Merry Christmas and More

We've had an awesome past couple of weeks. It's been so fun that I haven't taken the time to blog. So, here are a bunch of out of order pictures. For Christmas, Tom's twin brother Mike came to visit and then his mom came a couple days later. Now everyone is gone and we're having major withdrawal. Tyler keeps going into the office to check and see if Mike is still here and the other night he said he wanted to say goodnight to Gram. We need them to come back soon or Tyler is going to loose it. My parents wanted to see Tyler when he got up in the morning so they arrived at our house at 7am just to be sure. Once they got here, we all got up...except Tyler who slept until 7:45. Ironic that all the adults were up waiting for the toddler on Christmas Morning. I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen again.

We loved that Tyler was excited about everything. Having a toddler makes Christmas a million times more fun.

We wanted Tyler to understand the true meaning of Christmas so we've been spending a lot of time playing with the Manger Scene (thanks Mom for letting us borrow it!).

We also had a birthday cake on Christmas Eve so Tyler would better understand that we were celebrating the birth of Jesus. I don't know if it really worked but it sure tasted good.

This is the way Tyler looks when you say, "Smile for the picture."

During a moment of Tyler's not so pleasant-ness, he ripped Tom's glasses off and threw them down. They broke and Tom had to spend the remainder of Christmas Break with his old nerdy glasses. Don't worry, we got some better ones yesterday.

Uncle Mike was so fun and a really good sport. Tyler didn't give him ANY personal space but Mike still spent every moment entertaining Tyler. We tried to get a picture with just Mike and Mike but once again, Tyler wouldn't give him a second alone.

We all died laughing when Tyler got the boppy pillow and said he was feeding his baby.

Seriously, Gram is the coolest. She brought great gifts for Tyler (and us), woke up with him every morning so Tom and I could sleep in, played all sorts of games with him (and us) and was generally fun to be around and helpful. I'm lucky to have such a great mother-in-law.

My boys are lucky to have such a great Gram.

My Aunt Meg and Cousin Janie came to visit a few days before Christmas. Tyler is obsessed with both of them because they're so fun. Baby Mike had been cranky all morning and wasn't sleeping. Once Mikey spent a couple of minutes in Meg's arms, he was out. Janie had the special touch too. Once again, I have the best family ever.

Today I feel a little sad because Christmas is over and life is going to go back to normal tomorrow. We don't have any more visitors for a while and Tom doesn't have tons of time off work. Back to reality baby.

I will say that I love the New Year because it's a natural time to make changes and plan for the future. I'm excited about the challenges 2011 will bring. HAPPY NEW YEAR!