Christmas Eve

Our Christmas Eve was filled with lots of fun activities!

Baking Christmas cookies.

Watching the cake batter get mixed up. We made a birthday cake for Jesus.When we started decorating our cookies, Ian looked over at me and said, "Mommy, I like to make the cookies, but my favorite part is decorating them." :) He is great at quality control too; there is not a single sprinkle that does not get tested by this little guy.Before church.

Reindeer food.Setting out milk and cookies for Santa.Resting up for an exciting Christmas Day.

Christmas Lights

Ian was feeling a little under the weather one day, and we enjoyed a quiet day at home. That night we went driving around Leander to check out Christmas lights in different neighborhoods. It was a fun night, and I am already looking forward to doing it again next year.

Freshly bathed. Decked out in jammies. Candy cane in hand. Ready to look at some lights.Ian LOVES candy canes. :)

Trail of Lights

Marble Falls has a great trail of lights that we first went to when Ian was just a baby. We checked it out this year on a beautiful Sunday evening. For a small town, I am amazed by how many lights are on display! Ian enjoyed all of the lights so much that we went through a second time. Here are a few of our pictures.

Relaxing Morning

This morning Ian requested pancakes for breakfast. I decided to add a little Christmas cheer by putting sprinkles in the batter. Ian was quite impressed by his Mommy's culinary skills, and ate almost 5 pancakes!

Pushing his sleeves up in preparation for his breakfast feast.Ian snuggling with his puppy friends. The big "Christmas Puppy" (as Ian has named him), has quickly become his favorite stuffed animal!

Santa and Zilker Tree

Santa made a stop at Ian's daycare last week, so I took him on a day I was off. Ian was incredibly excited to tell Santa what he wanted, and his face lit up when he first saw him! That evening we met Uncle for dinner and a trip to the Zilker Tree. Despite the light rain that would come and go, we all had a great time.

Listening intently to what Santa was telling him.Spinning Mr.Ken under the tree.Ian wanted to be held by his favorite person!

From inside the tree looking up. It's really hard to do the lights justice with a photo.Uncle spinning Ian.Of course Ian had to drive Uncle's spaceship (his car) before we left. :)

Christmas Stroll

We went to the Christmas Stroll in Georgetown last night. Despite it raining all day, the rain stopped in the evening and the weather turned out to be perfect. It was a fun night to begin the holiday season.Not the best picture, but one of the only ones I got of him actually looking at the camera.Dancing to the music from the live band. When this kid hears a beat, his legs and hips start moving!Watching intently as the paramedic was explaining about some of the equipment on the ambulance. The ambulance was Ian's favorite thing of the whole night.Walking into Bethlehem Village.Inspecting the clothespin baby Jesus the nice lady gave him.Do you think they had a sign like this in Bethlehem back in the day? :)

Watching the Christmas Story (Ian's on the far right). He paid attention for the whole thing.This little girl kept trying to share popcorn with him, but he did not want any part of it! This picture doesn't fully capture how funny it actually was nor how adamantly he kept telling her no.Getting a bracelet placed on his left arm because it is closest to his heart. Inside the bracelet was the verse Deuteronomy 6:5. The whole village was a wonderful learning experience for Ian.Checking out one of the Christmas trees lit up on the side of the courthouse.These 2 guys were at the North Pole without coats on! Thankfully no one caught pneumonia.

Decorating

Last week we worked on getting all of our Christmas decorations out. It was nice to do a little bit each day, and that also helped hold the interest of my little assistant decorator.

He was VERY excited to put the ornaments on the tree.

Being very careful when unrolling each person in our nativity scene. We talked a lot about being gentle this week.Placing them in the order he thought they should be in. :)It was fun watching him open each one and figure out who it was.Making sure they are all lined up properly.