Christmas 2009

Christmas was spent at home this year...not because of the weather...but because it's what we had planned on doing! With my sisters spending Christmas with their in-laws & Eric's parents out of town, we decided to stay home this year & make the trip to Iowa over New Years. We did have a so-called blizzard Christmas Eve night (5-6 inches of snow & wind) so it was nice to not have to get out.

Christmas Eve started with a few activities I had planned for us. Because I had a hard time finding an ornament to represent this pregnancy, we made a few salt dough ornaments that included a "Baby 2009" one & Eli's first handprint. Here is Eli helping me with rolling the dough which he wanted to eat SO badly:

And the results....simple but hey, it was our first attempt!:

Eli isn't too cooperative with crafts that are more than 1-2 simple steps. Not because he can't do them, it's more of a patience & "I want to do it MY way" thing. So, I came up with a few crafts that he could do whatever he wanted! Decorating his Christmas tree:

Putting "snow" on his snowman....he is slightly obsessed with glue these days:

Making a mitten ornament:

And a good ol' favorite....stickers:

And the results!:

I made lasagna for Christmas Eve dinner which turned out yummy! I also made a Peppermint Chocolate Pie for Christmas day. SOO yummy! After dinner, Eli enjoyed the fire with his buddies:

A tradition we started last year was buying Eli Christmas p.j.'s. I was too late this year to find a good selection in his size but found these cute ones. Sadly, they were a little big in the feet so he only wore them for about 5 minutes as they drove him crazy...maybe next year??:

Watching some Christmas cartoon on Christmas Eve while eating a candy cane! Eli has a thing for peppermint these days as he loves candy canes, tic tacs, & toothpaste:

Another tradition is to open one present before bed on Christmas Eve. Eli opened a fun shake car that he really enjoys shaking & zooming on the kitchen floor:

Yet another tradition is to read "The Night Before Christmas". We started doing this for Eli's 1st Christmas when he was only 4 months old! Last year he was able to sit and listen to part of the story at least but this year, here is how he listened:

We talked a lot about Santa bringing presents while he slept & how he needed cookies & milk. This kinda backfired on us because he really was excited to see Santa & did NOT want to go to sleep. He finally fell asleep around 10pm after multiple attempts:

While asleep, we wrapped his gifts & stuffed his stocking. In the morning he was excited to open presents so it was hard to wait for Uncle Blake, Cousin Sammie & Grandma Bidney to arrive. Due to the snow, they didn't arrive until 10:30am so Eli couldn't wait & started to open a gift under the tree while we were in the kitchen. So, he got to open these fun blocks which helped entertain him until everyone arrived:

And the gift opening begins! Eli showing Uncle Blake a TAG Leapfrog book he got:

Clothes....

Giving Sammie her gift cards:

Oooo....fun automoblocks!:

Eli also got his new comforter/sheets set for his soon-to-be "big boy" room. Grandma Bidney & Grandma & Grandpa Clarkson (thanks grandparents!) are helping purchase a few more items for his room such as a bean bag, more toy bins, lamp, etc. I look forward to reorganizing pretty much our whole house to make rooms more organized & "user friendly" for Eli's toys. Plus making room for baby stuff again!

Playing with the automoblocks with Uncle Blake after a yummy BBQ lunch:

Playing with his new lacing blocks with cousin Sammie:

Awww....cuddle time:

Close up of the automoblocks & wooden trains:

Pretending to nap with mommy:

And before bed tonight, Eli watched "Frosty the Snowman". He's watched it several times in the last few days:

We look forward to visiting with the Iowa gang next weekend! Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!