We began our Christmas Eve day with a little video from the North Pole (thanks to Portable Santa). Since Taj has been enamored with Santa, we thought it would very cute to have him watch a personalized video Santa sent to Taj. Later that afternoon, Santa also called Taj via phone!
our traditional Czech Christmas Eve dinner
I made everything from scratch! It was quite a bit of work and time but the Czech mushroom soup, potato salad, and (panko crusted) halibut turned out delicious!
The handsome children at the dinner table:
Jax loved the mushroom soup!
Just before going upstairs to hide and wait for Baby Jesus.... another Czech Christmas Eve tradition I grew up with, and now passing on to my children :)
Baby Jesus came and delivered presents!!!!
Thomas the train big boy underwear!!!
Mama and her 2 sweet angels
Then, the next morning, Christmas morning...... our Santa Baby Jax excitedly woke at his PST birth time (which was close to 6am East Coast time) and was ready to par-tay and celebrate! He must have known this was a special day!
It was very much a white Christmas, look how beautiful white it is outside!
Matching Christmas pajamas!
more present unwrapping!
almost forgot about the stocking stuffers!!!
We were blessed this Christmas. With our new house and our first white Christmas in New York, it really felt like home. The first of many wonderful and magical holiday seasons we will always look back upon. It was technically Jax's first Christmas too (last year, he was a Christmas baby so his birth was our main focus and celebration). Taj was old enough this year to really enjoy Santa, ask questions and become absorbed in the whole Baby Jesus and Santa Claus phenomenon. He talked about them for weeks, and we read lots of holiday books and sang lots of Christmas songs to get us in the spirit. Have you noticed most Christmas books and movies have snow and that authentic winter setting? It feels great to be able to give Taj and Jax the season's joy. We have read so many books about first snow, snowflakes, snowmen, sledding...... and now we are actually living it :) There's nothing quite like seeing the awe in your sons' eyes as they watch snowfall for the first time, or hearing their giggles as they play in the snow..... and even better, getting to kiss their chilly pink cheeks after coming indoors from the cold.
I also loved that this Christmas was solely about our family, my boys and I. Besides skyping with Babi & Deda, and my sister & family, and then a few phone calls from Brad's side of the family on Christmas, we relished our time as a family. Taj was such a good boy this year that Baby Jesus and Santa fulfilled every one of his wishes (he got A LOT of trains, tracks, Thomas related books, DVDs, etc., even a microphone stage to perform and sing his songs) Jax was one lucky boy too, celebrating his 1st birthday all week long and getting double, even triple the presents. Together the boys got lots of trains, art supplies, puzzles, books, pajamas (since we practically live in pajamas this Winter season!), a play rug for all those Matchbox cars, and we cannot forget, their very own bounce house!!! This Christmas we donated to the World Wildlife Fund and the Nature Conservancy charities. Brad and I also gifted each other with a brand new modular sectional sofa for our game room! Thank you Babi & Deda, Fetters Family, Auntie Laura, Sam, Grandpa & Grandma Grover, and Grandma Sue & Poppa Gene for sending gifts through Santa, we appreciate your kindness and generosity!
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