Merry Christmas 2011!

"Mommy, did Santa come?"

Of course he did!  And he ate our cookies and left us wonderful presents.  We spent the better part of the day unwrapping and enjoying all our new toys and clothes and games and books.  Drew was most intrigued with the wrapping paper and tested out every piece he could in his mouth. Evan was more than happy to help Drew unwrap his gifts and show him how they worked.  Evan got the Chuggington trains he requested from Santa, and as promised, Santa brought a special present: a huge fire station house.  He also scored a personalized superhero cape, drums, two guitars, a complete dinosaur set, a scarf, and much, much more.  Drew got a fun dino ball popper from Santa, a nativity scene to share with his brother, and loads of toys and books, and joined in on Evan's drum and guitar concert with a turn on the microphone.  We had an amazing morning and were all thoroughly and happily wiped out come nap time.  Here are photos both from Christmas morning and from celebrations with all grandparents.  Merry Christmas! 

 

 

 

'Twas the Night Before Christmas...

We were baking and stirring,
Making cookies for Mr. Claus! 

As Evan promised Santa last week, we made Santa cookies to leave out tonight.  And we added some Frosty cookies too, just for fun.  After church and some of the Polar Express movie, Evan dictated the note he wanted to leave for Santa, and we left the cookies on a special plate.  We didn't leave them on the hearth, as Evan was afraid Santa wouldn't see the plate when he came in and might step on the cookies, so instead we left them on a side table.  Then, off to bed we went, with visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads! 

Drew took a little photoshoot today in his Santa outfit.  Remember Evan's first Christmas photoshoot in the same outfit? The outfit was a little big for him, but it fit Drew perfectly.  He didn't want to keep the hat on his head for long and wanted instead to eat the pompom.  Silly, adorable little Santa baby!

Santa Visit 2011

'Tis the season! We took Drew for his first visit to Santa, and we decided to live on the wild side and take Evan too.  His history of a desperate fear of mascots includes Santa... last year we couldn't enter the mall from the side where Santa sits, and forget shopping at a store within sight range of his throne.  But Evan mustered all his courage and agreed that he would "help his little brother" because he's so little.  Aww.  We went on a random weeknight, hoping the lines wouldn't be bad, and we were rewarded with only a 20 minute wait.  (We laughed at the other family who said the line was too long and they'd come back Saturday... because THAT's sure to be a shorter line the last weekend before Christmas - ha!)  Anyway, Evan was ready... until he saw Santa. Then he changed his tune to "no way!"  But the waiting in line did have it's advantage, as by the end of the wait, Evan was ready to see Santa, no problem. 

While we were waiting, we asked Evan to practice what he wanted to say to Santa, and his first comment wasn't what he (Evan) wanted, but what he'd tell Santa that Drew wanted.  Even in school, when Evan wrote a letter to Santa, he included Drew's "wishes" too.  What a fantastic big brother!  We're constantly impressed with his desire to look out for Drew, help him, and love absolutely everything about having Drew in our family. 

When it was our turn, Evan walked right up to Santa without hesitation, and launched into his story.  "I want a Chugger and Drew wants a baby with a pacifier..."  After a short chat, and Santa complimenting him on looking out for his little brother, Evan climbed right up on Santa's lap for some photos and even gave him a hug goodbye.  Santa told him to be sure and sleep on Christmas Eve so he could visit (Evan said he'd make sure mommy and daddy were sleeping too), and as we walked away, Evan rushed back to ask Santa what kind of cookies he'd like us to leave out (then told him we'd leave him Santa cookies). 

The visit was a total success!  When we came home, Evan couldn't stop talking about Santa.  He put on his winter boots (just like Santa), and had us all sit on his lap and repeat the entire encounter, nearly word for word.  Christmas is thrilling through a 3 year old's eyes, and it can't come soon enough!

Tree Decorating

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!  Our house has been glittered and lighted and decorated top to bottom, except for the tree.  So tonight we set it up and Evan wanted to do all the decorating.  It's the first time that he really gets the season and all the traditions - it's so magical to watch through his little 3 year old eyes!  We spent a glorious evening letting him put up (almost) all of the ornaments, while Drew happily chewed on a couple very baby-safe ornaments and toys, watching his big brother's every move.  He had a very interesting decorating scheme - he picked out a couple places on the tree and put as many ornaments on that one branch as possible before moving on!  He did spread his "spots" throughout the tree though, even sneaking around back to make sure that part was covered as well.  Evan had a blast, and the tree looked great!  (Though I did add just a few more ornaments, the breakables ones, after he went to bed and filled in the holes.)