Christmas at Home

We had our family Christmas dinner at Bravo on Friday night.  When we got home, Brian and I opened our gifts from the kids.  Xavier picked out dueling remote control race cars for Brian and Anna and Isabelle got him a neck massager.  The kids picked out a blender and a rotisserie oven for me.  Xavier and Anna were pretty big fans of our gifts!

Santa came while we were sleeping Friday night. Xavier was SO excited about Santa on Friday night, but forgot all about him Saturday morning. After lots of hints, he finally ran downstairs to take a look!  This was around 7:30am, so it was still dark out.  Xavier couldn't open his eyes because the "flash was sooo bright."  He's trying to hard to hold them open, haha!

Anna's surprise and excitement!

Obligatory pics in front of the tree!

Isabelle's iPod touch.  She never shows much excitement, but she hasn't been off it since!

One of Anna's favorite gifts - rain boots!  That girl sure does love shoes!

Xavier got two nerf battle axes and used one to help Brian open a new watch!

Daycare Christmas Party

Last week was my first week back from maternity leave and we had our Christmas party on Wednesday.  We decorated a gingerbread house in the morning, opened gifts before lunch, and had treats after nap!

Decorating the gingerbread house:

 Sneaking a taste of the icing!

 Xavier, again, decorated the tree and the gingerbread man:

 All done!

 Mady brought gifts for everyone and handed them out herself.  What a sweet little girl!

 Xavier was kind enough to help Levi open his gift from Miss Liz:

 I think Levi's favorite gift was his rubber ducky from Mady!

 Miss Liz got the kids beach towels with their names on them.  Mady was the only one that would pose!

Preschool Christmas Program

I'm going rogue and I'm going to call it a Christmas program instead of a "holiday" program!  Xavier's class sang "5 Little Snowmen" and then they had refreshments in their class.  It was a shortened day.  Brian, Anna and I all got to attend!  It was very cute!

There were a TON of parents there and the kids stood in the front, not on a stage.  So, it was pretty hard to get a picture during the performance!

 Xavier is getting ready for his treats!

 Xavier and his friends.

 The Christmas card he made us...

Gingerbread House

While I was on "maternity" leave, Brian and the kids decorated a gingerbread house.  They enjoyed decorating as much as eating the candy!

Anna's glasses didn't quite get put on straight that morning!

 We also did this in the morning and they were getting baths after, so Xavier was in his skivvies!

 Yummy candy!

 Xavier worked really hard on the tree and the gingerbread man...

 All done!!!

Christmas Piano Recital

Isabelle performed for the residents at an Assisted Living facility yesterday.  I forgot to bring the video camera or even the regular camera, so I took some video on my cell phone.  I have a limit of 30 seconds, so "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" is in 2 videos and I didn't even get the end!

Trepak (from The Nutcracker):

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (duet with her piano teacher, Miss Heather):

Part 2:

St. Nick Jammies

St. Nick brought the kids new jammies this year.  Anna and Isabelle have matching ones and Xavier has penquin jammies.  He is a really big fan of the penguin button!  Thanks Grandma Selhorst for making jammies for the kids!

Xavier...so proud of his button!

Hudson Andrew

We got home from the hospital yesterday, Xavier and Anna came back today, and we're back to the old routine, already!  I arrived at the hospital at 8:00am on Wednesday and got pitocen around 9:40.  Labor was very slow progressing, but I finally started pushing at 7:30 and Hudson Andrew was born at 8:00pm.  Everything went well!  Here are a few pics:

Hudson Andrew:

Pete, Amy, and Hudson

 Me, Amy, and Hudson

 Me, Brian, Pete, Amy, and Hudson

Hudson at 12 hours old!

Halloween Party

We had a "daycare" Halloween party last Friday.  Isabelle had the day off school, so she was able to help.  We made bats out of our hands and had mummy and finger pretzels and also had "boo"-nanas.  Jenni brought her nieces and Kylie over, so it was pretty fun!  After we had snacks and made our bats, we went on a parade through the neighborhood.

Making the "boo"-nanas...

 Xavier making his bat:

 Xavier and Kylie...

 Levi and Abby were really into it!  haha

 Anna, of course, was the only one that ate ALL of her snacks!

 Xavier and I made a deal that I would eat the chocolate part of his mummy pretzel and he would eat the pretzel part...so delicious for Mommy!

 The whole gang!  A Lady Dracula, Monkey, Pirate Skeleton, Ladybug, Minnie Mouse, Fairy Princess, Pea Pod, and Katie and Isabelle

On Sunday, we had the neighborhood Halloween party.  There were tons of kids and lots of fun.  There were snacks and crafts and the kids all enjoyed  playing on the big pirate ship swing set!  Here is a pic of the whole gang! 

We didn't actually take any pictures on Beggar's Night, but our neighbor took this picture of Isabelle and Katie...

Preschool Halloween Party

Today is Xavier's Halloween Party at school.  The kids wore their costumes and then paraded around the "Large Muscle Room" for all of the parents to see.  After they went back to their rooms, they got together for group pictures.  This year Xavier is going to be a scary skeleton.

 Silly faces...

 Scary faces... (not sure there's much of a difference, haha!)

 Smiley faces...