A Lego Wonderland...

Growing up I was never really into Legos - more of a Barbie girl I suppose. But Andy, oh my, Andy was very much into them. I've always known that and have even gifted him Lego sets throughout our now 14 Christmases together (woah - hadn't done the math on that until just now.) Adam has definitely enjoyed playing with Legos and while he hadn't quite gotten the hang of putting kits together he has loved building his own creations and is always so creative and proud of what he's done - and rightfully so. That being said, Andy felt this was the year to ramp up the Lego in our lives and so Poppy and Andy got to work designing and building a Lego table that any kid (or adult) would be proud of. Modeled after the table Andy had growing up, this thing has everything - runways, campgrounds, boat ramps, houses, Cape Canaveral (!!), grass and water. Wow! Not only that, but Ommy was so great to keep all of Andy's Lego sets in tact, in boxes, and instructions manuals in binders for quick reference - double wow! A full family effort for sure! The result- a SUPER excited Adam who is now equally as ecstatic about Legos as his dad - if that's even possible. Fortunately Santa brought plenty of Lego sets and wouldn't you know it, Adam is all of a sudden pretty good at putting sets together. I see lots of amazing father/son bonding happening in what was our storage room (hello purging/cleaning/organizing - thanks for the excuse!) and is now our Lego room. For those who have seen "The Lego Movie," I think you'll understand when I say - everything is awesome! (and here's hoping Andy never reaches for the Kragle) ;) 

Is Andy too cute? 

Pardon the boxes - the Legos were in there - will post more pix of this awesome set-up soon! 

Christmas at Grandma & Grandpa's...

The Christmas fun continued later that day as we ventured on over to Grandma & Grandpa's. We had quite the gathering with the added bonus of having Auntie Anne & Uncle Jim there as well. Everyone came prepared to shower Adam & Olivia with all kinds of goodies - makes sense - they have been super good this year, and let's face it, buying toys is almost as fun for the adults as it is for the kiddos receiving them. The rest of us also made out pretty well - hello new set of knives! Dinner was superb and those kiddos (new watches and all - thanks Grandma & Grandpa!) went to bed with visions of playing with all their new loot dancing through their heads. :) A Merry Christmas indeed! 

Something special about opening stocking stuffers out of my childhood stocking. Love it. 

My brother got our Uncle Jim a great sweater - that coincidentally matched the sweater Adam was wearing. Too cute. 

Merry Christmas!!

In keeping with tradition, I was the first one awake, waiting as best I could for our little buddy to wake up. Finally around 7:15 he peeked his head into our room and joined us in bed to watch a little bit of "A Christmas Story." We had told him the night before to come right to our room and not to look downstairs - while he might have been lying, I do believe him when he said he didn't peek. Mostly I know this to be true because when we did tell him to go look I followed him and watched as he caught the first glimpse of what was in store for him. I could live in that moment forever. 

Of course that moment could really only last so long and before we knew it we were taking our tradition picture on the stairs and then tearing into our stockings. Adam gets such a kick out of the variety of things he finds in his stocking. Everything from hot wheels cars to coloring books, math flashcards to mouthwash, Hershey's kisses to Flintstone vitamins. Andy and I still get a kick out of ours, with things like flavored peanuts, fun socks, deodorant, & our favorite new ornament. Liddy enjoyed getting a bone in hers. 

After a breakfast of fresh crepes filled with nutella and raspberries we were back at it unwrapping the treasures under the tree while enjoying Bloody Marys & chocolate milk. Santa did not disappoint this year leaving all sorts of fun toys, clothes, books, cologne, perfume, jewelry, a new set of wine glasses and the icing on the gingerbread - a new iPad for me & thus Adam's very own iPad - he was beyond thrilled. 

By the end we were all exhausted but still managed to sneak out for a little Chinese lunch. Guess we watched the end of "A Christmas Story" one too many times, we had major cravings! Perhaps a new tradition was born - and you can't beat the fortune I received in my cookie... 

Christmas Eve Festivities...

I can't remember what blog or Facebook post I read this on, but I remember someone wrote that probably their favorite day of the year was Christmas Eve. The anticipation of what's to come, the final preparations being made for the big day, and the traditions, old and new, really do make for one of the most special days of the year. Through Adam's eyes I can see the excitement building and yet I also see that he truly does take in every moment of the holiday season, never really "wishing" away the days just to get to Christmas morning. 

Christmas Eve in our house has always meant wrapping, some last minute shopping, watching "It's a Wonderful Life," opening new Christmas pj's and a new Christmas book, dinner with Andy's family (we had almost all of them this year) reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas," and then waiting for our little buddy to fall asleep so we can start setting up the magic for the next day. 

Isabella brought Reindeer Food to sprinkle on our driveway. So cute! New tradition for sure

Beautiful cake that Bebe brought from same bakery where Heidi's wedding cake & our rehearsal cake came from. Such a treat! 

I'm always a little sad to see Christmas Eve come and go - but knowing what's to come the next day makes it a little easier...