Christmas 2013, Part 1

We had a wonderful Christmas season! It was busy, but fun, and I have LOVED being at home!! See below for the first part of our celebrations.

We started the Christmas season by lighting the Advent wreath with Henry each night before bed. We would sing a few songs, sometimes read one of his Christmas books, then (his favorite part) blow out the candles. This is a tradition I hope we will do each Advent season!

We also picked out our Christmas tree the week after Thanksgiving. Steven and I both grew up getting real trees, so we will continue that special tradition, too! Henry thought Steven did the whole tree (setting it up, decorating it, etc), so anytime he would see our or any tree he would point to it and say, "Good job, dada!"

Our small group does Tour de Christmas ever year, and we look forward to it all year  long! We get babysitters, and each couple provides a course for the night. We were last and had dessert. Above was the dessert table: cheese cake pops, marshmallow pops, fruit and fruit dip, strawberry santas, peanut brittle, oreo truffles, cracker candy, and chocolate dipped peanut butter bugles. Yum!

Here is our good looking group! We started at 5 and didn't end til like 1! We had a great time.

I held out a few extra oreos for Henry from the oreo truffles I made because they are egg free. Here is his first bite...

He was a fan for sure (smart boy). Here he is showing us his cookie:)

Henry did this cute craft at church on Sunday. He was SOO proud of it and kept looking at it and saying, "Good job!!" and "feet" and "toes" because he had to put his foot in the paint. Then we talked about how it was baby Jesus in the manger, and he kept pointing to Jesus and saying, "Baby Jesus!"

I made this felt tree/presents/ornaments for Henry this year. Robin had actually given me her leftover supplies last year, but I just couldn't pull it together enough to make it. I was determined to make it this year! While he was way into it while I was making it, when it was actually on the wall Henry played with it some, but not as much as I thought he would. Oh well! There's always next year!

We went to the library Christmas party one evening and met Bennett and Ethan there. They were all excited to see each other and had lots of fun singing carols, listening to books, and playing outside.

At the library, Henry kept staring and even waving to Roary from afar, but he was NOT a fan of the creature up close as you can see by his facial expression. He didn't cry, but he certainly did cling to dada and kept saying, "no, no, no". Oh well!

We had a half day of school Thursday the 19th, and the Bushes rolled in on Friday to start celebrating! The girls were feeling kind of puny, so they went to a doc in the box while Camden, Henry, Steven, and I enjoyed being outside. It was unusually warm weather. Look at Henry's form!

What handsome guys!

And what a cute little Santa mouse! He is so happy outside.

On Saturday we had our traditional brunch once Jim and Peggy arrived. Then we opened gifts! Henry was really into opening presents this year, so it made it extra fun.

Henry got a pair of Carhartt overalls and some John Deere toys from Grandpa and Peggy, but his favorite gift from them was animal crackers. He was super excited to get them and cried and cried when we took them away (after he'd been eating them a while). We have finally realized that we can take out half the crackers for later and let him have the box and what is left in there so that he thinks he can eat the whole thing. Baby psychology!

After naps Grandpa and Peggy left and we went to Bridge Street to stroll, search for Santa, and shop. We got some really great shots with Santa!

Henry was fine with Santa. He was pretty serious about him, but didn't cry. This is the same Santa we got pics with last yer, so I was happy to see him again! He looks great in his Victorian garb, and you can't beat an outdoor pic.

Here is Henry check the big guy out!

We went to early church on Sunday, then to lunch. I tried to get a group pic of all the kids by getting the three big ones set up, then putting Henry in their laps. He was NOT happy about this and fussed and wanted up. I just let him go play and started taking pics of the three Bush kids. As soon as he looked back and realized what was up, he sat himself right in a row with the rest, then looked at the camera and said, "cheese!". He kept looking down the line at what the big kids were doing and would imitate them. I love the above of Henry and Layna, the two "babies', checking each other out. :)

Grandma rolled in after naps on Sunday and we opened gifts again!

Diana brought the gifts from the Grandparents in Iowa, so we opened those. Henry was really into this! He wanted to "help" Steven put his gift all together and sat right beside him the whole time.

Once it was built, Henry had lots of fun with his Little People amusement park! They also got him the Winnie the Pooh DVD, so he officially owns it now.

Kaia playing with Henry after the chaos of opening gifts had subsided:) These two are great buddies.

During this time Henry has been in undies a lot! We bought him some Spider man ones, and they are so darn cute on him! He was proud to perform bathroom "duties" for the family, especially Aunt Mae. :)