Christmas Traditions

I love this photo of our family. This was before we went out for the evening and left Cy with is first real babysitter. He was so cute. He definitely was fine with us leaving but was extra snuggily before we walked out the door. I hate leaving him, ever. I love our little family of three and couldn't imagine my life any other way anymore. I am so grateful for the men in my life. I am a blessed woman.

We have started to implement some new traditions this year with Cyrus that I am really enjoying. Christmas has taken on a whole new meaning this year with Cy being so interested in everything and wanting to be a part of everything. I remember being slightly disappointed last Christmas because I wanted for Cy to love it all so much and he just wasn't ready. This year though, he is really digging the whole she-bang and it just cracks me up. For instance, somehow this child of mine now knows who Santa Claus is and that he will be bringing presents to our house for Cy. He knows where Santa lives ("North Pole") and can show me on a map where the North Pole is located. He's amazing to me:)

I have started decorating his door and his hallway at this house for each season and holiday and he really enjoys that. This house is certainly not an ideal how for a family of 3 with 2 dogs and a cat. It's very small and quite old but we are finding ways to make it our home for now and this is one of my ways. His room is pretty tiny and his playroom is even smaller so I try to make this end of the house his own space and it seems to be working.




We also started doing the Advent calendar this year. Cyrus wakes up in the morning and runs straight to the Advent calendar to see what his treat for the day is. We have not started talking to Cy about religion or God or even Jesus at this point in his life but I wanted to start our own version of the calendar this year so he is aware of the days of December and participate in the "count down" to the big day.

My parents are having a great time with Cy this year too!! Cyrus got a letter in the mail this week from Santa at the North Pole. He was so excited (especially since there is a Choo Choo on the letterhead). We opened the letter and read it and then talked about Santa and Rudolph and when they were coming. The envelope return address simply says, "Santa" and "North Pole". Very cute. It's hanging on his craft board right now and will go in his little Christmas 2011 memoir book this year.

The actual letter - amazing;)

Nana and Pap also sent us our Elf On The Shelf. Cyrus named him "Buddy" and we look for him every morning. There are some great ideas out there for having the Elf be mischevious but this year we are just having a great time finding him in the mornings. Because we introduced Buddy and the Advent calendar this year Cyrus has blended the two and believes that Buddy brings him his little toy each morning from Santa after flying all the way back here from the North Pole each night.