Hoagie, the doggie of the day on Christmas... and NO Santa was NOT cruel... He is NOT ours, he is Eric's but happily enjoyed by A & C!
Dan & Aiden - the next best thing to piggy backs and hide and seek - shoulder rides!
Auntie Laura and Eric
Aiden on the rocking horse that was mine as a toddler.
Our little family on Christmas Day.
Our bigger familyon Christmas Day.
Dziadzu only thought that he might be able to enjoy his delicious Christmas dinner. That was until Christopher came along to "help him out!"
Uncle Dan & Auntie Laura
Helping Grammie clean her house.
This gift was a slam dunk...
And where were you hiding Grammie and Chris?
Relaxing before dinner; Dziadzu and Aiden.
Double trouble.
Reading their new homemade alphabet book with Daddy
In awe of all of the presents....
Aiden (L) and Chris (R) have been visited by the sticker monster!
Aiden posing next to his life sized stocking!
Humm.. can I really open it? (Aiden)
I will admit that it may be a little while before I am ready to change the music on my blog. There just doesn't seem to ever be enough time to enjoy!
For as quickly as the holiday came, it also quickly passed but not without much joy, laughter, love and awesome memories. We truly have the BEST of the BEST families!
The eve of Christmas eve was so enjoyable. Rather than rushing around shopping, baking or doing last minute wrapping, I relaxed. Mike's cousin Drew came over and the boys loved spending time with him. Chris quickly began saying "Drew" and it wasn't long before they had him playing hide and seek and giving piggy backs. He was a great sport and the boys hope he'll come play again soon!
I posted quickly on Christmas Eve but now would be as good a time as any to share some details. Uncle Dan came in super late on Thursday but was a great sport and headed over early Friday morning with Dziadzu for a visit before the boys naps. It had been a few months since Dan had seen the boys so it took them a few minutes to warm up but they were in love! The boys enjoyed yet again more piggy backs and hide and seek. I am not kidding when I say that those two games never get old! The boys started their gift opening early with presents Dziadzu brought and they quickly dug in to enjoy their new goodies; pretend fruits and veggies, new books and a special flash card game. Grammie and Dziadzu had been warming the boys up ALL month long, bringing Christmas presents with each visit!
After naps, we headed to Mammie and Grandpa Hopkins to celebrate Christmas Eve. Auntie Sarah, Uncle Jerry, Uncle Andrew, Great Grammie Tag and Mammie and Grandpa Hopkins. Within minutes of our arrival the boys had opened all of their presents. They are pros and are willing to lend a hand to anyone that may be slightly slower than they are! They sat with great patience as they played with their new duplo block sets. They also loved their new train table from Auntie Steph. We enjoyed the annual tradition of delicious clam and corn chowder that Grandpa Hopkins made and yummy desserts. The boys played hard and ran like crazy then we headed home for bedtime. From the pictutes that I posted earlier, you can also probably see that they were masters at "undressing" Mammie's tree but she was a great sport as it made for a great photo opportunity for me. It was a quiet ride home but they were too excited to sleep.
Christmas morning the boys were good to Mike and I and didn't get up too early because of Santa's visit. Thankfully they didn't fully understand and slept until 6:30. We got up and let them open their super duper large stockings (filled with all fun but practical goodies; tooth brushes, snacks, bubble bath etc). The stockings were literally as tall as they were and it was a slow process unwrapping all of the tissue. At 22 months they were easily distracted by each item they opened and happily enjoyed each for a few minutes before showing any interest in wanting to move on. The hit stocking items were stickers (of which they were covered head to toe in no time all!), match box cars, Thomas the Train electric toothbrushes, new Cars sippy cups and of course the lolly pops. Aiden ate 3 before we had to cut him off!
After enjoying a relaxing morning and special Christmas breakfast at home, we headed to Grammie and Dziadzu's around 10 am. We arrived just in time for more present opening! And so the fun continued.... the boys loved all of their gifts and were super content playing with their new tractors, basketball hoop, mini vacuums, books, puzzles and more. Our attempted naps at Grammie and Dziadzu's took longer than anticipated as they were very busy boys. After about an hour of playing and giggling, we checked on them to find that Chris had worked very hard taking the window insert out of the window and maneuvering it into his crib... silly, busy boy! We enjoyed a relaxing afternoon and delicious dinner with no lack of entertainment thanks to the boys! Auntie Laura's boyfriend Eric joined us and brought Hoagie, his newly adopted puppy who was a hit with the boys. We were all SO spoiled and we can't express enough gratitude. I have been enjoying all of my new things and look forward to a few colder months inside to continue to enjoy them. We couldn't have asked for a better long weekend with family.
Today we were scheduled to enjoy another Christmas celebration with the extended Ptaszynski family but due to the weather, we spent a quiet, relaxing day at home in front of the fire and we look forward to the rescheduled date in a few weeks. Mike and I were on a cleaning/organizing spree and spent much of the day sorting through the boys toys to make room for all of their new goodies. It feels great to be organized!
Weather pending, we are hoping to make it to Grammie and Dziadzu's tomorrow to visit with the Goulet side of the family who are in from NC and MI. Mike is scheduled to work so the boys and I hope for clear rodes and decent driving conditions as this is also Uncle Dan's last day being home before he heads back to sunny FL. On a day like today, it's hard to believe that it could be sunny anywhere!
PS - Mike will kill me but I just HAVE to share... While cleaning out diaper bags today, I was disassembling Mike's "Daddy Diaper bag" and found something not so "daddy-ish...." (I hope you're sitting for this one!) a small pack of two breast shields. I guess we can chock it up to the fact that he didn't know what they were or perhaps he was just being considerate of my needs. Then again, maybe he felt like he should contribute since I was producing for two and literally pumping around the clock? Either way, it was good for belly laughs for me! That Mike... he is always keeping me on my toes and laughing!
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