Christmas Weekend

On Christmas Eve, we went to the 6:00 PM candlelight service at our church with my Dad and Alan, and were glad to have David's Dad and Debbie join us as well. I always enjoy this service, especially singing Silent Night at the end, as the lights are turned off and candlelight slowly fills the sanctuary.

After church, we said goodbye to Tony and Debbie and headed to my Mom's house for a little Christmas Eve cocktail party. There was lots of good food and we enjoyed visiting with my family and some family friends for a few hours. And Ryan got to open a present from Gammy {formerly known as Grammy -- we had a slight name change}.

Toy Story figurines ... Ryan was so excited :)

When we got home, Ryan got ready for bed, and we put cookies and milk out for Santa {and carrots and an apple for the reindeer} and sprinkled some magic reindeer food, that Ryan made at school, in the grass outside -- the smell of oats and glitter path guide Santa's reindeer on their way! Then Ryan headed up to bed to: read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, finish our advent calendar, put one last cotton ball on Santa's beard, say bedtime prayers, and go to sleep so that Santa could come visit :)

A candy cane cookie for Santa!

Ryan had a hard time holding this plate level
{and may have even dumped it a time or two in route},
but was determined to get it to the fireplace for Santa :)

He made it!

Ryan had so much fun putting out the reindeer food!
He was covered in glitter by the time he was done :)

And once Ryan was asleep, David and I watched Christmas Vacation with Dad and Alan before we called it a night as well.

{Please ignore Ryan's change in attire between Christmas Eve night and Christmas morning ... we had a slight mishap with the Christmas pajamas this year :)}

Having a little one in the house certainly makes Christmas more magical and fun!!! We woke up Christmas morning and headed downstairs to see what Santa brought us. Ryan must have been a good boy this year because he got lots of goodies :) Mommy, Daddy, and Riley found our stockings full as well!

Look, Santa came!!

And he brought lots of fun stuff ... dinosaurs, Play-Doh,
Catch 'N Stick Monster Mitts, and a stocking full of treats :)

Our little rockstar and candy junkie :)

Ryan's first experience with Play-Doh.

Testing out the new flavored milk straws Santa brought.

We took a little break for a delicious homemade breakfast {crab quiche, hashbrown casserole, cinnamon rolls, and sausage patties} and then opened presents. We are blessed to be part of such a generous family!

Riley's present :) She gets so excited too!

Mommy and Daddy's handmade present from Ryan
{he made it at school} ... it may have been my
favorite present of all :)

Ryan's homemade gift this year = a new photo album!

There was a special way to open presents from Alan :)

His very own camera, yay!!

The cars Ryan got from Uncle Alan change colors in
water ... how cool!

Mommy scored a new pillow :)

And Daddy likes his new shooting vest!

Just as we were finishing up, Mom and Doug and Laura and Daniel arrived with more presents to open.

Once we were officially finished and had cleaned up a little, David had fun playing poker with the men {which consumed his attention for the next several hours} while Ryan and I played with his new toys, attempted to take a nap {it didn't go over well}, and visited with Mom and Laura. And David's Dad was able to come over and spend a few hours with us {playing poker with David and seeing Ryan play with his new toys} later in the afternoon, before he headed to an evening party.

The poker playing men ... they had a good time!

Christmas tickles from Aunt Laura :)

We then had a nice dinner {you can't go wrong with filet mignon or red velvet cake}, sang Happy Birthday to Jesus, and watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas a last time for this season {Ryan really enjoyed watching this movie this year as well as A Charlie Brown Christmas}.

Christmas dinner ... and no, we didn't
get out of our pajamas all day :)

We had a very merry Christmas indeed and hope you did too!! And what can I say, I am already looking forward to next year, and so is Ryan :) He has already asked to get another Christmas tree {we undecorated yesterday and today}, and has wanted to watch multiple Christmas movies and read Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer before bed. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year!!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Ryan!!

Ryan's 3rd birthday was on Friday, December 23 {at 5:24 PM, to be exact :)}. It was a fun and exciting day, just as it was in 2008, 2009, and 2010 {although I can't believe my baby is now 3}!! Where does the time go?!?! We are so blessed to have such a happy, healthy, fun, loving, sweet, active, strong-willed little boy!!

Our newborn baby boy at the hospital in his Santa suit :)

Ryan's 1st brithday party -- December 23, 2009

Ryan's 2nd birthday party -- December 23, 2010

We had a family birthday party for Ryan, just as we have the last two years, at 11:00 AM. Ryan was given the choice of Toy Story, Cars, Curious George, or Thomas the Train decorations, earlier in the week, and he picked Thomas {which surprised me a little considering his other options -- good thing I asked him}. Ryan seemed a little overwhelmed for the first 15 minutes of his party and only wanted Mommy {which may have had something to do with him not feeling 100% -- he was fighting an ear infection, the first one in 11 months}, but he was back to normal very quickly and enjoyed the rest of his party. We had lunch -- Chick-fil-A chicken nuggets, subs, pizza bread, Cheetos, chips and cheese dip, brie cheese, fruit salad, veggies and dip, and punch. Then we opened lots of presents, which Ryan did great with, and had birthday cake. We are so glad that Aunt Laura, Uncle Alan, Aunt Ray-Ray, Pop, Grammy and Doug, Ama, and Aunt Cathy, Uncle Jack, Joseph, and Alice were able to celebrate Ryan's special day with us this year!

Ryan's M&M cake with 7-minute frosting :)

The food and decorations.

Cousins <3

Ryan still loves playing with balloons!

The present opening begins ...

Happy birthday to you!

Mommy and Daddy gave Ryan a Little Tikes T-Ball Set for his birthday, not really knowing what he would think of it, but figuring it would be fun to use outside this summer. He was thrilled with it and wanted to play baseball immediately; so after we finished having cake, we headed outside {it was a beautiful day} ... but not before he got his baseball cap on :) The funny thing is that the minute he opened his t-ball set, he went upstairs {all on his own} and put on his hat. It was too cute! He did a great job hitting the ball too. We were impressed!

After his nap, Mommy and Daddy took Ryan to see Christmas lights {one last time for this year} at the Magical Nights of Lights at Lake Lanier Islands Resort. After driving through the 7.5 mile light display, we stopped at the Holiday Village for a pony ride and hot chocolate. It was fun and a nice way to spend Ryan's birthday night {although it wasn't worth the cost so we probably won't be doing it again, at least for several years}!

And on the way home, we stopped at Mellow Mushroom for pizza -- one of Ryan's favorite foods {along with chicken}.

Happy 3rd Birthday, sweet boy!! We hope you had a great birthday! You bring so much joy to our lives everyday, and we love you to pieces! Love, Mommy and Daddy