Christmas...Oh my!

A whole blog of just Christmas.  Never mind the fact that we just celebrated Valentine's.

Brayden's picture with Santa this year at Diamond T in Mt. Pleasant.  This poor man!  He was the Santa at Pilgrim Bank when I worked there.  He's such a nice person and always tries his best with each child to make them happy, but Brayden was not having it this year.

We went to the Christmas Eve service at our church, then our pastor and his wife, Steve and Donna, joined Nick, Brayden, myself, Joe, and Melanie at our house for finger foods.  Melanie's oven randomly went out, and she and I tagged team all day Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to get all of the food cooked. We had a great time fellowshipping with everyone, then Brayden got a bath, into his Christmas jammies, and then Daddy read "Twas the Night Before Christmas."  Such wonderful memories.  After putting Bray to bed, we played Santa.  So much fun!

We woke up around 7:00 Christmas morning and ate breakfast before heading to the living room to open presents.  Brayden gets "hangry" when he doesn't eat, so we decided to make Christmas present opening more enjoyable with food beforehand.

It was so cute, Brayden walked in to the dining room where we had put our big tree and walked straight past his new presents from Santa and went straight for his ball pit he got at his birthday.  I should have seen that one coming.  In the future, I'll make sure favorite toys are put up before Christmas morning.

Brayden received a VTech Go! Go! Smart Wheels train set, Melissa & Doug pots & pans set, Brudder dump truck, and other odds and ends from Santa.  And he got books and clothes from Momma & Daddy.  Thankfully, I was able to get most of his Christmas bought on Black Friday and was able to get good deals.

The dogs got big, new bones.  They immediately tore into them, then both got sick later.  They're not used to bones that are quite so rich.  Whoops.

We hosted the Robertson family for Christmas this year.  We had so much fun!  Joe & Melanie arrived right before we did Santa gifts.  So they were able to take pictures of the opening.  Alan, Tovah, and Owen arrived for lunch then we did presents with all of the Robertsons.  The food was scrumptious, as always.  Husband smoked the meat and did a great job.  Owen loved the Jake & the Neverland Pirates hide out we got him.  Oma & Joepa got Brayden lots of goodies including a battery powered four wheeler.  He has LOVED it!

After present opening, we all took naps/watched a movie.  My parents and Sister came down mid-afternoon.  We visited the rest of the day until Brayden had to go to bed.

Four of us on the sofa!

On Friday, Nick, Brayden, and I headed to New Boston to spend the night and do all the present opening with my family.  We opened presents Friday night and celebrated Christmas with my Dad's family on Saturday.  Brayden received a Dusty ride on plane from Harpo & Bibi to stay in New Boston to play on when we're there.  He's finally getting the hang of it.  And we all enjoyed watching Planes: Fire & Rescue that Sassy got Bray.  My dad got a remote controlled helicopter.  We've all loved it!  The dogs bite at it, but it's really funny.  My mom got a keyboard and has loved playing with it with the help of Bray.  Brayden also got some awesome color changing bath tablets from Harpo & Bibi and had to give them a try while there.   He also received a small chair for him to lounge in at home from my Aunt Gena and Uncle David.  It's too cute!  He's spoiled rotten and got lots of goodies including legos and a handmade toboggan.  Love!

About to drop Tex off at Joe & Melanie's. :)

Had to drive him around to get him to take a nap. :)

Nick & I decided to buy a big gift for both of our Christmas gifts this year.  We finally got a king-sized bed for us!  We absolutely love it!  And Nick got me a new bed set for it for my birthday.  Big kid presents rock. :)

Middle-ish of December...Oh MY!

Christmas, Christmas, Christmas!

I love the Christmas season, but it's even better with a little one in tow.  Just to see everything through their eyes is a blast.

Random, non Christmas related picture of Bray and Nick. :)  Love his overalls!

Some of our good friends, Cheesy & Martin, have a little girl named Hartley who had to be in the hospital for a couple of days due to some sickness she couldn't shake.  I went to visit her one day.  She was just as sweet as could be. 

On December 17th, Kids Academy had a Christmas party for the kiddies.  They got to wear their Christmas jammies to school.  Love these kiddos!

Brayden has to get hair cuts every 3 to 4 weeks.  His hair is super thick, and his hats won't go on his head if his hair is too big.  But he doesn't mind as long as he gets his endless supply of suckers. :)

Nick turned 27 on December 19th!  We celebrated by having a completely fun day.  The good Lord was smiling down on us and made it rain, so Nick didn't have to worry about getting guys to job sites.  People don't expect much to happen in the landscaping world when it's raining.  We were given tickets to go see Gilmer play the championship football game at Jerry World by Ewing, a company Nick buys from.  We headed to Dallas after dropping Bray off at Kids Academy.  We had a lot of fun at the game and were excited for Gilmer to win.  It was our first time seeing Jerry World up close and personal (instead of just driving by).  Very cool stadium!  After the game, we hopped in the car and headed to Kilgore to meet up with Nick's parents (who had picked up Brayden for us) and Nick's aunt & uncle for dinner at County Tavern.  Melanie also brought a surprise for Nick from me, a strawberry cheesecake from Flora Dee's.  He was super excited about it!  After dinner, we went to McDonald's in Kilgore to visit and let Bray play in the Play Place.  There were two older kids there, and they were loving playing with Brayden. :)

On December 20th, Melanie went with Brayden and I to Sulphur Springs to do a little Christmas shopping.  Melanie needed some new blue jeans too.  We hit up the Lee Outlet for her (and got some cute jammies for Owen for Christmas).  Then we went to the kitchen store in the outlet mall.  Melanie got lots of goodies for mine, Nick's, and Tovah's stockings.  Then we went to eat at Panda Express and finished the trip at Wal-Mart getting last minute goodies for our stockings.  Brayden did so well the entire time and was pooped on the way home.

That evening, Brayden and I headed to a friend's wedding close to Texarkana.  Harpo ended up having to take Brayden off to entertain him because he was having none of this "be quiet and sit still" nonsense that I was trying to make him do.  :)  It was a beautiful and fun wedding.  We didn't stay very long into the reception because Brayden was starving.  We went to Pizza Inn, and Bibi gave Bray his very first ice cream cone.  He LOVED it!  Then we headed back to New Boston.  Harpo and Bibi got Bray some very cute Superman pjs, so he had to model them before the two of us headed back to Daddy in Pittsburg.

Just a picture of this cutie snuggling Oscar.

On December 21st, I, along with some great chaperones, took a total of 40 kids and adults to eat at DQ and see Santa at The North Pole of Texas.  The kids all enjoyed it, I didn't loose anyone, and we all had a great time!

Brayden's teacher made this sweet ornament for us for Christmas.

The last two weeks of December, Kids Academy was closed due to Christmas break.  Brayden got to do a lot of running around with Momma.  This was one of those days, and he was so tired!  He slept on me while running errands.  Sweet boy. :)

Onto the Christmas post next!