Trains and Cousins Galore!!!!

This year we celebrated Christmas in St Louis with the Heidemann's! It was clearly "the year of the trains" for Little Man #1!!! Jack received 3 train sets from Grandma and Grandpa Heidemann- one that goes around our tree, one for his beloved Thomas and Friends train, and another small electric one! He also received a Sing-A-Ma-Jig stuffed animal, a match box car, and some soft balls to throw around the house! This year Michael received a monetary gift and his very own Cardinals ornament. What a wonderful Christmas it was for both boys!

We are blessed to have such a wonderful family, not only today on Christmas, but every single day of the year. Jack had an absolute blast with his cousins. They all played so nicely and had some wonderful pretend trips to awesome locations such as Paris, Germany, Italy, Russia, and Kansas!

We also continued the tradition of Daddy having matching Christmas pajamas with Jack. I desperately tried to include Mikey into the Daddy/Son Christmas matching pj's, but it was very difficult to coordinate all 3 boys in a tight turnaround from Michael's birthday to Christmas this year. Oh well, better luck next year. However, Jack and Daddy did look very cute in their coordinating Superman jammies!!

Here are some photos of our visit to St. Louis with the Heidemann's for Christmas. All the kids were just darling, as always. I am so thankful for all of my boys this Christmas. And I am especially thankful for that the newest member has joined our family just in time for the holiday season. Life is just that much better since "Santa's Little Helper" has arrived......

The Greatest Gifts of All

This year I had to be super organized with my Christmas presents since I knew I would be very busy with a newborn during around Christmas shopping season! I tend to start thinking about Christmas and presents by summertime anyway, so it was no big deal. Yes, I am crazy, I know!

Anyhow, Jay and I decided sometime during the summer that we were going to give both sets of our parents a 16x20 canvas wrap family photo. Since their respective families are by far, the greatest gifts of all in every grandparent's life, what could be more appropriate than family portraits?!?! This way, they could have a constant reminder of the people they love the most in this world.

I thought I would share the images we had made into canvases for them as their Christmas gifts. Too bad, they are all already outdated since little Mikey is not included...oh well! Chick and Lar loved theirs so much, they decided to order a second one of just the Jack and Adeline. Both canvases look darling hung side by side in their house!

Decorating the Gingerbread Choo Choo

I think I have already mentioned that 2010 can certainly go down as "the year of the choo choos" from Jack's perspective. He just adores choo choos of all shapes and sizes.....and quite frankly owns choo choos of all shapes and sizes too!! So what is more appropriate to decorate this year instead of a gingerbread house?? Well, a gingerbread choo choo, of course!!!!

Once every since little Mikey was born, I have been making a conscious effort to go on a little "date" once a week with Jack. During our date, I focus on an activity or meal with him...and only him.....no "little brother" around if possible. For over 2 years, Jack had lots of alone time with Mommy...and I am just trying to make him feel special during this adjustment phase of becoming a big brother:) So, here are some photos that are the result of our date this week. Sure, it looks nothing like the example on the box, but I kind of like our finished product better! Jack was such a help when he was not too busy eating the precut gingerbread pieces or licking all of the frosting.....HA!!!

Here are some photos of our fun date creating the gingerbread train.......

"Christmas" morning

Today, we celebrated Christmas at our house. Santa sure is smart because he knew to come early since we were spending the holiday this year in St. Louis with the Heidemann's. Let's just say that Jack must have been a VERY good boy this year because Santa sure brought him SO MANY presents!!!! He received puzzles, legos, a yo-yo, alphabet flash cards, match box cars, a musical book about ice cream trucks, another musical book about animals at Christmas time, a Mickey stuffed animal, a snowman water bottle, and very special giraffe stuffed animal (so Jack can snuggle with it when Daddy has to travel for work).

We also asked Granny and Papa to come over to see all that Santa had brought both of the little men!!! Papa and Granny brought lots of presents for their very special little boys. Some of them included a leather chair, a Cars play mat, a Cars flashlight, a Cars watch, Cars and Thomas the Train "big boy" underwear, new undershirts, a new froggy bath towel and matching bath mitt, bath soap and lotion, new games, a new black and white hat, reindeer pajamas, black "slip slippies," an elephant pillow pal, and probably Jack's favorite gift of all, a moon that hangs on his bedroom wall. Jack just adores the moon! Little Mikey received some great presents from Granny and Papa too! He received a "Santa's Little Helper" outfit, bath wash and lotions, a new "under the sea" bath towel set and matching bath mitt, new outfits, an Elmo toy, a toy popper, and new toy rings. I know I am forgetting so many other gifts from them that I am failing to mention, but I have 2 major excuses for being forgetful, 1) Jack and Mikey were given so many gifts that it is difficult for anyone to keep track and 2) I am currently a sleep deprived mother of a newborn:)

Anyhow, we enjoyed a wonderful early visit from Santa this morning. This was the first year that Jack actually "got it." He simply loves everything Christmas this year.....from Santa and his reindeer, to snowmen, to stockings, to lights, etc., etc. The only thing he could have done without was the Grinch that paid him a visit during "Breakfast with Santa" at school. He repeatedly tells me that the "Grinch is scary!"

Here are some photos from our very special "Christmas" morning. As you can tell, Jack was SURELY one LUCKY little man!!!! In my opinion, there is nothing like a little boy on Christmas morning. I am certainly looking forward to a lifetime more of Christmas mornings underneath our tree. One thing is for certain--I will NEVER receive a better Christmas present than the one I am holding in my arms underneath our tree this year.

Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Harris Meet Baby Mikey

Great Grandma and Great Grandma Harris stopped by this afternoon to meet their 7th great grandchild today!! It was so nice to see them. It was also so nice to for them to bring over a dozen donuts for us. They must know that their oldest granddaughter has a BIG sweet tooth!

Here are some photos of Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Harris with both of the Heidemann boys!

Harris Family Christmas Festivites...and ANOTHER visit from Santa!

For those of you that know me, you know that I simply love everything about Christmas....making cookies, decorating, the music, etc., etc. It is BY FAR my most FAVORITE time of the year!!! This year is EVEN more special since I received the MOST AMAZING early Christmas present on December 3-- a new little miracle that we named Michael Lawrence. Life just does not get any better.....I would love to freeze time, but since I know I can't, I am just enjoying this very special Christmas season with my 3 boys.....Jay, Little Man, and the Littlest Man! I love, LOVE my boys...they are all the best Christmas presents a girl can ever receive!!

Tonight we celebrated Christmas with the Harris side of the family. We enjoyed some amazing food-- a huge antipasti platter (courtesy of Aunt Kick Kick and Uncle Bibby!) artichoke dip, chili dip, 2 HUGE shrimp cocktail platters that Granny completely forgot to serve, but still gets kudos for attempting (HA!), chicken marsala, and eggplant parmesan. And what Christmas dinner is complete without a HUGE display of Christmas cookies for dessert!?! Jack especially loved the pizzelles, caramel pecan cookies, and peanut butter Hershey kiss cookies (without the Hershey kisses!) that he helped Mommy to make for the party! Yummy!!!!

For the second year in a row, we had another appearance from Santa to Granny and Grandpa's house during the party!!!!! Since Papa had a fire roaring, Santa had to enter the house through the front door instead of the chimney! He simply rang the door bell and Jack was amazed to see him! He brought so many presents and Jack (and Mikey!!!) were so fortunate to sit on Santa's lap in the comfort of Granny and Grandpa's house. I must have 2 VERY lucky and nice boys for Santa to come and visit them so close to Christmas when he is especially busy for his big night on Christmas Eve!!!

Anyhow, we had a great time celebrating Christmas a week early with the Harris's!!! There is nothing better than family, Christmas, and the miracle of a newborn that we were able to celebrate with this year!! We can't wait to do it all over again with the Heidemann's next week!

Here are some shots of our Christmas celebration! You can see that just one of Jack's many gifts was a new hat that he loved...so much in fact that he would not take it off all night!!!