Christmas was wonderful this year. We stayed around here and my mom and papa steve spent Christmas Eve with us so they could see the boys open their presents Christmas morning. Then we had Christmas dinner with Jeremy's dad and fiancee's family. The boys LOVED all the new toys. We didn't go overboard at all - just a tool set, some blocks, and a couple other little things. We don't have a big extended family that buys them stuff so other than a couple other things from the grandparents it's really not too crazy around here - but even that little bit seemed to expand Christmas morning. It was really almost too much for them - they would open one thing and love it and play with it and then not really want to go to the next thing. Honestly, next year we may just do one great toy each - not to be a bah hum bug but they have more than they need already :) This year we tried to teach James more about what Christmas is really about and even had a little birthday party for Jesus Christmas morning before we opened presents. I'm not sure how much he really took in this year. He did tell Jeremy that the presents under the tree were for Jesus' birthday and not by anything we have done he thinks that Santa is Jesus (to be fair, he thinks all bearded men are Jesus). But we cracked up whenever a Santa would be on tv James would yell "Jeju!" Next year we may have to correct this :)
Jeremy and I started a tradition the year we got married of going to our church's Christmas Eve service and then to a Japanese restaurant where they cook in front of you. Last year the boys were a little sick so they didn't get to go with us. This year John-Mark was with is mom-mom and Gracie was with her Papa so we took just James. He HATED the big fire - which to be fair -scares me too and he really had no warning of what was about to happen. He liked watching the cooking but he didn't like it when the chef tossed a shrimp for him to catch in his mouth that hit him on his forehead - you would have thought he hit him with a brick! Poor thing - it was a little past bed time so it's really shame on us :) I look forward to taking all the babies in years to come! I know that John-Mark will LOVE it - their personalities are just so different.
Here are a couple pics from Christmas morning - it's so hard to take pictures, videos and enjoy your family all at the same time!
Trying to get a good pic of the boys in thier matching Christmas pj's on Christmas Eve - this is the best I could get :(
James feeding his brother a snack :)
peek-a-boo daddy!Gracie is getting so big! She is finally in her 0-3 month clothes and they almost fit her perfectly - some are still a little big. She is doing great at sleeping at night. She's now going from about 10:30 until 4:30/5 am which is WONDERFUL! Her daytime naps are still hit and miss and she would really prefer if we just held her all day long - and she lets us know it :) She loves to be held up on your shoulder so she can look all around. She's also a bit of a wiggle worm - always moving those legs and arms and looking around. In some ways she seems more laid back than the boys at this age and in other ways not so much. When she does nap I'm pretty sure she could sleep through a tornado! The boys can run around her yelling their heads off and she doesn't even budge - good for her because they seem to be getting louder by the day :) Everyone asks me if it is different having a little girl now after having boys and really not so much so far. Ofcourse the diaper changes are a bit more challenging compared to boys (or atleast it seems that way to us since we're used to how to handle the boys:)) The major thing that is different is just how dainty she is - she has the sweetest, most dainty little hands with the longest little piano fingers - I love them and she loves to wrap them around your finger - so precious!!
Here are some pics of my sweet girl:
Almost a grinner for the camera :)James and John-Mark are keeping me on my toes pretty much 24/7 - the two of them together are a hoot and sometimes nothing but pure trouble :) John-Mark is basically James' shadow and does EVERYTHING he does - even if James gets in trouble for hitting John-Mark or taking his toy and has to go to his room - John-Mark follows right after him.
James is getting so big and continues to be my little helper - I love that I can ask him to do almost anything and he can do it - such a help sometimes! He is doing good on counting his numbers - in fact, John-Mark listens to us count so much yesterday I watched him stacking some blocks and "counting" as he was stacking like we always do. I'm hoping this "copying" is going to really come in handy when we get ready to potty train - maybe I can get TWO out of diapers at one time - how great would that be!
John-Mark is talking more and more all the time - his new favorite words are bubba (brother), choo doo (choo choo), NO :), hot dog, hot, and milk. He keeps me laughing and crying :) He is also starting to feed himself with utensils - which is not fun for me but I know he has to learn and he's ready - once again he just wants to be like his big brother in every way.
My most favorite thing that James is doing right now is that he always gives hugs and kisses together - he won't do one without the other and when I lay him down for naps or bed time I'll kiss him and hug him and we say "sqeeze" and then I'll stand up and he'll grin at me and put his little finger up and say "one more time" - melt my heart!! We'll do it about 10 more times before I leave - I just love to hear him say "one more time mommy" with that sweet grin!! This is something that Jeremy has done with him forever.
James LOVES tools right now, hence his Christmas present. He wants to be like daddy and manny :) He loves to carry around his "hanner" and even sleeps with it! He tells me about 100 times a day "I fix it mommy".
Do I have any food on my face?
