Jolly Old St. Nicholas

We had a fun morning last Saturday at the National Cine Media Annual Children's Christmas Party! We headed over to the theater for breakfast...

balloon animals (a turtle for Nolan and a puppy for Heath)...

and...

SANTA!

Nolan did a great job and walked right up to Santa. He wanted to sit next to him and told him that he would like "Army Guys" for Christmas!

He was a little bit shy and quiet but so brave and a great role model for Heathy!

I snapped this photo on my own camera quickly when Heath first sat down with Santa. He CRIED and did not want to get too close! Isn't Santa's reaction hilarious!!!

So, as always, Mark had to get in on the photo action to help Heath calm down and enjoy Santa!

Santa was his usual jolly self and really took an interest in helping Heath warm up to him!

He asked what he wanted for Christmas, and of course, Heath requested another "Buzz" Lightyear figure!

Heath eventually got up really close to Santa and they had the sweetest little chat! And before he left he was high fiving the big guy!

Santa gave the boys great treat bags full of lots of treasures! Nolan was thrilled about his new toucan puppet! He named him "Oneie", because as he says, "I only have ONE toucan stuffed animal!" Funny boy!

And finally, it was time for a MOVIE! All the kids got to stay for the new "Muppet Movie". Daddy and Nolan enjoyed it, but it was a bit over Heath's head as he normally only sits through animated movies. So I was on Heath duty taking him out of the theater every 30 minutes or so to run the halls and let out some energy!

We love this fun tradition and are so thankful that Mark's work is so generous and family focused! Check out our photos from past parties: here, and here, and here! I think we are making progress every year!

TOY STORY 3 on Ice

We had THE BEST family night last Thursday!

We went to see Toy Story 3 on Ice!

We bought the tickets a few months ago and the boys have been counting down the days ever since! We got a flyer in the mail advertising the show and Heath has literally carried it around with him every single day. He points to each character and asks us to tell him their name and laughs at the fact that they are wearing ice skates in the picture! The flyer has gotten ripped and crumpled and I've had to tape it more than a few times because he loves it so much!

And FINALLY it was the day to go! We ate an early dinner and headed downtown to the Pepsi Center! Nolan was so excited just to be downtown! He thought all the buildings and busy streets were so cool. He loved having his own ticket and riding the tall escalators up to our seats.

We actually had excellent seats! I received a "preferred customer discount" and got 2nd row seats on opening night for just $15 a piece! We had our own little front corner section of 4 seats, which was just perfect! The boys could stand or sit on their own chairs or sit on our laps and we had plenty of room to spread out with no one on either side. And the view was awesome!

Heath just LOVES all things Toy Story! He would watch the movies over and over again everyday if I let him! And it is the only thing he ever asks to watch! He wakes up in the morning asking for Buzz and even though he already has 5 Buzz Lightyear guys, that is what he asked Santa for! The second he heard the music start he literally shook with excitement!

He said the name of each character as they were introduced on the ice!

And he was so excited as Buzz made this pretty awesome entrance!

But his favorite part was when all of these aliens came out! And we all laughed as "THE CLAW" tried to catch them!

Nolan thought Ken and Barbie were pretty funny too! Ken skated all over tossing and spinning Barbie in the air! I don't think Nolan has ever really seen professional ice skaters and he thought it was hilarious that Ken was whipping Barbie all over!

The boys both watched in amazement for the entire show! Nolan asked a million questions and predicted what would happen next. Heath climbed all over and oohed and ahhed at everything. In this photo you see them sucking down their incredibly overpriced snow cones! What they sell, what people buy, and what it all costs is outrageous! But I had told the boys that if they were good they could pick something out! And these gems were ONLY $10 a piece...the cheapest I could find! Ha! But really, the boys were great and it ended up being one of those nights that you want to etch in your mind because it really was pretty seamless. And those times with an almost 4 year old, a 2 year old, and a VERY pregnant and tired mommy seem to be few and far between these days! Usually one of the three of us is having some sort of meltdown! Ha!

After the show we walked back to the car in the bitter cold discussing our favorite parts, what else would Nolan want to do! And he knew exactly everything that was in the movie that was missing in the ice show. It was a late night out, but so worth it! The boys were both sleeping literally within minutes of pulling out of the parking lot! And I went to bed smiling, just feeling so blessed to have such sweet boys and the means to treat them to special memories like this from time to time!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

{THE LIGHTS}

Thanksgiving weekend Mark hung up our outside Christmas Lights! It was a warm and dry weekend and perfect timing considering we've had snow 2 times since!

I think he always does such an awesome job! They are always perfectly straight! This year we swapped out some of our white lights for red in a 2 white, 1 red pattern! It looks great and is something a bit different.

The boys, and especially Nolan, LOVE driving around and looking at Christmas lights. Nolan's theory on Christmas lights seems to be, "the gaudier the better"! He asks me all the time if we can get a "blow up" in our yard! He loves those big blow up snow globes, and snowmen, and Santa! Sorry bud! We will not be taking that route with our decorating! I'm fine with taking an extra 20 minutes a night to drive slowly through the neighborhoods so that you can look at OTHER PEOPLE'S "blow ups"!

{THE SNOW}

It sure has been cold and snowy around here lately! But I really don't mind it...it makes the neighborhood look that much more ready for Christmas! At first Nolan did NOT like the snow blowing in his face...but it didn't take long for him to get over this and to remember just how much fun the snow is!

He is a boy on a mission to clobber everyone in sight with snowballs! Love his face in these photos!

{THE DECORATING}

On Sunday we went to Home Depot and picked out our Christmas tree. There would be no hiking around in the mountains to cut down a tree this year! Although, baby seems to be quite content where he is right now! Maybe I could have tackled it! But it was kind of nice to drive to the store, pick out the tree, have them make a fresh cut, wrap it up, and strap it to the top of the car. The whole process took only about an hour from door to door. And the boys still had fun running around stomping in the snow and checking out all the trees even if it was just at Home Depot.

While the boys napped we let the tree thaw out a little and Mark strung the lights.

When they woke up we had a blast digging out all of the Christmas decorations!

They LOVE their nativity sets that Grandma & Grandpa have given them. Heath loves to hum along and do the motions to the song "Away in the Manger" that his Little People set sings!

We have pretty much played with them NON STOP since Sunday!

Nolan really enjoyed hanging up all the ornaments! He liked them all grouped together and even wanted to hang some on the same branch.

He loved remembering some of his favorite ornaments and he knows which ornaments belong to who in the family.

Heath also hung all his ornaments in the same low spot! They have taken ornaments on and off of the tree a million times since we first decorated. They play with them really nicely and put them back in a new spot each time. So our tree looks different every day!

Here's a quick video of some of our decorating fun...

When we were done with all the oranaments...

Heath climbed up on the ladder with Daddy to place the star on top!

And Nolan helped me find the "perfect spot" for all the other decorations. He really liked the mistletoe too! I don't think I had ever really explained this tradition to him before. It was so cute! He kept wanting to stand underneath it with me to give me a smooch!

After decorating we cuddled up on the couch as a family to do one of our favorite traditions...

The Elf on the Shelf! Nolan was so excited that our Elf "Eckabee" had returned from the North Pole! He has fun looking for where Eckabee hides each day! And he has been really good the past few days in hopes of impressing Eckabee with his best behavior for him to report back to Santa! It's funny because we got this book and elf when Nolan was Heath's age and Nolan has always LOVED it! Heath sat and listened to the book but he was kinda freaked out by Eckabee at first and now he could really care less about finding where he is hiding each morning. Maybe he just needs to be a little older to fully understand it all, or maybe this is just another example of their different personalities and interests.

{THE TREE}

Here it is in all it's glory! It's about 7 feet tall and full and it smells awesome! On Monday morning when Nolan woke up and walked downstairs he said, "What's that I smell?" We had to tell him all about how amazing fresh pine trees smell! Another thing I don't think we explained to him last year.

I definitely have not mastered the art of taking pictures by the Christmas tree! I try without a flash and with a flash and neither one truly captures the beauty of the tree or the boys!

In this photo they are each holding their favorite ornaments: Nolan chose the famous pickle, and Heath chose Rudolph!

It is so fun to see the joy of the Christmas season through their eyes!

Nesting Part 2: The Big BoyS Room

About a month ago we decided it was time to make the big move...it was time for Heath to become a BIG BOY!! And we moved him out of his crib and into the bunk-bed, sharing a room with Nolan. Nolan was really excited about being able to share his room with Heath because he would now be able to sleep on the top bunk. We knew we needed to begin practicing this new sleeping arrangement before we would need to use the crib for the latest Jansen boy.

So I started making a few little changes/additions to Nolan's room to get it ready for Heath to call home...

I really didn't do much...just added this absolutely adorable photo of him and this letter H from his nursery.

And we took the PBK letter blocks, his wooden shoes, ceramic footprint, and his Rockies baseball guy from his old room as well. I can't really set up much on the shelves of the bunk-bed because the boys just end up playing with everything while they are supposed to be sleeping.

We just LOVE this bunk-bed because of it's built in drawers. One side is full of Nolan's clothes and the other is for Heath's. They also have a great closet that lines one whole wall of their room. So there was plenty of room to add all of Heath's hanging clothes. I also bought some shelves to add to the closet to help organize all of their toys, games, and puzzles and get them up off of the floor.

Now, I bet you're wondering how this transition has gone...

Well, after the first night, we were left wondering if this was really going to work! It took the boys 90 minutes of messing around, throwing stuffed animals, shushing each other, jumping on beds, and yelling BOO to finally wind down and fall asleep. But Heath slept through the night and woke up IN his bed the next morning. He has been waking up earlier than usual, so we try to sneak in and get him out of there before he wakes up Nolan, who likes to sleep in.

A few times we have been woken up to Nolan calling, "He's in my bed!!!" Heath has gotten up in the middle of the night or very early morning and decided to climb the ladder up to the top bunk to join his big brother! Oh, how he keeps us on our toes! Nolan would not have dared to do this even a year ago. Just a few months ago, Nolan was still calling for us and asking for permission to get out of his bed in the mornings! Heath is a whole 'nother story!

One morning, around 5 a.m. we heard Heath calling for me, "Ma Ma, Ma Ma!" I rolled over and said to Mark, "It sounds like he's downstairs." No, he couldn't be! But yes, my little 23 month old had gotten out of his bed, opened the door, and wandered downstairs, BY HIMSELF, in the pitch dark! He really is "crA crA" as Nolan calls him...CRAZY!!!!

But since that first week of freedom, things have settled down a lot! Most nights, they go to bed easily. Occasionally, they toss stuffed animals up and down at each other or laugh and goof around for a few minutes before settling in. And Heath is still early to rise- usually between 6:20 and 7 a.m. But overall, I really don't think this big move could have gone any better!

We just love our bed time routines together as well. Baths, p.j.'s, books, and prayers. And of course, they both have to have their favorite stuffed animals and blankies to cuddle with!

We are so proud of our big boys and the friendship and fun they have together! Sharing a room is just the beginning of a life time of adventures together!

Turkey Day Twenty Eleven

We had a very nice Thanksgiving Day. We started our day with a little relaxing around the house and watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving. We Skyped with my parents for awhile and just took it easy! It was so nice having a lazy family morning together. Then we headed over to Cara's house to hang out, enjoy the beautiful fall weather, and help prepare the feast!

Cara hosted Thanksgiving this year in their new home. It was great for the kids to have so many fun toys to play with and for us all to have a little more space to spread out!

We went before nap time in hopes that the boys would both sleep and we could enjoy some quiet time with the fam! When we got there, Brady proudly announced, "I don't have to take a nap because it's Thanksgiving!" This made it hard to convince Nolan that he did indeed need to take a nap! So we put him down, but about an hour later I heard him calling for me. So I went up to check on him and found him wearing Brady's Storm Trooper helmet. Needless to say, he didn't sleep, but maybe he got some rest! He said, "I could hear everybody playing outside!" Poor guy, he didn't want to miss out! And he actually did do pretty well all day and into the evening, going on no sleep. But much to our JOY, Heath actually took a great nap! Three hours! It was heavenly to be able to relax and not have to worry about chasing him and all of his crazy antics!

The temperature was about 70 degrees! So we all spent a lot of time outside in the sunshine!

Heath was pretty much inseparable with his cousin Cohen, but also with his best buddies- Buzz and Woody! Payton and Brady have these great, HUGE Toy Story guys that both of our boys have just loved over the years! They always play with them when they are at the Syers' house.

Uncle Marky and Co Co! Don't you just love his hair? It's growing out to be kind of curly!

Finally, around 4ish it was time to EAT! Cara had the table decorated so crafty and modern! Loved it!

Nolan set a place for Woody at the Kiddie Table!

The Kiddie Table...oh my! We have graduated to independent, unsupervised eating!

Can you tell they did a lot of it?

Nolan ate mainly applesauce, cranberries, and a roll! And I wasn't about to fight him on it either! He is a good eater, but when things aren't prepared the way he is used to, he isn't that adventurous. But he ate more than Heath did that's for sure! Heath still isn't eating much with his cold and croup. So after a bite or two we just let him get down to play so we could have a peaceful dinner! On a side note, he is finally starting to feel better! Yay for less boogers and no more seal barking cough!

We sure had a delicious dinner and ate a TON! I ate just as much as I normally would, but now I really don't have any room for it anymore! Baby is taking up so much room in my belly! I really could not move or breathe after dinner, I was so full!

We stayed to help clean up, eat pie, and do some more playing! Heath and Cohen decided to take Rylan's Monster Truck out for a spin! It was a scary flash forward into the future as they got whip lash and drove herky jerky a few feet at a time in the yard! I wish I would have gotten a video of it! They were quite the sight to see- cool dudes driving around with pacis in their mouths!

The kids all cuddled up to watch a movie and rest after such a fun day together!

We are so thankful for our family who truly loves each other and enjoys spending time with one another! We are are blessed!