Silent Night? Umm...Probably Not

Okay, I wrote this Christmas Eve and am just now uploading pictures to add to it. Humor me and pretend it's NOT 4 days after the fact. :) More to come on other Christmas festivities BEFORE the end of the year....hopefully.

So with the arrival of Mr. Grant our holiday plans with my side of the family were a little abbreviated. Normally we spend a couple of days before Christmas Eve at Mom and Dad's to celebrate Christmas with all of the fam in the Hord-Effingham area. I wasn't too sure about traveling this early with the little guy, so we ended up just going on the 23rd and coming home this evening. Uncle Michael hadn't met Grant yet, so he got first dibs first thing. We had dinner with Grandpa and Grandma Nees that night. Grandpa used to call Landon Stink-Weed, until recently when Landon turned the tables and started calling Grandpa that. Now Landon is Pee-Wee, and Grandpa is Stink-Weed. Landon is very entertained by the whole name calling conversation. He was also very much into helping everyone open their gifts.

LATE, and I DO mean LATE that evening, we exchanged gifts with Mom and Dad and Michael. The plan was to do it this morning, but Land-O was as about as wound up as he could get, so at 10:30 we said what the heck and passed out more presents. Landon's big score: An Interactive Talking Woody and Buzz Light Year. As for the rest of us....here's the highlights as I see them:

I got a new coat from Michael (that I'm very excited about...gotta love online shopping and emailing a link to your brother of exactly what you want :) ) I also got a necklace to put Landon and Grant's picture in and a framed print for the kitchen.

Chad got a blu-ray player and some cash and we both got an external DVD burner as a family gift.
Michael got a new pair of shoes, a video game, and a shoe organizer.

Dad got some new work wear, a mp3 player, and a mechanic's stool.

Mom got some new clothes, a wallet, and a broken china charm for her charm bracelet.

Grant got a new sweater and a cd player for belting lullabies for his room.

Mom and Dad also got some Menard's gift cards to use for the big bedroom/bathroom remodel and their very own bound copy of the 2008 entries of Keepin' Up With The Kutschers.

Landon crashed with Grandpa and Grandma, Grant crashed with Mommy, and Michael and Chad stayed up really late watching a movie. This morning we had breakfast and loaded up our sleigh to head to Grandma Linda's. Landon got to introduce his baby brother to Grandma, Aunt Lori, Uncle Dan, Jensin, Kaid, and Baleigh. Everyone ooohed and aaahed over the hair and overall sweetness of the newest addition, and after a few more gifts to unwrap we headed home.

Right now we are watching the end of Night at the Museum and keeping our fingers crossed that both boys will sleep at least a few hours tonight. The odds are not in our favor: Landon napped (way too late) all the way home, and Grant's wanted to eat every two hours and has had tummy trouble this evening...probably as a direct result of too much fudge and too many cookies on my part. We do have our plate of cookies and glass of milk ready for the Big Guy and have prepped Landon for bed time, with the "if you're not sleeping, he won't come" conversation.

Speaking of the Big Guy, I should wrap this up and clean up some messes around here so he can get in here. I should at least clear a path to the plate of cookies, right?