Christmas Eve...The Countdown Begins!

After Ian's nap, we had dinner and then Daddy suggested going out for frozen yogurt. It's cold and rainy, but that still sounded like a fun Christmas Eve treat. So we packed up, got our yogurt, and then headed to the video store. Daddy hadn't seen Shrek 2 and heaven forbid he watch Shrek 3 without having seen Shrek 2! :-) Ian LOVED the video store. It was pretty empty, so he just ran circles around the place.

Ian was doing really good holding onto our hands while he ran, so we couldn't complain.

Haha...I love this pic! I think he is trying to get his jacket back up on his shoulders (it kept slipping down), but he looks like he is having so much fun! (I think he looks so grown up with his jacket hanging down like that.)

We looked at some Christmas lights on the way home and then came in to our own pretty tree!

Ian loved looking at all the gifts under the tree.

According to our fun Christmas Eve traditions that James and I both grew up with, we all opened one gift each tonight. Ian's was a mini pillow pet.

Mine was a beautiful set of blue and white freshwater pearls! Daddy did a great job!

Daddy showing off Ian's little cuddle pet. (He got Charlie Brown boxers.)

Ha - I was picking things up and noticed Ian had grabbed Daddy's bubble tea off the counter and was finishing it off!

It wasn't long before Ian had found his way in the pantry and was clearing off the first shelf. He's grown a bit this last month and can now reach all the way back on that shelf (as well as halfway across the counter tops!).

He had so much fun setting all the non-breakables on the floor. (That's all we keep there anymore.)

Good ole olive oil!





Back in the office, Ian found an old phone I had set in there. He loves talking on the phone now and had a cute little conversation with himself. Unfortunately, I missed it both on video and photo. I'll have to get another video sometime soon.

Now our little darling is all tucked in to bed and we are finishing up some Christmas present wrapping. Looking forward to tomorrow! Merry Christmas Eve!

Christmas Eve Fun

I am so loving that Ian is sleeping late! I woke up at ten this morning and got the entire kitchen cleaned before Ian got up! Once he was up, I started working on the cake balls I've had rolled and sitting in the fridge. When I was done, Ian was more than happy to lick the spoon!

Waiting for the coating to harden.

All done!

So pretty! (We sent some to our nice neighbors who brought us cookies earlier this month.)

Afterwards, Ian opened a gift from our neighbors.

Shrek 3...that was super nice! Especially since the gift was unexpected! Thank you so much!

Haha...this cracked me up! James started taking the Thanksgiving clings off the sliding doors, and Ian plopped down on the kitchen floor to watch him.

I guess Ian thought it was a good show!

We also got a wonderful package in the mail from our friends Donald, Shanti, and Leah!!

Ian had fun tearing the wrapping paper off his gift.

A Little People play doodle! I had never seen a toddler version of this before!

Ian had a great time drawing. He is just now starting to get interested in coloring and drawing, so this is perfect for him. Thank you guys so much!

Mommy and Daddy got a kneeling cushion...we will definitely use that!

James was happy to see the cushion!

He put it to use right away!

Ian loved his box too - thank you again!

After the present fun, we headed into the guest room to finish decorating the tree. Daddy put the angel on top and Ian handed me ornaments to finish hanging.

Then we got another package in the mail! We weren't expecting this either. Uncle David, Aunt Elizabeth, and Cousin Angelina sent Ian a present. I set Ian's present on the floor for him to open and this is what happened...

Once Ian had finished running circles around his package, Daddy took a break from his projects to help him open it.

Oh boy!

Then Ian sat back down in Mommy's lap to actually get his little Noah's ark animals out. There were two of each!

Ian had fun putting his animals with his cookies.

Then he brought the animals to Daddy, who gave Ian a puppet show.

Thank you, everyone, for all of Ian's gifts! He is so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends!!

On the 12th Day of Christmas...

...Ian opened a package to find a cookie!

My sister and her family sent Ian a cookie jar with numbered cookies! Ian was thrilled to open his present and immediately signed "eat" upon seeing the cookies!

I missed the actual sign, but you can see the hungry look on his face here!

Liz said that she remembered her kiddos loved to put stuff into things and take them out over and over again at this age. Ian is no different! He had a blast putting his cookies in the cookie jar...

and in piles on the floor...

and on his high chair...

and on the stool!

He really loves his cookies. Although it only took him a second to realize he couldn't actually eat them, he's been carrying them around for the last day and a half! He often chews on them and then tries to put them in our mouths so we can chew on them too! Ian says a big thank you for his cookie jar!

Later that day, James called from our room, saying that I should bring the camera. Apparently Ian was chillin' on our bed, big kid style.

I know it's totally a new parent thing, but Ian looks so grown up on our bed!

Ha - of course, he was totally up for a game of peek-a-boo with the covers.

Where's Ian?

Peek-a-boo!

After Ian got tired of that, he climbed off our bed and waded through the piles of laundry on the floor waiting to be put in the washer. At one point, he started shutting our closet door, which shut one pile of laundry in the closet. It was almost like he was trying to hide the laundry! Smart boy! He did get kind of upset that the door wouldn't close all the way though...that's how behind we were on laundry!

We had quite a bit of cleaning/errands to do, so Ian went to daycare for just a few hours that afternoon. He fell asleep in the car about 7pm and was OUT when we got home.

Close-up of our zonked little boy.

Being zonked only lasted a few minutes though. He needed his diaper changed before bed and woke up when we changed it. He must have had a power nap because he did not want to go to bed after that! In fact, he ended up going to Wal-Mart with me around 10:30pm. I wasn't looking forward to the trip because I knew the store would be packed, but it actually wasn't bad. And Ian did great! We had a fun little shopping trip together and he went to bed about midnight. He then proceeded to sleep til 12:15pm!! We are absolutely loving this mini teenage phase!