Christmas Time

Project LIFE Week 52...........

This was our first full week home with Tatum. It was so nice to have my parents in town for the whole week to help us out and then celebrate Christmas with us. Since they were in town it allowed us to continue to spoil Jack a little more in the days leading up to Christmas and allowed us to spoil Tatum by allowing her to be held ALL the time :-) To tell you the truth I forget what we did each day for Jack this week. It was a little more challenging to come up with things. On Sunday the 19th he went shopping with Chris and the teenagers for the kids we were sponsoring for Christmas. Chris said that Jack did great with this and really got into shopping for other kids. Then, on Monday he was able to go with Chris to deliver the presents to the families. I think that made a big impact on his 3 year old mind. I kind of have my days mixed up from the week but I know that one evening it kind of "warmed up" to the low 30's so Chris and my dad took Jack to Christmas at the Zoo. Jack had fun playing with Grandaddy on this huge mound of snow in the parking lot:And, you know my dad really loves Jack because he was convinced to squeeze onto the little zoo train and ride with his grandson:Jack was excited to decorate (and eat) a cookie at the zoo:But, once again.........he would not sit on Santa's lap. This was his last chance of the season. Oh well! There is always next year!

Another "fun thing" of the week was going on a date with mommy. One day right after I nursed Tatum.......Jack and I left and went on a lunch date just the 2 of us. That was such a special time for me and I'm pretty sure he had fun too!

On Monday evening Gigi and Papa arrived for a very quick visit.........they got here in time for dinner on Monday and left before we ate lunch on Tuesday. We are so happy that they got to come meet Tatum. We look forward to having them back soon to spend more time.I spent most of this week sleeping when I could and loving on my kids. I also spent a good chunk of my time feeding Tatum. She has taken to nursing like a champion and is also a pretty good nighttime sleeper (but.....I do not want to jinx that in ANY way).

I was excited when Christmas eve came. Jack and I made a batch of cookies for Santa. Well, actually we made peanut butter ritz crackers dipped in white chocolate with sprinkles on top! Santa really liked his cookies this year :-)On Christmas eve we allowed Jack to open a few presents so that Christmas morning would not be SO overwhelming. We had gathered quite a collection of gifts from out of town family. I definitely want to post this picture for Gigi and Papa. Jack loves his new wind up train...Before bedtime I had to try to get a picture of Jack and Tatum together in their Christmas pajamas. This was the best I could do.....And, just in case you remember or care.....those are Jack's Christmas pajamas from last year but they still fit so I didn't see the need to get a different pair! And, a special thanks goes out to my parents for feeling the need to buy Tatum something to wear for her first Christmas. Christmas Day was the best! It's the first Christmas that I can remember in my whole entire life where I was able to stay in my pajamas all day long. We didn't go anywhere or do anything besides enjoy each other and Jack's new gifts. Usually we are busy visiting family and such but I wouldn't trade this year for anything. It was so special. Jack got to see his gift from Santa right when he walked down the stairs............a Mega Blocks Thomas set.It's pretty cool and unique because you have to build the tracks and trains out of legos so it inspires a little bit more creativity. Jack also got Connect 4 from Santa as he had requested months and months ago. Jack's words upon seeing what Santa brought him............"Wow.....this is what I've always wanted."

We got Jack a new game for the Wii. He is a little bit obsessed with Mario Kart. We have already had to set limits in the house for playing Mario. And, it's a pretty effective discipline tool as well. Jack sleeps with an "ugly doll" who is blue and named Big Toe. He thought it would be great to get Tatum a pink Big Toe for Christmas. She was so excited! Can't you tell?And, of course we had stockings too!What a great day we had! On Sunday we were able to get together with my parents and Brian and Kym and Addie Grace, Sawyer, and Landry to celebrate Christmas with my whole family. Highlights of that coming in another post.

Hope that your Christmas was wonderful this year! Oh yeah and sorry for the randomness of this post. You are getting this all from the brain of a new mom who is still in a somewhat foggy state of mind most of the time :-)