christmas recap

our little guy made christmas a blast this year!  it was so much fun to see everything through his eyes - full of wonder and enthusiasm.  

we had christmas morning at our own home - just the three of us.  

it was wonderful!  

we really enjoyed the freedom to start our own family traditions, and my hubby and i sure loved watching our son's excitement on christmas morning!  

my hubby was laying in bed early in the morning actually contemplating going and waking him up because he couldn't wait for him to see what santa left for him.  

hendrix woke up on his own at 6:50 am and we traipsed downstairs to get a glimpse of the tree and all the goodies underneath it. ;)

since some of the bigger presents that santa left were unwrapped, it was hard to pull him away from those to want to open his presents!  lol  but once he did, he got the hang of it quickly.  he evened 'oooooed' and 'aaaahed' over things as we opened them (most definitely mimicking sounds that we were making.....)

this actually wasn't his first christmas celebration as his gramps (my father-in-law) had spent the day with us on christmas eve. 

we went to reiman gardens together and enjoyed the gorgeous weather.  we walked around outside and also wandered through the butterfly garden.  hendrix really loved the butterflies.  he was jumping around and hollering at them, hoping that he could hold one.

then we spent some time exchanging presents with him.

gramps gave hendrix some very special books that were from my hubby's childhood.  

what special gifts to treasure and enjoy!

on christmas day, after we had opened presents at our house we headed off to nana and papa's house for a little more fun!  there he was spoiled by not just nana and papa, but also his aunts and uncles.  check out the super sweet step stool that has his name in puzzle piece letters.  he has been using that all day to get up to things that he probably shouldn't be able to reach.....

he was in love with this book that nana and papa gave him that plays the song 'away in a manger'.  he could push the button himself and i think read that book at least 200 x's throughout the afternoon.  

we have told him the christmas story many times this holiday season, and while i am not sure that he really understands that we are celebrating the birth of our Saviour, he is super fascinated with baby Jesus and gives him kisses when we read his books. 

taking advantage of another gorgeous day, we had to get outside and play.  

lastly we celebrated christmas at hendrix's grandma's (my mother-in-law) house the day after. 

there he enjoyed a super huge elmo emphasis, and enjoyed playing with aunt kate's doggy. 

hendrix i agree with you - christmas rocks!

top secret fort stuff

 so hendrix has recently picked up this fascination with fort building. 

he helped riley and gabe build and play in a fort of blankets at their house earlier this week, and that was so much fun that he wanted to recreate it at home with daddy. ;)  

while we were reading some books on the couch he pulled all the blankets down and tried to crawl underneath them.  daddy helped him build a super sweet fort.

then they crawled in there and read some stories......well, until hendrix decided that going in and out of the fort over and over was obviously the point of having a fort in the first place.  lol

he was loving it!  

after a bit he decided he needed more light and just came out to do his important reading. ;)  

merry christmas!

wordless wednesday {chocolate pudding face}

self-feeding is worth the extra effort, monstrous mess, and occasional frustration. 

it makes you a big boy.

linking this wordless wednesday post with:

and then, she snapped, naptime momtog, jenni from the blog, 

project alicia, mom to 2 posh lil divas, flip flops and pearls, 

marvelous mommy & my organized chaos 

is this really december?!

i definitely don't want this to sound like i am complaining, because i honestly adore 40+ degree weather in december.......

but there is something about it that makes it really hard to believe that this is the week of christmas! already!

hendrix is really only wearing his mittens at the park because he refused to play outside without them. not because it was cold enough to need them.  i love the way he says 'mittens' and he thinks that they are as necessary as putting his shoes on.  

most of the time we don't even bother with the thumb hole.  he just can't really grab anything when he has them on.  lol

yes, he has a current fascination with climbing up the slide. doesn't he just look so delighted!?!

oh and he wants to try everything.  just like the big boys.  even sliding down the 'fireman's pole'........(to mommy's fear and dismay).  didn't catch a picture of that because i was scared spitless that he was going to land face first.

unfortunately i am finding it harder and harder to take photos of him as he experiences fun things unless daddy is with us to help make sure he stays safe and within an arm's reach while my face is buried in my lens.  

it makes me sad because i miss capturing so many special moments, but at the same time it encourages me to slow down and really savor it all so that i have the memories forever.

love this boy so much.

and how about them lashes?

books, books, books!

snuggling up with daddy to read a few favorite stories before he heads off to work is a great way to start a monday morning ;)

reading is pretty much a favorite pastime for hendrix and i think that is primarily responsible for his exploding vocabulary (he says clearly some 100+ words).  

he wants to read his favorite stories over and over again.  but it is also not uncommon for us to sit down and shuffle through all 30 some books in his little book basket, reading each one, before he is ready to move on to another activity.  you might remember that i had hoped for this kind of passion for literacy, but is it okay for me to admit that i am kind of bored with these stories?

i think that he is finally capable of taking good care of his reading materials, so we can safely start checking out books from the library.  but on our last trip he still only picked out books with farm animals in them.  not really a ton of variety there kiddo.  

my super messy toddler sounds an awful lot like some sort of weird cross-bred animal as he wanders around the house making all sorts of silly sounds.  it sure makes me wonder if this is a phase or is he is going to be the world's largest animal lover. ;)

wordless wednesday {from my family to yours}

happy holidays!

our christmas cards turned out just the way i wanted them to. ;) i was intending to share a link to them on here, but since that didn't work out, here are a few snapshots of them instead. 

i really love this time of year, and wish everyone a wonderful holiday season full of family, friends, laughter, and most importantly the peace and joy that comes from knowing the true meaning for this season.

merry christmas!

linking up this word(less) wednesday post with:

tara's view of the world, my organized chaos, live and love out loud, naptimemomtog, baby baby lemon, the paper mama & project alicia. 

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas....

hendrix loves our holiday decorations.  when we come downstairs first thing in the morning, he points at the tree until we plug it in.  then he 'oooohs' and 'ahhhhs' and says pretty.  it is our routine. ;)

oh and then he points at the other lights hanging over the entryway, and wants those plugged in too. 

then we have to read all our 'christmas stories'.  he is so full of routines it cracks me up.

i love holiday decorations, and i am thrilled that he is doing such a great job at leaving them be.  he hasn't even made any attempts to play with or unwrap the presents that are already under the tree.  

i love having his stocking hang from the banister, and can't wait to fill it up this year!  we are celebrating our first christmas morning here at our own home, which we are very much looking forward to.  :)  there will be plenty of time for family and travelling around the holidays, just not on christmas morning. 

these are the ornaments we made a couple years ago when we started a little family tradition of homemade ornaments for friends and family........we are almost finished with our ornaments for this year, and i can't wait to pass them out!  more to come on this....

we have gotten a teeny tiny bit of snow, and hendrix loved playing around in it.

daddy showed him how to make boot prints,

and taught him to chase after squirrels. 

this little dude is ready for the holidays!