Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve is upon us and most of our preparations are complete. The cookies and eggnog are on the fireplace for Santa, along with a picture from Luke and Olivia. Most of the presents are under the tree (except for the ones from Santa, of course) and the stocking are filled by the fireplace. Santa's elf, AKA Daddy, has been busy building a kitchen, workbench and table/chair set.
Earlier today Oma and Opa came over to spend some time with us and open presents. It's really cute because Luke is really starting to figure out the present thing. He loves to open them-the bigger the better. He gets the biggest smile when he tears the paper open, while Olivia still prefers for them to be closed (although once opened she loves what's inside). It was a wonderful visit and heartwarming to see Luke and Olivia interact with Oma and Opa. Olivia took several toys to Opa, one toy at a time. Luke played with his keyboard and played with them in general.
Once Oma and Opa left and Luke and Olivia woke up from naps, we took them for a wagon ride around the neighborhood to see the lights. They LOVE to see the lights and we love to hear them talk about them. "Blue lights, red lights, Santa, man (snowman)". Sometimes Heidi the cat joins us on our walks, too. They are also excited when we get home and say "YeeYee's lights, Guke's lights." I will be sad once all of the lights are down, but we will look forward to more walks next year.
After dinner, our tradition is to let Luke and Olivia open one present each. This year, they ended up opening a joint present because it was the one they chose. It was a puzzle card set with the ABC, numbers and opposites. They were having so much fun playing with it they didn't want to start the nighttime routine. They ended up staying up until almost 8:30pm. Good thing Santa stays up later!
We are looking forward to tomorrow and especially to spending time together as a family with no rush to be anywhere. Can't wait to see their little faces in the morning! Merry Christmas Eve, everyone!
Earlier today Oma and Opa came over to spend some time with us and open presents. It's really cute because Luke is really starting to figure out the present thing. He loves to open them-the bigger the better. He gets the biggest smile when he tears the paper open, while Olivia still prefers for them to be closed (although once opened she loves what's inside). It was a wonderful visit and heartwarming to see Luke and Olivia interact with Oma and Opa. Olivia took several toys to Opa, one toy at a time. Luke played with his keyboard and played with them in general.
Once Oma and Opa left and Luke and Olivia woke up from naps, we took them for a wagon ride around the neighborhood to see the lights. They LOVE to see the lights and we love to hear them talk about them. "Blue lights, red lights, Santa, man (snowman)". Sometimes Heidi the cat joins us on our walks, too. They are also excited when we get home and say "YeeYee's lights, Guke's lights." I will be sad once all of the lights are down, but we will look forward to more walks next year.
After dinner, our tradition is to let Luke and Olivia open one present each. This year, they ended up opening a joint present because it was the one they chose. It was a puzzle card set with the ABC, numbers and opposites. They were having so much fun playing with it they didn't want to start the nighttime routine. They ended up staying up until almost 8:30pm. Good thing Santa stays up later!
We are looking forward to tomorrow and especially to spending time together as a family with no rush to be anywhere. Can't wait to see their little faces in the morning! Merry Christmas Eve, everyone!
Monday, December 26, 2011
Let's see Santa
I remember the first year we took Luke and Olivia to see Santa Claus. They were about 2 weeks old and slept through the whole thing. Last year, we tried 3 different times, and each time ended with Luke crying, Olivia crying, or both of them crying. This year we hoped if we talked about Santa a lot, read books, showed them pictures and let them just see him in passing, they would be cool with sitting on his lap for just a minute.
No such luck.
We waited just a few minutes in line with high hopes. We had even planned on having lunch out together as a family complete with a sucker right after their visit with Santa. Well, as soon as we got to the big guy in the red suit, Luke and Olivia clung to us as if we were about to throw them into a pit of fire. There was NO WAY they were letting go of us. Hence, the picture of the 4 of us, which wasn't part of the plan. Oh, well...there's always next year! Until then, enjoy these faces:
No such luck.
We waited just a few minutes in line with high hopes. We had even planned on having lunch out together as a family complete with a sucker right after their visit with Santa. Well, as soon as we got to the big guy in the red suit, Luke and Olivia clung to us as if we were about to throw them into a pit of fire. There was NO WAY they were letting go of us. Hence, the picture of the 4 of us, which wasn't part of the plan. Oh, well...there's always next year! Until then, enjoy these faces:
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Now that we have celebrated Luke and Olivia's birthday, it's time to start getting ready for Christmas. We try not to decorate until after their birthday, and since their birthday is in early December it works out well.
Dan is always in charge of putting the tree up (yes, we're an artificial tree kind of family) while I take care of the rest of the house. This year the tree was a tangled mess of lights and he had to take them all off and start over. It took him several hours, but the end result was beautiful! I got started hanging the stockings, putting up the garland and decorations in general. I also got out our Christmas china and decorated the dining room as well.
We don't really have a lot of outside decorations yet, but we hoped to finally hang the icicle lights that have been sitting in their box for a couple of years. A few bows on the porch, mailbox and outside lights along with a few outside decorations and decorating was complete. How did those few things take us two days? Oh, yeah...we had 2 little helpers.
Dan is always in charge of putting the tree up (yes, we're an artificial tree kind of family) while I take care of the rest of the house. This year the tree was a tangled mess of lights and he had to take them all off and start over. It took him several hours, but the end result was beautiful! I got started hanging the stockings, putting up the garland and decorations in general. I also got out our Christmas china and decorated the dining room as well.
We don't really have a lot of outside decorations yet, but we hoped to finally hang the icicle lights that have been sitting in their box for a couple of years. A few bows on the porch, mailbox and outside lights along with a few outside decorations and decorating was complete. How did those few things take us two days? Oh, yeah...we had 2 little helpers.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Birthday Party
Yay! Dan made it home safe and sound from Japan and the final birthday party preparations are complete. Yesterday Maumaw and Paupaw kept an eye on Luke, Olivia, and their friend Lilah while my good friend Meredith and I decorated the clubhouse with lots of bugs and butterflies...the theme for this year. We weren't able to get everything quite done, so my other good friend Sabrina was awesome enough to lend a hand once Luke and Olivia went to bed for the night. Yesterday I also picked up their special shirts my friend made. Luke's has an ant on it with a number "2" and his name and Olivia's has a butterfly on it with a number "2" and her name.
The cakes are made (a butterfly for Olivia and a caterpillar for Luke), the treat bags are stuffed, and the food is finished. It has been fun to have a bug and butterfly theme because it gave me lots of options to make some "homemade" decorations. I know once they get older, that won't be "cool" anymore so I'm enjoying it while I can!!!
Their party was from 4-5:30pm, which worked well for us because it was after their naptime but before dinner. Thankfully they both took an early nap and woke up just in time to get dressed for their party. A small victory because no nap=cranky kid=not a fun party. We were lucky enough to have lots of neighborhood kids join us, as well as family and some friends from Atlanta.
After some snacks, it was time to do some "party activities." I made coloring books with bugs and butterflies pages and pipe cleaners with pompoms to wrap around headbands for antennae. Then it was time for a "bug hunt." We filled a plastic pool with deer corn and buried lots of plastic bugs, butterflies, raisins and other treats. The kids had the BEST time digging in the corn and finding their prizes. Seeing the joy on their faces was priceless...
We decided it would be too much to open presents during the party, so we brought them back to our house and had family and a few close friends over for pizza and presents. Luke was a professional present opener pretty quickly, while Olivia preferred to keep her presents "closed." We opened a few presents and decided to save some for the next few days to open. I actually put a few presents away (once opened) for a rainy day in January. It was getting pretty late so it was time for baths and bed.
What an exciting day and quite humbling to see our babies turn two. Dan and I have become stronger as a couple, and we are proud of the two little people we are raising. There is nothing like a little two year old saying "wuv you mommy, wuv you daddy" to make us remember what is really important...family, good friends, health and happiness.
Can't wait to see what the next year holds!
The cakes are made (a butterfly for Olivia and a caterpillar for Luke), the treat bags are stuffed, and the food is finished. It has been fun to have a bug and butterfly theme because it gave me lots of options to make some "homemade" decorations. I know once they get older, that won't be "cool" anymore so I'm enjoying it while I can!!!
Their party was from 4-5:30pm, which worked well for us because it was after their naptime but before dinner. Thankfully they both took an early nap and woke up just in time to get dressed for their party. A small victory because no nap=cranky kid=not a fun party. We were lucky enough to have lots of neighborhood kids join us, as well as family and some friends from Atlanta.
After some snacks, it was time to do some "party activities." I made coloring books with bugs and butterflies pages and pipe cleaners with pompoms to wrap around headbands for antennae. Then it was time for a "bug hunt." We filled a plastic pool with deer corn and buried lots of plastic bugs, butterflies, raisins and other treats. The kids had the BEST time digging in the corn and finding their prizes. Seeing the joy on their faces was priceless...
We decided it would be too much to open presents during the party, so we brought them back to our house and had family and a few close friends over for pizza and presents. Luke was a professional present opener pretty quickly, while Olivia preferred to keep her presents "closed." We opened a few presents and decided to save some for the next few days to open. I actually put a few presents away (once opened) for a rainy day in January. It was getting pretty late so it was time for baths and bed.
What an exciting day and quite humbling to see our babies turn two. Dan and I have become stronger as a couple, and we are proud of the two little people we are raising. There is nothing like a little two year old saying "wuv you mommy, wuv you daddy" to make us remember what is really important...family, good friends, health and happiness.
Can't wait to see what the next year holds!
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