Merry Christmas!

I don't even know where to begin - this has been such an amazing holiday! We started off the celebration with almost 50 people over last night. Wow, that was a lot of people. All went well thanks to the efforts of my Aunt Carm and Nonna Carlotta. I couldn't have done it without them.









Most of my pictures are of Will because Max just wouldn't stay still he was just too excited. Will is battling a bit of a cold and only napped for about 30 minutes yesterday so I have to admit I was REALLY worried about how he would deal with the celebration. He was actually a little trooper! He posed for pictures with two of my wonderful Great Uncles.

Max was all excited to put out the cookies he had baked for Santa, but I think he was even more excited to sprinkle the special reindeer food with Nonna.



By far the highlight of the evening, other than the great food and fabulous company of course, was a surprise visit my Santa. The kids were so excited! Max was nervous but thrilled to be standing next to Santa. Graham had no fear and was chatting up a storm. Paisley wasn't so sure. Santa's visit was short, you know he has lots of boys and girls to see so he had to get on his way, but I think it is something the kids will remember for quite a while.





This morning Max couldn't wait to come downstairs to see if Santa did indeed bring his car garage. He was so excited when he saw the garage with Santa's note. Will was just excited by all of the pretty paper and bows. Although he did take a break from the paper to check out his toy from Santa. We had an amazing relaxing morning playing with the boys new toys and enjoying breakfast together - not to mention lots of coffee, hosting a holiday is exhausting!

Once we were rejuvenated we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a little low key brunch. It was so nice to relax and chat. Max is always super excited to see his cousins.

Mommy got a new camera lens for Christmas. I think I need to figure out how to get both kids in focus in the same shot . . . I guess I'll just have to practice and take more pictures of my beautiful little boys. Darn. Merry Christmas everyone!

Preparing for Santa

Last night we began our Santa preparations. Max worked with his Great Aunt Carm to make cookies for Santa. He loved every minute of the attention as she showed him how to place the cookies on the pan.

Once the cookies were made Max wanted to write a letter to Santa telling him what he wants for Christmas. I know we are a tad bit late, but I think Santa will get the message.
"Dear Santa, I want a garage for my cars please, thank you. Merry Christmas. Max" I helped him with the writing, but he came up with the words all on his own.

Today we caught him looking up the chimney. He told us that Santa is going to hold on to the flue to help come into the house. I can't wait to see how excited he is tomorrow morning when he realizes that Santa has visited. So much fun!

8 Months + 1 Day

I sit here looking at the Christmas tree. Both boys are asleep and my list of things to do is a million items long. How am I spending this precious time? Blogging. I love reflecting each month on Will and the changes I see with him. I feel like I need to keep in mind Ferris Bueller's famous quote "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while you could miss it."

Will changes so much from day to day. He still just has two teeth although the drool hasn't slowed down at all, so more must be coming. Just in the last week or so he has begun pulling up to his knees. He wants so badly to be able to stand. While he is an expert roller, he hasn't shown too much interest in trying to crawl. I need to work on giving him opportunities to practice while I'm home over winter break. After a little tough love from mommy he is sleeping thought the night - from 7pm until about 6am. Thank goodness - three nursing sessions a night was getting very, very old.

Brian and I are constantly amazed by the amount of babble we hear from him. We joke that he is more verbal now than Max was at 18 months. He loves to hear himself 'talk' in the car. Will has also gotten the hang of eating something other than milk - which I appreciate. He loves fruits, except for bananas. This is rather funny to me because I swear Max would be happy to live off of nothing other than bananas. Will tolerates green beans and carrots, but makes the most awful face for peas, squash, and sweet potatoes.

Probably my favorite thing about Will right now is his love for his big brother. He lights up when Max walks into a room and calms down whenever Max talks to him. What makes it even more adorable is that the feeling is mutual. Max loves Will more than anything. Max hates to see Will upset and he does anything in his power to make it better. The other night in the car Will was upset. We pulled up to a stop light and Max leaned over to him and said "It's okay Baby Will, it's only a red light." Too sweet.

I guess I took my moment to slow down and reflect, now it is time to get back to that to do list. It seems to be pretty long when you are preparing to host Christmas Eve for 40+ people. Remind me again what I was thinking when I volunteered for this? Oh yeah, that's right. I love my family very much and I wanted to give my sweet Aunt Carm a break.

Christmas with the Klippels

Uncle Will and Aunt Sue were in town from New York so we had an early Christmas celebration with the Klippels this past weekend. The boys were all excited - or at least Max was. Will was actually a bit cranky due to a shorter than necessary afternoon nap. He did perk up a bit to play with his Uncle Mason.

The boys posed for a few pictures in front of the tree. I have to say they look pretty cute! After a fabulous dinner we gathered around the tree to open presents. Will was pretty excited just to hold on to his gift - and try to chew on it. Max was more than willing to show his little brother how it should be done.

A good time was had by all. We are just so incredibly fortunate to have such wonderful people in our lives! We look forward to a few more Christmas celebrations to come over the next few weeks.

Oh, Christmas Tree

Trying to get the Christmas tree up with all the other craziness going on was a bit tough. In fact for the first year ever I didn't pick out my own tree. Brian headed to Costco, paid $30 at the checkout and picked up a wrapped tree from the truck on the parking lot. I have to say I was very pessimistic - how could this tree possibly be up to my standards? I'm happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised. Max helped us get the tree in it's stand on Saturday night. Baby Will was all excited about helping with the lights. He kept putting them in his mouth - just like everything else. He was also pretty excited about this crazy green thing in his living room. Something new for him to explore.

The tree is now all decorated and Max gets all excited everything he sees it. Baby Will seems to love it too. I just love Christmas!

Breakfast with Santa

We were fortunate enough to meet my Aunt and Uncle for mass this morning before heading to breakfast with Santa. Max was all excited to see Santa - and eat pancakes. Will was just excited to have lots of people to watch, a teether to chew on, and some pears to eat. Now that his tummy is better, he is finally getting the hang of eating something other than milk.

Max waited in line with daddy and couldn't wait to get to the big guy. He walked right up to Santa and stood near him without any fear. I think he was more concerned with what Santa might do with his sweet Baby Will. They love each other so much already - it melts my heart. Baby Will was okay for a bit, but then he decided he wasn't too sure about the jolly old guy.

I have to admit that I'm disappointed with my pictures today. I really need to get the hang of my camera. For some reason a bunch of them turned out blurry.

Christmas Lights

The stockings may not be hung with care quite yet, but the lights are! Brian and I started the lights while both boys were napping and after Max woke up he joined in on the fun. Daddy even let him climb a step or two on the ladder - Max has been very excited about the ladder. Last Christmas we had been in the house for less than a month, so I was just happy to get a tree up. This year Max is all excited and we are hosting Christmas Eve, so I feel like we need to step it up a notch or two.

Will woke up just in time to see the finished product and pose for a picture. I love that Will is wearing a little Truman State jacket. This was the first piece of baby gear I bought when I was pregnant with Max. It has special meaning since Truman is where Brian and I met. It is hard to believe that we met so long ago. I swear I can't imagine my life without any of these three very special boys.

Tomorrow morning should be lots of fun. We are meeting my Aunt and Uncle at St. Ambrose for 9am mass and then we will head to the gym for breakfast with Santa. I'm curious to see how the boys react to the big man in the red suit. So far I think Max is just excited that we will get to have pancakes - it's his favorite.

Wild Man

After bath tonight Max was modeling some wild man hair. He is just too darn cute. He was pretty proud of his crazy hair. I think he needs a haircut.

Max is really into the idea of Christmas this year. Max knows that Christmas is coming and he knows that it is Jesus' birthday. He also knows that Santa comes into play in some way, but doesn't quite get what he has to do with gifts. I think his favorite part of the holiday season so far is looking for Christmas lights as we drive around. He now chants 'Christmas lights, Christmas lights, ho ho ho' whenever he sees lights. This is exactly what my mom and I did when I was little so it brings a huge smile to my face. Tomorrow's goal is to get our own Christmas lights on the house.