Christmas Time Is Here

I love Christmas more and more with each passing year, and the kids do nothing but feed the monster. I love to decorate (even if I don't actually get it done); I love the music; and I love buying gifts for everyone!

So when it was time to begin decorating, I had plenty of helpers. The boys helped us get the tree out.

Then they decorated the tree.

Then we HAD to get a Christmas Train! It has been the year of the train in our house.

This year Jacob gets it! We've got the Santa stories going non-stop, our Elf on the Shelf moves every night, we pretend to be on the Polar Express, and we've got the list for Santa memorized. Andrew loves to sing Rudolph, too! Except for the part where he is afraid of Santa. We had a family Santa photo this year. It's a step up from last year where you can actually see tears hanging off of Jacob's face....even with me in the picture.

And it looks like Andrew is going to be afraid of Santa. The kids' school had a night where the kids could decorate cookies with Santa. So Santa made his way around the room, and he eventually made it over to the table where the kids were sitting. Andrew would not even look at Santa, and Jacob sat in Brian's lap because he was afraid.

Decorating Cookies

Scared of Santa sitting right next to him

Andrew's Animals

Andrew actually talks and makes more noise than Jacob ever did at his age. He always has coo'd more and babbled more. I am just not as good at taking the video of him as I was with Jacob.

But the other night, Andrew was in the mood to show off while we were sitting at the dinner table! Right now he is totally into Gorillas. He will walk around like a gorilla, and he likes to bang his chest, too! We have an animal book with lots of animal pictures. He loves to find the gorilla....over and over and over again. It was actually the first thing he asked for this morning (even before his milk!).

In this video, listen carefully as he actually says, "Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!" like Santa Clause. I think only Brian and I can understand the Merry Christmas part, but watch for it. It's the part where he throws his hands above his head.

He used to know that the horse says Neigh, but in the last couple of months, he's changed it to the clicking noise like when they walk. He will actually run around the house and make that noise. Jacob likes that game, too!

You’re So Awesome

I just had one of the most rewarding moments since I became a parent.  Jacob and I were discussing Christmas.  We went thru the entire scenario: Santa opens the fireplace doors, sets out toys for Jacob and Andrew, gets back into the fireplace, goes up the chimney, gets back on his sleigh, and rides off with his reindeer about 10 feet to the next house.  When Santa is finished delivering toys to all of the good little boys and girls, he goes back to the North Pole.  Jacob wanted to clarify that it is the real North Pole that Santa goes back to.  As soon as we were done reviewing Santa’s gig the night before Christmas, Jacob turned toward me, gave me a big hug, and said, “You’re so awesome!”  My heart literally melted!

Then, as if the awesomeness wasn’t enough, he reviewed his daily morning routine: he goes downstairs when he sees our bedroom light on, comes into our room and gets on the bed, we talk for a few minutes, then he tells me he is hungry, and I get his breakfast…”every time” (according to him….with a big smile on his face he says it).  Heart melts more!  It’s like he really appreciates that I do that for him.  What a great night!