Waking up Christmas Morning

****   NOT FOR SMALL CHILDREN!  ****  ** (NON BELIEVERS ONLY) **

We got home from mass and carried our sleeping red elfs up to their beds.  Then, the fun began!!

Ryan and I couldn't believe how much fun we would have setting up the house for Christmas morning.  We got out lights to put on our barren tree, brought the gifts downstairs and put them under the tree and then we got to set-up the *Santa-gifts.  We had an adult beverage, made Lego towers, stocked the play kitchen and reminisced about all of our favorite childhood Christmas memories.  Around 1am we realized that we could go on for hours about our past 25 Christmas' and our dreams for our future ones.  ...The boys would be up in a short 6 hours! :D



Our tree, all ready for morning. 2010

 Christmas Morning!!  
John woke up bright and early, (Stephen slept in- go figure!)  So, we had to let John downstairs... how can you keep an almost two year old from presents! :D
I videoed the whole thing... but I can't figure out how to get it on to this blog...hmm??

The first thing John ran to was the Kitchen!  ....And right for the Coke!

John, "AHhh!"  (Yep, he is my boy!) :D

Next, the french fries....

John, "Num, Nummy!"  (Yep, he is Ryan's boy too!!)

And finished it off with an ice cream cone! haha

John played with his kitchen for a bit and opened a couple books while we waited for Stephen to wake up.  John was a very calm patient gift opener at home.  BUT when we were at our other Christmas celebrations, he was frantic, couldn't rip fast enough and needed to open every gift! 

Look Stephen, this is a green gift which means it is for you... 

 I'll open it!! :D

And throw it around, just to be sure the football works! haha

Stephen is almost 7 months here-  watching open gifts.

John is almost 2 here and is wearing his Elmo slippers!

Yaay!  A smile caught on camera from John!!!!

These boys are taking a break from gift opening for breakfast.  Ryan requested french toast, and I had yet to make successful french toast.  I was a bit worried... but it was WONDERFUL! :D We had yummy french toast and bacon with OJ for Christmas morning. 

The boys CAUGHT holding hands!!!  John loves to hold hands... and so he snatched Stephen's for a quick hold.  Gotta love brothers!

* At our house, we are doing things a little different then most families do.  We are having the "big" (or main) gift be from Santa and then the little ones are from Ryan and I.  We do not wrap the gift from Santa either. 

The gifts from Ryan and I are books, puzzles... things of this nature.

Christmas Eve Mass

 After Christmas Eve at Patty and Dan's in Jordan, we went to church at St. Joseph's in West Paint Paul for their 10pm (midnight) mass.  The boys were very well behaved!  It was a beautiful mass. 
At one point when John was loosing it a bit, I took him into the small chapel where there was a Manger scene in front of the alter.  We walked VERY slowly up to the alter and John laid down on his belly to get a better look at what was happening in the stable.  He was awe struck- He just kept saying, "Oooohh" in amazement.  At one point, he reached out and held Joseph's hand that was stretched out. 
It was just a perfect moment; the smell of pine and poinsettias, white lights twinkling, and John laying respectfully at the feet of the manger scene.  This one of my favorite church memories I have-  Beautiful!

Kreuser Christmas

Christmas Eve

So much to write about and so many pictures... you have been warned! :D

Here is John with Great Grandma Kreuser.  John ate dinner with with her, however he quickly found the dessert table that were conveniently at his eye level!  He sampled....umm... everything!  John had fudge, turtles, peanut butter cups, Ritz PB chocolate covered yummy things, and the list goes on... Hey! it is only Christmas once a year! ;D

Stephen (7mo) and his cousin Jack (10 mo)

These two boys had a ball playing with their new toys! Thank you Connie for getting the boys new trucks!!

John in the basement. (AKA Man Cave)

John spent the rest of the night being chased (and loving every minute of it) by my cousins; Lauren, Grace, Hailey and Katie! Thanks girls!  They sang Christmas carols and took endless pictures of him.

Stephen needing a change of everything, clothes and diaper...
everyone loves a fresh baby! :D

Lisa and Rachel loving up Stephen!

Carefully opening ...
everything he could get his paws on!

Cousin Rachel with tired Stephen!  :D

And with Grandma Mitty!

Our little Elf, John!  Ryan and I are starting a tradition with our boys- Christmas PJs!  We found these at BabiesRUs and they were super cute on! Both boys got a pair to wear home from Jordan.  Gotta love the long-john hat!! <3 

Lais Family Christmas

December 23rd at 6:30p

We had Christmas dinner at my parents on 12/23.  It worked out really well for most of us; the holidays are super busy!! We had steak, baby red potatoes, salad and bread rolls for dinner.  It was really yummy food and lovely company! :D 

 My mom is introducing John to "Woody" our life-size nutcracker.

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Here are my parents, loving being Grandparents! :D



Ryan, Stephen, Sara, Papa Joe, Grandma Mitty, Kelli, Mark, Mike
















After dinner, it was time for the gift opening! In John's mind; Let the Games Begin!!!


The Christmas tree, with LOTS of presents!  :D 

(Side note:  The tree was cut down at a farm in WI on December 6th.  We drove out there on a COLD Sunday to cut it down.  Sara has lots of pictures, I need to get them and then I will blog about all the fun we had!) :D



Stephen and John



About to start opening gifts

 



Grandma Mitty with her TWO new electric can openers! :D

My mom told Kelli and I throughout the year (repeatedly!!) that all she wanted was an electric can opener.  Well, we both got her one! Haha .... bring on the cans!!! She is ready!! Enjoy mom!

The boys!  John (clearly) melting! ;D

Quick! Smile- Patrick family group shot!

We were blessed with many gifts from my family....  Teeth whitener, (a special) pen and pencil for Ryan at work, Tomas trains, Thomas movies, a DQ whistle, Origins body lotion and bath soap, Aveda hand lotion, a ferret toy (??!!!... Kelli! haha)  ;D  Christmas books, "workout clothes" for John and (my favorite) night lights for the boy's room with their baby pictures on them.  

(here is the link to the night lights...

http://lightaffection.com/)

Thank you everyone!!  Love you Lais'! <3 

Ryan (L) and Jinette, we missed you at the party.... BUT thank you for the WAY COOL books you made for the boys!!!  John loves to read all about "his wedding" haha  ...if he only knew! ;D

Happy 25th Ryan!

While Ryan is laying with John, reading Go Dog Go, and singing Mary Had a Little Lamb before John falls asleep.... I thought I would quick blog! :D


 Ryan isn't a big cake fan, but he is a fruit pie fan!  While Stephen took his morning nap, John and I made this pie for Ryan- it is mixed berry...raspberry, blackberry and blueberry. The best worst part is, I was keeping the birthday boy in mind while adding the ingredients- -I only used 1/2 the called for amount of sugar.  Tonight when Ryan took his first bite, he looked up at me and said, "Wow! That's tart!!"  ...OK, I tried... Sorry Ryan! :/

After dinner, we played ball!  John loves having the ball thrown at him, and Stephen thinks it is hilarious!  He laughs SO hard every time the ball is thrown. 

John, I love your smile here!!

John and Daddy taking a break!

Family story; Moo, Baa, La La La. 

Ryan, I hope you had a great birthday!  I asked you about your favorite birthday so far, you said, "our engagement" 4 years ago today! Love it!!
Your day in a nut shell:
5am headed to the gym, worked- first day on the job at 3M, came home to lasagna and berry pie, then family time and to bed! <3  Life at the Patrick's... JOY

Santa!!

We went to Mendakota with Steve and Jana for Ryan's birthday brunch on Sunday morning.  It was pretty surreal driving there.  The only people on the roads in St. Paul were trucks.  It was kind of fun driving around. hehe
Anyways... back to the important stuff!
We had a yummy brunch and then Santa was at Mendakota!  And WOW he was quite the Santa!!!  A parent's dream come true!  He was talking to the kids about sharing with their little brothers and sisters, helping set the table, and asking why they didn't make their bed that morning.  The kids were just mesmerized! :)  When it was John and Stephen's turn, I was quite surprised by their reactions...
John sat just fine, not scared or overly excited to be on Santa's lap.   His focus was the treat bags for after your visit with Santa- filled with chocolate treats.  John did sit there and listen to him talking. 
BUT Stephen was just enthralled with him! :)  He was so excited about the whole thing.  Santa sang him Jingle Bells after JR had already left and was hoping to be elbow deep in chocolate.  There was no Stranger Danger for SJ.  It was so sweet!
I loved bringing the boys to see Santa- aaahh parenthood, nothing is better!

John eating his custard martini  ....the life he lives! :D

Stephen wishing he was eating a custard martini....

Santa!!  2010

This pretty much sums it up! Love my boys, both are very predictable! :D

Santa singing Jingle Bells to SJ

JR loving his snowman cookie after seeing Santa.  John you have such a sweet smile!! 

I love you, my almost 2 year old!!!!

ECFE, "Pigs in a Blanket" and Snow Storm of 2010

Here is our little student! John enjoys school so much!  He plays hard, works hard and takes looong naps on Tuesdays! haha

He is making "twinkling stars and a shinning moon" at school.  Ryan got to come with to school today- he was home for the week.  It was nice for him to get to participate in all the day-to-day activities.  We love having daddy home!!

A couple weeks ago, I called Ryan at work to "warn" him about what dinner was going to be that night.  I like to have John help with preparing food in the kitchen- he loves it and it keeps him busy.  When he helps, it is important to make kid-friendly things, too.  So, I thought it would be fun and easy to make "pigs-in-a-blanket" but I knew this wasn't a meat and potatoes kind of meal... so I thought I should give Ryan a heads up.  Well, I was shocked at his reaction- He was THRILLED when I told him.  I was so confused when I hung up the phone....

Well, he practly came running inside from the garage- when he looked in the oven and the Lais version of PIAB were baking, a gray cloud came storming into our kitchen.  haha  Little did I know the Patrick version of PIAB are much different! 

Lais version: hot dogs wrapped in a Pillsbury crescent rolls baked served with ketchup.

Partick version: Breakfast sausages rolled in pancakes and covered with warm syrup.

OKAY! I get it.... what a let down!

So, this week (while Ryan was home) I made him Patrick PIAB for breakfast to redeem myself.  haha :D

The boys loved them! And Stephen watched closely!

Snow Storm 2010 (18inches?)

On Friday night we did some Christmas shopping and on the way home stopped at the grocery store to grab some OJ and eggs for breakfast in the AM.  Holy cow!  It was crazy in there- everyone was rushing around like the sky was falling!  I couldn't believe it-- I got a couple groceries while the boys waited in the car...for 45 minutes!! 

Well, the weather guys were right- it sure snowed! Saturday was fun- Ryan and I took turns shoveling,we shoveled 3 times so it wouldn't be more then 6-8 inches at a time.  It worked really well for us.  I took John outside with me.... he hated it!  haha it was really windy and the snow was taller then him.  I tried to help him make a snow angel, but it just brought tears.  Too much of a good thing... = bad! :'(

Setting up the Christmas tree & Great Grandparents lunch

On Wednesday, December 8th we had Great Grandma Evie, Great Grandma Jackie, Great Papa John and Nana Jana over for a Christmas lunch!
We set up our Christmas decorations that morning. (leaving it to the last minute.... that's me!) D:
Ryan picked up all our decorations at the apartment because they were still in storage from last year.  Then he went to my parents and picked up garlands some garlands that we got for decorations for our wedding (almost) 3 years ago!  John was just thrilled to have a Christmas tree-- even though he was looking at us like we were cracked while we set it up! haha  We had to edit some all but 3 of the ornaments from the tree!  We left all the glass/breakable ones in storage.  The tree was up for....wait for it.... 1 hour before it was tipped over and being dragged around the house.  We put the flower girl and ring bearer's garland from our wedding in John's room.  It is hanging on his window- he loves it because it has jingle bells on it-- the perfect garland for kids! :)
We still haven't got our lights up outside! YIKES- we really dropped the ball here...  we shall see if it gets done for 2010...

OOPS!  (HAHA) He didn't want to look up at us for our reactions.

(No, we weren't mad!!  Ryan and I were laughing- it was the first tip of the year, but not the last!) :D

Ryan and I: "John, what happened?!???"

John: "Bo Bo" (Broken) ...A picture is worth a thousand words!

*PRICELESS*

I did a terrible job of taking pictures at lunch! :/  And, John was not feeling the camera...

We had Carol Anderson's pasta salad, bread, apple slices and brownies for dessert.  Very casual!  John helped with the brownies- he did the red and green sprinkles. :)

And the gifts begin... these boys are so blessed- they have no idea how lucky spoiled they are!  GG Evie brought the boys money for their college funds, and Elmo book and Jingle bells for the door. Which John LOVES!  He carries them all around the house- They make such a cheerful sound, ahh the sound of Christmas.  And GG Jackie and GP John brought the boys frog stuffed animals in darling Christmas boxes.  John has been sleeping with both of the frogs- they are so soft and cuddly. 

Thank you Great Grandparents!!

Stephen is 6 months

Mr. Stephen is 6 months!!

Born June 3rd--  So, December 3rd means 6 months!  What a joy you have been!! Stephen, we are so lucky to have you as our newest member.  You have brought us pure happiness.  We love your smile, laughs, and absolute hardiness.
Stephen, you have just got your 2 bottom teeth- and, boy you love to use them! haha  You are figuring out how they work, the reaction you get when you "chomp down" and you are pretty proud of the power of your new teeth!
You love to do your tummy time, bath time and playing with your brother.  You are not yet crawling or doing a whole lot of "pushing up" on your arms, but are happily playing on the floor with toys.  You have a love for toys that is very special.  You really like to "play" with toys, some babies aren't very interested at 6 months, but you are!  :)
You are exclusively nursing, and not interested in solid foods.  We have given them to you -  but you don't seem excited/hungry/full....anything!  So, for the time being, we are just going to keep with nursing.  Fine by me!!  I love having all this time with you-  it is very special.
We took you for your 6 month well child- You are riding the perfect S curve!  Yahoo!   50% all the way!  You weight 17lbs 8.5oz, and are 27 inches long.  So, you have gained 11lbs, and grown 8 inches all in 6 months!!
We take you to ECFE on Tuesday mornings and Wednesday nights-  The teachers say you are a delight!  You love to interact with the other babies and kids and want to be in the middle of all the action!

Stephen with Great Grandma Evie

We had Christmas with the Great Grandparents on Ryan's side.  It was really fun!! 

We made a pasta salad, French bread, apple slices and COKE. (haha-Yep, I did host!)

It was very relaxed, the boys played, and we all got to hang out!  Thanks for coming!

Stephen with Nana Jana!

December 8, 2010

Hanging out on the couch, after our Great Grandparent's Christmas lunch!

 

Shows SJ's length- body shot!!

SJ in his 6 month picture- what a ham! <3