Merry Christmas

(There is a link below to a video with many pictures from all of our Christmas events...enjoy!)

I guess I need to begin this post by apologizing for taking so long to get it done. I have wanted to work on it every day since Christmas, but I have just not been able to find a good time. Like every year for the past 4 years, Jason used some of his vacation time, so he has been at home with us every day for the past two weeks. It has been so wonderful having him at home!! We love being able to spend so much time together as a family playing with all of our new Christmas toys and just relaxing. Another delay in my posting has been me not feeling 100%. I want to say a big thank you to Jason for helping me out so much and treating me like a princess! The boys and I are going to be in for a rude awakening on Monday when we all have to return to the real world. We are really going to miss having Jason here all day!

Before talking about all of our many celebrations, I have to say that this has been an absolutely amazing Christmas!! The boys had so much fun. Seeing Christmas and Santa through Brody's eyes is priceless. He was so excited about his presents, but more importantly, he was so grateful for all of them. Jason and I were so proud of him for saying thank you to family members and taking time to really look at and appreciate a present before tearing into another one. One example of this is when he opened a present from my mom and dad. It is a remote control car that flips over and keeps driving. He wanted one last year, but it was a popular toy that sold out before Jason and I could get one. So, when he opened it from my parents this year, he got the biggest smile on his face and said, "Oh, thank you. I wanted this...so badly!!" He is such a sweet, sweet boy!

Colby also had a fun Christmas. He of course wasn't really into opening presents yet, but he seems to love playing with everything that he got. With Colby, I think the best part of this Christmas is just that he was able to really interact with all of our extended family. Last year, we were so worried about people holding him and playing with him, since he was only 4 months old and a couple of months post-op. This year he was just a "normal" kid playing with everyone. In fact, he kind of likes being the center of attention. It is so funny watching him get people's attention and making everyone laugh. It is almost impossible to not smile and be happy when around Colby.

We started all of our Christmas celebrations this year on the 21st at my Aunt Becky and Uncle Albert's house in Murfreesboro. Aunt Becky is my dad's sister. Unfortunately, we do not get to see them very often, so we always look forward to spending time with them around Christmas. This was the first time Brody opened any presents, and it was hilarious watching him. He was so slow opening, because he was worried about making a mess with the wrapping paper. He wouldn't even open a second present until someone got a trash bag for him to clean up the paper from the first present. Yikes! Poor boy definitely came by this honestly.

Our next party was at my Aunt Pat (Patty Cake) and Uncle Lee's house on the 23rd. Aunt Pat is my mom's sister. I always love getting together with Granny Shug, my aunts and uncles, and all of my cousins and their kids. I can always count on good food and funny conversations.

On Christmas Eve, we had our traditional dinner at our house with Nana, Nenny and Pa, and Jeremy and Tammy, and Emilee and Kylee. Since I wasn't feeling great, Jason pretty much cooked the entire meal, and it was fabulous! Brody was so excited this year about leaving cookies for Santa before bed. He didn't want to leave just cookies, though. He told us Santa was going to be hungry and would need a big snack. So, he put out cookies, milk, marshmallows, and fruit snacks. If you know Brody, you know that him sharing his fruit snacks is a big deal!! He doesn't share those with just anybody. He also left some extra marshmallows for the reindeer. He thought they might like those too.

Christmas day was great this year, because we stayed home all morning. We normally go to my parents after opening Santa's gifts, but this year, they came to us. Brody and Colby loved being able to relax at home and just play all morning, and believe me, they have plenty of new toys to play with. Santa and our families were very nice to them this year! After a great nap for all of us, we went to Jeremy and Tammy's house to have Christmas with Poppy. As always, Tammy prepared a great meal and the kids had a lot of fun playing.

After several days of playing with all of their new toys, I would have to say that Colby's favorite gift from Santa is the Mater ride-on toy. When I ask Brody what his favorite Santa gift is, he says it's his new CD Player for the bonus room. He has had so much fun listening to music and dancing around. Since I got a new video camera for Christmas, we have taken a lot of entertaining videos of the boys dancing. I will have to post highlights later.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJgB_7Yrtik