Christmas 2014

Ahhh Christmas, how I love you and hate you at the same time! This year though the boys had a great Christmas, and I enjoyed every second of watching them gaze in the glory of presents under the tree! They both got so many new things! I forgot how completely overwhelming baby toys can be. John Henry has his own little corner of the living room designated for all of his toys.

Every year I try to keep up with our traditions and make up some new ones along the way. This year Jake, our Elf on the Shelf came back for Jaiden and now John Henry. John Henry just thought he was another chew toy.. We made sugar cookies and decorated gingerbread houses, which for Jaiden and I was super exciting. We worked super hard on our houses and Jaiden was especially proud of his.

I work every Christmas Eve until about 7 or 8pm, so we really don't make plans on Christmas Eve. Jaiden spends it with his Dad because they celebrate and open gifts and have dinner on Christmas Eve. So before John Henry, John and I maybe went out to dinner, or made a special dinner at home and then finished up wrapping gifts, and hit the hay early. Christmas day for us is always a hustle & bustle kind of day, so we can use all the sleep we can get! This year was a little less chaotic. Normally I go and pick Jaiden up from his Grandma around 8am. Then we head back to our house to open gifts, get ready and then we head over to my moms for breakfast, where normally my grandma, uncles, aunt and cousins are there. We eat, open gifts, hang out and then on to the next. Which is my dads, for early dinner. My aunt Dana comes home for Christmas from California every year. And I always get to see Nana and Bud, which we don't see them but a few times throughout the year. Then it's normally ended with a late dinner with John's family. They always wake up in the afternoon, so by the time they are ready to go we are wrapping things up with my dad.

This year..

On Christmas Eve, Jake the Elf, left Jaiden some reindeer food to sprinkle on the lawn before he went to bed. The glitter helps Rudolph find our house. Of course I worked on Christmas Eve, so Jaiden couldn't sprinkle the food before it was dark outside.  

Jaiden then left out some milk and cookies for Santa. He was very adamant that he pour the milk himself. He only almost spilled once.

Cookies and Milk are served!!

One of the new things I started (and one of my personal favorites.) I bought brand new stockings for us this year. I was going to have our names stitched on them, but then I thought of a cool way for us to be able to leave them plain. When I was growing up, at my dads, none of the stockings had names, and we all got a different stocking every year. So sticking with that same idea, I thought it would be neat to every year get a new ornament that describes each person in our family, something that would relate to a current interest or hobby. For John, this year the answer is always beer, so naturally a Bud Light ornament was totally happening. My new obsession of choice is Starbucks Iced Coffee, again another necessity. I got Jaiden and John Henry more personalized ornaments. Jaiden's was a guy who was a black belt, and John Henry's was a "Baby's 1st Christmas" picture frame. My whole thing with this is when we get a bigger house, I want each of them to have a mini tree and have ornaments to decorate, and then later, later they'll have a set of ornaments that are special to them when they grow up and have their first Christmas tree!

There is nothing I love more than seeing tons of presents under a beautiful Christmas tree!

The boys on Christmas morning.

John Henry is loving his Anywhere chair!

And Jaiden got pretty stoked that he got Eric Church's CD.

After we were done opening gifts, my parents came over to see Jaiden before he jetted off to Orlando. Lucky boy left Christmas Day and is going to be gone for 4 days! My parents, sister, niece and John,s dad and brother came over for Christmas breakfast. John and I cooked pancakes, eggs, bacon and toast this year, and boy was it good! After breakfast my stepdad helped John set up his new sound bar that I bought him. And I was busy exploring on my new computer that John got for me. I would say that we both really got into the Christmas spirit for each other. Normally we only spoil the kids, but we went above and beyond for each other this year too! After my parents left, John's sister came over and we watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.. Honestly admitting that I've only ever seen bits and pieces so I had to buy it and make a point to watch it this year. We got to rest in the afternoon before we went to my dad's which never happens. In all reality when we have an opportunity to rest, we don't. I don't think that John and I fully grasp the meaning of the word.

Next up, my dads! My brother was home(he normally lives in Morgantown, WV),  my aunt comes in from Cali and we get to see our grandparents who we only really see a few times a year. Plus we always have the "traditional" Christmas dinner with turkey, potatoes, the whole 9. And I love it. I always eat way too much! After dinner I had a great idea to go through all of our old pictures from way back. That was probably the best idea ever! We all had so much fun looking through old pictures and laughing at the horrible outfits, hairdos, and oddly grown facial hair. It was great.

Meanwhile, Jaiden was having the time of his life in Florida. They went and saw the Fireworks behind Cinderella's castle. He looks like he is having so much fun! I will have more pictures from the rest of his trip once they get back, but here are just a few!

Now it's just about getting ready for the new year. Poor John Henry has been sick all weekend, so we will see how the week turns out!