Christmas Eve

The Christmas tree was all lit, all the toys picked up.

And the table was set, ready for our traditional fondue dinner. All we needed was our guests!

Grandma and Grandpa were the first to arrive.

They were greeted with huge hugs.

We took a couple more pictures before there was a chance to spill supper on our nice clothes.

Are these two not the cutest kids ever?

Molly (my bro's dog) had come with my parents. Her cousins were so happy to see her, and they were all anxious for gifts!

 

 We started dinner with toasts and "cheers!" V and Grandma shared sparkling apple cider.

Of course, Alex had to get in on the cheering action.

After dinner, there were Christmas cookies for dessert. As my mom always used to do for us, I had made a "V" and "A" for the kids for their Christmas Eve treat.

There was lots of time for playing, visiting, and snuggling. Toria jumped on Roger's lap for some hugs.

Alex entertained everyone by doing laps around the living room with his push toy. He has gotten good at turning it!

We decided to open a few gifts. The dogs got rawhides from Uncle Roger. Molly would only eat hers with help from Victoria. V held onto one end while Molly chewed the other. Somehow that made them both happy.

The kids were presented with their presents from Hannah and Piper. Alex, expectedly, liked the bow.

Victoria opened hers first ... a "Piper dog"!

Alex loved it and actually got mad when I gave it back to Sister.

He opened his ... a stuffed puppy just for him! He put it in his mouth, waved it around, and then did a little body slam to the ground -- a sure sign of approval.

V got her other puppies: Hannah dog (given to us by friends Jamie and Becky before she was born -- and which definitely looks like Hannah), and Victor (given to us by friends John and Karen, and which we did monthly photos with when she was a baby). It was clear she had needed a Piper dog to add to this mix. Alex added his new dog. Throw in the real dogs, and there was quite the pack in the living room.

We wanted to take a pic of Roger with the kids ... and V made sure to bring all the dogs, too.

A little cute A-man snuggling action:

After the dinner guests left, it was time for PJs!

We laid out cookies and the special "reindeer food" they had made at day care.

We carried all the Santa/reindeer snacks to the dining room.

... and headed to bed, where we could listen for the prancing and pawing of little hooves on a very silent night.

sledding!

Today was the most fun day I've had in awhile. Originally Matt and I were going to put the kids in daycare and go on a date. But those plans weren't working out, and Matt reported that the forecast showed a high of 30 degrees -- what a heat wave! We both looked at each other and knew: "sledding!"

This was Alex's first time sledding, and Victoria's first time using the new sled that Santa gave her for Christmas.

Right away, V wanted to go with Daddy.

Obviously, that one didn't go so well.

Try #2. This time, she is shielding herself from the inevitable snow spray.

After this, she announced she was done sledding. I had to convince her to go down the hill with me: "but last year Mommy was pregnant and I couldn't take you sledding!" Yeah, pull out the guilt card, Mom.

It worked.

As you may be able to tell from the photo, we fell off too. I suck at steering a sled.

Then, she was REALLY done. Whiny, I-don't-want-to, let's-go-to-the-car done. I realized if she was ever going to have fun on her new sled, we needed to start super small and make sure there was no falling and no snow in the face. I walked her about twenty feet up the hill, and promised I would keep my feet out and just "walk" down the hill.

Finally! She had a good time!

Up until this point, Alex had been chilling in his sled, with Mommy occasionally pulling him around at the bottom of the hill. But then it was his turn. He went down all by himself. There aren't any pictures because, well, Matt was pushing and Mommy was too busy watching to remember pictures.

I told V that if Alex could go down by himself (not that he had a choice since he was strapped in), she could go down by herself too.

By herself was even more fun! I think she liked going slower.

Then, Uncle Adam and Auntie Megan showed up. And lovable sweet Molly, of course.

Molly loves the snow!

Adam convinced V to go in the sled with him.

Auntie Megan's turn. They're getting a little crazy here.

Then, V tells Adam she wants to go on the big hill with him. He pulls her up (backwards and laying down for some reason).

Notice Molly in the background. She will play an important part in a minute.

They get to the top, and V's eyes get huge, realizing how high up she is. Adam looks at her, "Do you want to go down?" Silence. "You don't have to go down if you don't want to." V doesn't say anything, just turns and waddles away, down the hill towards Mom and Dad and safety.

Meanwhile, Molly is still at the top of the hill with Adam. She has been following him up and down the whole time.

And Adam, of course, needs a sledding partner.

At first, she's willing. She's Adam's bud after all. Then, even those of us at the bottom of the hill could see the look in her eyes change from caution to concern.

And panic.

OH MY GOD THIS SLED IS SPINNING!

ADAM SAVE ME!!

Oh my god, OH MY GOD, we're coming off the sled. Hold on for dear life!

CRASH and roll ... safely in Adam's arms.

I think her audience enjoyed that way more than Molly did.

Alex started getting cold, so we told V a couple more times down her "little" hill. She even caught a little air on a bump:

And slid so far out into the field:

And, she was a good sport about falling in the snow.

To warm up, we all went to the Warming House for hot chocolate and soup. Great conversation, entertaining, happy kids (even the baby who was way past nap time was happy to chill and eat puffs), and ice cream for dessert. We gave Alex his first taste, and he gave us a look of shock and distaste ... he had just warmed up, and now we were freezing his lips off?! Well, he always has liked things warmer than his sister.

We ventured out into bright winter sunshine, with snow melting off roofs and sidewalks, and smiled the whole way home.

tis the season

A couple weeks ago we decided it was time to put up the tree. We were crazy busy that week, and had a very crabby, tired toddler, so the first night Matt and I put up the tree by ourselves, but left off all the decorations. The idea was that the next night, V and I would decorate while Daddy was gone.

Well, that plan worked quite well.

While I was in Alex's room putting him to bed, she crashed on the couch. (She has never done that before. Typically she's the kid who is NEVER tired and will stay awake no matter what.) I put all the lights and my ornaments on the tree by myself that night ... it actually was pretty peaceful, especially with her little snores on the couch next to me. She and Daddy put their own ornaments on the next night.

V and Daddy have been in charge of not one but two advent calendars this year. We take this stuff seriously, as evidenced by the fact that one of them was a Lego advent calendar that required building every night:

Somewhere in the midst of the holiday preparation, our little girl dressed herself entirely in stripes one day. This has nothing to do with Christmas, of course. Just cute and funny.

This was the first year V asked about Santa Claus. One day we walked by him in the mall, and she was very curious. So, for the first time, we brought the kids to visit Santa. We asked my parents if they would like to join us, so we took them out to Bridgeman's for mom's birthday, we all had ice cream, and then over to the mall we went.

V was so excited, but when we got closer she got very shy and wanted "Bampa" to hold her. When our turn came, she held my hand, walked up to Santa, then quickly blurted out, "I want a sled and a helmet!" Ha ha ha ... it took some prompting to tell him her name and say hi. Alex sat for a quick moment so we could get this shot of the kids.

Before we knew it, it was time for the daycare Christmas party! This is one of the highlights of the year, and the kids had been looking forward to it ever since the elves started leaving them presents in the Christmas train under the tree. At the party, the kids all exchange gifts, and there is a surprise visitor. 

Lou (and Alex) read a book to the kids. L to R: Conner, Maycen, Gavin, Aubrie, Kylee, Victoria.

It's Santa!! He took a break from his busy schedule to visit daycare.

He handed out presents to everyone.

In previous years, V was either scared or shy of Santa. This year, she was determined not to be "shy to Santa" and to ask him for what she wanted.

Mission accomplished.

Perfect photo!

Alex had no such mission.

Matt took pictures of each of the kids on Santa's lap, and even included Buffy, Lou's dog:

While A-man didn't care for Santa, he really did have fun at the party.

All this Christmas fun ... and the season was just beginning!