#4 - Christmas Eve

After church we came home to have Christmas Eve dinner at my in-laws' house.  I'm pretty sure there was stuff like ham and sweet potato casserole, but who needs all that when there's  GUMBO to be had!  My mother-in-law makes the best gumbo...ever.  I had two huge bowls and probably could've eaten another one if there weren't presents to open.  

Andrew not letting Uncle Adam help feed his piggy bank

"Two movies!"

The best reaction came from Uncle Adam's present.

First he was excited..."cool" he said.

Then it moved and he didn't know what to think!

Eek!

Once he was out of the box, he started walking.  Andrew ran for cover!

Then Andrew rubbed his nose...

...and he sneezed!  "Bless you."

They're friends now.  I think Andrew has named him "Red Rexy."  

Next, we had to go upstairs to see Alex open his present from Uncle Drew.  It was too big to bring downstairs.  

He figured out what it was rather quickly.

And with a "1, 2, 3, 4..."  he was on his way to becoming a rock star!

Once everything finally settled down, which was around 11pm, the boys got their baths and into their matching pj's.  We put out our cookies and milk for Santa and the boys had to double check to make sure Santa could make it down the chimney.  

Then I made them pose for a quick shot together.  

Now hurry up and go to bed because everyone knows that Santa won't come until you're fast asleep!  To that Andrew replied, "Well I'm gonna sleep down here in the 'cliner and wait for him."  Finally at 12:30 he fell asleep!

Christmas #3

Sunday (Dec. 20) was church, lunch at Grandaddy's, still more last minute shopping, church again, and then our Christmas #3 at my maternal grandparents' house. We had our traditional supper of spaghetti and boiled shrimp.  Yum-O!  I know, I know...shrimp and spaghetti.  Legend has it that this crazy tradition all started because my grandfather asked us (My sister and I) what we wanted to eat on Christmas Eve.  One said shrimp; the other spaghetti.  And so it began.  We've been eating that same meal for as long as I can remember!
After we stuffed our faces, it was time once again for PRESENTS!  Andrew is becoming a pro at present un-wrapping, but he is so slow and meticulous, tearing off the tiniest pieces.  He immediately hands me, or whoever is closest, his scraps and waits until you put in the garbage bag before tearing off the next piece.  It's so funny to watch!

He was nice enough to pose for a shot.

Checking out his cool talking/dancing/transforming truck.

This is your child on SUGAR:

It was a fun night at Granny and Grandaddy's.  But once we got home, I was utterly exhausted.  By this time we're still jet lagged and sleep deprived.  We have all been running on shear adrenaline.  On Monday morning we slept in and let Andrew wake up on his own before driving down to Mississippi.  I think he went to bed at 1:15 am and slept until 11am.  Shortly after he woke up, we hit the road and made to Kiln around 6 pm.  

...Only 3 more Christmases to go!

Christmas #2

Christmas #2 took place on Saturday night (the 19th) with my immediate family.   The night started off by Andrew opening his birthday present from Aunt Gracie, "Elf on the Shelf."

Then it was on to the other presents.  All the adults sat patiently and watched Andrew open all of his gifts first.  He was quite humorous.  

"Wow!  It's a little kitchen!"

Most of his presents were toys and things wrapped in their original box, so when Andrew opened up a plain old cardboard box, I think he was a little disappointed.  He said,

"Aw, it's just a box."

Once he realized that there was actually something in the box, he was ok. He liked seeing the tags on the presents too.  For that he said, 

"Hey, this one has my name on it!"

Next, he opened a truck pulling a trailer with two four-wheelers on it.  He was ecstatic!  

"Wow!  It's what I've always wanted!"

The truck kept him pretty busy, so the adults moved on to their presents.  Traditionally on Christmas Eve my sister and I exchange our gifts and then save the rest for Christmas morning, but since it's our year to spend Christmas day in Mississippi, we did everything in one night.  After Annah and I opened our presents, we had our traditional "sissy hug" in our Christmas PJ's.

Traditionally Christmas Eve is when we make our "Happy Birthday Jesus" cake, but I did that on Saturday as well.  We always eat it for a "pre-breakfast" on Christmas morning.  Here's Andrew blowing out the candle for Jesus. 

The cake:

Our First of 6 Christmases

After an exhausting day and a half of flying and our adventures on the Polar Express, we woke up early Saturday morning to head over to my Grandmother's house (on my Dad's side) for our first of 6 Christmases.   We have a HUGE country breakfast every year, with everything you could imagine.  My personal favorite is the super salty country ham.  It was so good to see everyone.  Living in Hawaii, you really miss out on all the family gatherings.  
I especially miss seeing this precious face...my cousin's daughter, Raegan.  She is ADORABLE!

After breakfast it was time for presents!

Andrew loved his imaginext dinosaur.  This is as close to Raegan as I could catch him for a cute pictures.  

Even though Raegan is stuck being an Alabama fan, thanks to her daddy, she looks too cute in her hounds tooth coat.

Just before they left, Erin and Anthony brought Maggie over to see Raegan.  The girls are 2 months apart.  Aren't they cute?

After a few hours of family time, everyone started heading home and our first of 6 Christmases was over.  Only a couple of more hours until the next one!

Polar Express

We landed in Birmingham Friday morning around 10am to a rainy 40 degrees.  Drew flew separately and had plenty of sleep.  Andrew had 6 hours of sleep, I had 1; yet the adrenaline kicked in and suddenly we were wide awake.  We had breakfast at IHOP and then did a little shopping in downtown Helena.  The sleep deprivation was catching up and we decided to sneak back to Annah and Jefforey's house for an hour nap before heading to the Polar Express.  Andrew, however did NOT take a nap!  We got all bundled up in our PJ's and headed to Calera.  

Annah and I waiting to board.

Andrew, with no nap and major jet lag almost slept through the whole thing!

But we managed to wake him up just in time for the conductor to punch his ticket and get settled in our seats.

We listened to the book "Polar Express" on our way to the North Pole.

I think Annah and I were more excited than the kids.

Daddy and Andrew waiting on Santa to get on the train.

The elves came in first to announce his arrival.

Andrew "tolerating" Santa as he stopped to talk to us.

After Santa's visit, we got cookies and chocolate milk!

That was the BEST chocolate milk I've ever had!

Andrew didn't complain either!

On the way back to the train station we sang Christmas carols.

And then before we left the elves gave us each a sleigh bell and an ornament.

It was such a fun experience, especially for us.  Reading the Polar Express on Christmas Eve has been one of our traditions for as long as I can remember.  And it truly was a lot of fun!  I would recommend it to anyone and everyone.  They do them all over the southeast.  Just google "Christmas Trains in Alabama (or your state)" and see if anything comes up.  I saw some in Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky, and the Carolinas.  

After our train ride we drove back to Albertville, all exhausted and ready for bed.  We got home at 10 pm and Andrew somehow managed to stay awake until 1:45am!

Ho Ho Ho

Back when Santa was simple

2006

2007

You'd laugh too if you knew how it happened.

Not much better in 2008

After a little coaxing, he watched Mommy sit by Santa and then came and sat on the little red step stool. That was as close as he'd get, but at least he's smiling! He was very impressed that Santa gave him a cookie, so he gave him a high five. That's what we call PROGRESS!

Oh and I might mention that we bribed him with the train if he'd sit with Santa. Here he is turning in his ticket.

The girl in front of him is thrilled.

Our "cheerful" conductor

He LOVED the train!

Posing by the tree after the train ride.