xmas!!

santa came!! we had such a great time today. cole woke up and we took him straight downstairs to start the madness. we started with stockings and he immediately had a smile. he thought taking new toys out of his stocking was great. he acted surprised and excited by each item, but the slinky was by far his favorite stocking stuffer. he had a fun time opening all of his gifts. he tore off little bits of paper and tooks breaks in between to play with the things he already had open. he didn't get all of his gifts open today, but he had fun. his favortie gift was probably the lawn mower he got. the pictures is on here of him opening it, but he acted like it was the best thing in the world! i thought he'd be interested in the boxes more than the gifts but i was wrong. he loved the gifts!

xmas eve

we spent xmas eve at home baking cookies and hanging out in our pjs. cole really enjoyed the cookies, but didn't like the concept that some of them had to stay on the "cookies for santa" plate at all. cole wanted to eat all of the cookies. we even sang a couple christmas songs, just so we could watch him dance.

sledding

after the gift opening cole wanted to go play in the snow on the sled. he had a blast. luckily cole is a brave little boy and had big smiles as brad ran around the yard with him and flew down the hill on the sled!

homer xmas

today we celebrated x-mas with the homer family. everyone got together for gifts and lots of food. cole really had a fun time. he opened each of his gifts. he would tear off small pieces one at a time and then hand each little piece to someone. once he had the gift open he would walk around the house for a bit with it and then open another. he seemed to really enjoy himself and the gifts he got!

baby party

tonight we had a holiday party with all of the moms, dads, and babies. unfortunately brad had to work so he wasn't able to go. cole was ready to go and burning the energy way before it was time to head out. this made me nervous since he is teething and a bit fussy! he had one more tooth on the bottom break through and has two on the top coming in. but he did great. he loves the wii we got ourselves for xmas, because it gave him a wonderful new toy, a box! he loves to carry the box around and put it near things to help him climb better. i was worried he'd burn himself out but he had a great holiday party. he ate like a piggy and insisted on eating before anyone else was even ready. he had a blast playing with the toy kitchen that is at sandy's house.

he enjoyed dancing on the wii box.

cole blows kisses now!

he was not happy the party was over!

snow!

today was our first day we were able to go out and play in the snow. we have had some flurries here and there, but last night we actually had some accumulation. brad was a lot more excited about the snow than i was. we rushed through breakfast and bundled up before heading out. before we even made it outside cole had a blast just getting bundled up in his snow pants and boots. when we got outside we plopped cole into the snow and it was all the way up to his knees. i don't think he knew what to do, because he spent some time and just stodd still smiling. he had a great time when he realized he could still walk through the snow. he helped brad build a snowman and laughed a lot while maggie ran all over the yard rolling in the snow. it's quite obvious cole is a big fan of snow, unlike his momma.

ginger bread house

last night grandma kay had cole help her with the ginger bread house she makes every year. he was a big helper! he helped spread the icing around and decorate the house. he kept taking off the candies that grandma put on and tasting them. cole was nice enough though to only eat a bite or two from each candy and they he put it right back on the house.

xmas tree!

today was our first day home from florida and we had to go get our christmas tree! it was so cold though, about 18 out. just yesterday we were in florida and it was 76. so we bundled up and went to the tree farm to get our tree. last year i spent about a year walking around to pick the perfect tree, however this year we picked our tree, cut it down, and had it loaded within 15 minutes. it was way too cold on the mountain to take our time this year!

santa

tonight is our last night in disney. we have been to every park, met almost all of the characters, stayed up way past bed time, ate great food, and had a really good time! tonight we decided take cole to meet santa, since he has met so many characters and loved them. we waited in line and he smiled and waved to santa. it was all going well until he actually got near santa. cole fell apart. he did not like santa one bit! he cried mama and reached for me. there was a split second where he stopped crying to look up at santa and stare at him, but then the crying started. i missed that picture but the disney photographers got it and i will probably have to buy it.

more characters

here are some more pictures with the characters cole met. he got to meet the whole winnie the pooh gang, but preferred eyeore. you can see him eyeing him up in the picture. right after the picture cole leaned over and gave him a kiss.

with donald and pop-pop

with pop-pop, pluto, & lynnie

spectacle fo lights

tonight we went to the spectacle of lights at hollywood studios. there are thousands and thousands of lights. the lights dance to christmas music that is played and they even make it snow! cole loved the lights and music! he jumped up and down, clapped, and sang along.

disclaimer: we do not beat cole. he decided on our day down to disney to fall not once but twice face first on tile floors.

chef mickeys

this morning we went to chef mickey's. it is a character breakfast. we weren't sure how cole would react to the characters, since some kids are terrified. he did great though. he stared at them and touched them and would smile. breakfast was great. he got to meet goofy first, mickey, minnie, pluto, and donald.

first rides

we spent just about the whole day at the magic kingdom today. cole went on his first ride, winnie the pooh adventures. he really loved it. he had his jaw on the floor just about the whole time and towards the end got really excited over the scene with the characters having a birthday party. you can see him below just about leaping out of the car. it was so much fun to watch him experience all of these new things!

enjoying the fireworks!

1st haircut!

today was our first full day at disney! cole did great on the plane yesterday. he slept just about the whole flight. i was actually quite shocked how easily he fell asleep on the plane, since he usually will only fall asleep in a crib or the car.
so this morning we went straight for his first haircut. we have been waiting to get it cut so that we could do it at disney. lately its been driving me mad, since his hair had gotten too long. however i am so glad we held off!
cole did great! he loved sitting in the big chair. the man who cut his hair, michael was so good with him. he overwhelmed him with mickey stickers and was able to cut his hair without any fussing, crying, or screaming! after his haircut michael gave him his first ears that are embroidered with "first haircut".