like to live on the edge, too, you know.

So I did the first two runs with Tate, and Wade did the second two. It was really dark and weird lighting in there, so the pictures aren't good at all. But in the first picture you can see Tate just plopping right down on tube with no hesitation. I'm standing there wondering if this is a good idea or not. Clearly, he did not inherit by cautious nature. And boy did that thing go fast for such a little "snow" hill. Lots of fun for all 3 of us. (Sorry Will, it may be a couple more years.)

You think he enjoyed himself just a little?
And with all of the pretty decorations, I tried my best to get some good pictures of the boys.
They are pretty cute if I do say so myself.

But don't let these adorable, happy faces fool you. There was plenty of this along the way as well.
And what a fun surprise as we were leaving to walk right by one of Wade's longtime friends and groomsmen in our wedding, Chad, along with his family. Fun to catch up for a few minutes!
The obligatory photo in the sleigh.
The wonder of the trains.

The Gaylord was just what we needed a few days before all of the fun began with our 3 different Christmas celebrations. More fa la la la la-ing to come.

The Family Picture

We went through the entire month of December with about 3,539 pictures taken (all in posts coming soon). That might be a slight exaggeration, but really I'm not so sure. And finally at our 3rd of 3 Christmas celebrations, I put my foot down that at least one picture must be a family picture.

Reason A: It should be documented at some point that I am part of this family. If not, I'll turn into the narrator guy from The Wonder Years. You never see me, but you just read my words on the blog. Creepy.

Reason B: I'm confident that both of my boys will want family pictures of all of us years down the road. Well, at least their wives will. Future daughters-in-law, this is for you.

Reason C: It's Christmastime, and you are just supposed to take family pictures. So smile! :)

And to continue the tradition of keeping it real, here are some of our lovely outtakes. Now just as the family with two kids version.

But alas, we have a winner!

Christmas Eve

Wade had the day off on Christmas Eve, but I can't really remember what we did during the day. Oh wait. Now I remember going out in the pouring rain. As in downpour. Calling two Academy stores to make sure they had what I was looking for. Driving in the rain. Having to park at the very back of the parking lot. Realizing I didn't have the stroller. Hauling Will in his carrier (totaling at least 25+ lbs.). Trying to hold an umbrella. All because I realized my husband didn't have a Texas Rangers shirt, and Santa should really deliver on that. True love, folks. True love. :)

By that evening, the rain cleared and we had our annual Christmas Eve get together with the Strzineks. This year was at Ford & Tisha's house. A picture of the cousins.

Trip & Mary Tish read Tate The Night Before Christmas. Pretty cute.
We headed home and got two sleepy boys to bed. Finished a little more wrapping and then pictures of the tree. As a kid, I always like to see the pictures my Dad took of the tree at night after the presents were under it.

I am posting this picture, although it causes some slight angst. Next year, I will remember to finish out the photo wall before the centerpiece of the holiday is right by it to be photographed. It seriously bugs me to see those empty and missing frames. But hey, it is what it is. And no matter, I still love the twinkly lights of a Christmas tree at night.
Now Wade thinks this is the strangest thing. But I also love to take close-up pictures of ornaments. I think they look so pretty this way. And our main Christmas (/anniversary/Valentine's/etc.) present was a new camera. I took about 50 different ornament pictures trying out different settings. Don't worry, these are just a few.




And off to bed right around midnight.