Merry Christmas!

This was our first Christmas as a family of FOUR! 

Amazing how life can change in just a year!

Halen really enjoyed his first Christmas.... all the lights, the family time and of course...opening PRESENTS!!

Our Little Santa

At first he wasn't too sure what to do with everything, but with some help from Madi he was a pro in no time! He did have a hard time leaving all the ornaments on the tree alone though, (We strategically waited until it was pretty close to Christmas to get our tree up & decorated! It was way too enticing for our little man!) But, luckily all the pretty, sparkly ornaments survived! 

This year Madi was really able to get into the holiday spirit as well..

(She really loves to TWIRL in her fancy dress!!) 

 She's old enough now to really get excited about everything going on this time of year. She was head over heels in LOVE with all the Christmas lights all around! She worked hard to learn a few Christmas carols & is now able to sing along to quite a few of them! (Every time we got in the car she would ask to listen to Christmas songs... then if it was one she had never heard before or one that didn't mention "Christmas" right away she would say "Hey! This isn't Christmas! I wanna hear the Christmas songs!!!" haha!) She also learned a bit about Santa too!.... Here she is watching a video sent to HER from SANTA!!

At first I didn't think she really "got" it... but then a couple days later I realized she really was paying close attention! I overheard her telling her cousin that Santa told her she had to be nice to her little brother, otherwise he might not stop by to bring her presents!! 

We spent Christmas Eve, as per our family tradition, eating yummy food (LOTS of desserts!!) and opening gifts with family at our house...Grandma (Liz's Mom), Ashley & Paul...Grandpa (Liz's dad) & Allison, Jen & Mike + their kiddos ...Jon & Dawn + their girls... plus Liz's Aunt & Uncle  (We were sad that Liz's cousins weren't able to make it to town this year...but, their absence was for good reason though.... a new baby was on his way!!)  

Sharing the holidays with the kids is the best! Seeing their excitement & the magic in their eyes is the best present we could receive!