a third christmas

Once we finished with going through our Santa goodies, we headed to McDonough to meet Trey, Jenn and Bear at my parents' house to continue the fun! Obviously, a newborn baby has a pretty strict schedule, so the Shenemans didn't arrive right away...while waiting, we had a little mini-Christmas-photo-shoot!

 I REALLY wish Bear had been in this picture too! I mean, my dad's eyes are open and everything. Ugh. Oh well...

 My greatest Christmas blessings!

 I really love this picture even if my dad isn't looking at the camera.

 Once Trey, Jenn, and Bear arrived, it was time to open presents again. Bear was sound asleep through all of it! When the kids would open a present, they handed the bow to Uncle Trey and he put it on his bald head!!!

 They thought it was hilarious!

 Tripp got a shirt and tie from GiGi and Poppa and he LOVED it. He immediately changed into it and wore it for the rest of the day. He looked so cute...he wants to be just like his daddy! Trey and Jenn gave Mak a Rapunzel dress up trunk and she had to change into hers too!

 Some new luggage for the Shenemans!

 Baby Bear finally woke up!! And he immediately got smothered in cousin love!!!

 I didn't get nearly enough Christmas pictures of our Christmas baby, he was either asleep, eating, or a little restless. BUT, I did manage to get one really good one of the three generations!!!

We had a wonderful Christmas as always...however, for me, I just really love spending time with my family. Having Bear here this year, healthy, just made it that much better!

bright and early

Tripp decided to sleep with my mom on Christmas Eve and I was nervous he would come downstairs without me knowing on Christmas morning. So, we had a long talk about what he was supposed to do if he woke up. I put the monitor upstairs and told him to say "Mommy" in to it when he woke up and I would come get him. Makinley was asleep in our bed and I wanted them to walk out together. It worked. Tripp woke up REALLY early, but he held off calling for me until 6:30! :-)

Makinley wasn't sure she wanted to get up quite yet. It took her a few minutes to wake up.

 Yes, as always, Santa went a little overboard. However, in Santa's defense, he really did get some great deals on things. All the dress up things for Makinley were free and Tripp's were $10 for 5 costumes. And a certain Daddy I know really wanted a Wii!

 The first thing she wanted to do was dress up as Belle, and she wore the costume for the rest of the morning.

 Daddy had to help him get his Nintendo DSi set up for him.

 Luigi and Belle bowling on the Wii!

After playing for awhile, it was time to pack up and head to GiGi and Poppa's to continue the festivities.

getting ready for santa

I think this is a great pictures of them!

After we got done at Tom and Linda's, we went to the Christmas Eve service at church. Luckily, it didn't last too long and I was able to entertain Makinley with a coloring book. She only got loud once or twice! :-) When we got back home, it was time to open their gifts from me and their daddy. They got new pj's, a robe, and slippers. They were really excited and immediately put them on. Then we set out the cookies we made earlier in the week and poured Santa a cup of milk.

 The kids then talked about which cookie they thought Santa would eat first. He had plenty to choose from!

I thought we would have a really hard time getting the kids to go to sleep because of their excitement. However, neither of them had napped that day, so they both fell asleep easily. With visions of toys dancing in their heads, I'm sure!

beginning of the festivities

This was a Christmas full of changes. In years past, my parents, Trey and Jenn, and Linda have spent the night at our house on Christmas Eve so that they could be with us on Christmas morning when the kids woke up. However, a new baby and a new husband changed a few things this year....all for the better no less! :-) So, on Friday afternoon, we headed over to Tom and Linda's to celebrate Christmas with Tom's side of the family. The spoiling of the kids began immediately!

 Tom, Linda and the kids....in Makinley's blue hair from Misty.

 Tripp, Makinley, and Misty...Tom's granddaughter.

 Tom even got in on the blue hair action!

It was a fun afternoon and the beginning of a new tradition!

baking goodies

 Today, our neighbor hosted a "baking cookies for Santa" project for a bunch of kids. She was kind enough to invite us although my children were by far the youngest. We began by rolling out our cookie dough and cutting it with cookie cutters.

 While we were waiting on the cookies to bake, the kids had fun hanging out together. The boys were all in the front yard playing football. They are so patient with Tripp. I even caught them making a pyramid.

 Once the cookies were done baking and cooling, the kids got busy decorating. They each decorated three cookies.

 Here is a group picture of all the kids that took part. Notice some of them are much older and felt as if they were way "too cool" to be in a group picture! :-)

 Our finished products all wrapped up and ready to leave out for Santa on Christmas Eve!

I really appreciate friends and neighbors that plan such fun activities for the kids. By the time Christmas break arrives, I'm so wiped out and trying to finish up last minute Christmas things that I don't normally do as many fun/crafty things with my own children as I would like. However, I do plan on trying to make a gingerbread house before the end of the week.

meeting a bear

We took Tripp and Makinley to meet Bear on Saturday. It was the cutest, sweetest thing I've seen in a long time. I could have alternatively titled this post "the post with a million pictures" but I couldn't choose.

It is going to be so much fun watching these three grow up together! They already love him to pieces.

breakfast with santa

This was the first year that we've done breakfast with Santa. It was a little crazy, but still fun.