A Cox Christmas

I don't know where the month in between Thanksgiving and Christmas went...somehow the holidays have come and gone in a blink. But although it was a whirlwind, it was still a wonderful time spent with family and friends. As I sit in my new Snuggie (which I have an all new appreciation for - my hands are free and I am warm!), I thought I would list out a few Christmas 2009 memories...

• Nate's favorite Christmas Carol was "Jingle Bells"...he sang the chorus on repeat everyday. If I got crazy and tried to sing a verse, he would say "no, sing Jingle Bells!"
• We started the "Elf of a Shelf" tradition this year, based on the advice of some friends. I will say that starting 3+ weeks before Christmas might have been a little long for a 2 yr old (and for us, it was really hard for the Elf to remember to hide everyday!) but I do think it helped keep him in line a bit. When he would wake up in the morning and find him he would say "it's the Elf...he's watching you!" I think he got the point but if he wasn't in the same room as the Elf I don't think he realized he was still watching him!
  

• We bought him two new Christmas books this year..."The Story of Christmas" and "Rudolph". We read them both pretty much every night. And then, when I decided to record "Rudolph" off the tv one night (the claymation version from the '60s) he wanted to watch it over and over again. He knew all of the characters and the story...he talked a lot about the Abominable Snow Monster (which he always said with a low growly voice). But on Christmas Eve when we were reading The Story of Christmas for the last time I think he mixed the two stories up...at the part where the shepherds found the baby lying in the manger, I said "and they called him..." he responded with "names!".
• We went to Magical Night of Lights at Lake Lanier with Aunt Abby and Uncle Jeff and Nena and Fred. He wasn't quite as captivated by the lights as he was last year...but once we got to Santa's Village and he got to have a nutritious dinner of popcorn and funnel cake he started enjoying himself.
• We had all of Nate's grandparents in town for Christmas (Grandpa Dale was in town the day before and after Christmas)...it was really nice being in our own home for Christmas Eve and Day...we had Christmas Eve dinner with Nena/Fred and CC/Papa Steve. Nena gave him Thomas PJ's on Christmas Eve which of course means any hope of getting him in the Christmas PJ's I got him was out the window. But that was ok bc he loved them and he looked pretty darn cute in his jammies. Once Nate was in his PJ's, we made our cookies for Santa and Nate took his job as "Chief Decorator" very seriously. He "drew" on the cookies with icing and shook pretty much every last sprinkle out of the jars. After we put our little elf to bed, Santa's helpers went straight to work. I am glad there were 6 of us or else Michael and I might not have gotten to bed that night!
• We had a house full on Christmas Day, starting early....CC/Papa Steve were up when Nate got up, Nena/Fred came over shortly after, and Alie and Uncle Stephen came over after Breakfast. Nate was completely engrossed with his loot...he played with everything and continued to make his rounds throughout the day. Despite all of his favorite people around and all of his new exciting toys, he still didn't seem quite himself but we had a great day with everyone and we were all pooped at the end of the day!

• Since he didn't seem to be feeling well on Christmas, we took him to the Dr the day after to get checked out and sure enough he had a sinus infection, poor thing. :(
  

Those are just some of the highlights from last week...we were so busy that we didn't even take as many pictures as we normally do (lots of video footage though). Christmas was really fun this year now that Nate "gets" Santa and Baby Jesus a little more than he ever has. He is really going to miss the Christmas Lights (we did a lot of "Reindeer Hunting" in yards) and the songs and stories and of course the presents! I can't wait until next year when there will be two little boys to share the magic of Christmas with!

I hope everyone has a Safe and Happy New Year...2010 should be an exciting one!

Thankful

We just got back from Knoxville and had a wonderful time celebrating Thanksgiving with the Cox Family. I took 400 pictures while we were there (literally) so I will work on loading and organizing those, but in the mean time I didn't want to put off officially announcing that, come April, Nate will have a ...

BROTHER!!

I have had boy vibes my whole pregnancy (ask anyone who tried to convince me it might be a girl) but to find out we were really having another boy last week was still a little surprising! I think I still had, in the back of my head, the thought that the odds might be in my favor this time for a girl. But no, my house will be filled with boys - which is kinda strange for a girl who grew up in a house with all girls! But we are thrilled and, most importantly, he is healthy and wiggly so we are absolutely blessed. We are 20 weeks already so time is moving quickly!

So, until I get caught up from this weekend, here are some pics from Nate's Thanksgiving lunch at school last week....

Modeling his Pilgrim Suit (Yep, that is Thomas and Percy in his hands...they came along for Show & Tell that day)

All of the boys lined up and said the blessing together...I was amazed...

Before all of the food was even on the plates, Nate went straight for the cookie...I clearly didn't put that there!

Halloween Weekend

Even though we had a rainy Halloween, we still had a really great time. The weather put a damper on some of the plans we had but Grandpa Dale came in to town and we still got to go out trick or treating. Nate really got in to it and enjoyed going from house to house and getting candy!

Just like last year, I decided to go with a homemade costume plus a back up. I made him a mummy costume that I actually kinda liked (not sure if this picture does it justice) but I didn't get to finish the top of the pants so I happily let him be a cute little cowboy instead. Here are a couple of pics of him in costume but I added an album with lots more to the right...

The day before Halloween Nate and I played hooky from school and work and went to Wesley Kate's 2nd Bday Halloween Party. I loved having a mommy day and getting to actually go to a play date with everyone and Nate loved wearing his hat and playing with his friends that he doesn't get to see enough.

After the party, I took him to my office to meet everyone (he hadn't been there since he was 6 wks old) and see the pumpkin carving contest. Unfortunately, we got so wrapped up in Nate making his rounds that I didn't take any pictures. He had fun with everyone but now I think he thinks that mommy just goes to play at the office every day (don't I wish!)!

The Sunday after Halloween was gorgeous so Nate got to play with Amanda at her neighborhood Fall Festival. Here is a picture of them just hanging out on the curb (they sat there on their own) waiting on a hot dog and in deep discussion about something.

I am trying to catch up on my postings so hopefully I will have more on the way very shortly!

PS - Welcome to the world Baby Maggie Cibula! I was holding the little (well, not so little - 8 lbs 10 oz) beauty the whole time I was visiting at the hospital so I never thought to take a picture (I am really slacking on my photographer duties!) but she was just so sweet. It brought back all of the memories of being in the hospital with Nate...and I can't believe we will be doing it all again in 5 short months!! Congrats Paula and Clay...can't wait to see her again!