We had a wonderful Christmas season with the kiddos which started right after Thanksgiving when we put the Christmas tree up. We call Evan the "Cheer-mister" like in Jim Carey's The Grinch movie because he is ALL about the Christmas season! He's actually STILL singing Jingle Bells at least once a day (no joke). Evan lives and breathes Christmas from the decorations to the treats, songs and presents.
As expected, Tyler DID NOT like Santa. At all.....
We thought that maybe sitting NEXT to Santa would help. Clearly we were wrong.
Here's Evan at the exact same age meeting Santa.....
And here's Evan now. Santa is his best friend!
Grandma & Grandpa Anderson came with us to visit Santa at The Henry Ford Museum.
Another Santa visit with the Ellis family! Tyler still wasn't digging it but was better with Mommy holding him.
We took a fun "sleigh" ride to the North Pole.
Deep conversations with Santa. Evan met probably 5 Santa's in December and he told each one that he wanted a lizard. I quickly had to clarify that meant a TOY lizard!
Next year this picture will have TWO more cousins/grandkids! Baby Ellis & Baby Hergott!
Evan loved decorating the Christmas tree. When he's hard at work he bites his tongue like this; so cute. Since Tyler loves to pull the ornaments off the tree, our tree was decorated starting half way up to the top.
Buddy the Elf appeared in our house the day after Thanksgiving.
The #1 rule with Buddy is you can't touch him or he goes back to the North Pole. AND, if you misbehave or don't listen, he reports back to Santa.
Tree festival in Milford. Tyler could barely move in all his warm gear!
The boys saw Santa arrive in a fire truck at the parade!
Buddy is so crafty
Buddy set-up camp on our counter. Inside the toilet are little tootsie rolls.....Erik ate one and Evan told all his friends "My Dad at Buddy's poop! Buddy poops tootsie rolls!"
"Buddy" hard at work setting up his next adventure in the house. Not sure who enjoyed Buddy more...Erik or Evan. ;) Tyler would just point at Buddy with a confused/concerned look on his face and say "Huh?"
Evan's church school sang "Jesus Loves Me" at mass. It was adorable!
We love our visits with Nia & Guh. So much fun having them part of the boys lives!
Christmas Eve
Evan helped hand out gifts for everyone. Of course he had the largest pile!
Tyler probably receiving 200 balls for Christmas. And he loves every single one and knows where they are at all times. He is OBSESSED with balls.
A fun game for the family!
Erik made this sword for Evan. A keepsake!
Uncle David, Aunt Stacy & Neville with the boys on Christmas Eve
Santa came to our house!
Evan's letter to Santa
Buddy waited next to the cookies & milk for Santa to arrive and take him home to the North Pole until next year!
Evan woke around 7 a.m. Christmas morning and played in his room until 8 a.m. when we finally woke up Tyler. I was amazed at how patiently Evan waited for Tyler to wake up! After the chaotic fun of present opening, we had a yummy breakfast cooked on my new skillet (the gifts we look forward to when we get older...).
Our family room a few days after Christmas. I hate to say but it still looks like this in February!
Tyler LOVES his new slide, can you tell?
Christmas Day dinner at the kids table...and also where the dogs hung out.
Aunt Kristie & Tyler opening gifts
We had an awesome Christmas with the boys and our family. I couldn't imagine the holiday season without kiddos to enjoy it with. Seeing it all through their eyes is amazing. Their pure belief in all the magic and the happiness in their smiles & excitement at every Christmas party, Santa visit, and with every gift opened. Hard to believe this was Evan's 4th Christmas and Tyler's 2nd already! We will continue to soak up these moments as long as we can!
Evan - this is picture you drew of our family at Christmas. Thank you for thinking your Dad and I are the same height and that I have long legs. :) Also, not sure why Tyler has two torsos...or he's standing on a bench to be tall. I absolutely LOVE your drawings and imagination. You amaze me!
Tyler - while you didn't really understand what was going on the whole month of December, it was still so much fun to see you take it all in. You probably wondered why we kept putting you on a fat man's lap dressed in a red suit with a beard (what the heck Mom, again!?). I simply CANNOT get enough of your smiles!!
And now for some random pictures from the rest of Christmas "vacation"....our "stay-cation" here in beautiful Michigan.....
Sometimes Tyler randomly strikes this pose, wanting us to flip him over to do a somersault.
I took the boys bowling with Moms Club and they loved it. Obviously Tyler loved the bowling balls and I constantly chased him around (and up and down the bowling lane...).
Look at that power!
Taking a break from the holiday fun snuggling with Lucy
Happy 2015! This is our idea of a party now that we have kids!
My sweet boys
The kids ate A LOT of chocolate and popcorn and "fizzy juice."
My partners in crime! We help each other get through these crazy toddler years!
New Years selfie!
Evan & his buddy Sam. Sam is cool because he has Sky Landers!!
Evan does a great job writing his letters and will often sit down and write in his "journal"
He will write random letters, very neatly. Then ask me what words he wrote...hmmm...
My studious little man (notice the tongue again)
And my little artist
Meet Tyler's best friend, Monkey. Monkey was actually a gift to Evan from Nia....but I don't think Evan will get Monkey back anytime soon. The other day I tore the house apart trying to find Monkey so Tyler would nap.
Monkey loves the snow. And I swear I put Tyler's hat on better than this normally!
Tyler always sleeps on top of Monkey. One night I tried to move Monkey and Tyler opened both eyes, glared at me, then went back to sleep....
Evan is SUPER creative....he made a game for us to play, all on his own. He made the game board and the pieces and even made up his own rules to the game.
This one REALLY impressed me. After watching the movie Dragons, Evan made this paper dragon ALL BY HIMSELF!!! He's super detailed and precise when it comes to drawing and using scissors.
Some light reading of the Wall Street Journal (tongue again!)
Evan is good about playing quietly in his room either reading or building things. Here's his "castle" he built (when he was supposed to be sleeping but oh well!).
I am SUCH a lucky Momma to have these two sweet boys in my life!! I simply cannot get enough of their smiles & giggles....even on the rough days, I know THESE are the BEST DAYS OF MY LIFE!
XOXO,
Mommy
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