Snow...AGAIN!

So it started snowing last night at about 9pm. It is 5:30pm right now and it's still coming down! Greg and Hunter went out to play in it, and as soon as Hunter discovered the snow was up to his knees, he started crying because he didn't know what to do! He did warm up to it after a while and he and daddy had a good time out there. I got a funny video of Bella, our dog, trying to make her way through the snow too. Here it is:

Virginia Beach really isn't equipped for snow like this so we have our fingers crossed that Greg will be off of work tomorrow, and our three day weekend becomes a 4 days weekend!

Christmas

The Virginia Beach Wehrmans had a wonderful Christmas together! We definitely missed spending time with family, but travelling in my current state is pretty much out of the question, and we had a very enjoyable day despite the fact that we missed you all!

We webcammed with my family Christmas Eve so they could see Hunter open his gifts. He got a toddler laptop with educational games from them that kept him occupied the whole day. He loves it! Then, that evening, our church had a Christmas Eve service we attended.

I really wanted to see Hunter's reaction to all the gifts under the tree Christmas morning...so much so that I dreamt (thank you vivid pregnancy dreams) that he opened all his gifts enough to see what was inside before waking us up. I woke up from that dream about 4am, and didn't sleep very well after that for fear that it would come true! I finally got up at 6:30 and both boys were still sound asleep, so I went in the kitchen and made some of Pioneer Woman's homemade cinnamon rolls. Before starting to tackle the dishes, I checked on Hunter to make sure he was still sleeping so I could be in the living room when he awoke to capture his reaction. He was still sound asleep so I started on the dishes. Not five minutes into washing them, the child comes walking up to me in the kitchen! So I didn't get the initial reaction, but I did get to go into the living room again with him so we could take a closer look...and at least my dream didn't come true! We let him open his stocking stuffers and then we ate breakfast. The cinnamon rolls were amazing, and we also enjoyed bacon and eggs. Here's a picture of the delicious cinnamon rolls! (Please disregard the burnt bacon in the back.)

Hunter had such a fun time opening all his gifts. Christmas morning is SO fun as a parent but in a whole different way. I loved being able to shower him with gifts, and being the firstborn, he really does need new toys every so often since he grows out of the old ones. After gift opening was finished, I went in his toy box and closet to pack up some old toys that he hardly plays with anymore to make room for the new ones. When my pregnant eyes saw the bottom of the toy box with tons of little random pieces that had collected down there, my nesting bug did not like it! I ended up taking everything out, and cleaning the toy box. Greg and I organized everything again, and packed a lot up. I was worried where we were going to stick all his new toys but we definitely found the room, much to Hunter's dismay.

We webcammed with Greg's family in the afternoon and they got to see Hunter open the gifts from them. He got an adorable set of fire truck pj's and a robe, both handmade by Nana. He absolutely loves the robe and didn't even want to take it off to go to bed! Here he is in front of the tree sporting his new clothes.

For dinner, we had Honey Baked Ham, cheesy potatoes, green bean casserole, and Pioneer Woman's homemade Parker House Rolls.

After dinner, daddy and Hunter were playing with some of his new toys, and I got a cute video of it. :)


We ended the night with the three of us playing Candy Land, and enjoying cupcakes.

It was a wonderful, intimate Christmas for the three of us. How was everyone else's Christmas?

Santa

Greg and I both grew up with Santa Claus, and we wanted to pass on the fun tradition to our kids. With Hunter having just turned 3, this was the first year we really got to get into it.

Part of Santa included going to the mall to see him. So, yesterday evening, 6 days before Christmas and on a weekend (because we're crazy,) we got in the car and drove across the street (literally) to the mall. We have been telling Hunter that Santa was going to bring him presents and he was excited when we asked if he wanted to go see him to tell him what he wanted. It did take some talking to get his answer passed "presents," and then from that he went to "toys." We reminded him of what kinds of toys he liked (cars, trucks, trains, etc) and he agreed with them all and was ready to tell Santa.

While waiting in the long line, it occurred to me that we should prep our very shy child that, not only would he have the chance to tell Santa what he wanted, but this would be done while sitting on his lap. He didn't take the news too well, and was very quiet just processing the information for a while after we told him. But surprisingly when we got up there, he did great! He reluctantly let Greg put him on his lap, and very intently (with his sweet raised-eye brow-and-matter-of-fact expression) told Santa that he would like trains and train tracks for Christmas. Here's a couple pictures of the fun adventure.

Even though he doesn't look too excited in the second picture, his face was beaming after we left. He definitely enjoyed it. I can't wait to see his face Christmas morning when he opens up his train and train track from Santa!

Also, Hunter informed me yesterday that Santa will be bringing these presents in his car to our house. Next year, we'll work on the whole "sleigh and reindeer" thing.