The weather has been unseasonably warm this winter, so we have gotten to spend more time outside....which is good, although I wish it were cold and snowy!
Madden's school was closed on December 23 and 24, so I stayed home with him both days. We had a lot of fun and I am glad I was able to spend that time with him. I made TWENTY batches of Christmas Morning Bread this year (CRAZY!!) so we spent Thursday morning delivering some to friends in our area. Thursday night, I had 1 more Christmas gift to buy and it was at the mall....plus, we hadn't really seen Santa yet....so we headed to the Galleria. The Santa line was REALLY long and Madden was more interested in riding the escalators, so we just waved at Santa. I was bummed. Another year we missed a picture with Santa. Ugh. At least we have this one. We got that last gift and got outta there! It was busy! We had dinner and did some grocery shopping, then headed home to watch a movie. It was a nice day.
Christmas Eve was COLD and RAINY. I decided I was not leaving the house until church that night. Marc had some shopping to do, so Madden and I stayed home and made cookies for Santa.
The rest of the day was busy and we left for church around 3:30pm. I guess church was good - hard to tell, since Marc and I were in and out with a particular 2 year old. The nursery was not open! I took Madden by the nativity and he enjoyed looking at it. I love that he is into the story of "Baby Jesus" as that is the TRUE reason for the season. I hope that we can always keep that in the forefront of his mind.
After church, we went to Marc's Aunt Connie's house. They have hosted a Christmas Eve gathering for family and friends since 1978. It's always good to see aunts, uncles and cousins that we rarely see, eat good food and play the gift game! Madden was loved on all night and got lots of attention and special gifts. He was so friendly and jumped up in anyone's lap...which is rare since he doesn't know them well. The gift game was filled with lots of lottery tickets, but I was after the Dirt Devil. You know you are the mother of a toddler when you are fighting to win the Dirt Devil in the gift game! And I won....and it has been great for quick clean up after meals! Yea!
We headed home early to get ready for Santa! On the way home, Jingle Bell Rock came on the radio.....and Madden went CRAZY! He was so excited. Apparently, that is one of his favorite songs....who knew?! Maybe they sing it at school? Anyway, it was SO cute....he was dancing and singing and laughing so loud!
Madden in his Christmas jammies....testing out the cookies we made for Santa!
Playing "Baby Jesus"
Cookies and Milk for Santa...and cheerios for the reindeer (apparently, in Marc's family Cheerios were what was left for the reindeer)! Santa really enjoyed the cookies....these are his favorite!
Santa came! Santa had to make a midnight call to a "neighbor elf" to help get this train put together in time!
Christmas Morning, Madden slept until his usual 8:00am - which was so nice and will be rare on future Christmas mornings! We went upstairs to get him out of bed and told him Santa had come. Madden slowly came downstairs and then asked, "Where's Santa?" I think he was confused because he thought Santa should be at our house. We explained that he had gone back to his house at the North Pole.
Madden was instantly in love with the train.
The OCD that I am has been struggling because all the pieces are out of place on the train table. I spend each night putting it back together. SURELY, I will get over it.
After a little while, we had to show Madden that there were other presents to open. It was a bit overwhelming for him. Too much all at once! He didn't know what to play with first. As he opened the gifts, he would exclaim "This is AWESOME!" or "this is so cute!"
He got a new wagon from Lainey and Pops. I was SURE we were going to go to the ER Christmas morning, because he was constantly climbing in and out. We finally had the put the wagon away for a "nap".
Honey came over and we enjoyed a yummy breakfast including a breakfast casserole and the traditional Christmas Day Sausage Pinwheels (a Moore family tradition!) Madden played and played. I have not ever seen him play as much as he has since Christmas morning. He loves all his new toys.
Marc got me a Flip Video Camera (so look out for more video posts!) and a few other fun things. I surprised Marc with a new TV for our bedroom and we are loving it!
Madden was too excited to play and did NOT nap at all. We tried, but there was no way he was going to fall asleep. When I finally got him out of bed, he yelled "TRAINS!" and headed right for the train table. Oh my. This boy has never missed a nap.....and I was sure he would be a mess that night.
Madden was too excited to play and did NOT nap at all. We tried, but there was no way he was going to fall asleep. When I finally got him out of bed, he yelled "TRAINS!" and headed right for the train table. Oh my. This boy has never missed a nap.....and I was sure he would be a mess that night.
At 5:00, we headed to Marc's brother's house for Christmas with the cousins. We enjoyed a spread of Mexican food and let the kids play. Madden had a BALL! He was SO happy and loved playing with everyone....even though they are a little older!
Opening presents....
A NEW Mickey Mouse from Uncle Dave and Aunt Jamie! He LOVES it!
Uncle Ken is ready for him to start collecting hats like Hayden does. His first one....a St. Louis Cardinals hat! Yay!
COUSINS!
The only family photo we got all day. How. Lovely. Ugh.
Honey and Madden.....sharing a little Diet Dr. Pepper, I'm sure! Everytime she would ask him what he was thinking about, he would say "trains!" He certainly loves his new train table.
Madden made it until about 10:00. Honey brought a big bag full of random things from around the house and we all picked out of it. It was quite funny!
We headed home. Madden still wanted to play and fought going to sleep, but as soon as he hit the pillow, he was out!
What a day! Merry Christmas!
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