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!?!?! :)

away in a manger...

max loves playing with the nativity set.
i decided to capture some of my favorites since we've put out the christmas decorations

the animals are on the roof and all the people are "sleeping"?

a wiseman seems to be sitting in for joseph, the animals are still on the roof and baby jesus is all alone.

and now baseball players have come to visit baby jesus.

the holy family and friends are "movin on up" and have a second story view.

and the fun continues at my mom's house too.
the are all "huddled" around jesus.

and finally, baby jesus and the sheep are cuddling.

working for and visiting santa...

max was excited to come downstairs and see that st. nick had visited us!

max found a wrapped gift, an empty bag and a letter from santa.
santa asked max to fill the bag full of toys that he didn't play with anymore.  then, once the bag was full, the elves would come to collect it and bring it to the north pole to fix everything up for other kids.

max did a great job.  he filled the bag full and even had a few extra things too.
we were super proud of him for taking it so seriously and trying to help others.

a few days later we went to visit santa.

someone was EXCITED.

he was a bit cautious once it was his turn...notice the hands in the pockets!

he told santa that he'd like the red panda snuggle buddy from the build a bear store.

and also a rubber shark from walgreens with ripped fins.
(it's a long story)

i can't believe how big max is already.  so crazy.
the spirit of christmas is so alive in his heart...i love it!