Christmas 2009

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas. It's a pretty long post, but there were so many things that I wanted to make sure I recorded them. Christmas this year was extra special for so many reasons, among them included the arrival of our precious little girl and seeing Nicholas fully taking in the Christmas experience. He had a good time w/ opening his gifts last year, but this year, he was filled w/ anticipation about everything. It was awesome to witness. I daresay Scott was even more excited than Nick was. He wanted to make sure Nick's "first" Christmas was one to remember and thus look forward to every year. I believe he accomplished his goal.

It was a busy week leading up to Christmas. Scott's family came in the week before and my family came up the week of. It was a week long extravaganza of festivities that culminated w/ us being at home for Christmas morning for the first time ever. Before I get to that, I just wanted to highlight a few things along the way.

**Elf Stays on the Shelf**
This tradition lasted all of 4 days, and said elf sat in the same spot until we packed him away for next year. Nick really didn't want anything to do w/ him. The only reason he even acknowledged it was his concern w/ what this guy was going to tell Santa. I was able to threaten him w/ the elf a few times, but even that didn't last long. He didn't even bother to name him. I must admit, it's a bit creepy looking to me. Oh well, maybe next year.

**Caroling Caroling**
Nick loved Christmas music. He would ask me every night to sing him Christmas carols instead of lullabies. I love it, too, but he has an innate ability to take something you love and drive you crazy w/ it. His two favorites... Joy to the World and the 12 Days of Christmas. He sang and listened to those songs incessantly. Incessantly. "Mommy, can you play that again?" "Again, Mommy." "One more time."

**Serious Business**
He took the business of being Naughty or Nice very seriously. We couldn't watch a Christmas show w/out him pointing out the ENTIRE time who wasn't being very nice. You can imagine how this played out during the Grinch and Home Alone.

**Christmas w/ the Robinsons**
Scott's family came to celebrate w/ us the week before Christmas. Nick absolutely loves seeing Scott's parents and his Aunt Jill and Uncle Denis. He knew they were coming in on his last day of school and he could talk of nothing else. He got to visit Santa, go bowling, pick out toys and eat endless amounts of cookies and candy. That was just on the first day!

One of the things Scott and I started this year was letting Nick pick out presents for everyone. He loved doing this ,and we loved taking him and seeing what he would come up with. He picked out a mini globe for his Grandad, a pair of candlesticks for his Magi, an eye pillow for Jill and Grinch boxer shorts for Denis. Not too shabby for his first excursion.

One of his favorite things in his stocking was the big calculator.

Scott's mom got Abby this Madame Alexander doll. She's going to love playing w/ it when she older.

**Christmas w/ the Trans**
My family broke w/ tradition this year and celebrated Christmas up here. We didn't change it too much as we still had our festivities on Christmas eve. My brother, Steve, was kind enough to host. It was such a fun time, especially since Huy and Shannon were able to spend it w/ us. We didn't last until midnight, there was the weather to contend w/ and getting a certain little boy to bed before Santa arrived. So we have our tasty dinner and proceeded to let Nick open his presents. It looked like so much fun that everyone ended up opening theirs as well.

My favorite part of the night was when Nick handed out the presents he picked out. You should have seen how proud he was of himself. We were pretty proud, too. He's a special little guy. He picked out for my dad a silver decorative piece that spelled out peace. For my mom, a silver ring holder in the shape of an elephant. For Steve, he picked out a big green ornament. For Huy, a baby plaque like thing. I'm still not sure what the heck that was. For Shannon, Disney princess playing cards. And for Nghia, a driftwood sign that said, "don't feed the sharks."

**Christmas Day**
Before turning in for the night, he left out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots and oats for the reindeer outside. After making sure he was out, Scott proceeded to get all the toys from Santa put together and out on display. I helped by dozing on the couch. We got ourselves up fairly early Christmas morning as we wanted to catch his reaction. Of course he decided to sleep in. He woke up to find a stocking in his bed. He would have been content to play w/ what he had then. But he had to check if to see if Santa ate his cookies. I think he was more than satisfied when he found the note left by Santa. We let him open his presents at his pace. He would open a present, play w/ it for a while and then moved on. Don't worry, Abby was not forgotten, although she spent most of the day snoozing and watching her big brother. Scott told Nick that today he could eat all the candy and cookies he wanted and could stay up as late as he wanted. He took us up on the offer. He said he was going to stay up until 9 o'clock. My absolute favorite part was snuggling w/ him on the couch watching a movie at the end of the day. He was clearly exhausted, but determined to stay up. As soon as the clock said 9, he was out.

He picked out this green polo for his Daddy all by himself.

My gift was a black "russian" hat and a big black ring. I love it!

I made this xmas tutu for Abby.

The end of a long, but blissful day.

It was just a fantastic Christmas. We had so many things to be thankful for this year. Thanks to Scott's family for traveling the long distance to be with us. We loved every minute of it. Thanks to my family for traveling to be with us, as well as the free babysitting. I would never have gotten any shopping done! Thank you all so much for loving and spoiling our kids. They are truly blessed. And last but not least, thank you to my sweet hubby. Nicholas would not have had the best Christmas ever! had it not been for your endless effort and enthusiasm.

Christmas Story

Warning: Long Post (oh, not like you've got anything else going on)

I hope everyone had a joyous Christmas! Can't believe it's over and another year is almost at an end. We had a super fabulous Christmas and feel truly blessed that that we were able to spend it w/ our loved ones.

Before xmas I had grand schemes of blogging in detail of our holiday adventure. But, that vision has been replaced by a more practical and realistic plan which is to blog about what I can remember at this moment. We had Christmas w/ Scott's family the weekend b/f and then went to Fort Smith for Christmas w/ my family. Instead of doing individual posts, I thought I share some of our favorite moments and images, in no particular order. We'll see how this goes. I'm sure memories will come pouring forth as I type.

** Crafts made by Nick in school **

Is this not the cutest?

**Pictures of Nick**
Nick had his picture taken a couple of weeks back by our family friend, Abraham. It was his first time photographing a toddler (a very uncooperative one I might add). I thought he did a great job. Here are a couple of our favorites.

** The Gift Game **
Scott's mom started this great tradition a few years back w/ me and Jill (Scott's sister) and expanded it to include Scott and Denis (Jill's husband) since they wanted in on the fun. We usually head out for a day of shopping when they arrive for last minute gifts. She gives us money b/f we hit the stores, but stipulates that it needs to be spent a certain way and/or in a set amount of time or we have to return the money. The first year Jill and I were required to spend all of our money w/in 1 hour on anything as long as it was for ourselves. Trust me, we had no problem with that challenge. This year our game was a bit different. She gave each couple money and told us we had to give the money away how ever we saw fit. Once we did that we would receive our gift. Of course we could have stuffed all of it in a kettle, but we wanted to be more thoughtful about it, as I'm sure that was her intention. It really was a wonderful idea, a great reminder that giving during Christmas is not restricted just to your family and friends.

** Towel Spa **
I got many fantastic gifts this year (but not one ProCaulk tool, does anyone read this blog?!). One of my favorites is from my incredibly thoughtful husband, Scott. It's the Towel Spa. It's a box that heats up your towel (or robe, gloves, etc...). Imagine stepping out of the shower on a frigid morning and wrapping yourself in a nice, warm towel as if right out of the dryer. Well, imagine no more! I actually put my robe in it. Heaven.

** Christmas Eve **
I think it's part family made tradition and part culture, but as long as I can remember, Christmas eve has always been the big night for my family. Way back when, my family would gather on Christmas eve and hang out, get in a good nap, go to midnight mass, come home and have a huge feast and then open presents. Seriously, we'd be up until 3 or 4 in the morning, at least. Fast forward 20 or so years. I can barely keep my eyes open during midnight mass (don't worry, I'm praying in my head) much less come home to a huge turkey dinner and presents. So we adjust, especially since we've got Nick and it's all about Nick according to my mom. This year we had dinner at a normal time, 6pm, at my Aunt Tam and Uncle Peter's house. Then we came home and let Nick open some of his presents. We saved some for the next day, just so he wouldn't overload on presents. Rough life, indeed. After Nick opened his loot, we made the the executive decision to open ours. Watching Nick open his presents whetted our appetite, so we thought what the heck. We wrapped up just in time for midnight mass. We all crashed when we got home and slept in the next morning. A bit nontraditional, but I wouldn't want it any other way.

** Reinforcing Stereotypes **
My parents love karaoke. My brother, Nghia, got them these fancy new wireless microphones to replace their old ones. Guess who else took a liking to it?

Is his hair not ridiculous?

That's it for now. I was expecting a floodgate (that word looks so weird. flood.) of memories, but there must be a bottleneck. I'll be back once I've had some coffee and clear the cobwebs from my head. I'll load a slideshow as soon as I get all the pictures loaded onto phanfare. Love to all.

So Crafty

Hi, hope everyone is well. Been under the weather and blogging was at the bottom of a list of things to catch up on. And with that, let's get started shall we?

I am by far the least crafty person around, but I'm trying since Nick loves them so much. A few days ago, we made ice cream cone xmas trees. Nick loved it. I suspect anything involving frosting would score pretty high w/ him. I got the idea for this craft here. Beth had it on her blog a few days back. It's a really great site, and one of these days I'll attempt to do 1% of what this woman does.

Oh Christmas Tree

Well, we finally got the Christmas tree up. Standard fare, no garland, no topper. Nick helped us out by "showing" us where he wanted to place his ornaments. In reality, we kinda guided him along about where to put it. He really didn't care though, he was more concerned about playing w/ the gift boxes. If Nick had real control of where to place the ornaments, he would have put them all in the exact same spot, which is what he tried to do on the real tree. They would've been stacked on top of one another. We'll give it another go next year, or maybe we will just get him his own tree to decorate. That way Scott can hang his hideous looking Star Wars ornaments.

We dusted off the advent calendar and hid a small treat behind each door. Nick got it after couple of nights. He immediately asks to open the next, but doesn't put up a fight when we tell him he has to wait. He knows exactly which number to open each night. It's pretty cute to watch.

Our mantle is relatively bare, still trying to figure that out. I did hang a little scroll Nick made in his MDO last year, along w/ a paper angel ornament on the tree. So so cute. My parents still hang ornaments and various crafts my brothers and I made when we were kids on their tree. Remember the clothespin reindeer everyone made in 3rd grade? They still have it, just missing an eye and an ear. I always marvel at the time that has past when I look at them. I hope to do the same thing and add all of Nick's stuff to our tree every year. This is one time I don't care if it doesn't match.

Nutcrackers

I'm normally not a collector... with one exception. Nutcrackers. Scott's mom bought me my first one several years back and it has become a tradition to receive at least one from her every year. Scott has even bought me a couple. My collection is not huge, yet. But I love it, as each one was selected specifically for me. Not that there's anything wrong with buying some yourself, but there's just something special about it to me because of the tradition. I look forward to it every year.

Well, we dragged out our Xmas decorations from storage over the weekend. The nutcrackers are usually the first things to get unpacked, and this year was no exception. I get so excited unwrapping each one and looking at details I had forgotten. I love them all, and thought I'd share a few of them with you.