Christmas at Home!

Boland Boys Christmas Morning 2010

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas! Ours was wonderful. I try to keep my posts short, but this post is really long and full of pictures .... There is something really special about a baby's first Christmas. Even though they don't know what is going on, it's special for me to have two babies with a first Christmas. The twins even gave me a very special gift for Christmas. Chris slept for six hours and Tim slept for eight hours!! I had forgotten what it was like to get some sleep.



Tim and me on Christmas Eve



Dave and Chris on Christmas Eve

This Christmas, Jack was at a really fun age. We couldn't explain the birth story or Santa, but he got into the celebration. He helped open all his presents and every one elicited a "wow" or a "happy." It was so much fun. I can't imagine how fun it will be when all three boys completely get what is going on.


Fort Belvoir had a parade of fire trucks (the bright red lights in the background) go by every house on post. Santa was on the last truck giving out candy canes to every kid waiting on the side walk. Jack LOVED  the trucks, Santa, and the candy cane.


Christmas Eve was a lot of work! We baked for hours, had dinner, and got everyone ready for mass. We went to midnight mass (at 10pm) and it was worth it. Jack even made a happy yell at the end and the whole church laughed. We came back and ate Christmas Eve cake (cinnamon roll with a little top), read the birth story, The Night Before Christmas, and opened one present.

We decided that Fondue would be a low prep, delicious, and conversation inducing meal. It was PERFECT. Jack loved the brocolli. He polished off an entire head by himself!

Fondue on Christmas Eve


Christmas morning I didn't get the white Christmas I was hoping for, but there was still snow on the ground from the previous week's snow. Dave threw a "home grown" snow ball at me. I'll take it! We had a great Christmas morning in our own house!

Jack trying to get to his stocking on Christmas morning

getting into the stocking



Tim getting into his stocking



Chris and his stocking

Jack getting his toddler basketball hoop which has already provided hours of entertainment

Jack climbed up and started Christmas dinner on his own as soon as his plate came out.


The last thing I did on Christmas was go peak at each of the boys asleep in their crib. It was the perfect end to a wonderful holiday.

Chris asleep for the night



Tim out for the night



Jack asleep



P.S. "Christmas, the outtakes"

I had to take some pictures of our Christmas food .... cherry pie, lobster pot pies, Dave making cinnamon rolls and the final product, and our salad.



I also have a few videos

Jack with his Christmas Eve present

Jack playing with his basketball hoop

Loving Christmas

We decided last year that it doesn't make sense to leave at Christmas because Dave has to take 10 vacation days when he would have most of them off of work anyway. This week kicked off our "Christmas break." We have already gotten the house/tree decorated, gone to the Army Band Christmas concert, seen the National Christmas Tree in front of the White House, and gone to the PT clinic's Christmas party. We even have all of our Christmas presents wrapped, sent out, and under the tree.  In the midst of our Christmas fun, it snowed. For this California girl, that is exciting. It snowed during Christmas time! We went out in the snow and then watched Christmas movies and had hot chocolate. I'm loving every second of this Christmas time together.
I've got some Christmas-y pictures I wanted to share.



Dave did a great job designing and decorating the house with lights.



When Jack was born we got him a silver bell ornament that
had "Christmas 2008" on the front and "Jack" on the back.
We were able to order the exact same thing for the twins
(with 2010 and their names)

 

            Tim doing tummy time by the tree           Chris doing tummy time by the tree
  

 

The Boland Boys Christmas 2010 





Another Boland Report, Special ReporT

Please allow me (Dave) to interupt this normally Amy-narrated blog to alert our readers to a sad occurance that took place on Monday night. I’m not referring to Brett Favre ending his streak of 297 consecutive NFL games. No, this unfortunate incident hit much closer to home. Somewhere during a cold and very windy run from the mall to our van, Jack’s beloved football, “Bootball” (rhymes with “foot”, not actually pronounced “boot”), was lost to the darkness. We did not notice that we had a man missing until we arrived home, at which point it was too late to dispatch a Search and Rescue team. We only hope that some lucky stray cat or homeless pigeon will get as much enjoyment out of it as Jack has. We've had some good times together as Bootball has rarely been allowed to leave Jack's side and was practically a member of the family. We've compiled some of Bootball’s greatest moments in a presentation below. We’ll miss you, little buddy. Please cue the sad music…

   

...fortunately, a replacement Bootball has already been acquired and all is well once again.

Jack Got It

Jack has not had the easiest time with the idea that his brothers look the same but are not actually the same. He is starting to get the hang of it. I think it's really sweet because you can tell he is so proud. Here is a little video.

Baptism

We had the twins baptized on Saturday in a small ceremony at our church. Usually babies cry when the water is poured on their heads. Our very tired babies were crying throughout the ceremony but were strangely calmed by the water. It must have been the soothing power of the Spirit.    

Tim being baptized

Chris being baptized

Us with Father Chuck

Twin's First Thanksgiving

I remember Jack's first Thanksgiving. After dinner, he threw up all over me and my friend Kristen's bed.  The twins' first Thanksgiving was also quite memorable. Dave and I each ate with a baby on our lap while talking to Jack and his cousins on the other side of the table. Things have changed a lot in the last two years. I took a few Thanksgiving pictures of the twins. I also put a few other pictures from this weekend. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and is enjoying the Christmas season!

Dad and Tim

Mom and Chris

Tim on his first Thanksgiving

Sweet sleeping Chris after Thanksgiving

Chris on the left and Tim on the right. Every once in a while I look over at them and go "wow, there really are two of them"

My friend Gina sent the twins these really cute onsies. Tim is peanut butter and Chris is jelly

They're Huge

I still think of the twins as my little 5 pound babies. I call them my little bugs because sometimes I get four eyes looking and me while they are wiggling around. I just looked at them the other day and realized they are getting huge. I weigh them in at a little over 12 pounds a piece. They are working on tripple their birth weight at 3 months old. We have been so lucky because they are growing like crazy and not having any issues getting sick.

Three weeks old




Three months old. As always, Tim in green and Chris in blue.



Look at all that eye contact. Chris straight at the camera and Tim straight at Jack.

I have started using my Bob stroller for walks around the neighborhood.