Christmas Whirlwind!

Our family had such a wonderful Christmas! We made cookies for Santa and Thomas wrote his letter to Santa. I was so proud that he sounded out the words and wrote a few sentences. I took the boys to Christmas Eve Mass. There was a children's choir which I think Thomas really enjoyed. This was the first time that I ventured to church with both kids and they did great. I think Thomas really enjoyed the company of an older lady that sat next to us. I'm sure she didn't get a lot of praying done since Thomas wanted to play twenty questions! Afterwards, we came home and got ready for Santa. We put out reindeer food and set out the cookies. After reading some classic Christmas stories, Thomas was eager to get to sleep so that Santa could come. He slept until about 8am and was so excited and surprised that Santa brought him the Fisher Price dinosaur that he had been wanting. It was so much fun watching Thomas' reaction and seeing Nathan scooting to play with his toys. That morning Ken opened the blinds and to our surprise Santa brought us a playhouse with a working doorbell and fountain. He even brought a mailbox and had time to place a letter inside for Thomas. Thomas was in and out of the house the entire morning playing with some toys inside and out. For lunch, we went to Ken's aunt and uncle's house and we got to visit with all of his family there. Thomas was able to play with his cousins, too. After that we headed down the street to visit Ken's mom and sister. The boys were spoiled yet again and by 7 o'clock, Thomas had reached his limit and the baby was ready for bed. It was a very busy day, but we truly enjoyed all the commotion. We will continue our holiday celebrating on Monday when we celebrate with my side of the family for our traditional homemade spaghetti and meatball dinner and I'm sure...more presents! We hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas! Enjoy the pictures!

Christmas with the Coffaro's

Last night we celebrated an early Christmas with Tom and Emily. We ate a yummy dinner and even better dessert! The kids got to open their presents. Thomas was shocked when he opened the Toy Story Mania game for Wii. It was on his list for Santa! He also got a Toy Story PEZ dispenser and a sleeping bag. (Which he slept in on the floor in his room!) Nathan got to rip open the paper from his package. He tore off every little piece and tried to eat it! He got a monkey rattle toy, some socks and a few shirts. One of the shirts said, "I'm kind of a BIG deal!" Love it!

Here are some highlights from our celebration.

"Mommy and Son" Day

This weekend we were invited to a "Mommy and Son" cookie decorating party by Thomas' best buddy, Luke and their family. We wanted to bring Nathan but he was feeling a little warm, a result from his Friday visit to the doctor where he received 5 shots! So, Thomas and I were so excited to go! We brought lots of little candies to make a gingerbread house and man. I have to say that Thomas had so much fun just playing with Luke and the other boy that were there. The kids didn't care too much for decorating, so that left the moms to be the decorators. We had tons of fun! It was nice to be able to talk to other "working-outside-of-the-home" moms and discuss the craziness of a morning routine, daycare schedules, and how to balance it all. I hope that we get to have more playdates like this one!

Happy Birthday, Papa!

On Friday, we visited Papa for his special birthday. We met at the Tijuana Flats in Altamonte for some dinner. Then, we headed back to their house for some special cake and gifts. We got Papa a University of Alabama cake and a digital frame. I think he loved both. Everyone had such a fun time. Here are some highlights...

Nathan's Half Birthday

On December 16th, Nathan turned six months old. It's amazing how fast the past six months have passed. Nathan is now sitting up unassisted, eatting one jar of baby food in the late afternoon, and rolling all over the place. He is currently learning to scoot and loves puppy dogs. He thinks Thomas is the funniest thing and laughs all the time. He has such a sweet personality. He's been sleeping through the night since he was 14 weeks old which we are so thankful for. We couldn't have asked for a sweeter addition to our family. Happy Half Birthday!

Holiday Wishes

My goal for this season is to try new things that we have not yet done as a family. Things get really busy around here with school, work, baby feedings, and the typical holiday bustle. I want to be sure that we take time as a family and actually ENJOY it! We have already started some new family traditions that we are really excited about. The first one is our "Elf on the Shelf". Thomas named him Buzz and he flies to the North Pole to report to Santa about Thomas' day and if he should be on the nice or naughty list. Each morning, Thomas awakes and finds that Buzz, the elf, has moved to a different place in the house. The best part is children can not touch or play with the elf or else the Christmas magic will be lost. I have a feeling we'll get many more years of magic from our new elf!

We also began decorating for Christmas. This year we decided to place the tree in the playroom in front of the windows facing the backyard. We thought this would be fun, just in case Santa brings us something for the backyard (wink, wink). Thomas got to place the star on top like he does every year. Ken hung lights on the house and we decorated the tree. Thomas is ready to wrap presents, although I don't know why since he told Ken everything we got him!

Another fun thing we did this week was go to the lighting of the Winter Springs Christmas Tree. We bundled the boys up and got there in time to visit the local booths and even go on a train ride before the tree was lit. It was fun to see it "snow" (mini-bubbles) on the sidewalk. Afterwards, we ate at a little pizzeria. On the way home we went through the neighborhood where Thomas' school is and saw lots of pretty lights. Four deer even jumped across our path! It was so neat. It really made it feel like Christmas.

"Big Boy Brother Bath"

On Sunday, the boys got to have their first bath together. I admit it was in efforts to save time and get everyone to bed on time. It was a hit! Thomas had fun playing and squirting water on Nathan's belly. They both laughed so much.