Christmas, and then some...

It's been a while, so I figured it was time for an update. Our first Christmas together was nice, to a degree. I guess I thought it would be like the Thomas Kinkade paintings, so sweet, and I could savor every minute. Instead, it was a whirlwind. I should have expected that.:-)
Christmas Eve was rough. Steve was away most of the day on-call, and we didn't get to spend much time together. He was home for a couple hours just before Lunch, and we managed to open all our presents together then. That night was very nice. We went to Grace Chapel's Christmas Eve service at 6, and it was perfect timing. It wasn't too packed, the kids did well checking in and going to the nursery (for the most part), and leaving wasn't bad either. I love Christmas carols and the candle light aspect. It was nice to really enjoy it.

We spent the night as Steve's parents house and had a nice/calm waking up the next day (no, really, not being sarcastic). Jackson woke up quietly and snuggled for a bit, and then Nikki woke up a little later. There's a new playroom at grammie and grampies, and they LOVE it... and so do we! We can send them downstairs, and keep the toys downstairs. They only hard part was that Nikki and Jackson kept talking all their cousin's toys. They didn't understand that all the toys aren't for them.

This coming weekend we will finish the Christmas season with my parents, my sister, and her boyfriend. I can't wait!

I'll finish this post with some new "happenings" in the Gardner house:

Both Jackson and Nikki think they have a fool-proof plan to get out of trouble. 1. Stop in your tracks. 2. smile, and look cute at the person who caught you. 3. (and the most important) wave and say "hi". So far, it hasn't worked... but...they're sticking to it and MAN is it funny! (most of the time)

Also, Jackson has turned into an instigator, BIG TIME! He'll do anything and everything to make Nikki and scream. It's not a very charming trait, we're working on that one!

I feel like table manners MAY be starting to evolve... maybe... They're doing slightly better taking bites, and not pulling apart everything. Also, Jackson is doing much better with his silverware.

Finally, Alli is becoming more and more mobile. She still isn't crawling(thank goodness!), but she's rolling around to get everywhere!

Have a great week!