December this year...

Christmas has already been so many things this year and we still have 2 weeks to go. It has been magical in a way that I haven't yet experienced with these two!

Decorating the tree in Griffin's room, you would of thought it was the one in Rockefeller Plaza by his face:)!

Griffin has been absolutely delighted by the whole Christmas hoopla this year. From decorating, to Santa, to Crafts at school, to talking about baby Jesus "in the swaddling clothes"

Baby Jesus in SWADDLING clothes made at church & his own "tivity" made at school

...he finds the up most magic in each shiny detail, each lyric of each carol, each sip of Christmas coco. Every year since he has been born this time of year has seemed to get better and better but this year with him taking the reigns on the excitement, it seems like we have hit the top. He's our little holiday CHEERmeister, and we could not love watching the THRILL anymore! Living it yourself doesn't quite seem to compare to watching your child experience joy!

As for little Beanie, don't worry, he's having a great time too. Anything that brings delight to Griffin is sure to summon a laugh from our little red head as well. He also loves de-ornamenting the tree and running around the house with the glitter ribbons that I strung around it, making the vacuum even closer to my heart (which is pretty close already)! One thing he did not really cherish...Santa. The photo below was taken right before he stuck out his lower lip and the tears began to flow...

Beanie mostly just "tolerated" the whole Santa experience this year. Waiting 45 minutes in line and then sitting on some guy with a beards lap wasn't his idea of a good time:)!

Although, he had some moments, like when he tried to escape from us and dart back through the line that he did love!

As for Ry & I, we're enjoying (& trying to stay sane through) all the details and planning that go into making a holiday sweet for your family! This year is our first Christmas to stay in our home and have it be just us. I feel SO GROWN UP all of the sudden. I am on my 3rd child though, so I guess it might be time! I ordered meat from the city meat market yesterday for our meal, and made a meal plan for the 2 days (a la "Grandma Richard") and it just got me so excited to share this year with my boys. We know we will miss our extended family though, so were doing a lot of cooking to keep them close. My Grandma Sapp always makes these little bites of gingerbready goodness, called Peppernuts...

and my Grandma Richard always had these on her cookie tray at Christmas...

home made snickers! YUM! And we are also going to try some carmel rolls of hers, that she made for Christmas morning and a pie recipe of Ryan's Grandma Benne! Don't worry, we are sharing the sweets, not eating them all ourselves! And I just have to say that my dear husband did a lot of the baking so far and plans on tackling the pie himself. At 11 the other night when we were still cutting and baking Peppernuts I asked him how glad he was I was dragging him into these traditions and he told me he really enjoys it. (Sometimes it's the little things that remind you that someone is perfect for you)!

And who knows what other new & silly things will pop up in this little family!

There are presents I can not wait for the boys to open under our tree and play with...hopefully with video camera in hand so I can remember those faces...

Thankful this year for little boys, a mom who taught me the importance of making holidays special, time with my family, the means to do it all, the delight that this time of year brings to everyone, my husband who I seriously adore, a new baby on the way to us and the baby that came all those years ago for us.

We are blessed!