the rest of the bad news...

so, christmas morning, we thought it felt a little chilly in the house.
we monkeyed around with the thermostat but we just couldn't seem to get the furnace to click on...

so we did out best to cuddle and stay warm until it was time to head to grama's house for christmas dinner.  we didn't want to pay, what we assumed would be a gigantic fee to have a technician come out on christmas day, so we came up with a plan.  max and i would stay at grama's house and drew would stay at home with the dogs and the space heater and the fireplace and call first thing the next morning.

after a consultation, furnace troubleshooting and lots of phone calls to those who know more (i.e. my dad and drew's step dad) we decided to replace our furnace.

they'd be able to come on the 27th, so that meant one more night for max and i at my moms and one more chilly night at the house for drew.  that night, max feel asleep at 6:15pm on the couch.  and for anyone that knows max...that is NOT a good sign.  nope, not at all.  he got sick...and still is.
because of that i missed out on seeing my really good friends from kentucky.  :(

i guess when it rains it pours for us.  many things didn't go the way we had planned this break.  but we were together, we spent time with family, and we were able to celebrate christmas at church, with people we love, and are ready to welcome in 2014!

christmas morning...

the day had finally arrived! christmas was here!

max grabbed the camera out of my hands so he could take pictures of "momma" and "daddy."

don't we look fantastic? :)

little dude dug right into his stocking, a peppermint bark snowman, jelly belly beans, a few silly toys, two new movies (epic and the lorax) and candy canes!

we enjoyed playing with the light up nose...until it stopped lighting up 5 minutes later.  booo.

then it was onto the presents!
first the gifts from santa...

could it be?
yes, it's the shark with rips in its fins, just like he wanted!

look at the expression on his face.  priceless!

and he knew, as soon as the paper was torn off

santa, went to build a bear, 

and got his red panda!

love at first sight!

such pure joy and happiness that his wishes were granted.

and next, his gifts from mom and dad.
libby had to get in for a closer look!

an imaginext pirate sub!
we also each gifted him a special adventure.
daddy is going to take him to a hockey game and i'm going to take him skiing!!!

ready for christmas morning...

after the family party, we headed home to get ready for bed and get ready for santa.


max left santa a cookie, a glass of milk, and some water.
he thought santa would be extra thirsty.
he also left a carrot for the reindeer.

santa left gifts under the tree and filled our stockings!

christmas eve gathering...

we headed to mass on christmas eve.  we decided at about 2:30 to go to the 4:00 service.
yikes...it was a little crazy trying to get all of us ready.
we even had family get there early to save seats and we still had to sit in the chapel.
we watched mass on a screen...max thought it was really neat.

he actually said, since it was like a movie, they should have popcorn! :)

after mass, we headed over to linda and bill's house for our annual family christmas eve gathering.

me and my handsome little guy.

max wanted to take my picture...i love teddy photo bombing in the background.

self-portrait of lindsay and i.

after a delicious meal and a fun "white elephant" gift game, we decided to play headbands.

many laughs were had...both at the game and at each other!

merry christmas from our family to yours!

sledding...

well, this was a far cry from the sunshine, sand and beach that i thought our vacation was going to consist of...but it was a beautiful morning and we decided to make some memories and go sledding.

max LOVES the snow.  we've played outside with his sled before, but never actually taken him to a sledding hill.  we thought erb park would be a good place to start and that way we could invite H&T to join us for some fun!

his first official ride down the hill!  i love his laugh!

drew and i got in on the fun too!

i thought he looked adorable in his snow pants, long underwear shirt and rosy cheeks!

i think the combination of speed, snow, and adventure have made him a fan of sledding!!!

vacation time randoms...

these were all pics that i thought were worth sharing...

i found him sleeping like this.  too many snuggle buddies and feet on the pillow.  look comfy to you?

max and i went to ring bells together!  max had just finished his christmas party at school before i picked him up.  this was the crash after his sugar high.  i put him in a cart so he could "rest" but really it was so i could keep him contained! :)

drew was very happy with his gifts from his mom this year...new pillows and a awesome crocheted blanket.  and he has already put them to good use.

and max was digging his lap desk.  he discovered it worked as a cup holder too! :)

we headed to grama's for tenderloin soup and an impromptu packer game party!

and the bad news began...

so, at around 7 pm, i went to check my phone to get our flight information for drew.
then i saw it...an email from southwest stating that our flight had been cancelled.
we knew there was a storm coming in, but didn't think it was going to be bad enough to cancel our trip.
the tears started immediately.  i had really been looking forward to this trip.
getting away with drew and max, enjoying the sunshine, spending quality time with my dad and grandparents, and seeing a very good friend from college.

well, after being on hold for 45 minutes, i finally spoke with a customer service rep.  he checked and there were no open seats on flights for the next 3 days.  so, our only option was to cancel our tickets and wait 1-2 billing cycles for our refund.

christmas at grammi and grampa ken's...

saturday night, we celebrated christmas with grammi, grampa ken, amie and austin!
i have no idea why i didn't take any pictures....
max got pirate pajamas, the game 'trouble,' and a spy kit from grammi and grampa ken.
from amie he got an outfit and jake and the neverland pirates figures and from austin he got an awesome red lap desk!
thanks everyone for spoiling our little guy.

we ended the night with singing happy birthday to baby jesus!

christmas at grama's house...

plans were set, dinner was made, and gifts were wrapped.

we were ready to celebrate christmas with grama, ryan, hayden, and grace.

we got gracie a baby ariel doll!

and drew's mom made her this adorable winter hat!

and for grama...

...a picture of all three grandkids!
max and hayden were explaining everything to her.

grama had put the gifts out under her tree weeks ago.
max couldn't handle it anymore.  he was READY to open them.

his big gift from grama...an imaginext batcave!!!!

thanks to grama, uncle ryan, and hayden and grace for the awesome gifts.

cookie decorating...

we headed over to the stachowiak's for some cookie decorating fun!

max and i were ready!

so.many.sprinkles!!!!

max's cookies had LOTS of sprinkles!

uncle den was sharing his decorating wisdom with max.

this one received the worst cookie award.  sorry ted. :)

we had some left over icing. so....

...why not!?!?! :)