Christmas: A Trilogy, Part II

And here we are... at part two of our three part tale! Christmas at Home. Justin and I really enjoy being in our own home so that we can take part in our very own Cox family Christmas traditions. So in between our two travel spots we take a night at home to spend Christmas Eve at our church and spend the night in our beds. I love this time with our little family of three and am super excited that we'll have another little one to add to our traditions next year.

After leaving Waco on Christmas Eve afternoon we had barely enough time to come home and drop of the dogs before we had to head back out to grab dinner and make it to the Christmas Eve service at our church. We decided that Freebird's sounded too good to pass up and so we chowed down on three yummy burritos and headed up to G-town for church.

Church started well and good with Caden excited to see the trees and all of the lights and of course he was super intrigued by the candle stick he had been given when we walked in. Once the service started Caden seemed attentive enough and was fairly content with clapping his hands and listening to the music. Although, at one point he decided to yell GUI-GAR... apparently he needed a little rock n roll with his Jesus! :) In all truth Caden doesn't understand how music can happen without a guitar... he is forever the rock star!

We were nearly half way through the service when Caden started getting antsy and asked for the Bible in the pew. He LOVES Bibles, which is a great thing, but ordinarily Jusitn and I are PRETTY quick to say NOOOO CADEN when he finds one of ours. He is not as gentle as we'd like and our Bibles are precious to us! Well, I should have known better but I was thinking more about keeping him quiet then the consequences of handing him the pew Bible... so I am sure you know where this is going. Within minutes... no scratch that... SECONDS he had opened up the front cover of the Bible, grabbed hold of the cover page and held on with all his might. In the span of those mere seconds Justin, who is holding Caden in his lap, realizes what is happening and soon finds that the ONLY way to pry Caden's hand off of that Bible was to pull the page out with it... OH MY GOODNESS! SO Caden rips the page out of he Bible wads it up into a ball and throws it into the aisle... Merry Christmas! Seriously, it all happened SO fast that we didn't even know what to do. So Justin picked up the paper out of the aisle threw it in my lap and took Caden to the lobby. I decided that I was DEFINITELY in the more awkward position as I sat trying to consider my next move very carefully. Should I put it in my purse? Smooth it out and place it in the pew... smooth it out and place back in the Bible? Smooth it out and put a five dollar bill with it in the Bible? I would have LOVED to choose the later option BUT alas, NO CASH, so I respectfully straightened out the crumbled page best I could and placed it back into the Bible and the Bible back into the pew. About that time, the fire from the EYES staring at the back of my head were TOO much for me to handle, so I snuck out into the lobby and told Justin and Caden I had secured a spot on the back row. They tried for another minute or two with no luck and went back to the lobby where soon after I joined them and we called it a night! It's the effort that counts right?! :)

So after an EXCITING evening at church we came home and sloppily threw together some cookies for Santa. Caden was on his LAST fuse and was in SERIOUS need of a bath and a bed so we worked fast.... roll, roll, pat, pat, press, press, cut... done!

Daddy helped decorate...sprinkles and M&Ms (Caden's newest obsession!)

Cookies are ALL ready for Santa... and a coke... the guy's got to need a little caffeine boost after all that flying around the world!!

Then to put out our reindeer food that Nana made for us to take home! It sparkles in the yard and helps the reindeer know exactly where to stop!

I hope they see us!!

Before bed Justin read the Christmas story to Caden and I from Caden's Jesus Storybook Bible (I highly recommend this Bible if you don't have it already... it is awesome for kids AND adults! Thanks Aunt Liz!) and went to bed... awaiting a visit from Santa!! And sure enough it looks like the reindeer food WORKED! And I am sure the promise of cookies and coke couldn't have hurt either ... BUT Santa came!! He did... he really did!! And he brought Caden a train table...

And a tennis racket and foam balls...

Now I can be like Mommy!! :)

Of course like any rockin' roller would have, Caden thought the racket was a guitar... :)

Santa also brought M&Ms and some new music for the car...

And some fun mittens that looked like footballs and a set of Yo Gabba Gabba bath toys!!

In all of the presentry, Caden forgot to check on the cookies he left for Santa! Looks like he enjoyed them...AND took the coke with him... silly Santa... I hope he installed cup holders in his sleigh!

Since he left some behind Caden thought it wasteful not to finish them off!!

What a FUN Christmas morning with the Chade! I am SO glad Santa was able to pull it off this year... he yet again delighted the hearts of Caden and his parents, alike!

Next up... load 'em up and head 'em out... off to Say-yo we go...