CHRISTMAS AT PAW-PAW AND MAW-MAW'S

More presents!!

Jenna got this dress from Gram-Gram Jones (my grandma) for Christmas

Jenna loves this rocking horse at my parent's house.
It's very special because my grandpa made it for my mom when she was little.

Grant hanging out

My two boys

Once again, Jenna loves unwrapping everyone's presents.

Uncle Brian and Aunt Kelley got this basketball toy for Grant and he LOVES it!

The best gift I've probably ever gotten...my mom put together a scrapbook for my sister and me from birth through 1989. I am amazed how much she kept through the years - notes and letters from when I was born, the hospital bill, art projects I made in school...lots of things I had never seen before. And of course there were pictures from throughout the years. It is sooo special to me! I guess her project for this next Christmas is to finish it - 1989 to the present! Thanks Mom! I know it was a lot of hard work, but I really appreciate it!!

Another cute gift from "Jenna and Grant". One night while my parents were watching them, they had Jenna finger paint some Popsicle sticks and my mom glued them together to make an ornament with their picture inside. So cute!!

Grant hanging out on the floor. He's been putting his toes in his mouth a lot lately.

Loved this picture of Daddy and Grant

Jenna got a princess tunnel from her Paw-Paw and Maw-Maw. My sister's dog, Buster (or as Jenna calls him "Bustew"), decided to check it out.

CHRISTMAS AT GRANDMA JONES'S

Family pictures in front of the tree

4 generations

Grandma with her two boys - my Uncle Keith and my Dad (can you tell they're brothers?!)

Jenna helping Paw-Paw unwrap his gift

Grant hanging out in his Christmas shirt and bib. The shirt says, "All Mommy wants for Christmas is a silent night". Haha! Thanks Brian and Natalie for the shirt!

Brian and Kelley

Jenna all ready to open presents

Big family picture

Grant loved the wrapping paper

Whew....made it through Christmas! I might get caught up after all!

Our Christmas

Merry Christmas!!

Jenna was excited to see all the presents under the tree.

Drew got a few new dress shirts for work.

Grant hanging out with one of his (hand-me-down) Christmas presents. It was great - a friend of ours is finished having children and they're all done with the baby toys, so she gave us some things and we used those as Grant's Christmas presents. I love these squishy blocks. They're bright and colorful and easy for him to hold (and chew on).

Jenna was all about opening presents this year and since Grant wasn't really able to do it himself, she got to open her gifts, Grants, of course Drew and mine and Bailey's. She got the crown she's wearing in her stocking.

Jenna opening Bailey's gift for him. I just wrapped a chew treat we already had. It gives him something to do while we open the rest of our presents.

Yay!!! I got some Cricut cartridges this year...and I LOVE it! Now I can't wait to start scrap booking again.

Jenna opening another one of Grant's (hand-me-down) gifts.

Jenna got princess slippers from "Santa" this year. We decided to give one gift each year from Santa. It's so fun for the kids to get excited about Santa and as long as we emphasize the real reason for Christmas, we don't think it will be a problem. The kids know the gift that's from Santa because it's the only one wrapped in Santa paper. I got that idea from a friend and thought it was so cute!

I found this Disney princess tent at a garage sale and couldn't pass it up! As you know, Jenna just LOVES her princesses and I thought she and Grant would enjoy playing in it. It's now in the basement (which is quickly becoming a toy room) and she loves throwing all her toys in it and then sitting in there. I can't wait for when Grant will be able to play with her too.

Lastly, Jenna got a play kitchen. We got it from our neighbor whose daughter is too old for it now. I thought this was something Jenna would enjoy at her age. We kept it in the kitchen for a little bit, but have since moved it down to the basement as well.

I thought I would be able to post our other 2 Christmases on this post as well, but I realized I have way too many pictures. So I'll break them up into separate posts. :) More Christmas to come...

Grant's First Haircut and Christmas Eve

I can't believe Grant was about 5 months old when he got his first haircut! Jenna was 15 months old. But I guess it's easier to stretch it out with girls since you can use clips and bows to keep the hair out of the face. Drew wouldn't let me put any clips in Grant's hair, so a haircut it was! :)

My Uncle Keith was a barber so we asked if he could give Grant his first haircut while he was home for Christmas. It's so special having him cut Grant's hair, so we were glad he was able to do it...and he did a WONDERFUL job too! He actually got his hair cut on Christmas Eve just before the Christmas Eve service at church, which is why the cape is around me instead of Grant. I was already dressed up for the service and we were planning on changing Grant's outfit anyway.

Tada! The finished product! He looked so much better after his haircut and so much more grown-up!
We also had Uncle Keith trim Jenna's bangs while we were there. I try, but usually she's too busy to sit still for me. Strapping her into the highchair's a good idea - then she can't get away from me. Maybe I'll have to try that next time!

After the Christmas Eve service, we came home and let Jenna open a present before bed. I'd like to make it a tradition to give them new pajamas and a Christmas book each Christmas Eve. Poor Grant was exhausted and fell asleep in the car ride home, so Jenna got to open all the presents. She opened her new pajamas, Grant's (kinda) new pajamas (hand-me-downs that we got for Jenna's 1st Christmas...it was just right for Grant this year since it's his 1st Christmas too), and a Christmas book.

The kids in their jammies.
(Can I just say how DIFFICULT it is to get a good picture of the two of them...!
Haha! This was the best we could do...I think poor Grant had had enough!)

Baby's 1st Christmas. It's so funny how both kids have been able to wear that "jammy" even though they're born in different seasons. It's a 12 month outfit, so at Jenna's 1st Christmas, she was just about 1 year old and it fit her well. Grant was only 5 months old at his 1st Christmas and it fit him perfectly too! He's a big boy!

Next up: Christmas celebrations!

Trip to Texas

Whew...I just got Grant to sleep, so for now both kids are down for a nap; although, I'm guessing Jenna will be up any time now. I still haven't figured out how to get them on the same nap schedule, but I'm sure it will come soon enough. Grant's still taking about 3 naps a day, so hopefully once he gets down to 2, we can get the afternoon naps to line up. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for that because it would definitely be nice to have an hour to myself (and maybe get the house picked up too!). :)

Once again, it's been a while since I last updated. I don't know why - I guess it's just been busy in general. As promised, here are just a few pictures from our trip to TX for Mom B's wedding. We always enjoy being around family and we especially enjoyed our time with "B" and Aunt Cathy a few days before the wedding.

Jenna did so well on the plane! It definitely helped that she had her own seat.

Look at that cutie sucking on those two fingers. :)

On Thursday our family and Cathy went down to Galveston to the beach and rode a ferry so we could feed the seagulls. Below are pictures from the ferry ride.

Aunt Cathy showing Jenna how to feed the seagulls

Jenna's turn

Daddy's turn...the seagull on his way to get the chip

The picture just after the seagull got it...notice some of the chip in the air.
Mommy and Grant

Mommy's turn to feed the seagulls...not as dramatic as how Daddy did it.

Love this picture that Cathy took of Jenna and her Daddy with the seagull between them.

I also love how fun this picture is - the seagulls were literally swarming us! And brave little Jenna didn't get scared by them either.

Happy boy!

"B" was wonderful and bought a crib mattress off of Craigslist for Grant to sleep on. Since he wasn't rolling yet, we just set it on the floor in the corner. The kiddos hanging out after their bath.

Jenna loved "B's" jacuzzi tub.

We took the kids to a local park so they (a.k.a. Jenna) could run off some energy. "Look, no hands!" - she and her daddy were bouncing while she was doing this. I can already tell, she's my little daredevil!

Just had to include this picture of her beautiful curls, thanks to the Houston humidity!

Creative "B" came up with this idea. How fun!

Whenever Cathy's around, I tend to not take as many pictures because I know she'll capture so many good ones. So for more pictures of our time in Houston, and for actual pictures of the wedding, go to Cathy's blog:

http://chrisncathy.blogspot.com/2010/12/moms-wedding.html