It came ....and went!

Playing in the snow!

Hmmm..yes, he liked to eat it!

Sometimes it's just too much to stand up at the tool bench. Mickey was helping too!

Making snow balls

Lucy at her one month appointment **she is quite the mover- typical of her arching her back!

Christmas came really quickly this year...and somehow it is already almost New Year's. We knew it would go fast, but it still surprises us when it happens! We took down all the Christmas decorations on Monday. It is nice to have the house back to a simpler place! However, we loved having everything out and the holidays were really great this year!
Lucy continues to amaze us and we love having her here. She is smiling more and it is so sweet! She had her one month (Geeez...can NOT believe she is one month old!) on Tuesday. Dr. G said she looked "Fantastic"! Everything looked great and she weighs 9lbs. 4oz.  Jack weighed 9lbs. 7 oz. at one month! They are very similar so far in weight! She is still sleeping great at night.... shesleptforeighthourslastnight. Please dont ask again about it! I dont want to jinx us! We are very proud of her! Jack is still being so sweet to her. He wants to hug her and kiss on her. He even gets her pacifier and puts it back in her mouth. We told him not to put his hands on it, but it is really too sweet that he wants to help. We do LOTS of hand washing around here. We are thankful to have made it through the holidays healthy and hope to continue that way!
Jack's imagination is so fun! He plays so well by himself and talks to whatever toy he is playing with at the time. He tells us all about his day and is also telling us "It's not Christmas anymore!" ...and then quickly followed up with "What's next?!" He was so much fun this year and was so into everything to do with the holidays. He is such a sweet little boy and we see so much more of his personality everyday. He still loves to play hide and seek and loves his new puzzles.  Santa brought him a soccer net and it is pretty funny to watch him play. He will start out kicking the ball, but usually it turns into him diving on top of the ball (breaking the "no hands" rule he learned at school) and sometimes dives into the net and gets tangled. It is pretty comical! He also loves playing with his big remote control car in the street...Again, it starts out with him controlling the car with the remote, but usually ends with him chasing the car or letting the car chase him (daddy prefers this because I think he enjoys the remote control car as much as Jack) He is quite the 2 year old. I can't believe it's only a few months until he is 3. Again.... if time would just slow down a little bit.
It has been a nice week with just a family of four.  We are enjoying the kids so much! It is really fun to have both of them here. We are very proud of them!

AND a little comparison! Who is who?!
                                        

Merry Christmas!

Jack licking the beaters - first cookies!

Jack baking Christmas cookies!

I am so excited that it's Christmas!

Carrying the milk to put out for Santa

Daddy reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas"

"Santa came!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Look! A Mickey and a Minnie!

I got a cool soccer net!

I love my Nunno and Poppa!

Nannie and Ugga came to celebrate with us!

Mommy! Take a picture of me!

Mommy and Daddy opening presents!

Granny and her sweet Lucy

It was a magical Christmas at the Leonards! We had it all... food, family, children, presents, love, and good times! It was perfect!
We started out Christmas Eve with cooking and baking cookies with Jack! I didnt have high expectations on baking with my 2 year old... However, it was better than I could have imagined! Jack had such a great time helping! He put everything in the mixing bowl and helped mix it up. He kept saying "Let's mix it up REAL good!". He got very excited about putting in the chocolate chunks.. I think a BUNCH ended up in his mouth! He got to lick the beaters and put M&Ms on top! Again... lots of M&Ms went in his mouth! We ate them hot out of the oven! It was fun! I can't wait for Lucy to help us one year!
We went to the 4:00 service and church and it was really neat. All the children got a paper bag with a "character" inside. Jack had cow ears to wear. All the children got to participate in a live nativity at the front of the church between Christmas hymns. Jack went up there with all the animals and sat up there and was so good! It was really sweet. I can't say that I didnt tear up.  He behaved very well for his first full service (although it was all directed at the children). Jack typically goes to the nursery during services. It was really neat! We got home and opened a couple of presents and listened to Christmas music. We went to see the neighborhood Christmas lights (AGAIN...we have gone most nights this season),  put out Santa's cookies, said good-bye to Edward the Elf, and Daddy read "Twas the Night Before Christmas".  Once the little ones were asleep, the adults had beef tenderloin, onion rice, brussel sprouts and a bottle of Arger-Martucci (wow - now that was good!). It's the 3rd year in a row of a nice Christmas Eve dinner. Great Granny, Nannie, Ugga, Daddy and I really enjoyed it!
Christmas morning was so fun! Jack was so excited and loved seeing what Santa brought to he and Lucy! He was most excited about the Mickey and Minnie! He even ran over to Lucy with her Minnie doll and said "Look Lucy, here is your Minnie!" (TOO SWEET!) Poppa and Nunno got here around 10:30am and we had a big Christmas lunch around 1:00pm. Uncle Scooter and Lauren came to celebrate too! It was so much fun! We all fell asleep around 4:00 (Lucy and I downstairs, Granny, Jack and Dadddy upstairs!) We got up and ate leftovers and watched "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" for the last time. We have watched that LOTS of times this season. It really was a magical and happy Christmas! We are very blessed!

By the way....today is PJ Day! I dont think we are getting out of our pjs! There is still snow on the ground and the high is 33! No rules today!!!

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Whew! The holidays are busy!

4 of the 5 grandchildren (all looking at the camera of course!)

Dancing with the 2nd cousins!

Jack got a harmonica from Nunno and Poppa

Poppa with his two "big" grandkids

Concentrating very hard on opening presents

Nunno and Poppa celebrated 23 years of marriage on Saturday!

Jack and Lily opening presents

Jack and Anna playing with the snowmen in the recliner!

The "men" frying the turkeys!

.....AND building a fire!

Mimi and Jack looking at Edward the Elf

Jack with Mimi and Gigi

Look at the BIG dinosaur that I got from Mimi and Papa

Jack and Andrew saying "Thankful" before snacks and treats at their school party!

Sweet Lucy looking at her Daddy!

AND THIS IS HOW WE SPENT OUR MONDAY MORNING.......

Christmas continues with the Leonards...we celebrate for weeks!

We got back last night from celebrating Christmas in Gainesville with family! It was really great! Lots of fun and lots of crazy with the kids! It is really fun watching all the kids together! We started off Saturday with just our family at Nunno and Poppa's! The boys spent the afternoon frying turkeys and enjoying "spirits" in the backyard. The kids were upstairs playing for the most part! Caitlin was so cute in her Christmas outfit, Anna and Jack played with the singing and dancing Snowmen that Nunno has on the fireplace (And I mean we heard it over 100 times!) Lucy spent the day snoozing and eating! We missed sweet Jake and Aunt Anneke, but they stayed home since Jake is getting over a cold.  Hopefully we will get all 5 together really soon! That night we had an amazing dinner and then opened presents! The basement was decked out for Christmas and OVERFLOWING with presents! Jack definitely is really enjoying opening presents this year. He wants to open everyone's presents! He gets so excited and it's so fun to watch! Sunday we got up and all ate breakfast together and then spent the day getting ready for the Buffington Christmas that afternoon! Another batch of kids and fun watching them! It was a great night that ended with all the kids dancing to "Run Run Rudolph!" It was hilarious!
Before we went to Gville... Mimi and Gigi came to visit! We had such a great visit with them and they were thrilled to meet our little princess! Lucy was such a good girl and enjoyed her time with them.  Jack was fun and loved playing with Mimi! We celebrated Christmas with them and gift exchange on Friday night. It was fun! We are loving extending Christmas over several weeks! Mimi and Gigi got to go with us to Jack's school party on Friday afternoon and it was so much fun! The kids ate treats and snacks, did some dancing and exchanged presents (each one brought in a wrapped gift and exchanged them).

It doesnt seem possible that it's the week of Christmas already! December has FLOWN by! Great Granny is coming back on Thursday and will be here for Christmas and we are getting ready for Santa to come visit! It's been so fun! We are loving our family of four and so thankful everyday for Jack and Lucy. It's one of the happiest times of our lives right now having both of them. What a Christmas blessing!!!

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Santa Claus is Coming to Town!

So peaceful

Making the 2nd annual gingerbread house (Jack was really great at it this year!)

Helping Grandbubba open his presents

Jack watching Santa sing a song!

Sweet boy with Santa

Santa with the Leonards

"The Kids" with Santa

All the kids with Santa (3rd annual Breakfast with Santa)

We had the best weekend! Grandbubba came to visit and that might as well be Santa coming to town! Jack had so much fun opening presents on Saturday night! He was so excited to see Grandbubba and couldnt want to show him where Edward the Elf was in his room (Jack is loving his Elf on the Shelf)! They played lots and had fun! We also decorated a gingerbread house (Actually the boys did that while I baked cookies! Lucy watched from her swing!)
This morning we had our 3rd annual Breakfast with Santa at a neighbor's house. It was great as always! Santa surprised the kids and came to visit with presents, songs, and stories. Jack did great going to get his present and sitting in his lap and telling him what he wants this year.  We got some good family pictures with Santa too! This holiday season is flying by but we are packing in as much as we can!
Mimi and Gigi are coming to visit on Thursday and then we (all FOUR of us) are headed to Gainesville on Saturday to celebrate Christmas with Nunno and Poppa and all the grandchildren! It will be so much fun!

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Christmas Programs, Family, and short days!

Sleeping angel

Happy girl!

Daddy and Poppa are so proud!

Good job Jack!

Jack singing in his Christmas Program

What a cutie!

Brother and Sister!

Cheese! I am holding Lucy all by myself!

I love you Lucy!

Sweet girl!

It's been almost two weeks since our new little angel was born.... Just as we thought, time is flying by way too quickly! The days are just so quick and short!  Lucy is doing just great! She is going 5-5.5 hours at night between feedings and very content during the day! Jack is adjusting really well to his new sister (of course after the holiday season and constant stimulation is over, it might be a little tougher!) We are LOVING our new family of four.  Lucy had a great dr. visit on Thursday.  She was 7lbs. 11oz (over her birth weight now and we are able to let her go at night as long as she will sleep!) Dr. G was thrilled with her and she is growing like crazy! We are really so proud!

Great Granny left on Friday morning and we had a short visit with Nannie and Ugga too! It was great for them to get to meet Lucy and we were so happy that Granny was with us last week. She was SUCH a big help and we loved her being here! She is coming back at Christmas for the 3rd year and we are looking forward to it! Grandbubba got here this morning to celebrate Christmas with us and meet sweet Lucy! Jack was thrilled to see him and quickly took him to his room to show him Edward the Elf (Jack's Elf on the Shelf was sitting way up on his chandelier this morning after his trip to the North Pole last night... Jack thought that was so cool!)  We are looking forward to our breakfast with Santa tomorrow morning with the neighbors! That is always so fun! We hope Jack will want to tell Santa what he wants for Christmas... he gave Santa high five at school the other day but did not want to sit with him! So far...Jack keeps saying he wants a "pink Mickey" when we ask him what he wants from Santa....Hmmmm, not real sure what that is or why it needs to be pink! I hope Santa understands!

Jack also had his Christmas Program at school this past week and it was so great! I cried through the whole thing. He was such a big boy and we were so proud...but I will blame part of the emotions on being a new mommy. However, we have watched the program 3-4 times since Thursday and I still cry every time! They sang Jingle Bells, Feliz Navidad, A Family Song (REAL tear jerker...), and We Wish you a Merry Christmas. They were soooo cute! He is just so grown up!

We are loving the holidays this year (even though they are flying by!) Christmas movies at night, having the tree lit all day, fun Christmas shows, cookies, family, and Jack's excitement about it all is so much fun!

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