i'll be home for christmas...

as promised, the photos from christmas eve and christmas day. i already shared a few from my post on christmas eve, but there ended up being several more from the dinner at justin's mom and stepdad's house.

we were excited to see all of our family--justin's sister came in from the western part of NC, and even though we live one street over from his stepbrother's family, we are all so busy that it's rare we all make it together! 

love this one of my boys together, watching football.

davis enjoyed getting to know luna, heather's dog. she is incredibly gentle and pepper actually got along with her!

she was a sweet dog and very tolerant of davis's "petting."

but then justin came over to help him stay "gentle."

this boy is definitely an animal lover--even if he loves them "too" much.

then, after a nap and dinner, we got to open gifts! he was a big fan of this usbourne book from aunt heather.

he has finally gotten into ripping the wrapping paper!

and the boy got so many car sets this Christmas--each one was different, and he has loved playing with all of the ramps and elevators.

afterward, we headed back to our house and enjoyed a quiet Christmas eve watching movies on TV. i know we should enjoy these nights before he gets too excited to sleep!

we woke up the next morning and headed over to scott and melissa's--justin's stepbrother and sister-in-law--for their annual Christmas breakfast. they have a "pajamas only" rule, so we all showed up in our Christmas finest. these santa pj's are my favorite from this season!

he was mr. independent--once he got comfortable, he was wandering around the living room around one of the biggest Christmas trees we've ever seen. 

they always get a huge tree the week before Christmas (at a discounted price at that point) and this was the largest one yet. probably about 15 feet tall, we figured.

the food was delicious and we loved visiting with all of our family and neighbors.

before long, it was time to head home, change and get packed. we've gotten good about driving during his nap time so he can sleep during the ride. but that means that often our "packing up" time is spent trying to keep a tired, cranky little boy occupied. so we let him entertain himself in whatever way keeps him busy and doesn't create too much damage. in this case, it was another morning with the tupperware.

we got packed up and drove to fayetteville, with davis sleeping about half the time. we got to my grandma's house and settled in for round 2 of presents and dinner!

he loved his wagon of blocks and had another great time tearing into wrapping paper.

of course, he was more interested in playing in boxes and plastic tubs--but he was happy!

we checked out some of the tree decorations...

and built towers with his new sets of blocks.

we loved seeing everyone again and visiting with our family. we know we're lucky to have so many of them close by and being able to see them pretty often.

and we're just so thankful that this guy will get to grow up knowing most of his immediate family.

the rest of the evening was spent hanging out with his cousins (he is drawn to any and all technology--iPads, computers, phones, anything)

getting snuggles from the dog--this is barley, alan and rachel's dog whom pepper is slowly warming up to--we're thinking she might be due for another round of basic obedience classes.

and breaking in his tunnel--he has loved this gift and it has been great for getting him to burn off energy inside.

so that's "the end" for now--

more on our solo trip to wilmington tomorrow!