The Hicks family came over for Christmas yesterday. We were a little worn out from Christmas food so we had Chicken Express! Joyce wrapped everything for the kiddos in tissue paper - I highly recommend it for 3 & under. Grant could tear into everything without any help!
Grant loves books! He stopped to "read" them before moving on to...
Toy Story goodies!
Abby drank her bottle while everyone else opened presents. Please disregard the snot and drool!

Then it was the grandparents' turn:
A hotel stay and...
Concert tickets!

Family photo session:

I can't wait for you all to have this little treat on your fridge. Yes - I know it's a little late. But better late than never right?!

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

And the back of the card:
I used a promotion through zulily and saved a good chunk of change. I just placed the order, but I couldn't wait to share in my blog! Hope you enjoy the electronic and the paper version!

When the kids got up on Christmas Day, they saw what Santa had brought:
Grant LOVED his books! The books were more impressive to him than the kitchen!
After Santa's gifts were properly appreciated, we opened presents. This pic sums it up!
Abby is still too young to enjoy opening gifts, so after Grant was done, he "helped" Abby.

Derek was still sick, so we spent most of the day at home. After naps, Abby and I headed over to Gaga's. We walked in for the second trip to the mountain! YEAH! Sabrina asked if Abby was going to be a dancer and I answered that she was bouncing to the music, she also taps her toe to the side, and anytime she points her foot, I make sure it's not sickled. Normal stuff right?!

We didn't stay long at Gaga's because this was happening:
A White Christmas!

The kids played a bit on Christmas night in their Christmas PJs.
Then I tried to get a shot of Grant giving Abby a hug. Here's the result:
We still have 1 more Christmas to go - the Hicks family! We can't wait!

I captured our living room after Santa came. The kids will love the new kitchen and the tunnel. Grant will love his trucks and books - that's exactly what he asked for! Abby will love her baby doll and light switch book.

On the 24th, the 13 of us woke up slowly. ALL of the boys went to the donut store - it was quite an adventure. We prepped for lunch where my dad's extended family joined us.
Grant and Abby were on weird schedules. Since Grant was up so much, he was ready for an early nap. Abby went down for her morning nap (usually 1 hour) and napped for THREE HOURS!
LOVE these bloomers! She wore them last year too!
After lunch Derek said he was feeling dizzy. I touched my lips to his head and it was on FIRE! He took some medicine and took a nap. We played outside some with cousins. Uncle Steve really helped me keep my eyes on my babies - when I took 1 potty or changed a diaper, he stepped up to entertain the other!
Yeah - Gotta love uncles that use you as a human shield!! HA!
Derek got up just in time for the White Elephant. Because we knew he was in bad shape, we left pretty quickly. So we came home and got ready for Santa!

We spent the 23rd and 24th in Red Oak. Grant got his favorite toy of all - Woody from Toy Story!! Abby got her favorite toy - a picnic basket! The boys rode the John Deere toys, but mostly shot Nerf guns at each other... and used Brian's helicopter as Target practice. Warning: plumbers crack:
Steve got abused for at least 2 hours. Our "small" group of siblings/cousins (13) all stayed the night and had more Paxtons out the next day. You know what's not fun?! Staying in the same room as your kids. Grant played with his new talking Woody at 3:45. I got up to tell him to stop. And he did. But then he coughed for the next hour. At some point, Abby just randomly started crying - but only for 30 seconds. The end result was about 3 hours of good sleep.

Clara had a small birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. The kids loved playing and the place was practically deserted so we had it (almost) all to ourselves!
When we sang "Happy Birthday" to Clara, Grant saw an opening - and dipped his pizza into the cake. He definitely takes after his dad.

Grant is 2 and a half. Here's what he's up to:

*He is potty trained! Poop is still tough - he tells us he needs to go every 15-20 minutes for 2-3 hours before we have success. And we still have poop accidents. But #1 accidents don't happen that much at all (maybe 1-2 per week).
*Speaking of potty, any time he leaves a room to go potty, he says "Abby no get it." He doesn't want Abby to get his toys. And if Abby comes to the bathroom with us, "Abby no get my pants."

*For a long time now, he'll chime in if you sing the line "Sippin' on gin and juice" with "laid back" (and sometimes "my mo mama mo my mo").
*He sings all the time! His teachers at school have even commented on it. With the holidays, he's now singing (or screaming depending on his mood) Jingle Bells. Sometimes he changes the words to "Big boy underwear, big boy underwear, big boy UNNNderWEAR!" Another favorite is "Frosty the Snowman" - but that's the only line he knows. By next year, he will know more Christmas carols than his dad!
*"Why-a so dawk outside?" He asks every single day about 20 times. Not kidding. Some days we say "Because the sun went night, night." Other days we say "Because you won't listen to mama and dada."

*He's thinning out! His beer belly is basically gone.
*Grant LOVES his baby doll. But he throws her every day and then we have to put her away. A few weeks ago, I asked what his baby doll's name was. My suggestions were- Samantha? (Grant said no) and Emily? (Grant said no). My third suggestion? Sarah! He said yes.

*Our once amazing eater has gotten pickier. What a pain!! Bring back my Hoover! His favorite foods are bananas and peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. Derek can always get him to eat 3 more bites though.
*Wearing size 3T bottoms and 3T or 4T tops. This is very bad news. This is pretty much the same size as Andrew and for the past 2.5 years, we've gotten all of Andrew's hand-me-downs.

*Grant LOVES Toy Story. He says "I wanna watch Woody." We started watching it when we were potty training (November 23). We went to the potty during commercial breaks. Before this, he never cared for anything on TV. We have Toy Story 1, 2 and 3 on DVR now and probably watch them all throughout the entirety of a week. We are instituting a new policy though - no Woody unless you poo poo on the potty.
*He answers us with "Okayyyy" or "Yes ma'am". I have to remind myself of this. Sometimes, he even says "Please" without prompting and always says "Thank you" but not til you remind him. Sometimes, he uses manners.
*No one can make Abby laugh like Grant can.