Christmas 2011

Since our family tradition is to open gifts on Christmas Eve, I spent a good portion of the day on December 23 wrapping gifts.  I ordinarily like to be done sooner, but since my Dad and I now go Christmas shopping together, it is difficult for us to get together and get it done until I am off work for winter break.  Therefore, we didn't even finish our shopping until the 22nd.  Phew!  Wrapping all these gifts in one sitting was exhausting (especially since I'm pregnant).

My family came over on Christmas Eve to open gifts and we had a wonderful holiday together.

My sister, Kristy

Our tree

Gavin in his Cars Santa hat

Kristy and her boyfriend, Mark

Gavin and his new tools

New socks

My sister, Evie

New Hot Rods

Cars toys

Leopard-print Band-Aids 

More Cars toys

HiHo Cherry-O!

HiHo Cherry-O!

McQueen lounge chair

My brother, Jason (on the right), and his boyfriend, Erick

My Dad and his girlfriend, Cyndi

Gavin and Matt

The next day, Gavin woke up to a new big wheel and some goodies in his stocking from Santa.  He was very excited to see that Santa even left him a message on the chimney!

Later, we went to Matt's parents' house for round two of gift-opening.

Gavin and his cousins, Adia and Madison

McQueen book

Dinosaurs

Train whistle

Slot car track

We had a wonderful Christmas!  And next year, we will have two little ones to enjoy for the holiday!

33 Months Old

My sweet boy,

You are growing up so fast!  Three is just a few months away!  You continue to amaze everyone with how smart you are and how incredible your speech is.  Daddy and I love every moment with you and cherish the time we get to spend together.  You have such a big heart and that makes us so very proud.  Here are some new things about you this month:

• One struggle that we still have with you is potty-training.  We don't want to push you into it, but with 3 just around the corner and a baby on the way, we want you to stop wearing diapers soon.  Well, one day, I referred to you as "baby" and you replied, "I'm not a baby!"  So, then I asked why you still wear diapers if you are not a baby and without hesitation, you said, "Because I don't want to be naked."  Oh, makes sense to me!  Ha ha!  Guess we need to explain that we would provide you with some other form of underwear if you no longer wear diapers.
• You continue to be a super picky eater, it amazes me that you even gain weight at all!

Feeding the ducks with Daddy

Mommy and you

• When you do something sweet, you tell me that you have made me feel "all fuzzy."  Close enough.
• You are excited about having a new baby sibling and one day you rubbed your little hand on my belly and said, "I wanna help the baby grow."  So sweet!!!!

After a bath 

• You always tell me, "I want Mommy, Daddy both home" in the saddest, sweetest little voice ever!  It absolutely melts my heart!  Oh, how I wish we could all just be home together all the time too.  Work really puts a damper on our family time.  Geesh!
• One morning, I woke up to a large bug in the kitchen area.  Being the incredibly big chicken I am, I just put a box over it, weighted it down, and put a note on top informing Daddy about the contents before I left for work.  I figured when you and Daddy woke up for the day, you guys would take care of it.  When I returned home that afternoon, you said, "Thanks for saving it for us in a box."  No problem, Gav.

Enjoying a Christmas treat

We love you so very much, Gav!  I know you are going to be a wonderful big brother!  You continue to make us such proud parents.  Thank you for being an incredibly great kid!

I love you, Gav!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

Once December arrived, it was time for Matt to drag down my ridiculously-large-number of boxes filled with Christmas decorations (part of the tradition that Matt hates most).  And every year, there simply isn't enough room in our home to accommodate my massive Christmas decoration collection; so every year, two or three large Rubbermaid boxes of items get stuck back into the garage to be used when we purchase the big mansion I've been planning for.

Of course, the main-attraction of our Christmas decorations is the tree.  And for the past few years, this part of the decorating has started off the same way - with Matt trying to put together our pathetic and cheap tree stand while yelling, muttering choice words under his breath, and stating that we are DEFINITELY buying a new tree stand for next year.  Yet, somehow, the tree stand reappears every year and causes a little extra stress for Matt during the holidays.  At least now he has an adorable little helper to assist him.

Looks like someone got into the chocolate

Once the tree stand was put together, Matt and Gavin brought the tree inside and added the water.  Gavin was such a great helper!

Then it was time to add the star and the ornaments.

Finally, the boys wanted to torment the dog by putting antlers on him.  What a way to finish the evening!