Dinosaurs and Baby Dolls

All the Schus in Schuville had a wonderful Christmas this year. We enjoyed the Christmas Eve service at our church and then celebrated with our new church friends at one of the member's homes until it was time to come home and get the kids ready for bed. It was hard though to be away from family. We were very sorry to miss the Christmas Eve tree lighting in Williamsburg where Jon's mom gave a speech in front of a very large crowd. The rest of the family got to sit on stage at the event, but we were 1000 miles away keeping her in our thoughts and prayers. It was hard to think about my family getting together in Virginia Beach for Callie's first Christmas and we weren't able to be there. I get sad thinking about how Brighton has not even spent a Christmas with her grandparents yet, and it has probably been too long for Will to remember the last Christmas he was around either set of grandparents. But I can't dwell on these things too long before I remember how truly blessed we are. For the last two Christmases here in Louisiana, we've been able to do something different on Christmas Eve--meeting new people and having new experiences. And we've been able to spend a very peaceful Christmas as a family of four in our home together. We stay in our pjs most of the day, open presents, eat food that we work together to prepare and, best of all, take Christmas naps!!! This year we spent a long time opening presents since we had them from two sets of Grandparents and three sets of Aunts and Uncles on top of the presents Jon and I bought for the kids.We had to eventually get Brighton out of bed because Will had been up for a while waiting to open his presents. We munched on strawberrry bread and took our time with each present since both children wanted to get all of the presents out of their boxes. It was a long morning that ended with a pancake feast courtesy of Daddy and Will. The kids settled in for an exhausted nap while Jon and I finished our mimosas and watched Holiday Inn...trying not to look at the explosion of wrapping paper and toys all around us. We eventually took our Christmas nap, and when everyone woke up, we started on a massive clean up! We played for the rest of the evening and Jon and I worked together on our Christmas meal: Bleu Cheese and Fig stuffed Pork Tenderloin. It was truly a Schuville-worthy roast beast! We spent the rest of the weekend shopping with our gift cards and playing with all of the new toys! It was a great Christmas weekend, and we couldn't ask for more. Thank you, Nana, Papa, Grandma, Granddad, Aunt Wendy, Uncle Geoff, Brady, Zachary, Uncle Eric, Aunt V, Jake, Sophia, Aunnie, Uncle Matt, and Callie for all of our presents! We hope you all had as merry of a Christmas as we did down here in the deep South. Enjoy the pictures, and hopefully I'll be able to send some video if I can figure out how to shorten it!!!!

Our family room, right after Santa left...(right after we finished wrapping presents very very late on Christmas Eve)

We had to let Will open one present to keep him occupied until Brighton woke up...we played this game for a while...it was soooo early!

I love this doggie!!!

Brighton also insisted on having the gifts open and taken out of the box as well.

back to back...and neither one of them realizes it!

Brighton's engraved bracelet...Thank you Gma and Gdad!

Will likes his snow globe! (Thanks Grandma for continuing the snowglobe and nutcracker tradition!)

To bow or not to bow.

Thanks for the gift Nana and Papa!

!

Such a Ham!

Do you see what I see?

I saw a little shepherd boy this morning!! Will participated in the live Nativity scene this morning at our church. The children of the church did a short program that involved singing and bell playing as well as dressing up. Will also had another very important role earilier in the service as all four of us lit the fourth Advent candle. Brighton and Will participated with us, and I made sure they wore their new coordinating Christmas outfits that Grandma (and Granddad) bought them over Thanksgiving. It was a great Sunday morning. We made a few attempts to get some pictures of the kids after church, but they were both tired, so we didn't get a fantastic shot of them together. After naptime, we headed to the park for a little while. We've had so much rain lately (taking the form of snow in VA!) that it was good to get outside again. It was a little cold, although Jon and I have decided that we've become sensitized to cold from the Louisiana heat. Enjoy the pictures of our day...

PS--I forgot to include in my previous post that Will is wearing big boy underpants to bed now, and he has rarely had an accident. Brighton, of course still in diapies, BUT I have to mention that she has become quite the dancer. She has perfected a kind of "ghetto" head bob and will start bobbing anytime music comes on...even hymns at church!!!

Will was a shepherd in the Live Nativity at our church this morning!

He was a little nervous...this was his acting debut

Christmas Girl

Timeout for Daddy kisses

Christmas Boy

attempt #1 at getting a Christmas picture

attempt #2 at getting a Christmas picture

Will in true form (hands down his pants)

Brighton in true form (food in mouth and hand, pulling her bow out)

Brighton loves to swing!

William

Brighton playing chimes

Brighton Slides

We've been up to...

quite a bit lately. We've been decorating the house, shopping for gifts, wrapping gifts, shipping gifts, working, hosting playdates, cooking, cleaning, laundry---you get the idea! In the meantime, our little bitties are growing and doing new things everyday. Brighton walks very well now, and she has even been known to break into a kind of run when she's very motivated. She can say a few words, but she has no problem communicating her mood to us. She has also learned to fight back against her brother! If Will takes a toy from her she walks up to him with her arms flailing, squealing at the top of her lungs. But if Will gets in trouble and has to sit in time out then she will walk over to the step and sit next to him. They are really starting to play well together. I can count on Will to tattle on her whenever she's doing something he doesn't approve of. He tells me when she's playing in my jewelry box, climbing up the stairs, sneaking food to Boo, and hiding random objects in random places. When he's not keeping a careful watch on his sister, Will has been really into books and shows on dinosaurs, crocodiles, and alligators. He is a fountain of knowledge when it comes to carnivorous reptiles. He has also been using his little V Tech computer to learn his letters. He's mastered the alphabet in upper case now. And I am always surprised at the ways his personality shines through each day (sometimes it's not a good thing). This Sunday during church, Jon, Will, Brighton, and I will be lighting the last candle on the advent wreath. I'm hoping that our little ones will be good for the short reading and especially around the burning candles. Will is also going to be in the little Christmas program with the other kids from church. It promises to be very cute, so watch for upcoming pictures. This time I hope to be a little quicker to post, especially after Christmas! We will be spending a quiet Christmas day with just the four of us, but we will be thinking about all of our friends and family. We hope you have wonderful and blessed Christmas!

It snowed in Louisiana!!!!

Will needs to wear two pieces of eyewear.

This is the timeout step where Brighton will walk over to sit with her brother.