Happy New Year!

We didn't do anything special for New Year's Eve this year. We didn't even have our "party" with Jeremy and Jill. Boo.

We dressed Hunter and Peyton up in their New Year gear and gave them some noisemakers to play with.

Baby boy ready for 2011

Peyton says, "Happy New Year!

We put Hunter to bed at 6:30 like normal and Peyton went to bed at 8:00 like he always does. Then Kyle and I watched TV. We party like rock stars, for sure. Around 11:30 we put on Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve to see how he was holding up this year. We watched a performance of New Kids on the Block with the Backstreet Boys. While I loved New Kids back in the day (they were my first concert), they are so old now and need to hang it up. You really can't be a boy band anymore when all of the members are in their 40s. Anyway, Dick Clark was actually able to keep up with the countdown this year. We said happy new year and then I was in bed by 12:07. But hey, that was 5 minutes later than last year, when we all went to sleep at 12:02.

2010 was definitely a rough year for us, so we're looking forward to what 2011 has to offer!

Christmas, Part 4

We were so busy on Christmas day that the boys didn't even have time to open all of the presents that were waiting for them. So when they woke up on the 26th, they started opening more presents. First, Peyton opened his from Ryan, Becky, Lindsey and Sara. He got some really nice pajamas.

He also got an additional pack of cards for his Alphie toy and some more Trio blocks.

Hunter got some fun baby toys.

Next the boys opened their gifts from Adam, Suzie, and their kids. Peyton got a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse game for his MobiGo and a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVD with the Mickey-mote. He loved them both!

Hunter got a really fun circus toy and a book that plays music and sings nursery rhymes.

Next, our family exchanged gifts with each other. Peyton and Hunter got me a John Grisham book and new slippers. They are good shoppers!

The boys chose to give Kyle some new jeans. Peyton gave Daddy a special Christmas hug. So cute!

Hunter gave Peyton a big tub of dinosaur figures to play with. Peyton loves dinosaurs right now.

One night I took Peyton shopping and let him pick out a gift for Hunter all by himself. He chose the Fisher Price Peek-a-boo Cuckoo. Hunter likes to play with this toy, so I guess Peyton did a good job.

Then the boys opened their gifts from Kyle and I. We got them both some books. Peyton loves books and we read to him so much that he really did like this gift (which makes me a happy mommy!).

Finally, Peyton and Hunter opened their stockings from Santa. Peyton got all kinds of fun stuff like Silly Putty, some mini puzzles, a squishy ball, a marshmallow lollipop, a Santa Clause Pez dispenser and extra Pez.

Hunter got two rattles, two Sesame Street books, and a little snowman Beanie Baby.

Kyle and I also opened up our stockings from each other. It was a busy day, but there was even more Christmas to come...

Christmas, Part 3

To wrap up Christmas day, we all went to my parents' house for dinner. Mom-Mom, Uncle Donald, Jessica and Heather were there too. For dinner, we had our traditional (dad's delicious homemade) lasagna and ham. Of course Kyle got his special ricotta-less meat lasagna because he is spoiled hates ricotta cheese. For dessert, there was walnut cake and cannoli. It was Heather's birthday, so my mom got her a cake and we all sang Happy Birthday to her.

After dinner, there were more gifts exchanged. We gave Mom-Mom a big box of chocolates. She gave Peyton a gift card to Chuck E. Cheese (which he loves!) and Hunter got gift cards to Burger King and Wendy's. Kyle and I ended up with a gift card to Applebee's after some trading with Jill. Uncle Donald got Peyton and Hunter some gifts too. Peyton got some puzzles, Topple, a hopping ball, and some other stuff I can't remember right now. Hunter got a big ride-on toy and a toy that teaches the alphabet.

After everyone left, we all opened our stocking from my parents. Peyton got lots of stuff. He scored some books, a few Matchbox cars, some bath paints, candy, and a mini Etch-a-Sketch.

Hunter got two loveys, a rattle, and toy keys. He liked it all because they were all toys that he could put into his mouth. Notice a theme here?

Kyle and I opened our stockings too. I got things like a manicure set, nail polish, socks, caramel popcorn, and candy. I don't even know what Kyle had in his stocking besides popcorn and candy. Like I said in the previous post: We're all spoiled (but especially Peyton and Hunter) by my parents.

Merry Christmas! There are still more posts to come though, because we don't just celebrate one day of Christmas... this year we needed three days of celebrations!

Christmas, Part 2

After the boys opened all of their presents from Santa, my parents, Jeremy, and Jill came over for breakfast, which they do every year. Kyle and I cooked breakfast for everyone. We had out traditional meal of pancakes, eggs, bacon, and sausage. Our griddle didn't seem to be working, so Kyle had to make all of the pancakes in a frying pan, which took much longer. However, he was a trooper and the pancakes were yummy.

After breakfast, we all exchanged presents with each other. Because, you know, the boys really needed even MORE toys...

My parents gave Peyton and Hunter their gifts first. Peyton got several movies from them.

He also got MobiGo. It's basically like a Game Boy for kids, with educational games. Peyton had no idea what this was when he opened it, but he absolutely loves it now. He has two games for it, and plays them all of the time.

While Peyton and Hunter continued opening gifts, we gave out our gifts. We got Jeremy and Jill a new slip cover for their sofa. I think they liked it.

They got Kyle and I a gift card to the Cheesecake Factory. Yum! Mom and Dad got Jeremy this candle holder, which he wanted just to drink out of so that he could pretend to be a king (or something).

Uncle Jeremy and Jill gave their gifts to Peyton. He got the Hess truck, as he does every year.

Peyton also got his 2010 Mickey Mouse snow globe. Jeremy has given Peyton the snow globe from this series each year since his first Christmas.

Jeremy and Jill got Peyton some other toys as well. My parents got Peyton several more gifts too. Their big gift to him was this Hero House. It's a police station and firehouse.

Hunter got gifts from everyone too. He enjoyed ripping the paper again.

Grandmom and Pop-Pop gave him a bunch of different Fisher Price toys, including bongo drums, a basketball learning toy, a mailbox toy, and some cars.

Uncle Jeremy and Jill gave Hunter a bunch of gifts too. They included pajamas and a sock monkey jack-in-the-box. But his favorite gift from them was probably this teddy bear (because he could eat it!)

Kyle and I got my parents a ceiling fan for their bedroom and a few other smaller gifts. I didn't include any pictures of them opening their gifts though, because my mother was always looking away from the camera (probably talking to Peyton) and my dad just looked goofy. Hehe, you're welcome guys. They got Kyle and I gift cards to three restaurants with free babysitting services. We also each got a few other gifts from them.

Here was the aftermath of gift-opening part two. Gee, where are Peyton and Jeremy?

Peyton and Hunter are definitely spoiled by my parents. But really, Kyle, Jeremy, Jill, and I were pretty spoiled too. We appreciate everything that all of you gave us and the boys!

To Be Continued...

Christmas, Part 1

On Christmas morning, Kyle and I waited upstairs until Peyton woke up. When Peyton came out of his room, he could see that there was a glow downstairs. Santa left the Christmas tree lights on the night before. Peyton was so excited and couldn't wait to get downstairs. We got Hunter up and then went downstairs together. Peyton got to the bottom of the steps and just stopped. He looked so sad. We asked him what was wrong and he asked where Santa was. He thought that the actual Santa Clause was going to be at our house when he woke up. He really looked like he was about to cry. It was heartbreaking, but adorable all at the same time. Once we explained that Santa was a very busy man and didn't have a lot of time to spend at each child's house and when he saw the presents under the tree, Peyton turned that frown upside down and didn't really care about seeing Santa anymore.

We knew that Santa came because he ate his cookies and drank his milk. He even gave the carrot to the reindeer to eat. Santa also wrote Peyton and Hunter a note back.

Santa sure did bring Peyton a lot of presents!

Hunter got a bunch of presents too!

Peyton started opening his presents first. After he opened one, we asked him if it was Hunter's turn to open a present. Peyton responded with, "No, it's Peyton's turn again." So funny.

Peyton got a ViewFinder with the reels of Toy Story 3 and Monsters Inc. pictures. While he had no idea what it was when he opened it, this toy has become one of his favorites.

Peyton also got Alphie. (How about these blasts from the past? These were toys that our generation played with!) Peyton absolutely loves Alphie and plays with him almost every morning while he waits for Kyle to finish getting ready for work.

Hunter finally got a turn to open some gifts. He did a good job of ripping the paper, mostly so that he could get it to his mouth to eat!

But then it was Peyton's turn again.

Peyton got his very first pair of rollerskates. Look how excited he is. In fact, if anyone asked him what Santa brought him, he would always answer, "Rollerskates!"

Peyton continued to open gift after gift after gift... He got lots of board games, some books, puzzles, a few movies, and some trucks.

Hunter opened some more presents too.

This was the scene after all of the presents had been opened.

And here are Hunter's toys after Mommy organized them.

These are Peyton's new toys from Santa.

Santa was very kind to Peyton and Hunter. They must have been very good boys last year.

We took over 300 pictures during our multi-day Christmas extravaganza, so I'm breaking the holiday up into multiple posts so that there is no picture overload.