Christmas: A Trilogy, Part I

Merry Christmas! Christmas in our house came in three parts this year... hence the title of this and the subsequent two posts... "Christmas: A Trilogy." Part I of our Christmas Trilogy started off earlier than normal with Aunt Ree Ree and Nana coming for a quick visit the Tuesday afternoon/evening prior to Christmas. Aunt Ree Ree had her HEART SET on seeing the Radio City Rockettes who happened to be in Austin during Christmas... and when Aunt Ree Ree has her heart set on something she is going to make it happen... so she worked hard to coordinate schedules for the three of us girls and finally found a date that worked... she bought tickets and planned the travel arrangements... and behold... WE DID IT! A girls night out to see the Rockettes! Too bad this little Christmas charmer couldn't have joined us... :)

We had a great time and the Rockettes, of course, were fabulous! Thanks Aunt Ree Ree for all of your hard work in getting this thrown together! And thanks Nana for a fun, little pre-Christmas treat!

After the Rockettes on Tuesday night, we geared up for the FIRST of our THREE Christmas celebrations in Waco at the Cox House. It hadn't even been 12 hours since we had wished Ree Ree and Nana adieu before we pulled into the driveway at Nana and Bop's house! And of course, like any child (adult, etc.) will do... the Christmas tree is the first stop!! Check out all of that LOOT! We didn't even have to open our gifts to know we were going to have one heck of a Christmas! :) Because Caden is the ultimate charmer and ESPECIALLY so where his Aunt Ree Ree is concerned, he got to open up a present early... just minutes after we walked into the door! Of course, in Ree Ree's defense they were bath toys that she wanted Caden to be able to open up so he could enjoy during his evening bath... good excuse! :)

The next day was pretty relaxed... we laid around and watched TV, went to grab a quick bite at Chick-fil-a, threw a birthday party for Jesus, took naps (while the boys played golf), did some arts and crafts, ate some YUMMY snacks... watched some basketball... a typical Christmas vacation day! Not bad, huh?!

Decorating Jesus' birthday cake with Nana...

Singing to Jesus...

And Caden decided that he'd enjoy a nice cookie rather than cake... poor kid doesn't know a good thing when he sees one. I have NO IDEA where he got this idea that CAKE is NO GOOD?! Can you imagine?! BUT, I guess that left more for Jesus?! :)

After Caden's nap that day, Nana planned a special snack for the Cade-man! A reindeer sandwich. He was REALLY into the antlers aka pretzels, but the rest he left for Mommy and Baby Cox to finish... thanks Caden! :)

Puttin' the cherry on...

Later on, Caden found a bottle of glue in one of Nana's drawers and INSISTED that he be able to show off his new dot, dot, dot, pat, pat, pat skills he learned at school! So he and Aunt Ree Ree did a little project while Mommy and Nana worked on dinner! :)

The business of the next day made the relaxation of the previous day ALL the more important! We started out nice and early, getting ready for our BIG Christmas celebration. Gran and Poppa even drove over from Belton for the festivities... there were LOTS of presents to be had!

The Cox Fam do their presents one by one, from youngest to oldest, all the way around the room until all of the presents are opened! I really do love doing it this way so you can see the excitement of all of the GIFT opening! Caden, of course, was first!! He had been eyeing this particular present since Bop and Ree Ree told him it was for him... in fact this present was the cause for NANA to tell Caden NOOOO for the first time in his nearly two years of life... and he cried and she almost did too! And what did I do?!!! I laughed, cheered and CLAPPED! It's SO nice to not always be the bad guy isn't it?! Get over it Nana... HA! :)

After all of the anticipation, tears and almost breakdowns this present had caused it brought equal amounts of JOY, LAUGHTER and ENJOYMENT for the Cade-man! A TENT AND TUNNEL! This gift was from Grandma, who was spending Christmas up in Sherman with other parts of the Cox Fam, but was SO thoughtful to send Caden a special gift... he loves it so much!! Thanks Grandma!!

Aunt Ree Ree and I took a little time out from present opening to try on our new scarfs from Santa Cox!

Caden was getting bored with the circle stuff so he decided to steal one of Nana's presents and put on a little show!! The wooden spoons were probably his favorite gift! Go figure! :)

Check out my new shirts... FANCY!!!

My boys...

Is it my turn again?!!! Nope? Okay... back to the drums I go!

Three generations of Cox men...

AND the big daddy of them all... one of the things Caden has wanted for so, so long... the COZY COUPE... YAY!!

Sweet Nana thought the Cozy Coupe came assembled in the box, so she forgot to hire any extra elves for the day... which left Daddy to assume role as head elf...

But you know what they say... sometimes it takes a village to raise a child... AND to build a Cozy Coupe...

BUT in mere minutes... 57ish minutes to be exact... the Cozy Coupe was ready for the open road and its driver was feelin' the need for SPEED!! oooowwwww!

Look at that sweet face... so happy he got his Cozy Coupe!! :)

Not long after the Cozy Coupe hit the road the rain came down and sent us all inside... ready to chow down on Nana's Christmas Feast! Our bellies were full not 2.5 seconds after we started... and then it was nap time... for one lucky little guy! As for the rest of us it was clean up the Christmas chaos and catch a few minutes of a Cox Fam Christmas Classic... National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation...

Before Caden could even realize he was awake we whisked him off and headed back to the Rock where Christmas: A Trilogy, Part II will begin...

Thanks Nana and Bop for a wonderful and VERY Merry Christmas! We had a blast with the Cox/Agnew Fam as usual... Caden is one lucky little boy to have so many people who love (and spoil) him! We love y'all!