Merry Christmas

We have had such a wonderful last few days! My parents arrived on Wednesday afternoon and we relaxed for a while and then I made homemade pizzas and then we went to Jolly Holiday Lights. When we got home we watched 4 Christmases and laughed SO HARD! It was hilarious...we loved it! Then on Thursday Mom and I had a super fun time doing lots of last minute shopping before heading over to Baldersons for our traditional Christmas gathering. We had amazing food and played cards and hung out. Sean, Tate and I headed home to put Tate to bed and then prepare for Santa's arrival! :) Mom and Dad got home around midnight and then we hung out and chatted until after 1:30am!

This morning Tate was excited to see that Santa brought him a sled and bowling set along with some other fun goodies. I was too busy watching him enjoy his gifts and seeing what Santa brought me that I only took a few pictures!

After getting ready for the day, we headed back to Baldersons' for a super delicious lunch and some more card playing and hanging out. Mom and Dad left after eating to head back to Muscatine. It was sad to see them go! It was SO MUCH FUN hosting them at our home! We still have our Christmas gathering with them, my sister and brother and their families next week. We cannot wait for that!

We were so exhausted after eating that we came home too and took a "family nap" in Mommy and Daddy's bed while watching The Lion King that Santa brought Tate. We managed to watch about 15 minutes of it before falling asleep. It was nice to nap all together and snuggle with my boys. It was the best Christmas gift I received!!! It's my favorite thing to do...snuggle in bed with my 2 favorite boys!

We have spent the rest of the day playing and playing and playing with all of Tate's fun toys. He even unprompted, ran over to me and hugged me tight for a long time and said, "I love you, Mommy!" It was the best part of my day, week and maybe even month! Those of you who know Tate, know that this is not something he does much. He's not much of a hugger or snuggler. He was so happy today...he said it several times. "I'm so happy, Mommy!"

Tate got a guitar and microphone on Christmas Eve and he LOVED it!

He likes to sing in the microphone and has been all day...

And he is a pro at the guitar! :)

This was the only picture I got this morning that wasn't blurry. He was so excited to unwrap is gifts from Santa!

It's been such a wonderful few days and there are more to come!
Not only have I had amazing family time, but we've been blessed with a BEAUTIFUL white Christmas that we don't usually get! It's been perfect so far and we look forward to it even getting better. We will have a family day tomorrow as well as get to see Chris, Brenda and Bode for the first time in 5 months. The Peakin Christmas is on Sunday and then I have another 2 1/2 day work week before we go to Muscatine for a few days.

We hope everyone had as Merry of a Christmas as we have had so far!