Christmas Week

I'm way behind on blogging due to all the busyness of Christmas, followed by my brother and sister-in-law arriving the day after Christmas, and on top of all that, I'm reading a really good book right now so my few spare moments have to be split between blogging, reading and cleaning the house. Guess which one hasn't been done at all???

Anyway, I'll try to be brief since a lot has happened. Here's a shot of Jon and Bennett after our Christmas service. Jon had to wear this bear suit in the play and he was hilarious.

Christmas eve ended up being the Colyer Christmas since the family has expanded even more and there are more in-laws to work around! So we did presents and ate lots of yummy food that night at John and Judie's (aka: Nana and Poppy). This is one huge reason why I love my mother-in-law; this was the tablescape for the Christmas eve food:

I don't know if the picture will do it justice but it was gorgeous and it was just for us kids!! She makes any occasion look like something out of a magazine. Hopefully some day I can do that too. I can't even keep the salt and pepper on the table with my 2 year old around, let alone anything else! Nana and Poppy got Bennett this fire station (its like a dollhouse for boys) that came with all the furniture, 2 trucks and 3 firemen. He absolutely loves it. (notice the hedgehog, meerkat and elephant watching TV from the couch)

Bennett "helping" Daddy build it:

Finished Product:

The Colyer cousins (with one more to be added in February):

Nana and Little D:

When we got home that night, we had a huge event at our house. Bennett quit his paci habit cold turkey. He put them in his stocking so that they'd "turn into toys" by morning. He was super excited but by the time he got to bed and realized he had to fall asleep without them, he was definitely distraught. He cried hard for a while, asking for them. Then he started repeating over and over, "Its not Christmas yet! They didn't turn into toys!" between sobs. So finally, I told Jon we should just switch them out for his toys right away. So he got to open his stocking that night. He was so thrilled with all of the toys, but of course cried a lot more when he went back to bed. I had to do that SuperNanny method where I sat on the floor of his room and inched closer to the door every 10 minutes or so. That worked pretty well and I did it for his nap the next day too. He's been pretty fine since those first two bedtimes. He still gets up a few times but he's not crying anymore.

So Christmas morning we went to my parents new house! Its so gorgeous and they have a beautiful backyard that was picturesque with all of the snow covered trees. One of the highlights of Christmas for me is my mom's breakfast we eat every year. (No surprise there- the highlight of any event for me is the food!). This year she made two different egg frittatas, pumpkin cranberry bread pudding and lots of bacon. We also had mimosas and coffee with egg nog. It was delicious as always.


Another tradition- my dad always reads the Christmas story before we dig into presents:

Opening gifts--of course Bennett and Piper got to help everyone else open theirs too:

This was Bennett and Dawson's gift from my parents:

I tried unsuccessfully to get a good picture of Bennett and Dawson in their matching jammies:

After Christmas morning was over, we headed home for Bennett's nap and then went back to John and Judie's where my parents joined us for the big Christmas dinner that the mom's always collaborate on.

Another tradition in the Colyer house-- Christmas crackers!

And the family picture we dutifully pose for each year in our "cracker crowns":

Okay, all for now. Back to my parents to enjoy another dinner with my brother and sister-in-law. Its been great for Bennett to get to know them again. Its always sad when they leave, knowing it will most likely be another year until we see them again!