A Very White Christmas

Brayden was very into Christmas this year!  His excitement definitely made the holidays even more special for Tim and I.  He amazed us with his recognition of Baby Jesus, angels, shepherds and Mary in nativity scenes and loved to sing his own rendition of "Away in a Manger."  The decorations fascinated Brayden as he'd walk around the house and say "new" whenever I'd add something Christmas to the mix of decor.  We made the move to artificial trees for the first time for both Tim and I, and while we were initially reluctant, we admit that it was a great decision as we've already gotten to enjoy the trees for weeks longer than with our live trees.  We decorated two trees in the new house but I see more for us in the future!  Everyday Brayden would say, "turn the lights on" and point to his Christmas trees.

Christmas books were again one of Brayden's favorite parts of the holidays.  His favorites - "The Dusty Old Stable" because he could name the people and animals in the stable and "Snowmen at Night" because everyone knows that snowmen play baseball in the park after little boys go to bed.  Brayden played his Peanuts band over and over and knew all the characters' names and instruments this year.  He learned full phrases from songs like "Jingle Bells" and "Rudolph" and enjoyed watching his favorite holiday movie "Frosty the Snowman."  We visited Santa many times, and while Brayden's heart and breathing would speed up a bit at the sight of the big man in red, Brayden always found the courage to sit on Santa's lap and say "cars and trains, ho, ho" and then he was done!  When Santa told Brayden that he knew Thomas (as in Thomas the Train), Brayden asked Santa if he also knew Henry and Percy, Thomas' friends, and Brayden decided Santa was a pretty cool guy!  While we know Brayden still has a lot to learn about the true meaning of Christmas, it struck his mom and dad that maybe he does understand more than we realize.  He melted our hearts during our annual shopping trek for the Salvation Army when he told us "I being Santa."

We were blessed with several great Christmas celebrations with family and friends.  The Saturday before Christmas Santa made an early stop to our house in Lenexa during Brayden's nap and brought a train table which has been a huge hit with father and son.  I purchased it gently used from Craig's List last month and I didn't think Tim was going to make it to Christmas to give it to Brayden!  Opening presents went well as Brayden could pretty much do it by himself.  He would say "I wonder what it is" while opening a package and then often followed that up with "Brayden is excited!"  The week of Christmas found us in Salina for five days with 11+ inches of snow.  What a special treat to have a white Christmas!  There were lots of people (and pets) in Salina for Brayden to get attention from, plus yummy food, candles at the Christmas Eve service that Brayden wanted to blow out, new decorations to enjoy and several days of presents!  When Brayden woke up the morning after Christmas, he asked Tim, "I wonder if Santa will come today."  A bit spoiled but cute and still the same ol' Brayden.  Once home, when I asked him what his favorite present was, he said "all my books."  That's our Brayden!