Christmas with a Toddler!

It all started with a snuggly Christmas morning at home. We decided we want the tradition of waking up in our own house on Christmas morning. So on Christmas Eve, Eric and I put together a tent with tunnel, stacked present after present, and tucked a giraffe pillow pet right smack dab in the middle of the tent. We were so excited for Jack to wake up in the morning! He, again, had no idea what gift unwrapping was...so he pranced around the house playing with Maggie's new little tennis balls while we opened his presents one-by-one. I swear I should buy him dog toys instead of real toys! :) I was upstairs getting ready a little later, and I noticed it was awfully quiet. I went to check on Jack, and he was pushing his new hot wheels cards back and forth through his new fort/tunnel. Adorable!

Two hours later {filled with "It's raining, it's pouring and Jack be nimble" tunes over the speakers, a goldfish extravaganza, and lots of 'mama, dada, ahhhppple' mumblings and chatter} we were back home! We don't go home often, so we ended up making six stops in two days! Busy, busy.

Christmas with a toddler is oh so very different than before kids. Before Jack, we would pack up all of our gifts in our car, give them all away, and drive off with a full wallet and a purse full of gift cards...empty trunk. After Jack, we are arranging, rearranging, and stacking, stacking, stacking to fit everything in! Holy cow :) Santa was good to Jack this year....he must have been on the 'nice list'.

Here's a picture explosion of our Christmas...enjoy!

Homemade cutouts -- my kitchen was full of flour!

Christmas as a teacher... :) Too many gifts!

Lots, and lots, and lots of cards :)

Jack loves Jerry, his new pillow pet! And, the tent/tunnel behind him!

Presents, presents, and more presents...

All the toys in the world and Jack's fav? Maggie's little tennis balls!

This is what we call THE CHEESE! Jack's newest smile :)

Bow on head, check. Present opening, check. Car in hand, always.

Baby juggler?

Tunnel crawl!

Too many toys!

Our driving man :)

Books? Jack LOVES books! Gak, gak, gak!

My all-time favorite toy of Christmas! Singamajig :)

We decided to unwrap, put together, and display ALL of the toys Jack got for Christmas for the day after. It was so fun...Christmas all over again! His first toy of choice? His gak, gak, gaks! Books :) The singamajig was from Aunt Ally, and he just loves the teeth! And, we can't wait for his little cozy coupe in the summertime.

If I had to choose one thing to help me remember the Christmas of 2011, I would have to say the dog toy tennis balls! Jack couldn't care less about the toys and just loved walking around with Maggie's new toys. So adorable. We are so thankful for all of our amazing friends and family we were able to spend time with over the holidays. We have lots to be thankful for! I hope you all enjoyed a Merry Christmas!