Merry Christmas!!

I know this post is long overdue, but I have pictures on 2 different cards, lots of videos and a lot to write about!

We decided not to travel for Christmas this year.  Obviously it's easier for us to not travel, plus we thought it was time to start our own traditions.  

We went to Christmas Eve service at church.  There wasn't any childcare, so we weren't sure how well the boys were going to do.  Overall the kids did fine.  During the first song, they showed a clip from the movie of the first Christmas.  When Joseph held up Jesus, Robbie said "I saw baby Jesus!"  Later the pastor was talking about his trip to Bethlehem and how different it is now and showed a picture of McDonald's.  "I like McDonald's," Robbie informed everyone.  We brought snacks, which helped, and left a little early when the kids had reached their limit.  I was fine with leaving early because it was getting late and I didn't want to be stuck in church traffic.

Once we were sure the kids were asleep we put the presents under the tree.  While we did talk about Santa this year, we didn't put too much emphasis on him bringing presents.  We figured they'd be excited enough to see presents under the tree and wouldn't care who brought them.  

I planned out Christmas morning in my head and, luckily, the boys cooperated.  Since we moved Alex into Robbie's room Robbie would wake up in the morning and yell "Mommy, there's a 6 on the clock" until someone came in to get him rather than just get up and come to our room like he had been doing.  Christmas morning I sent Matthew in to get the boys, I turned on the Christmas tree and got the camera ready to tape them coming out.  The kids didn't disappoint (though Alex didn't sleep great the night before and was pretty cranky).

Presents under the tree.

Stuffed stockings.

A perfect picture to show the start of the morning: Robbie super excited and Alex wanting to go back to bed!

A couple of presents helped Alex's mood. :)

Alex opening a present.

Angry Birds

Robbie opening a present.

The boys did good taking turns opening presents.  I like to see them open the presents we picked for them.  Their big presents were waiting for them in the garage!

It took Alex a little while to warm up to the Buzz bike we got him.  He was pretty excited about the Escalade, too!

Ready to ride!

It was nice enjoying the rest of the day playing with new toys.  Matthew made us a nice Christmas dinner, too!

The next day Jim, Jean and Brittany drove up.  Unfortunately they hit a lot of traffic on their way up.  The boys were excited to see them when they got up from their nap.  After showing off all of their Christmas presents, they were ready to open more. :)

Alex's new Lego's from Aunt Brittany.

Robbie got Whack-a-Mole from Aunt Brittany.

Of course they had to try it out! :)

Opening Alex's present.  (A large dump truck with Mega Blocks.)

Opening Robbie's present (Car's racetrack)

First picture with my new camera lens!

Playing with the racetrack.

After breakfast Friday, Jim, Jean and Brittany headed to visit with Jim's brother and his wife's family.  We would have gone with them, but my parents were coming up.  Unfortunately, their trip was longer than expected.  Matthew checked the traffic and saw a few accidents on the interstate, so we tried to reroute them.  Let's just say it wasn't a shortcut!  We made it up to them with more presents! :)

My dad suggested driving up to Amelia Island Saturday.  We went with them 2 years ago around Christmas.  Matt suggested Jekyll Island since they had never been and it had been almost 5 years since we drove up with Jim, Jean and Brittany.  It was a lot colder there and I don't think we were really prepared for that!  But we had fun walking around.

 Sitting in an old toy car.

By the big Christmas tree.

Pointing to the snowflakes.

We tried to put a warmer jacket on Robbie (this was when my dad was switching them out), but he just wanted to wear his new Batman jacket.

Alex and Abuelo.

Playing in the fountain.

I love when Alex makes this face (though he doesn't always look so concerned when he makes it)!

We found Alex's room. :)

Robbie playing in a phone booth at the visitor's center.

These pictures were taken with my new camera lens and I love the quality!

Poor Grandma was worn out!

A baby turtle at the turtle center.  I guess I didn't really know what to expect and pictured what we saw when we went to the Caymen Islands on our honeymoon.  It was much smaller!

After the boys went to bed Saturday night I told my parents that Matthew and I were going out.  (Yes, I told them, I didn't ask if they wanted to babysit. :) )  We had tried earlier in the week to look at furniture for Catie at Babies R Us, but it was hard because Alex was asleep and Robbie wasn't too interested in looking at cribs.  We went to Buy Buy Baby, found a crib and dresser we liked and bought them.  I panicked a little when the associate said he would see if they were in stock because I was not prepared to bring anything home (I expected them to have to order it).  Luckily it wasn't in stock, though we did have the van and could have brought it home if it was.

We convinced my parents to stay a little later on Sunday than they planned, but only because there was some rain we didn't want them to have to drive through.  We had a quiet evening, just the 4 of us, before Barbara came up Monday morning.

We tried to do an early lunch at Metro Diner to beat the crowds, but were unsuccessful there.  Then after lunch and naps, there was only one thing left to do...open presents! :)

Opening their dinosaurs.

A new Thomas book!

The tool bench set up and ready to use.

Safety first!

I told Matthew that my last present was going to get a pedicure, so I did that Tuesday morning while he, Barbara and the boys ran errands and ate lunch.  They came home for naps (I took one, too).  That night we let Barbara feed the boys and put them to bed while Matthew and I went out to dinner (Kan Ki, yum!) and saw a movie (Anchorman 2).  It was fun to go out on a date night, but it was late when we got home making me realize I'm not as young as I used to be! :)

We tried to go to Metro Diner one more time for lunch Wednesday, but they were packed again.  Fortunately Hurricane Wings right next door wasn't busy at all.  Barbara headed home at nap time and that officially ended our Christmas. :)