Christmas Eve

This year we spent Christmas Eve at our house with my family.  April and the kids came early so that Mikey and Zeke could play before lunch/dinner and opening presents. We were even lucky enough to get a nap in for the two of them, granted it lasted about an hour and a half, but it was something!  By the time they were up from their naps, they were more than ready to open up their presents.  

After presents it was off to Christmas Eve service at church, then off to Ivan's dads.  We've been going to the Martinez' for 6 years now for tamales, rice and beans and good memories.  This year was nothing different- good food, good company and good laughs.  

By the time we got home, we were ALL ready for bed. 

Ezekiel (3), Samuel (5 mos), Michael (3) and Samantha (1 yr)

So funny- Samuel looking to see what his big brother got :)

Christmas Jammies!

For some reason I woke up this morning around 6:30am, probably because I still have things to do today.  There's a roast to bake, appetizers to create, grocery shopping to be done, laundry STILL coming out my ears, etc etc.  I'm finding more and more that my tasks as a mommy and housewife are never EVER complete.  So I roll out of bed around 7am to discover Michael's bedroom door open.  I walk downstairs to find him laying next to the Christmas tree. Not sure how long he's been there.  Of course the first thing he asks me,

"Mommy is today Jesus' birthday?" half yawning

"One more day Mikey, but today IS Christmas Eve" 

I run through today's events with him- he likes to know the plans for the day (such the oldest child!).  And he tells me he's going to lay in bed- he's still a little sleepy :)

I treasure so many things about Christmas- being with family, giving gifts, seeing the excitement in my child's eyes (Samuel's not there just yet-he's excited every morning!)  I especially love the Christmas jammies- I started buying them from Disney (are there really any cuter ones?) when Michael was a baby. Since then it's sort of a family tradition to get all the cousins matching jammies they wear to my in-laws Christmas morning.  They are so cute!  I'd have pictures of Samuel- but being the good baby he is- he won't be awake for about another 1/2 hour or so.  

So here are this year's Christmas jammies- here's Mikey after he laid back down for all of 20 minutes. :)  Merry almost Christmas everyone!

Making a Blog Private

Up until 4 days ago I didn't care who could read our blog. I figured who in the world would find it without knowing who we are right? And I didn't mind if people found our blog thru mutual friends, people at church, old college friends.  Until I got a comment in my e-mail box from some lady that I don't know, telling me that she loved my pictures.

Fast forward to today- CREEPY.  I still get creeped out when I think about it. I have pictures of my children- and I've never really been the paranoid type.  But thanks to my friend Danelle (cold case files) and I'm sure watching too much "CSI" and "The first 48"- I'm officially paranoid. 

So- our family blog is now private. Pictures of my children and my family won't be viewed by random people who I don't know. And believe it or not, I feel a little bit safer.

Oh the innocence of it all

So Thursday we were driving home from my friend Karlee's house. I decided to take side streets, which takes us around park hill so that Mikey could look at all the Christmas lights.  We get to the animal park and have this conversation:

"MOMMY- I see baby Jesus in his manger- look over there- He's RIGHT THERE..." mind you he's yelling

"Yep Mikey, there's baby Jesus" I'm trying so hard to giggle quietly

"And those guys mommy and the animals. And baby Jesus is right there" with the biggest smile on his face.

Oh if we, adults, only took God's word as literal like a child does. I mean think about it- God says, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to give you a hope and a future." I mean- He said it so why do we ever worry about anything at all? He already has it perfectly planned for us. 

Samuel's Dedication

Last Sunday we had Samuel dedicated, which was extra special because Uncle Ivan got to do it. It wasn't anything very elaborate, but it has a huge significance for us.  Our prayer for Samuel is that he grows to love the Lord with all of his heart and desires to serve Him.  We pray that he is like the prophet Samuel in that he listens to the Lord when He calls him.  What a blessing it is to have babies that we can dedicate back to the Lord.

Uncle Ivan and Samuel Phillip, 5 months old
Our family of 4, soon to be 5 :)  Looks like we'll be back next year doing the same thing!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

This year it literally took me ALL day to decorate.  Gone are the days of coming home early from work and decorating interrupted for 3 straight hours.  Here's how the day went:

The house is completely clean, which is huge for me right now because I'm so stinkin' out of it. Anyway- the formal living room before, 

My stair case always looks so boring before the decorations are all up:
This is mid-way through.  We stopped for lunch, Michael helped me by pulling EVERYTHING out of the box. Which really drives me nuts because I have a system, oh well, guess I have to be flexible right?  
The funny thing about this is that if Phillip were here- he'd be going CRAZY.  He can't stand messes, and this is quite the mess!  I'm at about the half-way point here so I decided since both the boys were fed and fast asleep, I should catch a little nap :)
I finally finished at about 5pm- just in time for Phillip to walk through the door and enjoy the fruits of my labor.  I just thought this picture was cute so I included it.

See what I mean about the stair case being boring!
Ahh...I love Christmas lights. My favorite thing to do is to sit in front of the Christmas tree with all the main lights off and enjoy the glow of the Christmas lights.
See- much better right?
I have a funny story about the stockings.  So last year I bought us matching stockings, I originally purchased 4. Phillip was VERY adamant that we were done after baby #2.  As I was standing in the check-out line I started thinking.  What if in like 4 years I accidentally get pregnant? Then I'll have to buy all new Christmas stockings- because these won't match!  So I went back, purchased one more just in case :)  Good thing I purchased one more just in case! One more thought I had at 3am the other morning- my stocking holders came in packages of 2, naturally I bought 3 packs.... hmmm.... no, we're done ;)

Christmas Traditions

One tradition we do each year is go to Nana and Papa's to decorate the Christmas tree, eat cinnamon rolls and listen to Phillip recite scenes from Home Alone :) The original Loya 5 have obviously been doing this their entire lives.  The added Loya clan members have been doing this for 8+ years.  What a fun tradition it is.  

This year was Samuel's 1st tree decorating experience, Bailey's 2nd, Michael & Benjamin's 3rd and Allyson's 6th!  Now here's a fun thought to wrap your brain around.  This time next year, Lord willing, this will be the age breakdown of all 7, yes 7 grandchildren:

Ally- 7 yrs

Benjamin- 4 yrs

Michael- 4 yrs 

Bailey- 2 yrs

Samuel- 1 yr

Baby Wagner- 6 months

Baby Sophia :)- 5 months

That's right folks- 6 children under the age of 4, and 4 children under the age of 2! If that doesn't make your head hurt I don't know what will.  But I have a secret to share- I get SO excited at the thought of adding babies to our growing family, both immediate and extended.  If Phil would let me, I'd have at least 2 more (not so close together OBVIOUSLY), but none the less, I love it :) There's just something about big families that make me smile.  Anyways- I digress...

Lindsay usually gets stuck decorating the tree because we're all headed in different directions after the children. But this year was a little different, Ally and Benny were very excited to decorate. Michael was too, until Papa spoke those magical words (you'll see these in a minute)... isn't Lindsay's baby bump SO stinkin' cute :)  She finds out in a week whether it's a boy or a girl (we're hoping for a girl!)

Ivan and Benny wrestling like they usually do.

So Michael started to decorate the tree until Papa mentioned trains.  Of course Mikey tore after him towards the back bedroom and there they stayed until the cinnamon rolls were done!

Cinnamon rolls- can't you smell the yummyness :)  Phillip told Mikey that Nana makes them JUST for him!
Michael's new favorite saying, "These are my favorites" so of course, he repeated that phrase over and over as he was eating his cinnamon rolls.  The next morning we had this conversation:

Mikey, "Mommy can you make my favorites again?"

Me, "Your favorite what Michael?"

Mikey, "Dhose favorites that Nana made me and Daddy."

Me, "You mean cinnamon rolls?"

Mikey, "Yeah, I like dhose"

Me, "Mommy doesn't make those Mikey, only Nana can"

Mikey, "Call her mom"

Ummmm... yeah probably not.