Christmas Eve and Christmas

I must say that I loved every minute of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  Carter was so excited and anxious for the big day.  He is a true believer in Santa and reminded us of that often.

We started off Christmas Eve morning by making some Sugar Cookies for Santa.  

My best helper even knows how to level off flour by himself.  My countertops and floors paid a price but it was worth it!:)

Next we headed up to Grandma and Grandpa's house to make our own pizzas and go sledding.  It had been snowing all morning and the snow was perfect.  

Carter and Aunt Linsey all set for sledding.

Linsey, Kayla, Carter and Tyler

Neil and I even dragged our sorry selves outside the partake of the snow.  It turned out to be a lot of fun and no one seemed to notice the cold.  I thought Carter would be hesitant but he jumped right on and never looked back.

He preferred going by himself or with his Daddy.

Kayla and I raced the boys down the hill but I don't think we won.

                                      

 After sledding we headed back to our house and had a wonderful Christmas dinner of London Broil, potatoes, asparagus and salad.  A favorite in our house.

 Grandma and Grandpa E and Aunt Linsey came to celebrate with us.

 Carter was very excited and wild all night.  He thought we were going to open all the presents that night so he was sorely disappointed when he learned otherwise.  We did let the boys open one present and they chose one from Aunt Linsey.

Luckily Grandpa always has his pocket knife handy to cut through strong tape.

 Hot Wheels!  A motorcycle and a race car.  Both boys were very excited about the cars but not excited about sharing them.

 Letting the other have a turn was excruciating for them!

 Picture of our guests!

Then we all changed into our pajamas and got our picture in front of the tree.  Jackson was ready for bed at this point so we put him down and then let the real celebrating begin!  Grandma and Grandpa left but Aunt Linsey stayed the night!

We went downstairs to read the Nativity story from the Bible...or the Ipad.  Whichever is handier.  Then we watched "How the Grinch stole Christmas."  Then Carter wanted to take turns being the Grinch and stealing all the presents.  After the movie we came up to decorate cookies for Santa and to write a letter to him.

Carter dictated what I should write and he would have gone on for pages if I didn't direct him.  He listed about 18 things he wanted Santa to bring for him.  He really wanted Legos this year but I really dislike Legos for some reason so Santa can bring those when he is a bit older.  I tried to get him to tell Santa something that Jackson would write and prompted him by saying "What do you want to tell Santa about Jackson?"  He thought for a minute and responded "Tell him My brother won't share."  Very true but not what I was getting at!  Carter went to bed very easily, which I was surprised about and slept until about 6:30 the next morning.  

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care

 Carter was so excited to see what Santa brought.  We made him wait until Grandma and Grandpa could drive over here though and those 20 minutes were pure torture for him.  Luckily Santa did not wrap his treasure chest and he could look and play with that.  In the treasure chest Santa left him real gold pirate treasure.  Which he calls Golden Blooms. (Gold Debloons(sp).  And bless Santa's uncrafty heart, he decorated this treasure chest by hand so it looks exactly like Jake's treasure chest!

                                     
15 gold dollars.  Although I don't think he really gets that they are real money and he could really buy something with them.

Jax found that his stocking had a single Dum-dum sucker in it and he was happy.  We had to wake him up so we could start the festivities and he was a little out of it for awhile.  

                                     
 While waiting for Grandma and Grandpa to arrive we let Carter open one gift from Santa.  Captain Crunch!  Santa (and the Easter Bunny) always bring our favorite sugar cereals since the mom in this family doesn't allow sugary cereal for breakfast.  Mean right?!

 Santa knew just what Jax would like and he got right down to business by eating handfuls of Kix.  There is nothing this baby likes more than Kix.

Aunt Linsey and Jax enjoying some Kix.

Once G & G arrived Carter got down to business with opening his big gift from Santa.  Much to his delight it was the Bucky  Pirate ship that he'd been dreaming about!  He was thrilled.

 Jackson was also thrilled with the Bucky ship and wanted in on the fun.  This ship has brought lots of happiness to our home but also lots of fighting!  Santa is wishing he would have brought 2 Bucky ships.  We even have another pirate ship but both of them want Bucky or nothing.

Santa brought Jackon this bead thing.  I don't even know the name of it but Jackson loves these things and he was quite pleased with it.

Neil opening his big gift from me.  And saying "You broke the rules."  With moving into the new house last month we agreed to only buy stuff we needed for the house.  But I broke that rule and bought him a Kindle.  He's been wanting one for a long time and I finally felt like he had been good enough to receive one!

One of my gifts to Jackson was a book I made with all the pictures of his first 6 months in the hospital.  He loves it and loves to look at the pictures of the baby.

Reading the book over and over with G & G.

I tried to pull out the other, older pirate ship to please the 2 boys but they wouldn't hear of it.  Luckily they managed to share a bit.

Jax wasn't interested in opening presents at all.  He liked what was inside of them but didn't care about the unwrapping part.  He did however, love this empty box.

                                              
Jax got this tractor and trailer from my parents and he loves it.  It makes animal noises and sings songs with each button.
                                              
He would push a button and then clap for himself.

Carter with all his loot.  I am very glad that Santa brought Carter the game SORRY so we can stop playing Chutes and Ladders.  WORST GAME EVER!

Jax and his loot.  Still snacking on the KIX.

 After our big breakfast we played games and with our new toys and then got ready to head up to Grandma and Grandpas.  We had our traditional Prime Rib dinner and it did not disappoint.

 During dinner Jackson refused to eat anything except potatoes.  But after dinner Grandpa set him up on the counter and fed his bite sized pieces of the prime rib.  And this boy went to TOWN!  He ate almost as much meat as I did.

 Maybe he doesn't like it from a tray?  But from a silver platter instead?!

Next on to the present opening.  Jackson received some movies to watch.

 And finally learned that it was kind of fun to rip paper from packages.

Our only family shot on Christmas day.  After presents we came home to play more and eat more treats.  It was a great day.  The best part was watching the boys open their presents and squeal with delight.

Carter picked out a present for me and chose wool socks(which I am obsessed with. My toes have a hard time regulating their temperature!)  He asks me every single day if "I love my socks."  And then if I happen to not wear them around the house that day he asks me if I'd like him to go get them for me!

Christmas was wonderful.  The next 3 days were not.........the stomach flu hit Neil and I like a truck.  Neil first and then me.  Luckily the boys were spared which was a true blessing.  Neil and I were careful to stay quarantined in our bedroom when the beast was raring and wore masks when coming out.  That flu ruined my favorite christmas treat, maybe forever!

Minus the stomach flu we had a great time, mostly just spending time together.  Neil had the entire break off and we spent lots of time playing.  Carter said it best "Do we really have to wait a whole 'nother year until Next Christmas?!"

Before Christmas

Oh December was a busy, fun month.  I'm very sad it's over.  

Luckily with all my busyness, I had lots of good helpers....

Jax and Carter both discovered that they love helping with the laundry.  They are more than willing to load and unload baskets as well as transfer clothes between machines.  

 Jax knows right what to do.  He takes one piece of clothing at a time and transfers it to the dryer.  I've always told him he needs to start earning his keep.....

Carter is quite fond of the snow.  And shoveling the snow.  The first big snow we had, he begged to go outside one afternoon and shovel the snow.  I gladly let him.  Then sadly his kid-sized snow shovel cracked (it was only $3) and he was one sad boy.  Luckily there was Amazon overnight to the rescue.  Our tricky Elf Simon left him a brand new snow shovel under the tree as an early Christmas present.

                                      
Jackson was introduced to the game "Horsie" and it became an instant hit.  He begs for Horsie daily and his great Dad is a sucker for sweet boy saying "Pease Ho-see?"

 Carter never likes to be left out of anything so he volunteered to be the horse for a bit.  This is a common sight each night before bed.

This boy is learning to climb.  He may be the death of me with his climbing.  The pediatrician warned me at his 18 month check up that this was the age for accidents and falls. 

 Carter encourages Jackson's climbing and will often put a step stool next to the couch so Jax can climb up and make himself comfy.  One day while in the shower I heard a loud thump and scream.  I raced out to find that Carter had brought a step stool to our tall bed and allowed Jax to climb up on it.  It didn't take long for Jackson to fall head first off.  He was fine although I think Carter was a bit scarred.  Which may be good.  That is now on a list of things NOT to do while Mom is in the shower.

 Neil was washing dishes and Jax saw that Carter left his step stool next to the sink so he climbed right up to help.

 If I can get him to do the dishes and the laundry on a regular basis then I should have more time to kick back and relax!

He was so proud of himself that it was hard to make him get down.

We spent a lot of time in the kitchen cooking yummy treats.  Carter is my go to man when something needs to be measured or poured.  He finally even realized that it is good to lick the spoons!  Until 2 weeks ago, he refused.  What is wrong with that kid??

 Carter is well on his way to reading.  Real reading.  We have the classic book "Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons."  He is halfway done and doing great.  A sticker chart with incentives never hurt anyone either!

We took advantage of a snowy Sunday afternoon to build a killer snowman.

Carter decided to name him "Tree Trunk."  Parts of Tree Trunk can still be seen in our front yard.

I even braved the cold that day and got on my pinkest sweatpants to help.  Snowman building quickly turned into a snowball fight and snow angels.  It was a fun day.

December brought a trip to Payson to see Neil's Grandparents.  Jax is usually very wary of strangers but Grandpa Jack quickly charmed this boy.

 He is the sweetest man alive and the kind of grandpa that every person should have.

 He even got Jackson to snuggle with him for awhile.

 Grandma Renae stole the hearts of my boys too.  It never helps when you let Carter take a pirate ship home with him.....I'm just sayin!

Aunt Linsey rode to Payson with us and Carter is always thrilled to have someone sit next to him in the backseat(beside Jackson.)  He makes sure to let his backseat buddy know how much they are loved.  He is very hands on!

Reminds me of another road trip...........

 Carter and Uncle Steve.  I don't know if you can tell but Steve is blushing in this picture.

This day Jackson found a bowl of yogurt that Carter forgot to clear and pulled it to the ground and helped himself to the tiny bits left.  Boy he wishes he could have yogurt everyday...(I know you are asking yourself..."Does this kid ever wear pants?"  And the answer is No, not often.  Only if we leave the house!

Here is Jackson all wrapped up like a Christmas present.  He has discovered the bandage on his chest and likes to pick it off.  That is a huge problem so I decided to make it harder for little fingers to wander.

 Grandma came down several times during the month and both boys loved having her here.  She brought treats, games, books.....and the ever popular IPad.  My boys are technology junkies and would play Ipads or Iphones all day if I let them.  Jax even knows how to open my phone and get to his favorite game: "Temple Run."  He calls it "Jump game."  I haven't told him how gruesome it is when he gets eaten by the large apes....

Here are the boys fighting over Grandma's Ipad

 This boy loves his binkie.  He calls them Monkey and would have one all day if I let him.  He has 3 and enjoys having all 3 with him if possible.  You will often find one in his mouth and the other 2 close to his mouth, rubbing on his cheek.  I am opposed to binkies this long in the real world, but sadly my baby doesn't get to participate in the "real" world very often so he still has his monkey.  Mostly only in bed.  Jax battles oral aversions and because of that I cannot just take his bottle and binkie away.  Believe me, I would love to.  He is working with some speech and feeding therapists to hopefully be able to give these things up with out Post Traumatic Stress.  More for another post...

 Jackson is obsessed with the TV show Jake and the Neverland Pirates.  So is Carter actually.  He loves to climb up on the couch and watch a full episode.  He dances like crazy when he hears the theme song.  He actually can ask for Jake by name.  Although when he first starting saying it he would say "Dick."  Now it's morphed into Jake and now it's even "Watch Jake."

 He discovered that he loves popcorn.

 With some of our lazy days we spent an hour one Saturday morning watching TV on the couch.  For some reasons my boys like snuggling with their daddy better than me while watching TV.  Why are dads so much cooler than Moms?

 Carter being helpful again.  We were making our to-die-for peanut butter cups and Carter couldn't stand not helping.  He volunteered to unwrap all the Reeses Cups, even though he can't eat them and promised to wash his hands afterwards to get rid of the "Yuckies."

Jackson found the true joy of eating popcorn.  Snuggled up on Grandpa's couch with his own bowl, watching cartoons.

 This picture is sad, but cute.  Jax can't take baths, but would really really love to.  He loves watching Carter take baths and this day wanted to climb in with him.

There is Good new and Bad news:   Bad news is that Jax is apparently allergic to Cats.  Check out those hives after hugging the kitty.  Good News:  We don't need to pay a co-pay for the allergist to tell us this.  These hives were free!

Remember how I told you he likes to climb?  He asked for Chips one morning for breakfast and I told him no so he decided to take matters into his own hands....



Next up: Christmas!!