Christmas '08

The Christmas celebration began at Bill & Beth's house for Christmas Eve dinner. This was the beginnning of the spoilings..
Uncle Bill, Auntie Beth, Nick, Ian and Margaret (all soccer fans by the way) got Drew a kick-butt soccer uniform and his first pair of Sambas. Drew couldn't wait to get them on!

Drew also got his gifts from Grannie and Poppy. Here he is opening a new Thomas piece (Cranky Crane). He wouldn't let go of his gifts when it was time to go. The poor kid thought we were taking them away. He had to keep a very close eye on his loot as it was loaded into the car.
When we got home we hung our stockings by the chimney with care. We also left some cookies and egg nog for the big guy. Drew requested some Christmas books and then he was off to sleep.


Drew had a very exciting morning. He loved opening presents, but he wanted his time to take everything out of the box and play with it. I didn't think we would make it to church because it took him so long to get through everything. As much as we tried not to spoil him, he wound up very, very spoiled. I guess a kid doesn't really know the difference between TJMaxx discounted toys and full-price toys. He also has a big family who were very, very generous. He got so many new Thomas pieces and he is obsessed with them. All he wants to do is stay home and play with his new toys.


Lucy got a visit from Santa Paws

Drew enjoying one of his new toys...a remote control car. We got him a cheapo because we figured he would beat it up. He actually got the idea of using the remote control pretty quickly. He doesn't control it very well, but I thought he was pretty clever for picking up on it.
The Christmas celebration at our house started with a brunch with my mom, Laura and JR.
Drew just barely made it through the next round of opening gifts. He was so exhausted! He took a nap while we prepared for our next meal. My dad and Cindy joined us for a beef tenderloin dinner and then even more gifts! Drew got the Thomas Roundhouse and just loves it!
Although it looks like all Drew got was Thomas, he did also get lots of books, puzzles, trucks and so on....

We went to visit Andy's sisters and their families in CT on Friday and Drew had a blast. Of course his cousins had some very cool stuff for him to play with and they spoiled him with gifts as well.

We are headed to my grandparents tomorrow for even more celebrating! I am sure Drew will be more than happy to see what is in store for him there.
We had a wonderful Christmas! It was so much fun watching Drew enjoy the holiday. I am already looking forward to next Christmas when we will have double the excitement!

A Look Back

Some photos of Christmas 2007 (because I can't wait for this one!).

Flying Saucer

We are trying to make the best of all of this snow. It has pretty much been going non-stop since Friday afternoon. I think we have probably gotten over 1.5'. We got Drew a new sled and he had such a good time on it. We got a saucer, thinking that he and Andy would be doing it together - but Drew wanted to try it on his own. He had so much more fun by himself..I guess dad was slowing it down for him. Our yard is completely flat, but Grannie and Poppy have a perfect Drew-sized hill.

"I can't get up!....Ralphie!"

Snow...uggh

We had a fun-filled day today! This morning we had a pre-Christmas play/coffee date with our friends Carolyn and Logan. The boys have lots of fun together.

This afternoon/evening is our first big snow storm of the season. We are expecting over 1' and Drew couldn't be happier about it. I, on the other hand am not so much. Bundling up my preggo self as well as a squirmy 2 year old is not my idea of fun. Some things I DO like about snow storms:

Watching from INSIDE...

Sipping hot cocoa.....

Seeing how cute Drew is AFTER he is all bundled up....

Saying goodbye to my boys as they go out to play.....

And watching all of the fun from INSIDE!

You are probably saying "come on, aren't you from New England?" and the answer is yes, and I do like snow, but it is different when you don't have a coat that will zip over your belly and get winded easily because your belly is so high that it even shocked your doctor at how high you are carrying. So putting on boots and trudging through the snow in an unzipped coat has made me a little anti-snow this year. I am sure I will come back around to it once the boys can put on their own boots..but for now it just stinks*

*not my first choice of words, but probably the most appropriate for the baby blog.

Catch Up

It has been a bit since I have posted, so I am going to just play a little catch up and give a sample of photos from the week. All of the Christmas preparations have kept me a little off of my blogging game, but hopefully I will get a little better at it after the holidays!

Drew and Graham waiting in line for Santa....this was just before each of them had horrifing photo ops with the big guy.
Our trip to see the "Millis Wonderland". We were quite impressed - by the lights and the fact that there was NO LINE! Drew's new line in the car is "I SEE MORE WIGHTS THAT WAY!"

There are 3 "reindeer" (as Drew likes to call them), that have been coming to our back yard on a daily basis. They have found my pumpkins and seem to be enjoying them. I am very tempted to toss some apples back there, but I am not sure if that is a great idea with the potential for all of the other crazy wildlife we have back there to come out.

Drew having fun with his "pay-do".

The stuff that comes out of Drews mouth on a daily basis is just hysterical. One afternoon, I turned on the tv and Barak Obama was giving a speech. I over heard him mimic the news a few nights prior saying "Barak Obama", so I pointed to him and asked who it was (now he was in the middle of his speech so no one said his name)...and he responded "Barak Obama". I almost fell over. No one has taught him that one.

We took one of our almost daily trips through Dunkin Donuts the other day and my order was $2.6o something, so I handed over $3 and started to drive off. As I was pulling away Drew yells from the back "keep the change!"

We have to be so careful what we say around the house because this kid picks up on everything! He also has an excellent memory and likes to tell stories to strangers. For example, we were doing some Christmas shopping a few days ago and he told the person helping us all about "Daddy up in attic" (when he was putting in insulation 4 days prior). So all this from a not-quite-2-year-old.....what can we look forward to in the next year or so? I am not sure I want to know.

"be bery bery careful"

This is Drew's new mantra around the Christmas tree. He is pretty good about only touching with one finger. I did make the huge mistake of buying glass car ornaments that he is now obsessed with. I don't think he has even noticed the rest of the tree yet.I almost died when I saw this at the store. Drew is a hot dog fanatic and this must have been made just for him.
I had been looking for a way to introduce Drew to the religious importance of Christmas, and when I pulled out the manger a lightbulb went off...perfect! We are going to do it the proper way this year and put baby Jesus in on Christmas Eve.

Santa Visit

not quite what I expected....but I think it is priceless!

Santa Parade

It took a lot of struggling with Drew to get him bundled up and out of the house, but we made it (sort of) to the Santa Parade that the town hosts every year. I say sort of because I guess we missed Santa who must have come first. I always thought santa came at the end? We didn't wait in line for pictures this year, but Drew had fun watching the high school band play Christmas carols on the "town hill".

Earlier in the day, Drew played with the snow in the driveway...
...and had a little snowball fight with Dad.

Tis the Season

...for Christmas parties!

We took Drew to a party at our friends Michelle and Mike's last night. Drew was a little wild, but overall a good boy. His dinner consited of a chocolate chip cookie and he stayed up until 9:00...but what are the holidays without a sugar overdose and being over tired?

The party was a blast, eventhough I can't enjoy the holiday beverages :). They had a Yankee Swap and I had retribution for my #2 position last year....#1 this year! I had my choice of anything and what did I pick? Beer and scratch tickets. Did I pick the gingerbread house kit for my kid? Nope. Did I pick the picnic basket for myself? Nope. I picked the beer for my husband...whom I felt guilty for because he was chasing Drew around while I took part in the swap. Ok, maybe the scratchies were for me...

Drew, Logan and Ryan

Same boys, same party last year

Carolyn reading Thomas to the kids by the fire

All of the Yankee Swap action

Thanksgiving

Last year, I was so excited to cook a Thanksgiving meal. This year, I was all too excited not to cook at all! We had our dinner at Andy's parents with a large group of family.

Prior to the meal, we went to the XBHS football game where Drew kept yelling "go hawks"....however instead of a fist pump in the air, he did a hand motion like he was shoving the dog away. I don't think he quite got the concept of cheering.

Dinner landed right around Drews naptime, and he was getting tough, so we gave him lunch and tried to get him down for a nap. He wasn't having it. He was exhausted, but he knew there were lots of people downstairs to play with. So after trying for a while we gave up and he sat at the table and joined us for turkey (with ketchup).

After dinner, Drew went outside with his cousins and ran, and ran, and ran.....
I have started talking to Drew about Christmas and he is soooo excited. He knows that Santa is coming, and that he is bringing him toys. He loves to see snowmen and Santa all over the place - and he has a good eye so he finds them everywear! I started thinking that I should probably discuss the religious meaning of Christmas and focus a little less on the commercial...but he just loves those blow-up yard decorations! Seriously though, I would like to teach him about Jesus, I just don't really know where to start with an almost 2 year old. Hopefully I will find a small way to get it in his head that it is not just about the toys and decorations and candy etc... But I do know that I am more excited about this Christmas than any other and it is going to be so, so hard not to spoil him rotten just to hear him say "OH WOW....WOOKIT THAT!!"