Edible Snowmen

We had a delicious Christmas dinner with Nanny and Opa and I couldn't resist making some Christmas themed food!

Frosty the snowman cheese ball

Frosty the snowman coconut cake

Christmas morning again.....

It's our tradition to have our own family Christmas in the morning and when we are all through, we head to Grandma and Papa's house for breakfast and more presents. Here are a few photos from Grandma's ~

Jaden trying to play on his spinning toy ~ he thinks it's just a stool!

Alyssa and Brayden eating breakfast

Presents, presents, and more presents.......

Because the Christmas morning post itself was kind of long, I thought I would do a separate post to share some of the photos we took~

All gone!

Christmas morning

Stockings

Uncle Jeff making coffee

Opening presents



Alyssa playing with her dress up clothes

Jaden coloring

Jaden on his new Little Einstein car

The aftermath.......

Christmas Morning

It's finally here, Christmas, that is! It's so hard to write down all of the joyful moments and capture the excitement of Christmas morning in a story. So, I'll do my best to remember some of Alyssa's priceless expressions of the day.

As Alyssa is walking down the stairs, she says:
"Oh my gosh, mama, I can't believe Santa remembered our house!"
"Look at all of those presents!"
As she's screaming for joy, Jaden is just pointing away saying "Ohh, Oohhh, Ahhhh!"

The first thing Alyssa went for was to see if Santa ate the cookies and milk she left out. Sure enough he did. If there were no presents, she still would've been excited that Santa ate his snack.

The opening of presents began, and as I expected, Jaden didn't have any interest in opening anything. He would play with the toys as they were opened by Alyssa, but mostly he was just in shock at the conditions in the living room! The wrapping paper, gifts, stockings, Christmas music, Alyssa's excited screaming and the chocolate Santas. He just didn't know what to do!

"It's all I ever wanted!"
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh A Disney Princess castle, I just love it!"

Although Santa was very generous this year, Alyssa's most exciting gift was the Disney Princess Castle and a few princess' to go in it. It's the only thing she asked Santa for each time we went to visit him. And, I must say, Jaden's favorite toy of the moment was his black monster truck.

We spent the morning opening gifts, and then we headed off to Grandma and Papa's house for breakfast. Much to Alyssa's surprise, Santa had left a few gifts at Grandma's house for us all, too! We enjoyed a delicious breakfast and spending time with Grandpa in the Blue House, Aunt Christina, Uncle Wayne, Hayley, Lilyanne, Brayden, Uncle Matt and Uncle Jeff who were all in town for the holidays.

More shrills, "I can't believe it, it's the Play Doh ice cream maker!"

The afternoon consisted mostly of playing with new toys, napping, cleaning and preparing the house to have Nanny and Opa over for Christmas dinner.

We enjoyed the company of Nanny, Opa, Uncle Charlie, Uncle Jeff and James for Christmas dinner. Nanny made a delicious Prime Rib Roast with the trimmings and Alyssa and I decorated a Frosty the Snowman cake for dessert.

"This is the best Christmas day I never had!" (haha)

What a busy day, but we are so blessed to have the opportunity to spend the holidays with all of our family and friends!

Merry Christmas to all!
~2009~

Christmas Eve

A family tradition of ours is so go over to Grandma & Papa's house for a traditional 4 course Italian Christmas Eve dinner. It's something I can remember doing every year since I was little. We spend the day cooking and the spend hours eating! Dinner was delicious and as the evening went on, we waited for our special visitor to arrive!

Uncle Wayne and I had been tracking Santa all day through the Norad Santa tracker online. Soon enough, the doorbell rang, and there was Santa! Santa made a special stop during our Christmas Eve festivities to bring a few gifts. The kids were ecstatic! Alyssa was screaming and jumping for joy and Brayden was screaming in fright! Santa handed out his gifts and then all the kids sang their own rendition of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.

As I was watching the clock get later and later, we decided it was time to go home and prepare for the big morning.

Thank you Grandma and Papa for a wonderful Christmas Eve!

Alyssa with her cookies and milk for Santa

Santa's cookies and milk

Here comes Santa Claus....

Last night we had our 2nd annual Kiddie Christmas Party! JoAnn and I started this tradition last year, as there are many of our close friends with kids of the same ages. We had a potluck Christmas party with a lot of delicious food and treats. The day before the party, Alyssa and I made small goodie bags to hand out, as well as a Christmas tree cake and candy cane cupcakes. They turned out so cute and delicious, too! This is really the first year that Alyssa gets so excited to help make things; such as goodie bags, crafts, etc. She finally understands what they are for and how to do it!

The day of the party we headed to JoAnn's, who graciously invited 30 people into her Christmasly decorated home. There were approximately 10-15 kids under 5 and all the adults that come with them! At the party last year, we had everyone bring a gift for a gift exchange and then we baked and decorated sugar cookies. What a mess! Rolling, baking and decorating cookies with 15 kids under 5 = not a good idea! This year, we decided to do things a little differently. We had foam stocking ornaments that we decorated with self stick candy canes, presents, stars and various stickers. No glue, markers or anything that has to be extra supervised! They turned out so cute and the kids had a blast.

We also decided that the majority of the kids were at the age where they were overly excited for Santa! My dad, who owns a full on Santa suit, accepted our offer of dressing up as Santa and showing up at the party. With a few rings of the doorbell, Santa arrived with 2 bags of presents in tow! All of the parents brought a small gift wrapped and labeled for their individual child. I have never heard so many shrills and screams of excitement for Santa. The were absolutely amazed that Santa came to their Christmas party! It was so wonderful to see them all so excited and happy. They all sat so patiently in front of Santa waiting for their names to be read and their present to be handed out.

What a great evening and so much fun for the kids! Thanks JoAnn for a great 2nd annual kids Christmas party!

Jaden scared of Santa

The work gang ~ nurses, doctor and social worker!

And away we go....

Thumbs up ~ time to get on the plane

Alyssa set up her very own picnic, complete with a pink checkered tablecloth (AKA blankie)

Alyssa and I were off for our first solo plane ride. We left for Reno for Uncle Matt's college graduation. Andy had to work and 2 weeks before Christmas was not the time to purchase airline tickets for a family of 4! So, Jaden and Andy stayed home and Alyssa and I went on a short trip together. She was so excited to be going on another airplane! It was so cute.....she was sitting on the plane anxiously waiting for her apple juice she so politely ordered, and in the meantime she put out her pink checkered blankie on the tray table for a tablecloth. She said she had made a picnic table for her snack!

We arrived in Reno, and much to our dismay, it was freezing! All bundled up, and to Matt's house we went. We enjoyed many festivities that weekend including, ice skating, pizza balls, touring UNR, seeing Santa at the mall, graduation of course, first time at a Bask restauraunt and snow!

Alyssa had been asking for so long if she could ever go ice skating, so we thought it would be the perfect chance to try it in Reno. There was an ice skating rink in the middle of town that was open in the evenings. We got all bundled up and headed into town. She had fun walking around the ground in her ice skates, but wasn't thrilled to be on the ice. "But it's too hard, mommy. I can't stand up. It's too slippery for me!" After about 2 times around with Uncle Matt holding her, she was done. All undressed, skates returned and ready to head to the car. Oh well, at least she can say she tried!

Graduation of course, was graduation. I really think someone should reinvent the whole ceremony to make it just a little bit more lively! Alyssa was a bit overtired, bored and hungry, so the already dull ceremony was a bit hard for her to sit through. After graduation we dined at a Bask restauraunt. It was a family style restuaraunt that was delicious!

The day we flew out to come home, it was snowing pretty hard all morning. I think if our flight was any later, we would have been snowed in. We got out and arrived home safely and the next day Uncle Matt said there were 8 inches of snow overnight!

We had a blast in Reno, and Alyssa can't wait until she gets to go on the airplane again!

Alyssa drinking her cocoa and enjoying the sites of Reno

Uncle Matt and Amber

Alyssa with the bears at Black Bear Diner

Papa, Uncle Matt and grandma after graduation

Grandma by the water, Uncle Matt and Grandpa by the water

Alyssa having fun at the pizza balls restaurant

Alyssa trying out ice skating

Alyssa and mama by the Christmas tree

Santa, Santa

We are halfway through December and we've already stood in line twice to see Santa! 30 minutes the first time and almost 2 hours the second time! What we do for our excited little ones during the holidays!

Unfortunately we were unable to get any pictures of Alyssa with Santa last year, as she was deathly afraid of him. Luckily, this year, she loves him! She was just so excited each time to have her picture taken and to tell Santa what she wants for Christmas! Good thing for us, she told Santa the same 3 things each time! I didn't think it would be that easy to figure out what a 3 year old actually wants. Usually it's, "I want everything I see in the store or on T.V."

Jaden, on the other hand, could care less. All he wanted to do what walk around the place, play in the fake snow and touch the Christmas decorations! I guess it'll be a while before we have a picture with him. I'm sure next year, he'll be just as afraid as Alyssa was last year!

Alyssa sitting on Santa's lap for the 2nd time!

Jaden walking around, mesmerized at the decorations!

Talking to Santa for the 1st time!

Happy Turkey Day

Turkey Fruit Gobbler

This year for Thanksgiving, we were blessed to have all of our families together for Thanksgiving. Nanny, Opa, Grandma, Papa, Grandma & Grandpa by the Water, Aunt Christina, Uncle Wayne, Hayley, Lilyanne and Brayden (cousins), Uncle Charlie, Uncle Matt & Amber, Mama, Dada, Alyssa and Jaden; all together for a wonderful holiday feast!

Prior to going over to Grandma's house for Thanksgiving dinner, we spent the morning making a few special holiday treats. Alyssa had been so excited all week to make the Thanksgiving treats, however when it finally came time, she lost her patience after the first one. We made turkey cookies, first, and as for Alyssa's help, I guess I can't expect much more from a 3 year old! She spent the whole time eating the various candies and cookies we were using to make the treats. She was, however, a great help when it came time to unwrap all the chocolates! I think Amber and I had more fun making all these little turkey surprises! For a little appetizer, we then made a Turkey Fruit Gobbler. It was adorable! We poked cheese and grapes into a squash to form a turkey.

After the treats were done, we headed over to Grandma's house to begin the festivities. Daddy and Opa grilled one turkey and Grandma cooked a traditional turkey in the oven. Aunt Christina made a ham with a wonderful sauteed pineapple sauce on top! And of course, all the fixings ~ stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn casserole, home-ade macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes, green beans, rolls, zucchini casserole, cranberry sauce and asparagus. Delicious!! For dessert we had pumpkin pie, home-ade apple pie, lemon meringue pie and an assortment of cakes thanks to Grandma by the Water. What a feast!

The day concluded with a little football watching, lounging and the kids enjoying playing with each other!

We are so thankful and blessed to have so much family near us and that we are able to spend the holidays together!

Daddy and Opa grilling turkey

Turkey cookies

Santa Claus is coming to town.....

So, I must say my blogging has lacked over the last month! There are a multitude of reasons, to include the fact I've been picking up a few extra shifts at the hospital, the family has been sick so we haven't been doing much, and my children are having moments where they absolutely protest having their pictures taken. My camera doesn't capture pictures well with kids running away!

We did have a very exciting Sunday this week. Our local Bass Pro Shops has a Christmas Wonderland set up to start the holiday season. We spent 2 hours playing games, climbing in and out of boats, playing in pretend snow and most exciting, seeing Santa. Alyssa was absolutely thrilled to talk to Santa and sit on his lap! It's the first year in her existence that she didn't scream at the sight of the man in the big red suit! She jumped right up into his lap and said, "Santa, do you want to come over to my house for milk and cookies?" So precious! I'm pleased that she didn't go into the million toys she is already asking for out of the numerous toy catalogs I've received!

Jaden, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with Santa. He was memorised by the fake, glittery snow and the toy train set up. He was happy as can be to walk around and touch the snow! From the likes of Alyssa, he may have a few more years until he'll be sitting on Santa's lap!

Alyssa on one of the ATV's

Jaden loving the snow!

One year milestones

We have reached that One Year Milestone with our dear boy Jaden! Boy has this last year flown by and we watched him grow up from a content and laid back newborn to a happy, smiley energizer bunny of a toddler! I thought I would share a few "stats" about Jaden as of now~

*weighs in at 23 pounds & 10 ounces (50-75% on the growth chart)
*31.5 inches tall (greater than the 95%)
*head measures in at 18.25 inches (50%)

*eats all table food and when I say all, I mean ALL! Jaden is an exceptional eater! He will pretty much eat anything I put down in front of him at mealtime. He does, however, have some favorites: pancakes, blueberries, strawberries, grapes, crackers, cheese, yogurt, peas/carrots -- just to name a few!

*is walking, running and climbing on everything! Jaden has a very hard time sitting down and playing with toys. He is very busy all the time and just prefers to pick up various toys and walk around with them.

*one of his favorite things to do is to pick up things and hide them inside of other things. For example, we watched him pick up toys and throw them away in the garbage can. We're not sure how long he has been doing this before we actually saw him, so some of the toys that we think are else where in the house, just might be at the local garbage dump by now! :) He also likes to hide things in drawers, bins.

*he is absolutely by far and outside boy. He jumps at the chance, which is very frequent, to be outside. He loves playing in the backyard, throwing rocks and going to the park.

*he has great pincher grasp reflexes and tremendous hand eye coordination. He can throw a ball overhead as is he's been playing baseball for years!

*I think because he is so physically active, he has lacked the vocabulary that Alyssa had by now. He can say "mama," "more," "uh-oh," and a slew of babble

Keep up the good work Jaden! We love you so much and are so blessed to have you in our lives!