Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Monday, December 27, 2010
Merry Christmas-Parts 2 & 3
I could have named this post, "Seriously, who needs this much stuff?"...because the kids now have more than they know what to do with! But the kids had a wonderful Christmas, and that's all that really matters!
We spent Christmas Eve at my mom's, sledding and stuffing ourselves with appetizers. It was a wonder that we didn't lose one of the kids under the massive piles of presents she had stacked around her Christmas tree! We started the day with the stockings, which gave us a 4 minute break from Trevor asking if it was time to open presents yet. Instead of giving in to his pleas, we got everyone bundled up and headed outside for some sledding. Abby slid down the hill about a dozen times on her butt and Uncle Justin became the bad guy and was pelted with snowballs. No worries, though, he can hold his own.
Then we headed inside and finally! the kids got to open their gifts. Let me explain something about opening gifts at my mom's. There is absolutely no rhyme or reason to it! We pass out all of the presents to each person....the kids each had a pile taller than themselves. Then, all hell breaks loose....everyone just tears into it! It is complete chaos and the kids love love love it! I loved it as a kid too...who wouldn't? It is so much fun! No waiting. No having to watch your brother open his presents. Just tear into your own larger than you are pile. What fun!
It was so much fun that on Christmas morning, Jackson was a little disappointed with the small pile of presents from Matt and me on Christmas morning! Luckily, Santa came through for him!
The kids woke up at about 7am and we crept downstairs as Matt videotaped the kids' reactions. Abby loved her kitchen and Barbie stuff and Jackson exclaimed "I didn't even know they could make this!" about his Polar Express train. We made homemade donuts and ripped open the presents in our stockings and under the tree. The kids didn't know what to play with first...or next. We played Barbie, watched the Polar Express go round and round, cooked in Abby's new kitchen and dueled with Jackson's new swords. Abby named her new groovy girls dolls Sofia and Lila after her friends and Jackson learned about a whole new family of superheroes and bad guys. It was a perfect Christmas!
We will likely be singing Santa songs to Abby for months to come and Jackson will probably want to play with his Polar Express every day until next Christmas. Christmas just never seems to end at our house! Tonight at bedtime Jackson said,"Now, there are a lot of days until Christmas, right?" Right...363 to be exact...and we are counting down!
We spent Christmas Eve at my mom's, sledding and stuffing ourselves with appetizers. It was a wonder that we didn't lose one of the kids under the massive piles of presents she had stacked around her Christmas tree! We started the day with the stockings, which gave us a 4 minute break from Trevor asking if it was time to open presents yet. Instead of giving in to his pleas, we got everyone bundled up and headed outside for some sledding. Abby slid down the hill about a dozen times on her butt and Uncle Justin became the bad guy and was pelted with snowballs. No worries, though, he can hold his own.
Then we headed inside and finally! the kids got to open their gifts. Let me explain something about opening gifts at my mom's. There is absolutely no rhyme or reason to it! We pass out all of the presents to each person....the kids each had a pile taller than themselves. Then, all hell breaks loose....everyone just tears into it! It is complete chaos and the kids love love love it! I loved it as a kid too...who wouldn't? It is so much fun! No waiting. No having to watch your brother open his presents. Just tear into your own larger than you are pile. What fun!
It was so much fun that on Christmas morning, Jackson was a little disappointed with the small pile of presents from Matt and me on Christmas morning! Luckily, Santa came through for him!
The kids woke up at about 7am and we crept downstairs as Matt videotaped the kids' reactions. Abby loved her kitchen and Barbie stuff and Jackson exclaimed "I didn't even know they could make this!" about his Polar Express train. We made homemade donuts and ripped open the presents in our stockings and under the tree. The kids didn't know what to play with first...or next. We played Barbie, watched the Polar Express go round and round, cooked in Abby's new kitchen and dueled with Jackson's new swords. Abby named her new groovy girls dolls Sofia and Lila after her friends and Jackson learned about a whole new family of superheroes and bad guys. It was a perfect Christmas!
We will likely be singing Santa songs to Abby for months to come and Jackson will probably want to play with his Polar Express every day until next Christmas. Christmas just never seems to end at our house! Tonight at bedtime Jackson said,"Now, there are a lot of days until Christmas, right?" Right...363 to be exact...and we are counting down!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Nap Time Shenanigans
Nap time is supposed to be restful, right? Would someone please tell that to Jackson & Abby?
Abby has taken to sleeping with everything that she owns (I'm only exaggering a little bit!). Her little twin bed often holds about a dozen books, a good 8 stuffed animals or dolls, her play cake and cupcakes, her vase of fake flowers, her diaper basket and wipes, her piggy bank and about 12 blankets. Somewhere in the middle of all of this is my baby girl. My friends Jen & Jeff just bought her some dress up clothes for Christmas...these items have joined Abby's bedtime party. Two days ago, Matt went upstairs while Abby was supposed to be sleeping and found her in her high heels and jewelry holding her purse and parading around in circles in her bed. Perhaps she was putting on a show for all those stuffed animals and dolls in her bed! Then, yesterday she had been upstairs for a nap for about 45 minutes when I heard her screaming. I ran upstairs to find her half naked. She had peed and had decided to change her own diaper. (Don't laugh...last week she successfully did it!) But yesterday, she got stuck and wasn't very happy about it. By the time we got her dressed, it was too late for her to take a nap, so she went nap-less. (NOT a good idea!)
Jackson on the other hand, has basically given up on naps completely. Everyday as naptime (or quiet time as we often call it) approaches, he ponders, "Mom, can I have quiet time on the couch today?" Jackson's "quiet time" on the couch generally consists of him sitting quietly for all of 8 minutes until he is bored of watching Mickey Mouse. So much for getting anything done during nap time. Every once in a while I can convince him that he needs to have quiet time in his bedroom. Earlier this week, Matt and I were successful in convincing him that he should play in his room for a while for quiet time. It helped that he already has all his Christmas presents from Nana & Papa! Just a little while later, we found him asleep in his closet, where he had made himself a little bed atop a tote complete with his giant stuffed tiger (Named Frosty by the kids), two bunnies and several blankets. Here he is, snug as a bug...
Abby has taken to sleeping with everything that she owns (I'm only exaggering a little bit!). Her little twin bed often holds about a dozen books, a good 8 stuffed animals or dolls, her play cake and cupcakes, her vase of fake flowers, her diaper basket and wipes, her piggy bank and about 12 blankets. Somewhere in the middle of all of this is my baby girl. My friends Jen & Jeff just bought her some dress up clothes for Christmas...these items have joined Abby's bedtime party. Two days ago, Matt went upstairs while Abby was supposed to be sleeping and found her in her high heels and jewelry holding her purse and parading around in circles in her bed. Perhaps she was putting on a show for all those stuffed animals and dolls in her bed! Then, yesterday she had been upstairs for a nap for about 45 minutes when I heard her screaming. I ran upstairs to find her half naked. She had peed and had decided to change her own diaper. (Don't laugh...last week she successfully did it!) But yesterday, she got stuck and wasn't very happy about it. By the time we got her dressed, it was too late for her to take a nap, so she went nap-less. (NOT a good idea!)
Jackson on the other hand, has basically given up on naps completely. Everyday as naptime (or quiet time as we often call it) approaches, he ponders, "Mom, can I have quiet time on the couch today?" Jackson's "quiet time" on the couch generally consists of him sitting quietly for all of 8 minutes until he is bored of watching Mickey Mouse. So much for getting anything done during nap time. Every once in a while I can convince him that he needs to have quiet time in his bedroom. Earlier this week, Matt and I were successful in convincing him that he should play in his room for a while for quiet time. It helped that he already has all his Christmas presents from Nana & Papa! Just a little while later, we found him asleep in his closet, where he had made himself a little bed atop a tote complete with his giant stuffed tiger (Named Frosty by the kids), two bunnies and several blankets. Here he is, snug as a bug...
Monday, December 20, 2010
Merry Christmas- Part 1
We have been celebrating Christmas all month long already with visits to Santa and too many Christmas cookies, but we had an official early Christmas on Saturday with the Olsons. Of course, there were more Christmas cookies than we could eat and a lot of Christmas cheer! The kids played & played with their new toys...A Lite Brite! A Bitty Baby! A Remote Control Batmobile! A New Doll Pram!...then took a break for some more Christmas cookies. (If you ever tasted Nana's cookies, you know they are worth breaking for!) The kids were thrilled with their new loot and had a ton of fun playing with their cousins. We are getting geared up for Christmas-Part 2 and already working on where we are going to put all of this new loot!
I was having so much fun that I forgot to take too many pictures, but here are a couple of cuties....
I was having so much fun that I forgot to take too many pictures, but here are a couple of cuties....
Monday, December 13, 2010
Questions of the Day
Here are a couple of interesting questions that Jackson & Abby asked me today:
-Does Spiderman have a vagina?
-Is everyone in the world going to die?
It's a good thing that my semester is over, so I have time to address these pressing questions!
-Does Spiderman have a vagina?
-Is everyone in the world going to die?
It's a good thing that my semester is over, so I have time to address these pressing questions!
Sunday, December 5, 2010
O Christmas Tree
Yesterday we trekked out to a Christmas Tree Farm in Woodstock, IL to find a few Christmas tress...one for my mom, one for my brother & Sara and one for us (Because the 3 we already have set up at the house just didn't seem enough!) The day was perfect. We took a horse drawn wagon ride out to the field of trees and hiked around until we each had a perfect tree. We threw snowballs, sled down hills and played hide-n-seek amongt the trees. When we were tired and cold, and absolutely sure we had the right ones, we (Jeff, Justin & Matt) cut down the trees and headed back to the barn for some hot chocolate and snacks. Our newest tree looks perfect already, even though we haven't put a single light or decoration on it!
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