Getting into the Christmas Spirit

I always attempt to wait until Thanksgiving to start celebrating the Christmas season... or at least to start decorating.  Somehow I always seem find a reason to rationalize starting early though.   For example, even though we leave our Christmas decorations up for about a week after Christmas, we don't usually listen to Christmas music anymore.  So shouldn't we start listening to Christmas music a little early?   And there are so many great Christmas movies, we definitely need to start watching those early, right?  And on a night like tonight, when the snow is blissfully coming down and the fireplace is glowing... doesn't it make sense for the Christmas decorations to come out?  I say YES!

Here are some of the fun things we have been doing... a little bit early. ;)

 Watching Frosty the Snowman with good friends

 Playing with our new Playmobile nativity set

 (Mommy likes to have as many books and toys that celebrate the real meaning of Christmas as possible.)

Our boys have a daddy who happens to LOVE wearing a Santa hat.  He wears it to cut down our Christmas tree, put up the Christmas lights, go sledding in the snow... and decorate for Christmas.  It cracked me up to see the first thing our boys searched for in the Christmas boxes was Santa hats.  Even Casey.  It's so funny how they mimic what is modeled for them.  I love it!

 Reading (and singing) Silent Night together.

Oh how I love Christmas!  It brings so many sweet moments like this... and it's especially heartwarming to see Jacob and Gavin remembering and looking forward to all of our family traditions.  I can't wait to cut down our Christmas tree, watch the Santa parade, go ice skating outdoors, sing carols to the residents in a nursing home, ride on the Polar Express train... and everything else that comes with this magical season!

Sometimes life is hard...

These pictures were taken in our backyard (Gavin was upset that Casey got sand in his hair :).

This little guy had some tears last night that broke his mommy's heart though.  Adam always bundles the boys up on his lap to tell them that he is leaving the next morning.  They usually do really well being brave while their mommy tears up in the background.  They definitely miss their daddy when he is gone though and ask about him constantly.  Casey even starting searching the house during the last trip, as if his daddy was hiding somewhere.  Finally he looked up at me with his big blue eyes and asked, "Where Daddy go?"

Last night, Gavin cuddled on his daddy's lap extra long before going to bed.  After praying together as a family, he suddenly choked up and said, "I want Daddy to stay."  Then he buried his head into the pillow and started bawling.  The kind where you sound like you are hyperventilating with sadness.  I held him in my arms, and it took everything in me not to cry along with him.

We are hoping that Adam will be back to flying for his airline in the next few months and we won't have these sad nights for too much longer.   Because life at home just isn't the same without Daddy around.   A piece of our family is missing, and with that, a piece of joy and laughter is missing as well.   On a positive note, it also means that we don't take our time as a family for granted.  Plus, I always have the homecoming day to look forward to.  The day when Adam comes through the front door, and you can hear the pitter-patter of little feet as he swoops us all into his arms.  That is a joyful day for sure... this time filled with tears of happiness.

My first photo shoot

Okay, so not really.  :)  My friend has been convincing me to shoot outside of "auto mode" for quite some time now, so this was just my first attempt.  I didn't really know what I was doing, but I had fun doing it!

My BIG boy in his BIG bed

I haven't been in a hurry to get Casey into a big boy bed.  First, we didn't have a big boy bed to put him in.  Second, I am not pregnant so there wasn't a reason to rush Casey out of his crib.  Third, I am convinced that Jacob and Gavin gave up their naps when I switched them to their big boy beds.  And I am sooooooo not ready for that.

Casey really wanted to be in a big boy bed though.  Every time we announced that it was time for bed, he would sprint upstairs, climb in Gavin's bed, pull the covers over himself, and FREEZE.  As if he could stay there all night if he was just still enough.

Adam was ready to put Casey in a big boy bed too.  However, he would always bring up the idea on a random night... like right before he left on a trip.   I'm pretty sure you have to plan these things!  Especially since we tried to take away Casey's binky right before Adam left on a trip... and that definitely did not go over well.  Finally, I agreed that Casey could move to a big boy bed once Adam had gotten home from his next trip.  That way, he would hopefully be all adjusted by the time his daddy had to leave again!

Casey ended up being the easiest transition by far.  Maybe it was because he wanted to be in a big bed SO badly.  Maybe it was because Adam had a "special" daddy/son talk right before laying him down.   Whatever the reason, he didn't even try to get out once.  We tucked him in with his blanket and he froze like an ice cube.   In fact, we didn't hear one peep out of him until he fell asleep.  With Jacob and Gavin, we were camped outside of their room so we could be right on top of it if they tried to get out of bed.  With Casey, we watched a movie down the hall with the door open ~ just in case.  I guess you really do get more laid back with each kid.  :)

Did he sleep the entire night?  Yes.  Did he take a nap the next day?  Yes.  In fact, it's been four days and Casey hasn't even gotten out of bed one time.   Phew... an easy transition?  I'll take it!  Now onto potty training...  (SOOOO kidding.)

Trick-or-treat!

We spent Halloween with some friends and their kiddos.

This GIANT mustache came with Gavin's Luigi costume and he really wanted to wear it.  It was practically touching his eyes...  which cracked me up every time I looked at him!

 Jacob stuck with the smaller mustache.  ;)

Daddy worked his magic with Casey and got him to wear his Thomas hat!  Mommy works all week with no prevail and Daddy can sweet talk him in less than one minute.  Unbelievable.

All ready to go!

 Jacob and Kailey...

Casey was thinking it might be a good idea to take the entire shopping cart trick-or-treating.  ;)

He did a pretty good job keeping up with the older kids!  He held Daddy's hand until we got to each driveway, then ran up to the door as fast as his little legs could go.

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My friend has a great neighborhood for trick-or-treating.  Almost everybody is home and you never know what to expect as you walk down the street!  Casey was a little scared of these guys on stilts though and quickly started backing up!

Casey spent the last part of the night holding little Lexi's hand.  She is so sweet with him!

GO!!!

Casey spent a good part of the morning checking out the stashes.  He even thought he was tricky by moving some candy between the baskets...

 ...what he didn't realize was, he was moving it from his basket to Gavin's basket.  Gavin was in full support of that game!