Christmas Eve 2011

We started the day at Grammy and Papa's house for a delicious breakfast and gifts. Uncle TJ and Aunt Erin were with us too. We were thrilled to get to see them over Christmas as we weren't sure that was going to happen this year due to their work schedules. Rowen has sure missed his playful Uncle TJ and I am pretty sure he is still smitten with his Aunt Erin.

200 some shots later and this is the best family photo we could get... our 4 year old can't seem to make a normal face for photos :)

Once again, Rowen's attempt at smiling for the camera just turns out looking pretty silly! Yet so adorable too.

Rowen loved passing out the gifts to everyone. We were so proud of him. He was very patient and generous- just as excited about giving gifts as he was about receiving them. He was very interested in seeing everyone's reactions to certain gifts especially the gifts he chose for mommy, daddy, and Paxton.

Grammy took Rowen shopping to pick out a gift for mommy, daddy, and Paxton.

Rowen did such a good job. He chose the gifts with very little guidance from Grammy. He found the perfect gift for each of us!

A race car game for daddy! Perfect for daddy and Rowen to play together:). And they already have- many times!

A single cup coffee maker for mommy. No more wasting tons of coffee!

A darling, soft Pooh Bear for little brother Paxton.


Grammy and Papa wrapped one of Rowen's gifts in a big box with a hole cut out of the top. We all wondered why? Well, soon we found out...

Thank goodness it wasn't a puppy (daddy was seriously worried for awhile)! But we have welcomed 5 friendly dinosaurs into our family!

We all think they are pretty fun!

Paxton got some good snuggle time with Uncle TJ.

And a good nap too :)

What a fun Christmas Eve morning. We couldn't have asked for a better start.

After we had a chance to play with our new toys we headed to Sky High Sports. The Gill family and Gigi met us there. This place is seriously so much fun! Perfect for everyone to enjoy; however, I think the big boys had the most fun!



















After all that exercise we were ready for more presents and a delicious meal at the Gills.

What a fun Christmas Eve with our two boys and all of our family. It felt different this year having our 2 kids to celebrate Christmas with. It felt just right. Last Christmas we didn't know that I was pregnant with Paxton. We would find out in 10 days and our lives would be changed forever once again.
What joy and fun they both brought to every little bit of this day and every day.

Leading Up to Christmas 2011

Things I want to remember about Christmas 2011...

• Rowen was the most festive little guy ever! He sang Christmas songs every day while playing, eating, bathing, you name it! He loved the songs- Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer and Jingle Bells the most. Not so fond of Santa Is Coming To Town (hit a little too close to home :)).
• Rowen started writing letters to Santa in early December. The letters consisted mostly of questions about the North Pole, the reindeer, Rudolph in particular, the elves, what Santa likes to eat on Christmas Eve when he is giving out presents, and I am sure there is more I am not remembering right now. Rowen left his letters in front of the fireplace and one of Santa's elves came to pick each one up to deliver to Santa. Santa always wrote back, not always immediately, but Rowen learned to be patient and wait for a letter to arrive. We learned so many interesting things about Santa through the letters.
  
• With Grammy's help Rowen sent Christmas cards to a few family members and to mommy, daddy, and Paxton. The card he sent us is priceless- a drawing of our entire family and he wrote his name so nicely. He is just growing up too fast.
  
• Rowen was really into Rudolph. He pretend he was Rudolph most days in December. We played a game where mommy, daddy, Grammy or Papa would pretend to be Santa, put a blanket around Rowen's middle and hold on the ends as if they were reigns. Then Rudolph would fly from house to house delivering presents to all of Rowen's friends and family.
• Rowen packed pretend presents for his friends and family on a daily basis in the decorative Christmas boxes I put under our Christmas trees. Then Rowen would put on his Santa hat, pretend to be Santa and deliver them to his friends' houses. Mommy usually got to be the one to pretend to be the friend and open the presents. Such a fun game!
• Rowen made Rudolph antlers out of paper when we were playing at Mobius one day before Christmas. He wore those antlers for weeks. We had to tape them over and over again because the paper was getting so worn out. He wore the antlers everywhere we allowed him to. The antlers really helped him stay in character while playing all of his reindeer games.
• Rowen sat on Santa's lap at two different places this year. He told Santa exaclty what he would like to get for Christmas. He completely believes in the magic of Santa. His innocence and passion about it is so sweet.
• Both boys sat on Santa's lap together for a photo (I didn't scan the photo for the blog) and it is a pretty funny photo. One that will bring smiles for years to come.
• Rowen asked Santa for a hippo, a tiger, an elephant, and an alligator. He was very specific about which kind- not stuffed animals but hard toys he could play with. Santa brought him exactly what he asked for and Rowen has played with them every single day since!
  
• Rowen helped bake many, many cookies with Papa and Uncle TJ on the 23rd. A family tradition that Rowen is now a part of.
  
• We drove around looking at Christmas lights a few times. We went to a really fantastic display up on the south hill with my parents one night. The lights were set to music. Rowen loved it of course!
• We went to Papa's work Christmas party. It was in a huge horse barn. Rowen rode a horse for the first time. He also fed a few horses and he rode the kid friendly bucking bronco many, many times. It was a great experience.
  
• Rowen made us a precious gift at preschool that we will treasure forever.
• Rowen loved giving just as much as he loved receiving gifts. He REALLY loved receiving gifts!
• We did our annual cookie decorating with our cousins.
• We did our annual Christmas Brunch and book exchange with our good friends The Donnellys and The Sackmanns.
• Rowen wore Christmas jammies almost every night in December. Some of the Christmas pajamas he has are WAY too small but he insisted on wearing them. I put away 3 sets for Paxton to wear in a few years.
  
• Our house looked beautiful inside (thanks to mommy and Grammy) and out (thanks to daddy for putting up all the lights).
• No snow to speak of really. We did watch the snow fall on Christmas Eve morning while we opened gifts at Grammy and Papas. It was beautiful. It did snow a little bit on Christmas but was gone by the afternoon.
• Rowen decorated 4 Christmas Trees. 2 at our house, 1 at Grammy and Papas and 1 at Nana and Grandpas. He is a pro!
• Paxton was only 4 months old. He loved observing his brother do all of these fun things!
• We went to The Davenport Hotel to see the professional gingerbread houses and Rowen decorated his own little gingerbread house that we brought home and had on display in our kitchen.
• We baked gingerbread boys and girls. When we came back to the oven to check on the cookies one of the gingerbread boys had escaped!!! We searched the house for him. Rowen found him lounging under one of our Christmas trees. That poor gingerbread boy was eaten up so fast by one hungry little boy :). Rowen loved this of course! I think this will have to become a tradition that my mom and I do with the boys every year.
• Rowen LOVED opening all of the Christmas cards we received in the mail every day. He would open each one with such anticipation and was thrilled with each and every photo and card.

Once again our Ro made Christmas so much fun! Next year will be even more amazing I am sure, watching Paxton discover the magic of Christmas along side his big brother.

Love

These two really love each other.
It is so fun watching their relationship emerge.
Pax certainly knows that his big brother is super funny and
Rowen thinks his little brother is super special.

I can't believe it... he is 4!

Rowen is 4 today! Happy Birthday sweet boy. We love you more than words can express!

Rowen and his baby doll

This boy is all boy- cars, trucks, dirt, dinosaurs, jumping on EVERYTHING, running EVERYWHERE, growling at EVERYONE, very physical and stubborn.

BUT this boy is also all boy in other ways- tender hearted, affectionate, caring, and sweet as pie. He shows us this side of him every day.

I love this photo of Rowen holding his baby so tenderly. He was patting it's back and saying soft sweet words to it. This kid never ceases to amaze me :).

Boxes

Boxes, boxes, boxes- all over our house!
Rowen loves to play with boxes- packing them, delivering them, unpacking them, stacking them, writing on them- over and over again.
We get a kick out his box obsession; however, I have recently had to limit the number of boxes allowed in the house to 3. I couldn't take the 6-8 boxes all over the house packed with toys and books. Not only was it a clutter problem for me, it also caused a few tears for Ro when he couldn't find a certain toy he wanted to play with. Going through 8 boxes to find a toy is no fun! Three is working out well for now. One box always goes to bed with Rowen at night. It sits at the end of his bed, packed with Rowen's favorite toys, ready to be unpacked in the morning.

Rowen packs his boxes carefully.

He is so proud :)

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