We have had such a wonderful couple of days with our family! Christmas has been so much fun just because we’ve loved watching Hudson’s amazement at everything. He was fun last Christmas, but this time he has just responded so vocally to everything and has been crazy excited about all of the new traditions and presents. Hudson is absolutely in love with his grandparents and loves to go around the room and name them all: KK, Poppie, RC, PC, and Nana. And then he names Mommy, Daddy, Boudreaux and Fiona.
He has been spoiled rotten the past few days, but I just love that there are so many people in his life that love him so much!
My parents drove in from Dallas and we all attended the beautiful Christmas Eve service at our church. There was some beautiful music and our pastor said something that night that I’ll never ever forget. First he reminded us of how much gratitude we owe Jesus, but then he said, “Jesus is not just the reason for the season. He is the reason for everything.” And that deserved a big old, “Amen!”
After church, we came home and had dinner with my parents, TC’s parents, and TC’s grandmother. It has become a tradition for us to eat gumbo on Christmas Eve and I just love that tradition!
After dinner, TC’s family went home and we exchanged gifts with my parents. We kept it simple this year, but we all spoiled Hudson! He wasn’t very interested in opening his presents- he just wanted to carry the wrapped presents around and arrange them.
His favorite gift from my mom was a Slinky! He kept saying “whoa” at the Slinky. The best toys are always the cheapest toys, right?
We video chatted with my brother, who is in Vail and couldn’t get off for Christmas, and loved watching him open the gifts we sent him and we all got a good laugh at Hudson. (I have a video to share of our video chat with him.) TC gave Hudson a little golf set and we gave him this great book called Tickle Monster that comes with adorable gloves for you, the Tickle Monster, to wear when reading the book!
Hudson went to bed so Santa could visit our house. He did leave Santa a yummy plate of fudge and Santa rewarded Hudson for being a very good boy! He got a giant Elmo, a Little People farm, a small Thomas the Train set, an Elmo potty, a little piano, and lots of books. His big gift this year was an outdoor playset that Santa (and Hudson’s grandparents) got for him! My parents also gave him an adorable little table and chairs set that he is obsessed with.
Santa went a little overboard this year, but it was just so much fun! I guess because Hudson only got one gift last year and we didn’t do birthday gifts, it was hard to limit ourselves this Christmas.
On Christmas morning, TC’s parents and grandmother came back over so everybody could see Hudson’s reaction to what Santa brought him. And Hudson’s reaction did not disappoint. He was so excited and kept saying “whoa!” He loved his giant Elmo and his piano. And he hasn’t stopped playing with his little farm. He wasn’t able to go outside and use the playset yet because it has been too cold, but I know he’s going to love it! And so will his little brother, who already has his own swing!
Hudson also got some new Elmo slippers, and as you can see, he wasn’t so sure about those slippers at first! But he wore them practically all day yesterday and loved them! Can you tell we have a big time Elmo obsession at our house? He goes around the house asking for Elmo all the time.
We all got dressed and went over to TC’s parents’ house to spend the day. They got Hudson some great gifts (and were very generous towards us, too!) and we had a great day hanging out together over there. I just love that our families have blended for Christmas every year since we got married. It makes the decision-making for “where do we spend Christmas” really easy and I love that everyone gets along so well.
TC’s mom made a delicious meal for us that we ate around lunch time, and then we all just hung out and watched movies. The boys threw the football around in the backyard and threw the ball for Boudreaux. Then it was time to go home, but before we left, we lit the candles on a very special birthday cake for Jesus and sang “happy birthday.” I’m really excited about this tradition to help Hudson remember that it’s about Jesus’s birthday. (My mom and Hudson got in a little bit of trouble with the red icing- and Hudson LOVED it!)
It has been snowing everywhere in the Southeast, but Columbia didn’t get any snow on Christmas Day. My mom and TC had a bet (for $5) about the snow. TC didn’t think it would snow and my mom insisted that it was going to. We woke up this morning to get ready for church and the ground was covered and the snow was coming down hard! TC, my dad, and I went on to church while KK (my mom) stayed home with Hudson so he didn’t have to get out since he’s still on antibiotics. The view in Columbia has been gorgeous today!
Did you get snow at your house? Did you have a great weekend?
I just want to thank all of you for the well-wishes and for being such great friends this year. This blog and the community has made such an impact on my life and my favorite part is the relationships I’ve made. Thanks for letting me share my life with you!
Sounds and looks like you had a wonderful family Christmas. Love the elmo slippers!
Thanks for sharing your Christmas with us!
I’m glad you had a nice Christmas!
I’m in CT and we are supposed to be getting a HUGE blizzard, so it’s been snowing here all day. We didn’t go to church this morning because of it.
His reactions are precious Erin! And your home is beautiful!
My grandfather (who passed away 6 years ago) would ALWAYS say that same quote that your pastor said! It made me gasp when I read that because my family says it now, but I’ve never heard anyone else say it. How true it is!!!
Glad you had a great Christmas! Hudson’s Melmo slippers are too cute!
My Hudson got the Tickle Monster, too!! It is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen!!! I was so excited that my mom found it! And we have quite the “Melmo” obsession around our house as well. Merry Christmas!
SO beautiful! Glad you had a great Christmas and I wish we got snow here! 🙁
Oh Erin! I’m glad you had a Merry Christmas! It looks like Hudson was feeling a little better, and he’s so cute!! Love the elmo slippers!
Also- I love that picture of your house with the snow! Our snow melted, but we’ve been under it since Thanksgiving, so it had definitely outstayed it’s welcome!
I loved your pics! My kids are all grown up (16 and 18). While they are still fun at Christmas, there is just something so magical about little ones at Christmas. I also love your gumbo tradition! I would be ecstatic if you would share your recipe 🙂
What a sweet Christmas! We have the Little People Farm and it gets played with almost every day. Truly a toy that was worth the investment! What a beautiful house you have, such a pretty wintry scene.
We got Lilly the “Tickle Monster” too and she loved it. Santa went a little overboard in our house too, but she has had so much fun! Glad you had a Merry Christmas!
Erin, I loved the photos of your home so beautifully decorated!!!! Hudson makes me smile , i loved me some Elmo at that age too! Hope you all have had a merry christmas!
Love all of the Christmas pictures! It sounds like you all had a blessed holiday. Your home looks so charming with all of the snow as well. Thank you for sharing this special day with us!
Christmases with kids are so much better. My son is only ten months so he doesn’t really understand but it was still great! We also had our first white Christmas ever! Lots of firsts for us this year and a ton of great memories made! Glad to hear you had a great Christmas.
We got snow here in the upstate (Greenville) on Christmas Day! So neat on Timothy’s first Christmas to also have a white Christmas! I haven’t posted the pics yet, but will shortly!
Looks like you’ve discovered Lolly Wolly Doodle! A friend of a friend owns it and I could just kick myself for missing the warehouse sale. Of course, I have every Christmas outfit they sold that would fit my little guy, so I probably didn’t need to go. I made him wear his Christmas clothes every day since thanksgiving! I love that little blue longall Hudson has on. Monroe wore that to meet Santa! The blue was so cute with santa’s red suit! I love that store. So cute and so cheap!
Do you have the little people nativity?
I absolutely love your pastor’s quote: “Jesus is not just the reason for the season. He is the reason for everything.” So true! Also, I’m loving the pics of Huddy Buddy and TC showing him how to golf. So cute!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Mason will not take his Elmo slippers off…Beware, he wears his EVERYWHERE! 🙂
Love the idea of the birthday cake. We were going to do that this year but felt a bit overwhelmed by all of the other goodies in the house. But you are right. JESUS IS THE REASON FOR EVERYTHING!
I absolutely love the “Happy Birthday Jesus” cake and think that’s a contribution I will be making to our family Christmas celebrations next year. Your house is truly “picture perfect” in the snow. I am glad you all had a great Christmas! 😉
Wow! Your house is exceptionally beautiful with the snow! It was so much fun getting to read about Hudson’s 2nd Christmas! His little expressions say it all..and you two look like you couldn’t enjoy being parents more! Its kinda like when we get married and we don’t see how we could ever love our spouse more than we do on our wedding day! But then we learn that every year that passes by..and sometimes it seems like every day.. our love DOES grow BIGGER and DEEPER!! It’s the same with our children. And when it seems like you can’t possibly imagine being able to share love with another child, because you love this one so so much.. you DO! And the best thing of all? The love YOU get from them just multiplies and multiplies! It’s such an awesome gift God gave us..this gift of being a family!
I hope that this new year we are fast approaching will be one of your family’s most wondrous yet!
Love, Ms Lynn from FL
Definitely no snow in Texas!! Your house and tree look beautiful- SO Christmassy!!
What a beautiful home you have! That last picture in the snow – so pretty. It sounds like you had an amazing holiday. I think it’s so cool that both families come together so you don’t have to choose. My husband and I had to make the choice for the first time this year – Thanksgiving with my family, Christmas with his – and we are thinking that once we have a child, we may have to just have everyone over to our house. It’s just too complicated!
Glad y’all had a Merry Christmas! Looks like Hudson racked up! 🙂 And I love the Happy Birthday Jesus cake! Unfortunately we only got some flurries here in Charleston, but your house looks BEAUTIFUL covered in white!
Oh, and I randomly saw via facebook {you know, the way you discover everything these days} that you know one of my very best friends {in real life} – Kelly Hall! What a small world!
The Tickle Monster book looks so cute! I will have to get one for my nephew, his 1st birthday is in a few days. Oh, hope y’all enjoyed the snow…you know how much snow we got in Louisiana this weekend, none lol.
Hudson’s jammies are ADORABLE! Just way too cute. 🙂
We got a white Christmas in GA too – beautiful but not so fun to drive in. We made it back up to DC and found out they didn’t get more than a few flurries. Ha ha, oh well!
I’ve read your blog for a while, but this is my first time commenting I think! It looks like Hudson and my youngest, Luke, got a lot of the same gifts this year. We are also obsessed with Elmo and he got the same Elmo slippers that he wore all day on Christmas (even during his nap!). I think the two of them are abou the same age (Luke will be 2 in May), so it must be something about Elmo and boys that age!
Looks like y’all had a blast this Christmas! SO cute!
Challis got a Tickle Monster book this year from my parents too! So much fun! So glad you all had a wonderful Christmas!!!
My son has the Tickle Monster set, and we all love it! It’s so much fun. I wanted to bake a birthday cake on Christmas, but I just got too busy. I was so disappointed about that. Maybe next year…
I’m glad that you all had such a wonderful Christmas!