Bowling Bliss: The Merriest Kind of Christmas...

Frosty or Bentley...you decide.

Oh man! What can I say? This Christmas was the BEST! There is just something about sharing Christmas with a child...I remember Christmas as a child, but it seriously doesn't hold a candle to Christmas as a mother. All of December was busy for us, so there is a lot to share, so bear with me...

Every time we saw Santa on TV, we would talk about him to Bentley, in hopes that we would avoid the "Santa Scare." I also read lots of book about Santa, and talked about how much he loves Bentley. I made sure that Bentley knew that he would get toys from Santa if he was a good boy, but he had to tell Santa what he wanted. It kinda worked. Bentley would get so excited every time he saw a pictures or saw Santa on TV. He was say, "Tanta." I know I've talked about Bentley's love of vacuum cleaners before, so that was out chosen toy to ask for from Santa. So...we practiced, and it went a little something like this...

"Bentley, what do you want for Christmas?"
"Daneaner" (vacuum cleaner)
"Are you going to tell Santa?"
"Tanta."
"Are you going to sit on Santa's lap?"
"Leg."

So, the true test came when we walked into the Mexican restaurant that we frequent, and low and behold...there sat Santa having dinner. Yep, all decked out in his red suit and boots, and he was even eating with his white gloves on. Bentley's eyes were the size of half dollars, and he said, "Tanta," with much hesitation in his voice. We walked over to Santa, but Bentley didn't want to touch him at all. We talked for a second, then headed over to our table. The whole time we were eating, Bentley was watching Santa, and Santa was watching Bentley. They shared sweet smiles and tiny waves, until I thought Bentley was finally comfortable. (BTW...did you know that Santa uses the restroom just like we do? When he walked to the restroom, Bentley looked at me as if to make sure I was aware and matter-of-factly said, "Potty.") Before we left, we went to see Santa again, and while Bentley was a little skittish, he did give Santa a high five, pound it (fist bump), and when Santa asked what he wanted for Christmas, Bentley responded on cue, "Daneaner."

We also visited Santa's Village, where Bentley actually sat with Santa. There was a little whining, some reaching for Mommy, but he quickly calmed for the picture. No smiles, but no tears...SUCCESS! Bentley wrote a letter to Santa and dropped it in the mail bag, pretended he was a snowman, saw the fire for metal work, saw real live reindeer, and played in the snow (not real snow, but we will take what we can get)! He had a blast, and the weather was perfect. It was chilly, but not cold, so we couldn't have asked for better scenario.

As we walked up to see Santa, this horse and carriage were waiting by the street.

Yes...that is silver glitter on his hooves.

This is Bentley's "I'm not crying, but I'm not sure I'm okay" face.

For the two minutes he sat with Santa, he seemed to perk up a bit.

We're going on sleigh ride!

Trying to show his "happy face."

SNOW!!!

He loved the snow and couldn't get enough.

Daddy carried Bentley a little closer to see the bigger snow. He was anticipating the move!

Bentley's letter to Santa was put straight into the bag to go straight to the North Pole. There is a slight chance that it was delivered directly to Santa that very night!

We had LOTS of family gatherings for Christmas, but I didn't get many family pictures. There is something about trying to get pictures of the running toddler with all the important people in his life...it just isn't always possible. All our pictures are of kids running, playing, opening presents, etc. That's the good stuff anyways, right? So, here's the rundown...

On Sunday before Christmas, we had an early dinner with my my dad and Anita (Granddaddy and Mimi). We had a yummy country Christmas dinner followed by presents and fun times with Bentley and Coen playing forever!

Granddaddy and Mimi got Bentley a blower and a weed eater. The perfect gifts for the "around the house" kinda guy!

If you look close, you can see the bungee cord holding the steering wheel into the far left position. Bentley drove around in circles for hours at Granddaddy's house last time he spent the night, and he did the same during Christmas.

Coen took Bentley for a ride on his new four wheeler.

On Monday (Christmas Eve), cooked Christmas lunch for my Mom (Nana) and Russ and Cyndel (and family). We had a delicious lunch of chicken almondine and yummy sides followed by cookie cupcakes. Presents followed with much excitement from Coen and Bentley. (Reese will join the excitement next year, but this year he just wants to make sure he gets his naps in. :)

Trying a new tactic for opening presents...if only it had been a horse!

Coen and Bentley played with one of Coen's new toys. Nana was helping, but I accidentally cut her out of the picture...Sorry, Nana!

Monday night, we headed to Daniel's parents' (Nana and Granddaddy) house for our annual Christmas celebration with his immediate family. Chicken fajitas and presents...doesn't get much better! Bentley, Ruby Cate, and Charlie played and had a wonderful time together.

Bentley, Ruby Cate and Charlie

Too cute! It's really hard to get a picture with all three of them looking AND smiling! SUCCESS!

Attempted family photo op...hmmmmm

Dressed alike...coincidence or not?

Finally...the BIG DAY! I'm going to skip Christmas morning for now...I'll come back to it in a bit. First, let's finish up the family gatherings. Lunch was spent with Daniel's family. Steak and potatoes...mmmmmm! Lots of family togetherness, lots of kids playing, running, jumping, and being silly! They were hilarious!

Bentley got a new toboggan for Christmas. He never likes to wear hats, but he LOVED this! he wore if for over an hour!

Ruby was playing with Bentley's vacuum, and Bentley was pushing her stroller...go figure!

Relaxing

Bentley and Kayla posing!

Little ham...putting on a show!

Christmas night was spent at my aunt and uncle's house (Sammi and Chris) with my Mom's side of the family. Soups, cornbread, homemade cheesecake...ahhhhhh! Then, Bentley, Coen, Callie, and Ty played and played! It is so nice for Bentley to be able to actually play this year. I don't have to "help" him play anymore...he just joins right in with the other kids.

The kids' table...a great place to be!

Waiting patiently for presents.

Nana and Bentley...CHEESE!

Cool dude! I got my moose jammies, my girlie glasses, and my awesome ride...check me out!

On Wednesday we went to my Papaw's and Aunt Debbie's houses to visit. The family gatherings interfered, so we didn't get to go to the big get together with the whole family.

Okay...back to Christmas morning! I should probably rewind a little to Christmas Eve to make sure that I cover everything. I attempted to do a family cookie making session, but Coen and Bentley were too busy playing to make cookies, so Santa can thank me for his cookies this year. When we got home from Nana and Granddaddy's on Christmas Eve, Bentley got a bath to start his normal routine. When he got out of the tub, there was a present from Mommy and Daddy under his Christmas tree (our annual tradition). By this time, Bentley knew exactly what presents were, so he was pretty excited about it. He opened it to find his Christmas pajamas. He will probably get Christmas pajamas until he's married, so this is something that I am super excited about!

Step #1: Remove the bow.

Step #2: Remove the paper!

Bentley is so big. He tries so hard to help, but he never can get his pants over his booty.

Button up. You can see his initials on the pocket.

"Runnin', runnin', runnin'!"

Bentley put on his jammies, ran around acting silly, then sat with Mommy to read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. We've read it all of December, so he is able to point out everything in the pictures, and he even thinks the man in the window is Daddy. So funny! We read, prayed, sang, and said goodnight. He slept really good, so he was ready to go on Christmas morning. I made sure that Santa's cookies were set out, and since we didn't have any carrots, I was willing to chance that the reindeer liked grapes.

Sugar cookies for Santa, and grapes for the reindeer. Wash it all down with a cold glass of milk!

Here's our notes to Santa.

Daniel and I got up before 7:00, so we came downstairs to turn on the tree lights, fix our coffee, and check out the loot that Santa left. Boy, was Bentley good this year. Santa outdid himself. He knew exactly what Bentley wanted and delivered! Santa enjoyed his cookies and milk, and from the looks of it, the reindeer do like grapes.

Santa enjoyed his cookies and milk!

All the loot left by Santa...

WOW!

A new bedtime story and The Velveteen Rabbit, which was my favorite childhood story!

A vacuum cleaner ("daneaner") and a shopping cart full of food!

A kitchen, leap pad toy, and basketball and goal!

When Bentley woke up, he was saying, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy" in his sweet little voice. This part is so funny and so sweet, so get ready! We have talked about Santa, presents, toys, Santa coming to Bentley's house, etc. for a month, but you never really know if it all sinks in with a child less than two years old. So, this is proof that he understands. When I walked in his room, I turned on the Christmas tree. He sat up like he always does, and pointed out everything in his bed. "Bunny, banket, star (on his sheets), Titus tee, light, on." I let him go through everything, then I said, "Bentley, guess who came to your house last night." He looked at me with wonder. I said, "Santa came." His eyes were enormous, and with great anticipation (while standing as quickly as he could), he said, "Daneaner!" Yep...he gets it! He asked Santa for a vacuum cleaner, we made sure he knew that Santa would bring presents, and he totally understood! I said, "I don't know. There's lots of toys downstairs. We'll have to go see after we change your diaper." So, the whole time I changed him, he said, "Tanta, toys, uptairs."

Bentley's first look at his presents.

What to do, what to do...

Checking it out...

Just like a man...open all the doors and push all the buttons!

Back to the main attraction!

When we came downstairs, he just stood there and looked at everything in amazement for a minute, then he walked to each item and named everything one by one. Once he named everything and checked it all out, he returned to the toy he's dreamed of for months. The one toy that he was determined to tell Santa about, and the one toy that will probably make the cut for the Top 10 Greatest Christmas Presents Ever...

I helped Porsche and Bentley look through their stockings, then Daniel and I had our turn. We don't usually buy big gifts for one another at Christmas, but do stocking stuffers instead. Daniel got some cooking gadgets, golf balls, underwear, socks, and wine stoppers. I got lip gloss, a new brush, panties, socks, earrings, and a note. The note led me on a scavenger hunt to a beautiful new Coach purse. What a wonderful husband!

Porsche is a pro...she's been looking in her stocking for years!

Bentley needed a little coaxing, but once he figured it out, he was good!

Like I said in the beginning of this extremely long post...this Christmas was the best Christmas ever! Sharing it with Bentley was amazing, and I know that next year will be even better.

Here's some shots of Bentley playing with all his toys for the rest of Christmas morning...