My Future is so bright...

Checking out his new shades...

Christmas at Schlitterbahn

Well, the good times just keep rolling! Todd's grandparents (or "Winter Texans") are in from Iowa until April. They usually stay at Schlitterbahn during the winter and this year Schlitterbahn had a Christmas celebration. It goes on through January 1st. We were able to get tickets for last night. Although it was extremely chilly and Max only lasted about an hour and half, he had a great time checking out the lights and riding the carousel. Hopefully next year, he'll reach the 42" mark and can do the bob sledding and ice skating.

Christmas Day

Merry Christmas! Max woke up as usual but was extremely curious about whether or not the reindeer had eaten the marshmellows. We ran outside and checked and sure enough, they ate them all and left a trail to the woods. He ventured inside to check the cookies and sure enough, Santa had eaten a few of the cookies (we forgot the milk but luckily, Santa knew where the milk and glasses were!) Max had a busy morning running back and forth between his new bike and race tracks. He was blessed all day long with a new present about every hour. He is a lucky little boy to be the only grandbaby right now. Lightning McQueen and Thomas the Train are still his favorite. Not so excited about any type of clothing (see overall picture) but he had a great, exhausting day.

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve at home just the three of us. Max helped me make cinnamon rolls from scratch (rising dough and everything!) He cut out cookies for Santa Claus and made sure the reindeer had plenty of marshmellows. This was the first year he really understood what was going on and he had a great time. We went to a Christmas Eve service with Robyn, Bradley, Brenna and Aunt Mary. We had a great day lounging around the house baking and relaxing.

Which one should I get?

Couldn't decide which bottle of bubble bath to get today. In the end, he settled on Tinkerbell...(don't tell Todd...)

I need my "pinchers"...

We are fresh back from Vegas - sadly, a little poorer, but we had a nice break from real life for a few days and are back and ready to enjoy the holidays with the family.

While cooking dinner tonight, Todd was using the "pinchers" to flip the steak on the grill and Max needed his too. He was trying to eat a piece of cheese with it. It was very funny to watch. He tried very hard and finally got it!

We've been talking a lot about Santa and the holidays and Christmas. He knows we are baking cookies for santa and his reindeer tomorrow (along with my other list of "to brings"). He also knows we are going to a Christmas Eve service tomorrow night with one of his friends from MOPS. I'm looking forward to waking up with him this year on Christmas morning and just seeing him take it all in. It'll just be the three of us this year so I'm happy to start some of our very own traditions.

Polar Express

On Sunday night, we took the Polar Express from Leander into Bertram. Max had a ton of cookies and hot chocolate, got to see Santa and Mrs. Claus, stayed up until 10:30 running up and down the train and perfected his train whistle. He had a blast! Here are some pictures from our night out. Thank you to dad and Todd for being big boys and going along with the pajamas....

Gingerbread Houses Part 2

Sadly we were not able to make gingerbread houses with our friends Victoria and Brenda because they are both ill. Max was bummed and even asked if we could take them popsicles to make them feel better. We hope they get better fast!

We did go ahead and make our house this morning. And, again, more candy when in his tummy than on the house but he loves doing this stuff.

Playing Fort

Daddy and Max built a fort this morning off the end of our bed while I made the grocery list and finished up wrapping.

Gingerbread Houses Part 1

Max was invited over to his friend Duncan's house this morning to make gingerbread houses using milk cartons. You could smell the sugar wafting out the door as we walked in this morning. Duncan's mom Sarah, had a wonderful spread for the kids to create their houses. I think for every piece of candy that actually made it onto Max's house, he had 3 in his mouth (see picture of icing!) While we attempted to dilute the sugary substance in his belly with actual food and put him down for a nap, sadly it didn't work. He's now watching Polar Express with daddy. He had a great time this morning! Tomorrow night we are taking a ride on the North Pole Flyer (Polar Express of Leander, Texas...) and then Monday, we are making another gingerbread house his friend Victoria. Pictures to follow....

Daddy Time

Max loves getting on the bed with daddy after he comes home from work. They have favorite games like tickle time, crush your bones and yesterday's favorite was to be wrapped up super tight in a blanket and then unroll him super fast. Pictures don't show the super squeal that comes out of his mouth.

Learning to spit...

We have graduated to "big boy" toothpaste. He's doing pretty good now of at least making the motion of brushing his teeth instead of just sucking the toothpaste off. He thinks it's awesome when he gets to spit so, of course photo op!

V8 Juice, really?

Okay, so Papaw Maxey has introduced Max to popsicles and the ever flowing candy pocket on his shirts but the most intriguing is that our little dude LOVES, LOVES, LOVES V8 juice...

Christmas Cards

Aunt Lori came for a visit and so we could all make our Christmas cards together. Max got in on the action with this new "Lightning McQueen" markers. Attention span of about 10 minutes for coloring and about 2 hours for Tinkerbell, but hey, got my cards done!

Family Pictures

We had family pictures taken a few weeks ago. Here are some favorites.

Mad Hatter Tea Party

My friend Sarah and I "volunteered" to host a table at a Holiday Tea last night through our MOPS group (Mother's of Preschoolers). We picked an Alice in Wonderland theme. Our table was a hit! Everyone did a Christmas theme and our table was very different. Here are some pictures from that. I'm wiped out however. Today I'm moving on to Christmas cards.