Merry Christmas

(December 2010)

I LOVE Christmas!! I start my shopping well before Christmas and I have spent the past 3 years getting to the mall at 4 am in the morning the day after Thanksgiving, not for the deals but because to me it is my official start to the holiday season!! Now that we have the boys, Christmas has reached a whole new level, not only with regard to the amount of presents we buy, but in the amount of fun we have in the weeks leading up to Christmas. 

We pretty much have done the same thing every Christmas that Jay and I have been together and this year was no different.   Christmas Eve we slept over Omi and Poppy's house and then headed over to Grandma and Papa's first thing in the morning.  Amazingly, the boys slept late this year and didn't get up until almost 8!!  I was up well before them, just waiting (impatiently) for them to wake up.  

When we got to Grandma and Papa's, we realized right away that Santa came because the cookies and carrots we left were gone and only crumbs were left.   The boys ran up the steps and couldn't wait to start digging in to their piles.  I wish I had taken a picture of the piles because they definitely were the biggest ever!

Ryan wanted to open all of his presents in one shot for the most part.  As much as he loved his presents (all of which all were perfectly suited for him and exactly what he asked for), Ryan opened all of his presents with one eye always looking in the other direction.  I am guessing he either wanted to make sure Dylan was not touching his stuff or was making sure that Dylan wasn't opening something better.

Dylan, on the other hand didn't really care about opening presents, much to Ryan's dismay - Ryan kept saying "Dylan, you want me to open your presents for you right?  right?".  Dylan was pretty excited about his Thomas bath toys though and decided to try to rip it open with his teeth instead of waiting for someone to get a scissor.

Once he had his bath toys opened and got his new scooter, he was done and the rest of his presents sat there, still wrapped, for most of the day. 

After we opened all of our presents, the 4 of us headed back to Omi and Poppy's for breakfast and more presents. 

As soon as Ryan finished opening his presents, he found a corner of the room and hid all of his stuff over there and then sat there and played with his new stuff for the next few hours.   Dylan did the same - picked up any Thomas toy he got and went to play with the train table in the other room.   We spent a few hours just relaxing, napping and enjoying bloody marys and mimosas before it was time to head back to Grandmas.   We got the kids all cleaned up since by this point, they had gotten in to their stockings and were covered in chocolate and candy cane stickiness and took some family pictures since we knew it would not be long before they were a mess again.

I am not sure what was so funny in the next picture, but this makes me smile - It is exactly how you should feel on Christmas: full of laughter and fun!!

By the time we got back to grandma and papa's, Aunt Carrie, Marc and her gang were there as was Jasmine's family and the cooking was well under way  - Grandma was finishing up in the kitchen and the guys were out back frying a turkey. 

As usual, Grandma outdid herself and dinner was delicious!!  After dinner, we were lucky enough to have some special entertainment courtesy of Ryan and his new banjo

He definitely has the rock star stance down but we need to work on his playing skills.  For the time being, we have decided to hide the banjo so we all don't get broken eardrums.  Perhaps to escape the noise or perhaps just out to have their own fun, Dylan and Papa went outside and this is where I found them. 

I think Dylan would have been just as happy if he got that flashlight for Christmas since he did not let go of it for the rest of the night.

I took a lot less pictures this year than last year and I think part of the reason why was because I was really just enjoying the day.  Someone asked me what was my favorite Christmas ever and I can honestly say, every year I think it was the best year yet - this year was no different!