Christmas, Christmas...

We woke up so exhausted on Christmas Eve day. There was so much to do, a whirlwind day. We started by making some cookies for Santa after making a trip to the very crowded grocery store. 

That evening we headed to Mark's parents for Christmas Eve dinner where Lennox opened his first gift of the year, an Imaginext Pirate Ship with lots of compartments and "men" to fight :-) Lennox loved this gift and was glued to it all night. 

While we were climbing in the car to leave Oma and Opa's Lennox said he saw Santa's sleigh in the sky and he got super excited and he told us we had to rush home to get the cookies out.  We left Santa 4 cookies, some milk, and a few carrots for the reindeer. 

Then Lennox got into his Christmas jammies and posed for a cheesy picture in front of the tree in his room. Before bed we made a call to Santa on his cell phone ;-) and after the call daddy told Lennox how Santa would come down the chimney, check to see if we were asleep and then wake up Dobby to help put out the giftse It was a hard go getting Lennox to sleep. He was so excited. After we put him to bed, there were many visits to his room to get him to settle down.  I think the story daddy told him kind of freaked him out because he asked me to call Santa back and tell him to give the gifts to daddy. Santa had a very late night putting together Lennox's toys.

This is what was awaiting him when he woke up.

Lennox got up at about 8:30. Mama was able to get up and shower and start breakfast before everyone got up. Some of the big goodies were this Geotrax train station.

An art desk.

There was also an Iron Man, some puzzles, a Batman car, a Batman outfit, and of course the stocking.

This Viewmaster was a favorite too.

Later we went to Palm Coast to see my parents and open more presents. Lennox got this castle which he loves. After all that fun and some dinner we all needed a nap. Mommy and daddy have both been sick due to our crazy travels the last few days.

Definitely the most hectic holiday in a long time. Now we have to figure out where to put all these new toys. 

Our trip to the North Pole (well sort of )

There has been lots of talk around here in the last few weeks about our trip to Milwaukee to see my dad's family. Little Lennox was supremely excited. We left on the 19th, early in the morning. It was quite a feat getting through security with all of Lennox's toys, a stroller, and lots of chocolate milk. Before the flight Lennox and daddy watched the planes getting ready.

Mommy got to sit next to him on the flight to Atlanta. Lennox watched out the window the whole time and thoroughly enjoyed his soda and peanuts. For the last few weeks we had been praying and hoping for some snow when we got to Milwaukee. We didn't know quite what we were wishing for. When we got to Atlanta our flight was delayed due to the snow in Milwaukee. We were supposed to have an hour and a half layover in Atlanta and it turned into five hours. Luckily Lennox fell asleep for a good bit of it because we had a very hard time entertaining him and his cousins for a lot of that time. 

In Atlanta, Lennox insisted that he put on his jacket and gloves for Milwaukee because he did not want to be cold. So he wore this ensemble most of the day, on the flight, and was ready when we finally arrived in Milwaukee around 9pm. 

At first Lennox thought the snow was yucky. He saw the snow on the roads around the airport first and it was good and dirty.

Then when we got out at the hotel and Lennox picked up a handful of snow in some Florida gloves this was his reaction:

He hated it and said he did not want to play in the snow again.  We christened our hotel room with some bed jumping.

The next morning my parents went to Target and got some appropriate winter wear which we could not find in Florida. And from that moment on, we realized Lennox was a snow baby. He couldn't get enough of it.

Later that day we celebrated Christmas with all of my dad's family.

Lennox got to play with his cousin Tyler who is a few months younger with him.

There was more fun in the snow. My uncle lives on a golf course so there was plenty of deep snow to play in and make snow angels in.

Then Lennox and Holly did a holiday song show with his new microphone. That night we took a dip in the heated swimming pool at the hotel :-) 

The next day was bitterly cold, around -8 degrees. We went to my grandparents.

Lennox was the only one who even wanted to play in the snow that day. It was so cold. Look at that cold little face.

That night we went to visit one of my dad's oldest friends. That night when we left and it was frigid and mommy and Lennox slipped on the ice we decided we were glad we lived in Florida.

On Monday we went to visit the Pabst Mansion (the beer mogul). It was in downtown Milwaukee. We didn't realize there was parking behind it and we ended up walking about two blocks in the cold to get to it. It was so cold we thought our noses and lips would harden and fall off. 

This is us in front of the mansion.

And walking back in the cold with Holly.

There was some holiday shopping later that day and a dinner with family.  

The next morning the kids had there last playtime in the snow. Lennox had gotten pretty good at throwing snowballs by then. And he built a snowman with a mohawk with his cousins.

At 3pm we flew out and this was the picture of our exhausted and cold babies in the airport. As you can see Lennox is loving it still. We think he was born in the wrong part of the country :-)

Our flight out was not as harrowing as the one to Milwaukee. All our flights were on time. We thought for sure we would be stranded since this was the same day as all the cancelled flights in Chicago. Lennox slept on the plane and we finally arrived in Jacksonville at 10pm. Our trip was so much fun and it was nice to get out of the 80 degree weather and experience a somewhat white Christmas. 

Christmas Preparations...

The days leading up to our trip were overwhelming. We tried really hard to do all our normal holiday activities while we go ready. 

We visited the tree at the Landing and Lennox danced around it for a long time.

We read lots of holiday books like Snowmen at Night, Gingerbread Baby, and Polar Express.

We made a gingerbread train together. 

There was a trip to a Japanese steakhouse for Lennox's cousin David's birthday.

Lennox loved watching the fire and cooking in front of us.

We also played with our new nativity set.

Then poor little Lennox got sick with croup and was home all week before our trip. He was not himself and I wanted to make sure he was rested before our trip to the north. He missed his school holiday party though :-( But I think he had more fun hanging out with Oma and Opa :-) 

Countdown to Christmas!

Christmas is in full swing all around the Cross house. We are decorated, our shopping is done (well, I can't speak for daddy), Christmas holiday photos are taken, the cards have been sent, the stockings hung, and we are awaiting our jolly visitor and his 8 friends (who will find our house by the glitter in the yard and munch on some oatmeal while Santa delivers goodies). This year, we have been thrown a sort of curve ball. The week of Thanksgiving my parents called to tell us we would be going to Milwaukee for 5 days before Christmas, returning on the 23rd at 10pm. This has meant that all our holiday preparations have had to be done early. Lennox talks every day about our trip in the "hairplane" to see snow. This has also meant some clothes shopping. Our Florida wear will not work in 20 degree weather.  But we are all so incredibly excited to have a little bit of a white Christmas, see our family, and do some shopping in Chicago. And Lennox is excited about jumping on the bed in the hotel :-)

Mommy is doing a December Daily journal/scrapbook this year. Each day I am taking a picture to document our adventures in December. There is always so much to remember. Like this:

The pure wonder of Christmas for a little boy who finally realizes what this holiday is all about. 

And this:

Our annual visit to Kuhn flowers to see the Holiday display. Lennox refers to it as Santa's Workshop. 

He was very upset it was not open at night and begged for daddy's keys to try to open the door.

And then there are the little holiday goodies around our house. We picked this up at Hallmark to help us count down the days until Christmas. Lennox also has a candy filled Advent calendar. Each night we have to remind him we only get one piece of candy each day when we open a little window :-) 

Mark's parents had an extra Christmas tree this year and when they heard us talking about how we were going to get Lennox a small tree of his own for his room, they gave us their little 4ft tree. Last Thursday we put it up. Lennox helped with the ornaments and the hooks. It is now his new nightlight and he goes to sleep with it on every evening. Santa may even visit that tree too with some Christmas morning goodies for Lennox :-) 

On Friday we went to see Santa. Every year we go to Regency Mall to see Santa. It is the same Santa every year. It is so cool to have a picture of Lennox each year with the same Santa. This year, Lennox was crazy excited to see him. There were no fights or tears or "I scared" comments coming from Lennox. He went straight to him and climbed right up in his lap. Lennox had only two requests for Santa: a Geotrax and an Iron Man. Santa has this covered ;-) But Santa's helper did have to make a special trip to Gran's to trade some gifts since she had already bought Lennox the Geotrax :-) 

This was the scene today. Wrapping paper strewn across our living room floor, some Christmas decorations that are fun to play with, and little Lennox in the middle of it all, playing with his Thomas the Train set. 

Along with all of this, there has also been a lot of watching Alvin and the Chipmunks and singing the Christmas song from the movie. Lennox and mommy and daddy have been enjoying many viewings of the Polar Express too. Lennox says it is is "magic." I love sitting with him while he watches this movie, because for him it really is magic and I can only imagine what is going on his little head, and I wish everyone was as pure in thought as he is right now. I cry at the end of it each and every time and I told Lennox there will be a Santa bell for him on Christmas morning too :-)

Tonight we built a gingerbread train together. I will post some pics later. We are really trying to make the most of each day leading up to Christmas, while trying to prepare for our trip. This weekend daddy and I are taking a break for our 6 year wedding anniversary and going back to our honeymoon spot. We are looking forward to some quiet before the storm of Christmas starts. 

Thanksgiving

Lennox was a great little helper this Thanksgiving. He helped mama and his cousin Holly make sweet potato souffle and pumpkin pie. Later at dinner, Lennox helped carve the turkey with poppy. For our blessing at dinner we all said what we were thankful for. Lennox said "I thankful for my mommy." It was so sweet. After dinner we all took a very long nap and at midnight mommy headed to the outlet mall for early shopping. I got home at 7am and tried hard to sleep. Lennox didn't like that idea too much.

Today we spent the day decorating for Christmas. Little Lennox was beside himself with happiness over the fun. He helped mama by hanging some ornaments on the tree and by the time he woke up from his nap later, the tree was up and the lights on the house. He stood for a long time in front of the tree looking at the ornaments and talking about them with my dad and me.  We went to dinner with Den and Pop and visited Toys'R'Us afterwards for some shopping. Mommy got the last of her shopping done :-) When we came home daddy turned on the lights outside and we all stood outside watching the fireworks from the boat parade at the landing.