Christmas with TWO boys!

Christmas with two boys was so much fun this year! Here's a glimpse of what we were up to:

Dec. 23 -- the boys got to celebrate Christmas a little early with Gigi, Papa Dave and Maggie.

Dec. 24 -- Here's Noah after we got home from the Christmas Eve children's service at church. He was mad at us because he didn't want to take a picture! He looked awfully cute in that sweater vest from Uncle Greg and Aunt Susan though! After a few photos, we made  hot chocolate, got in the car and drove around some local neighborhoods to look at Christmas lights.





'Lil Haag with Daddy Haag





Noah was finally coaxed into taking a picture when we said we could tackle each other! Boys will be boys right?

Dec. 25 - Christmas morning has finally arrived! By the way, those cute, oversized ornaments from Pottery Barn that Eric so creatively hung on the railing quickly became sports equipment for Noah to slap each trip up and down the stairs!

This moment, we'll never forget. After we came downstairs, Noah immediately saw that Santa had left a few cookie crumbs and didn't drink all of his milk, so Noah helped himself!

Since we didn't want the boys to see their Santa gifts before opening stockings in the den, we hung this quilt up to block their view.

Noah has always loved his miniature toy figures, so Santa left some Sesame Street and Super Why friends in his stocking.

Mommy insisted on the matching PJs :)

Noah's big gift was a train table, trains and tracks. He played there most of the day and loved saying, "Choo, choo!"

Brenton enjoyed his goodies too.

"Brenton's First Christmas" - super cute jammies from Gigi. Noah had a pair on his first Christmas too.

Dec. 26 - We drove to Hendersonville and the boys got to celebrate Christmas again at JenMommy's house!

We got to visit our great friends, the Leas, in Nashville. Noah and Emery always have fun and play really well together.

Thomas the Train PJ buddies

This was as close to a good picture with Santa we could get. Noah was pretty scared and had no desire to even sit next to him. He finally warmed up to him with the help of a sugar cookie.

Brenton's first picture with Santa at Smart Toys and Books -- best toy store around!

It was such a blessing to see friends and family during our brief trip to Hendersonville. It's never long enough though because we always feel like we're rushing from one place to the next. I guess that's how it is for everyone who is visiting out-of-town family! We really love being in Knoxville, but really wish we could see our family and friends more often.

Merry Christmas!!

From our family to yours...MERRY CHRISTMAS! May God bless you today with the joy of knowing that Christ is born! How blessed we all are!

Holiday Express at UT Gardens

On Sunday, Dec. 19, Noah and I had a mommy/son day at the Holiday Express at UT Gardens. We had such a great time and Noah was in awe of the model trains zipping by. It took nine men and seven days to put it all together. Parts of the city were replicas of historic Knoxville. The toughest part was reminding him to not touch the trains. One kid accidentally derailed a train, but the owner was so nice about it and said, "That's just part of it." After watching the trains, Noah made magic reindeer food, got a candy cane from Santa and warmed up next to a fire pit in the gardens. We'll definitely be back next year!

I thought this sign was kind of funny.

We've also had a great start to winter! The snow and chilly temps have been welcome...the ice, not so much since schools were out for three days.

I love to watch the relationship between Noah and Brenton. Noah is Brenton's favorite thing to watch. He makes him smile (and sometimes cry when he gets too rough), but for the most part they love each other dearly. When Brenton wakes up in the morning, Noah always asks to hold him. Here they are relaxing on the couch together.

Noah is always concerned about Brenton -- his whereabouts, needs, etc. When Brenton cries, Noah will say, "It's okay, brother. No need to cry" or will start singing him the Barney song. You know, the one that goes, "I love you, you love me. We're a happy family with a great big hug and a kiss from me to you, won't you say you love me too?" It actually quiets Brenton down (usually) if he does get fussy which is pretty rare. I sang that song a lot to Noah before naps and bedtime when I was pregnant with Brenton, so maybe that's why he likes it so much. All I can say is that I'm quite content in a house full of boys!

Halloween Weekend

Whoops! Here's a post we meant to publish, but forgot to...The boys had a big Halloween weekend. Noah's went to his first birthday party at The Little Gym for his friend Ella Kate's 3rd birthday. He wasn't sure what to think at first, but loved it after he realized he could climb, jump and pull up on just about anything.

Noah got in Brenton's bouncer and said, "I'm Brenton." Too sweet.

Noah tasted s'mores for the first time and didn't get as messy as I thought he would. After s'mores, we watched "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" or "Punkin' Movie" as Noah calls it. He's officially a huge Charlie Brown fan now.

And here's our little monkey, Brenton, and alligator, Noah.

Some former neighbors stopped by before we went Trick or Treating. Noah misses his buddy Caroline being across the street.

One of our neighbors really gets into holidays. Noah loved his yard the best.

Christmas Card 2011...where there's a will, there's a way!

Well, it's December 14th, and we still haven't chosen/taken our Christmas card photo. Life has been busy, but procrastination is no excuse. So, we hope to get them ordered from Shutterfly this week and mailed out sometime soon.

Pop quiz...The tricky part is _____________:
a) trying to put cute outfits on both boys, keep their shirts tucked in, and have no spills before the photo
b) trying to get the boys to stay still, smile, and look at the camera at the same time
c) trying to pry Noah away from his new favorite movie, "The Polar Express," long enough to snap a photo
d) All of the above

Shutterfly has a great deal going on right now too, where you get 50 Free Cards for blogging about their holiday line of products, hence this 30 second infomercial! They have a great selection of Christmas Photo Cards, Personalized Calendars, and many other cool products to send to family & friends.

Santa Visit

This year, instead of taking the boys to the mall to sit on Santa's lap, we scheduled a time to visit Santa at Smart Toys & Books, an awesome toy store in town. Noah loves that store, and they let you play with everything, including a full Thomas the Train table/train track set, which he loves.

They had a small room set up with cookies, coffee, juice, and they had a tv/dvd player showing "Ruldoph the Red Nosed Reindeer"to add to the festiveness. It really was a cool set-up.

Noah was a little shy about sitting on Santa's lap at first, but finally warmed up to the idea. Brenton went right to him and was a little handsome charmer, as usual! Here are a few photos that the photographer took on Sunday.