Christmas Day in the Morning

Christmas morning brought many surprises. Nicholas dived right into opening his presents after he saw them under the tree with Santa's cookies eaten and gone. He got lots of cool toys! Daddy got the Wii and Mommy got Guitar Hero to play on it (I was skeptical at first, but now I am a fanatic!). Nicholas likes to play with me. We hope you had a wonderful Christmas and wish you a very Happy 2008! May 2008 bring us all many blessings!! Much love and peace!

First view of all the presents

Nick's expression when he sees all the cookies are gone!

"He leave you crumbs," Nicholas says

Special present from Aunt Annie

Opening some presents

Daddy got his Wii!

GaGa, Papa, and Nick

GaGa and Nick

Nick and Mommy playing Guitar Hero

Daddy likes his rockin' Mama!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Twas the Night Before Christmas

The Finest Family

Leaving cookies for Santa

Daddy reading The Night Before Christmas
(Nicholas stole a cookie off of Santa's plate!)

The Marescas cooking

GaGa and Nicholas

GaGa and Nicholas

Nicholas and his Santa

Christmas Eve always brings its little traditions to our house. Lots of cooking of course. And leaving cookies for Santa-- Nicholas did not understand how we could just leave cookies for Santa and he wasn't supposed to eat them. We also left special reindeer food outside and carrots next to Santa's cookies for a reindeer treat. Daddy always finishes the night with his reading of The Night Before Christmas. Santa did come and Nicholas was very sad on Christmas morning that Santa left without saying hello to him. However, once he saw all of his presents under the tree, he soon forgot that Santa didn't wake him up. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

And so it is Christmas...

Pictures from Christmas will be up soon. Nicholas had fun making his own Mickey Mouse ornaments for our tree, and he loved getting to have a piece of chocolate everyday in our Advent calendar... We officially started our Christmas December 18th when GaGa and Papa arrived from Oregon. On December 20, GaGa arrived from Florida, and our dear friend Nick Squires and his two puppies visited us too! Here are some pre-Christmas photos. Enjoy!

Breakfast with Santa

(Photo taken by Wes Hout, thanks buddy!)
(Mickey sweater given by Aunt Annie- doesn't he look adorable!!)

In case you didn't know, Matt saved Christmas this year at the Coast Guard base. Two years ago, ISC Portsmouth stopped doing "Breakfast with Santa," but this year, Matt decided that he was going to bring it back. And he did. So this morning, Nicholas and I met Daddy and the rest of the good CG men at the base where they had been setting up all morning getting ready for Santa to arrive. Nicholas was very excited. This is the 3rd year that Nicholas would not sit on Santa's lap, but at least he isn't crying!! What you can't see in the picture is that he did tell Santa that he has been a good boy "by going pee pee and poopy on the potty." Santa was very proud of him and Nicholas enjoyed the toy Santa gave him today. We ate our breakfast and a good time was had by all!


I also added these "cheesy" pictures of Nicholas. He loves to take his picture now! Love and Happy Holidays to all!

Aunt Annie's Christmas Visit

We had a lot to do when Aunt Annie came for a visit this past weekend- Nicholas loved sharing all his decorations with her. We wanted to celebrate a mini Christmas and her birthday, and in three days, that is a lot to accomplish, but we did it and had lots of fun! We went to downtown Portsmouth and visited a Christmas display, made a Christmas craft, ate a marshmallow on a corner, and got to take some funny pictures. We opened all of our gifts to each other on Sunday morning. Nicholas had a blast playing with his new computer she got him. Finally, we completed our outside decorations with a couple more blowup decorations- Nicholas loves it! We wish Aunt Annie could be here for Christmas, but we had so much fun getting her all to ourselves this weekend. Only 2 more weeks before Santa visits- hope you have been as good as Nicholas this year! (By the way, he is potty trained! Yahoo!)

A December Update

Things are busy here (as we expect they are at your house too) this month! First, Nicholas and Daddy decorated the outside of our house for Christmas with a snowmen, trees, and lights. It looks great. Then, the tree went up along with our Christmas village. It is getting very cold here, so Nicholas decided he wanted a robe to keep warm after his bath (don't little tykes just look so funny in robes!). Finally, today we attended a gingerbread house party. We did get some candy on our house (but let me tell you, that was not easy with Nicholas!!) and the kids had a lot of fun. Yes, Nicholas was the only boy there (he loves all the attention!). Aunt Annie is coming in one hour so I gotta run! Nicholas can't wait- she is bringing him some Gelt coins (the chocolate wrapped coins for Hannukah!) and he is very excited. Should he be having more candy? Oh well, it's Christmas, right?!! Eat, drink, and be merry-- We hope you are staying warm and enjoying the holidays too!

Nicholas Takes DC

We left last Sunday for DC-- Matt had a class and Nicholas and I tagged along. It was great fun! Nicholas loved our hotel- fountains were abundant and the elevator was extremely exciting for him. We got to see lots of friends while we were there, and unfortunately, I forgot my camera almost every night. However, I did remember my camera when Nicholas finally got to meet his birthday buddy, Brayden Girata!! During the week, we went to a really cool dessert place and made smores right at our table-- Nicholas is like his mommy and has quite the sweet tooth!! We started Thanksgiving Day with the Macy's Day Parade in our hotel room. Nicholas loved every second, saying, "What's coming next? Who you think? Guess Mommy, guess!" His favorite part was the Sesame Street float. He kissed the TV every time Elmo came on. We checked out of the hotel (with Nicholas riding the back of the luggage cart) and then spent Thanksgiving Day with the Cueto family and shared some delicious food and lots of memories (Thank you Cara, Brian, Crista, GaGa C and PapPa C!)... Nicholas made the day while playing with his doggy best friend, Sammy Davis Jr. Jr.

We loved getting to see our friends this week. It makes us thankful to have lots of people who bless our lives with their love. We wish you a Happy Thanksgiving and hope to see you very soon. Until then, eat those leftovers!!