Christmas Celebration - Part IV

Santa came!

Yes I know this holiday is going on for days! There was a ton of things we packed into the weekend, and I want to make sure I write down as much of it as I can to help us remember every year how spent our Christmases. So bare with me, and eventually I'll put up some posts that are not Christmas related...

Christmas day was jam packed with things. Surprisingly Santa gave mommy and daddy a gift- Wyatt slept in until almost 7:00 am! I know what a gift. Wyatt enjoyed all of his gifts from Santa, and also had a good time opening his gifts from mommy and daddy. But he got more train tracks and a Thomas train to go with his James train, so he was into playing with his train all more. In fact he played with that train for at least four hours straight!

Stockings were filled

Levi got a wonderful present- a Bumbo seat. I know there are tons of warning surrounding this chair, so he will only sit in it while I'm with him, but it is great to have a seat for Levi. Wyatt soon realized that Levi could sit next to him in his new chair. So I see many photo opportunities coming with this new setup.





Opening gifts from GG Liz



Before we knew it it was time to head over to my Aunt Diane's house for my extended family Christmas celebration. I was a little concerned about Wyatt, he didn't take a nap, and of course the potty chair would be coming along with us. So again, in my mind, I was picturing accidents like crazy and tons of tantrums. Somehow neither really happened. Yes, since Wyatt was tired he was a little cranky and had a couple of tantrums, but they were minor. He was able to watch some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in the basement movie area to take a break which helped him make it through the majority of the afternoon. He got a great wooden tool set from all of my cousins during the gift exchange which he liked. Then during the big gift exchange he loved throwing up the discarded pieces of tissue paper in the air and celebrating as they fell to the floor. He was pretty cute doing his crazy energy bit.

Levi was a champ. He enjoyed being passed around to family from out of town and slept most of the rest of the time - too much going on results in a sleepy baby you know.

Checking out his new drums

I got a great gift from my cousin Katie - a basket full of baking stuff - sprinkles, frosting, cookie cutters etc -so Wyatt and I (maybe Levi soon) can keep on baking! It was very sweet of her.



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Watching Thomas go around the track for the 100th time

Once we finally all got home around 6:00 pm, everyone was spent. We ended up just killing time watching Wyatt's new movies until bedtime.

I realized that Christmas is going to be a new experience for me for a while because as a mom to young kids, my first job is to care for my kids, even on holidays, even when I want to keep doing the traditions I grew up doing, even when I am overwhelmed with commitments that come with holidays. This realization, although obvious, sunk in this Christmas, and hopefully means I'll be better prepared for it next year.

Christmas Celebrations - Part III

The Events of our Christmas Eve - the Highlights

"rolling" the dough

Making Cookies for Santa

Unlike last year, Wyatt and I had to make cookies on our own. Since we were tight on time, we took the Pillsbury shortcut. Wyatt didn't seem to mind at all. He enjoyed rolling out the dough, although he soon found using his hands was quicker and just as efficient.



Carrying the tray



A highlight of our cookie making session was when I asked Wyatt if he wanted to use the mitten cookie cutter. He kept putting the mitten cookie cutter on his wrist, as if he were going to wear the mitten, not cut out a cookie! It was very cute. We still got two good mitten cookies made.

Wyatt helped carry one of the cookie sheets from the dining table to the kitchen to put in the oven. He was very proud of his creations.

Keeping Track of Santa



Watching Santa



After we went to church, we went to Nana's for Christmas Eve dinner - a family tradition. Once we were done eating Patrick set up the laptop to track Santa. We were hoping to distract Wyatt long enough for us to clean up dinner, we had no idea just how into it he would get. He loved watching the videos of Santa flying over different cities. It was adorable. I know that Santa isn't the main point of Christmas, but I think that as long as we parent Wyatt and Levi well, and teach them the meaning behind Santa along with emphasising Jesus' birthday, we will be doing just fine.

Opening Presents from Nana and Chief

Helping Uncle Jordan

Once we finished dessert and clean up, we moved to the living room to open some presents. Wyatt loved passing the gifts over to Uncle Jordan. He was very into helping.

Once he opened his James train though he was done opening gifts and spent the rest of the night playing with his new train. We left presents under the tree so he could focus on his new toy. We figured we could finish his opening session later in the week.

New pacifiers

Levi got new pacifiers from Uncle Jordan - I was impressed that Uncle Jordan somehow lucked out and picked a set that is from Levi's preferred paci! Since Wyatt was into playing with his train, Levi got to open his gifts with all of our attention, which was nice, because being the second child doesn't allow for much single attention at the holidays.

Snowman ornament from Nana & Chief

Overall everyone had a great evening - it is so nice to spend a quiet holiday evening with family and relax.

Christmas Celebration - Part II

Eating desserts

A new celebration was added this year - my mom hosted a dinner for some of our family friends - years ago we would all get together but in more recent years we haven't been able to get together for the holidays, so it was a nice treat to see everyone this Christmas.

Playing with Chief's train

The bright spot in my memory for this celebration will always be Wyatt and his potty. Although we are getting closer to getting Wyatt to tell us when he has to use the potty, he still wants to go on his little potty chair. So when we go to my parents we bring it along and let him be, just like at home (we haven't had any real accidents with this method). So just as all of us are sitting down to eat Wyatt runs to his potty and a couple of minutes later he appears with only his shirt and socks on totally proud of himself. Yep, the whole group got to see him in his proudest attire!  Thankfully this is a group of people who have seen it all with their kids and found it cute that he was so into his potty, because I could only imagine what it would have been like if we were in a group that was not so understanding.

Sporting his Santa hat

This Christmas is going to be extra special because of all the potty training stories that are mixed in. Like earlier today, during Wyatt's nap time.  I am not going to put up all the details, but my worst potty training experience occurred. Let me just put it this way, Wyatt found a new way to make tracks with is large wooden train all over his bedroom rug. The result included hours of clean up and a napless Wyatt. Oh well accidents happen...

Nana with Levi

Christmas Celebration - Part I

Our Christmas celebrations are going to continue for days this year, so here is a bit from our first celebration.

We hosted dinner at our house for Patrick's Grandma Nancy, his sister Bridget and her boyfriend Matt. Bridget and Matt were visiting from Boston and it was Bridget's first time meeting Levi. So it was a big deal.



Coloring book from Aunt Bridget!



I made a simple Italian dinner (baked rigatoni, salad, bread) so that we could try to keep Wyatt near his bedtime schedule even though we were eating late and opening gifts. Of course that didn't quite happen, but he didn't stay up too late.

Everyone enjoyed dinner, and then it was on to opening gifts.



Levi with GG Nancy



Wyatt greatly enjoyed opening his presents - he really loved the coloring and painting books from Aunt Bridget. In fact once those were opened he didn't really want to open anymore!

Ornament



Read aloud book from GG Nancy



Levi got some great gifts as well. His favorite is a stuffed frog - he stares at it all the time. I am sure in a few short months he will be crawling for it. I loved the ornament GG Nancy got for Levi - Wyatt and him now have matching 1st Christmas ornaments - so adorable.



Levi checking out his frog sitting with his big bro



I enjoyed the night immensely, although I was tired. This holiday season has barely gotten into full swing and already I'm running out of gas. Hopefully I'll find some extra stores for the couple of phases of Christmas 2011.

Nativity stickers

Working hard

In case I haven't stated it before, Wyatt loves going to church every week. As soon as we can see the steeple he starts saying "God's house, yay!" and he only gets more excited from there. Our church has an amazing children's ministry and Wyatt greatly enjoys his Sunday school class. Of course since he is so young there isn't much teaching, but he still learns so much.

This past Sunday was a celebration for Jesus' birthday. The rooms were decorated with balloons and each kid got a cupcake for a snack and goodie bag. They sang Happy Birthday to Jesus as well. Wyatt was all about it, since we have been singing to Jesus as part of our family advent devotions.

Finished product

One of the gifts in his bag was set of stickers to make your own nativity picture. Wyatt is pretty familiar with the nativity set, he loves to play with the wooden set at Nana's, he loves his ornament set on the tree, and he always wants to play with mommy's set (which he is only allowed to look at). So for our devotion that night Wyatt put together his nativity picture while Daddy explained each character.

Wyatt took a special notice to the star and animals. Which led Patrick to this great book, Only a Star. It talks about the first Christmas and how the star created all the decoration you could ever want. I know there are a million good Christmas books for kids,  but I recommend this one next time you are looking for a new story about Christmas.

Winter weather?

We made it all the way into the middle of December without snow that stayed on the ground for a whole day, still no need for a shovel. I know it is strange.

Wyatt got the pleasure of playing in the snow over the weekend though. So that is a plus. The snow actually stayed on the ground all day! I was a little surprised.

Wyatt enjoyed being outside in the snow. Patrick showed him how to make snowballs (granted it wasn't the best snowball making weather) and they have a mini-snowball fight.

Wyatt was even brave enough to lay down in the snow!  I guess all those Christmas movies have taught him how to make a snow angel as well and who Santa is.





Hopefully this winter will be full of snow and times to play outside in it. I am sure Wyatt will enjoy every second I can find to let him play in the beautiful white wonderland!

Sugar and Spice Christmas

precisely pouring

After some time trying to figure out something special that Wyatt could make and give as Christmas gifts to all our friends and family.  I know this was probably overly ambitious to even think about, but trying to start a tradition of giving was my main goal this Christmas for Wyatt, even if he might be a little too young to really understand. I mean where to most family traditions come from?

Well I came across two great ideas and we did both!

First we made homemade vanilla extract. This wasn't all that hard, but Wyatt enjoyed shaking the huge bottle once a week (for almost 4 months!). After Patrick and I poured the finished product into cute little containers Wyatt helped me wrap yarn around them to make the presentations more rustic.

A whole family craft

Then came the big project - flavored sugars! We made vanilla sugar and cinnamon sugar in mason jars. Although the whole affair was a bit messy, Wyatt enjoyed it and could do most of it on his own. I set out the jars on the floor. I gave Wyatt a scoop and a big container of sugar. After showing him how to do the first couple he was all about filling each jar with sugar.

Cinnamon waiting for sugar

The clean up was a little intense, but hey you have to clean your kitchen floor all the time anyway. Might as well make sure it is super messy before hand! And now Wyatt has homemade gifts to give away!

Making Snowmen

Wyatt has gotten very good at placing stickers over the past month. Sure there are times when you have to wonder about his choice of positions (he made a farm that made a circle, well the animals made a circle) but most of the time he wants the picture to look like the real life version. With this in mind I decided a Christmas craft was in order.

I found snowman ornament packs at Target the other day and figured they would be perfect for a Christmas gift from Wyatt to his Nana. I was extra excited when I realized that the decorations for the snowman were stickers.

I showed Wyatt the picture of the snowmen on the cover of the kit. Then I handed each piece to him one at a time. He very precisely placed each accessory correctly on the snowmen.

One is on our tree so we can enjoy it every year, and the other we wrapped up to give to Nana.

Happy baby

I have realized most of my recent posts have been very Wyatt heavy. After I thought about it for awhile I realized it was because Levi is such a happy baby that I have been able to do so many fun things with Wyatt.

Happy boy

For the most part Levi only gets fussy when he needs to eat or be changed. He will whine a little if he wakes up from a nap and we aren't in the same room. Once I bring him into the room we are in though he is usually very content to just watch.





When he really enjoys watching us, he blows bubbles - the cute baby bubbles from having too much saliva in their mouths. He giggles at Wyatt often which of course keeps Wyatt interested. Wyatt spends much of his day "tickling" the baby or showing the baby how to sneeze - he thinks it is funny when Levi sneezes.

blowing bubbles

Compared to how Wyatt was when he was about three months old, Levi is the most relaxed baby.  He just wants to be included, he doesn't seem to care how. Wyatt used to cry over the smallest things and never take a pacifier or really self-soothe until he was almost six months old. Levi is a great self-soother and so calm, at least for me. I am sure the day will come when I can't remember these days of his calm behavior, but until then I'm enjoying my happy baby.

Decorating cookies

At Nana's this week, Wyatt had a great time decorating cookies. My mom had some small tubes of gel frosting and sprinkles and a box of gingerbread men cookies. So we let Wyatt at them.

Nana showed Wyatt how to use the frosting, and he was all about it. He kept saying, "coloring! cookies, coloring" and "squeeze! squeeze colors".  It was so cute! In fact here's a little video.

Advent Chain

Wyatt's advent chain on our Christmas tree

In an effort to socialize my kids, I have made an effort to get out and do things with other moms who are at home during the day. Recently I set up a craft day with Wyatt's sitter from when I was working. Nikki and I have been friends for years (like since we were 5), and as I have mentioned in the past, her daughter Kaleigh is a few months younger than Wyatt. Nikki watching kids at her home, which was a great blessing for us when I was working.




Anyway, the three of us headed over to Nikki's earlier this month to do a Christmas craft with all of her kids - her two and the other five kids she was watching.




Nikki with all her kiddos



We made advent chains - you know the paper chains you put together and then tear off daily as you wait for Christmas day?  I found this great site, Spell Out Loud, that had a great chain to print out. So we had five sets, (one per family) and two adults to help all these little kids make an advent chain.



Movie break after craft



It was a little chaotic, trying to get the chains put together while watching so many little ones! I might have been a little ambitious with my craft, but it was still fun. The girls really loved wrapping themselves up with the chain like a big scarf. Once we were done with the finishing touches, we put the chains in every one's bags, so that they would make it home in one piece!

After we were done with the craft, we tried for a group photo, yeah that didn't really happen. Mostly because Wyatt was too into checking out all the new toys since he had last visited Kaleigh. We stayed for a little while - it was nice for Wyatt to see Kaleigh and Nick again - his buddies.



I am planning on putting together little crafts/projects to do on a regular basis, even if it is a little chaotic!

Big Boy Potty

After months of asking Wyatt if he wanted to sit on his potty while daddy and mommy used the potty, I decided it was time to take the plunge and do some serious potty training. I figured the baby was here and there wasn't any serious problems with that, so now would be the time. Sure with the holidays people were thinking I was insane, but there really isn't ever a perfect time to try. So on a Saturday morning I got Wyatt dressed with training underwear on and told him he was a big boy and that he wasn't going to wear diapers during the day anymore. That diapers would be for sleeping only. Now he would wear underwear and need to put his pee-pee and poop in the potty, just like Joshua from the book we had been reading for at least six months. Patrick and I decided that we would try hard until Friday so that we had a finish line in sight. If he didn't get it we would go back to diapers and try again in a few weeks.

Refusing to put the potty on the floor

So that weekend was rough - we did lots of cleaning. Monday was horrible. All I did was clean up accidents and do laundry. I kept reminding Wyatt that he had to put his pee in the potty. I had special movies so he could sit on his potty and watch them. Nothing! I told him he could have a sucker if he sat on his potty while he ate it. Nothing! On Tuesday he sat on his potty for at least four hours on and off throughout the day - not a single drop ended up in that potty. But it felt like gallons ended up on the floor!

I was feeling very discouraged. Maybe I had decided to do this too soon and he just wasn't ready. I was dreading having to go back to diapers, I mean that would be horrible for me and Wyatt not to mention our back account!

Wednesday morning I prayed again for patience as we continued this process and that somehow Wyatt might realize the purpose of the potty. I think that prayer, and hard work, and luck paid off, because that evening Wyatt got pee in his potty twice! I went to bed feeling encouraged, sure it was just little amounts, and it was probably on accident - the first time we read two books 6 times each, and somewhere during that he released a little. Then all four of us sat in the bathroom and read a couple of books with the water running, and he had a little that time. But that was still better than nothing.

Refusing to take his pants off

Thursday was the big day though. We were playing with some shape cards, I had mentioned that if he had to use the potty to stop playing. It was early, I figured he didn't have much in his bladder, so I wasn't worried. After about 10 minutes of playing he got down from the table and walked away. I figured he was just done with game. While I was putting the cards away, I heard him peeing, and gently reminded Wyatt that pee goes in the potty. When I looked around the corner, he was standing next to his potty and putting all of his pee in it! I was elated! The rest of the day was a success, all his pee went into the potty (only minor issues with getting his pants off quick enough - a little in his pants usually, but only maybe a teaspoon or less).

And Friday was the crowning glory. Wyatt actually put his poopoo in the potty! I couldn't believe it.



Celebrating his success!



No real secret. We, as parents, just made up our minds to take the plunge and started strict training. We tried to be calm and patience as much as possible and just matter of fact about the accidents. We never yelled or got angry when he had an accident. And now I am willing to say my son is mostly potty trained, enough to count at least - we will worry about overnight later, and I think pull-ups during car rides and shopping trips (short ones) will just make it easier on me, at least for now. But over all I'm super happy with these results. What a great Christmas present to mommy and daddy from Wyatt!

Rocket Craft

Putting in the rubber bands

I am not usually a big magazine reader, much less a magazine subscriber, but I have one exception right now - Disney Family Fun. Yeah I know big shocker, it's from Disney. I just really enjoy this magazine because it is full of fun ideas I can do with my kids. Most of the crafts are still a little old for Wyatt, but there are many we can do, and other I tear out and save for future use.

Recently I came across an easy craft for a shooting rocket. So I tore it out and Patrick made it with Wyatt.

Flying his rocket

It was a simple machine - two large plastic disposable cups, and two rubber bands. During the day Wyatt colored a sheet of white foam and then I drew on the rocket shapes. While he was napping I cut out the rocket and glued it together. When Patrick had finished putting the cups together that evening, the dried rocket was attached to one of the cups.


Preparing for take off

Wyatt had a great time with his daddy shooting the rocket at the dining room table for a long time.



The rocket had to go to Wyatt's room with them when it was time to get ready for bed, and there was a rocket shooting event in his room before story time.

Sure Wyatt's hands weren't quite big enough to shoot the rocket on his own, but it was the best daddy/Wyatt bonding time they've had in awhile. Plus it was adorable to watch.



So excited to watch it take flight



The downside was that this simple rocket only last about 24 hours before it was destroyed, but it was a spectacular 24 hours!

Fun gifts

Making it snow

These pictures are from a while ago, and the holidays slowed down their posting.

Wyatt and Levi got two great packages in the mail recently, one from family in Texas and another from Aunt Bridget (in Boston). I am so glad that Wyatt has family all over the country. We get to point out different places on the map puzzle Wyatt loves as where his family lives. Trust me, he knows exactly where Texas belongs on that map.

Wyatt loved carrying the box inside - of course the real fun came when we opened the box and found a ton of pink packing peanuts. Oh the fun!

Discovering his hat

Once he got done playing with the peanuts, Wyatt realized there were gifts inside. His present was a very stylish hat, which he has worn all the time! Remember the Easter hat? He has found a replacement. 

Opening his mail

a monster hat

Later we opened the gift from Aunt Bridget, and there were more hats!  These were cute animal winter hats.

Now my boys are ready for winter once it gets here- I am told that should happen in the next 24 hours.

Christmas Lights

Last year we thought we did a good job with the lights on our house. We spent a good amount of time in the cold air putting them, and then a nice blizzard helped make them seem perfect. This year we took advantage of the warm weather and tried for a bigger presentation of lights - nothing crazy though!

After we got them up - Patrick on the ladder while I (with Levi strapped on in his carrier) handed over hooks and lights - we decided to surprise Wyatt with them later in the evening. Once it was dark out, we all put on our jackets- yep jackets! - and headed out front. Quite a few of the neighbors had lights on, and Wyatt was very into them. The three of us (Levi was sleeping soundly inside) stood on the sidewalk in front of the house and we counted to three. At three, our house magically lit up - Wyatt was entranced. I love the magic surrounding Christmas, especially for little kids.

Christmas Decorations

As usual we set up all of our Christmas decorations the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I always do this partially because it is done and out of the way, and partially because it allows us to spend the rest of the season enjoying other special activities.

In the past couple of years Wyatt has enjoyed Christmas decorating, but this year he took it to a whole new level and I loved every second of it. I mean how could I not since this is my personal favorite holiday- celebrating for a whole month and spending extra time with family and learning to give more- what's not to love?

Wyatt quickly found his army Santa hat and made sure it was on his head through the whole decorating process. He greatly enjoyed putting his ornaments on the tree. This was the first year he put his nativity ornaments on the tree - every year before now they have been toys or chew toys. I am glad he showing an interest in them, because it gives me and Patrick a place to start teaching that we are celebrating Jesus' birthday.