Christmas Day

Christmas morning was not what we expected with Luke. The few days prior we would ask Luke who was coming to his house. He would tell us it was Ho Ho and he was bringing a choo choo! We thought for sure he would be all over the present idea. First, he was more concerned about the cookies and milk that Santa had. He kept going back to the plate and mug telling us, "Santa bite, tooties, milt." It took a while for him to open the first present and then he was satisfied. He didn't care about the other presents, he wanted his train tracks and trains opened. It was a long morning convincing him there were other great things to open. Funny little boy!

We started a new tradition this year. I found this idea on How Does She. I sewed these simple fabric bags for Santa to easily wrap presents in. Luke called them his Ho Ho Bags. We left them out on Christmas Eve by his stocking and then Santa filled them with presents and tied a bow. Super easy for Santa!!! Next year we'll get out the same bags for Santa to fill!

Merry Christmas

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was a lot of fun this year with Lukers. We went to my parents' house for dinner on Christmas Eve. My cute mom and grandma always have the tradition Christmas poppers for us at the dinner table. Each popper always has a crown and a little toy inside. Luke was insistent on wearing his crown. He kept reminding us he had his hat on. The present Luke was most excited about was his Thomas the Tank toothbrush! I wanted to take a picture of Luke in his new pajamas by the Christmas tree, but he was insistent that Aunt Jess be in the picture. Silly little boy! It was a fun Christmas Eve!

Cookies for Ho Ho

Luke always wants to be involved in the kitchen so I decided since it was Christmas I would let him make cookies for Ho Ho. He LOVED every minute of it, but it was way too stressful for me! Luke is all hands on and didn't want to be left out of anything. Ho Ho is so lucky to have cookies from Luke!

Friend Party

Our friends had a Christmas party this year. It was super fun and we hope it is an annual tradition. The hit for Luke was the gingerbread house. Isn't it a masterpiece?!?! Luke did spend most of the night in timeout because he was so mean to sweet Hayden. We did White Elephant gifts...luckily no pictures were taken of that! We are so lucky to have such great friends

Hansen Family Party

The Hansen family gets together and does Christmas the week before. It is always nice to just relax and enjoy the party a week early! Each year we have a ping-pong tournament. I am generally the first out, but Mark did win it all one year! This year Paige was the champ...shocking!!! Luke loved his firetruck! He was so excited that he started to cry while Grandpa Jeff was trying to get it out of the box.

San Diego

Mark had some work in San Diego last week so we decided to make a little trip out of it. The weather wasn't the best, but we had a good time together. We left Luke with my parents and he did great! We LOVE our Lukers, but it was nice to sleep through the night and go out to dinner and relax! One day we went to La Jolla Cove. It was cool walk on the rocks and look in the water. The seals were everywhere there and fun to watch.

Family Picture Time!

Mark's cute sister Annie took our family pictures this year. They turned out great! I love the pictures she got of Luke because they show his funny little personality! Thanks Annie!

Luke's Box

The other night we had a Costco box that my parents had left at our house. Luke decided it was a great find. Every time we go into DownEast Luke loves to sit on their mini chairs and couches. I always think we should buy him one and now we don't have to!

This is his new couch. He put his box in front of the TV and even added a pillow! He loves his box. Luke will sit in his box and watch Thomas the Tank Mud, Glorious Mud for hours. When he asks to watch a movie we tell him to "go get in his box." It sounds pretty funny if you didn't know what we were talking about!

Gingerbread Houses

Every year we do gingerbread houses with my family. This year I got smart and baked everyone large rectangles of gingerbread. In the past I would spend days making cute houses with molds and they would end up looking nothing like the houses. We decided that Pat won this year with his truck. Luke had fun, but he just wanted to eat the frosting.

Luke's Sleeping Friends

The past week or two Luke has become obsessed with stuffed animals. Before that he was fine to sleep with one "Baby." Now he has to sleep with all three babies, monkey, puppy, cow, sheep and his santa hat. He has to feel all of them, if he can't he starts to get worried. Silly little boy! Mark calls them his menagerie, Luke now copies him. When we say it's time for bed Luke "magie." If only they helped him be a better sleeper!