Room Around the Manger

Thursday was a fun school day for Knox. His class got to wear their PJs to school…

I hadn’t gotten the kids Christmas jammies yet so we went to the mall last minute Wednesday night. I think these were the only size 3/4 ones left in the entire mall. (Gymboree) Good thing they were cute! And on Clearance :) …I wasn’t able to find any for Hadley, but I did score a good cream-colored winter coat (this one) for her at Children’s Place. Originally $50, on sale for $14 in the store.

They also had a hot cocoa and cookies party at school. We took these after school so if you look closely you can see that he really enjoyed his hot cocoa…

I actually took a ton of pictures of both kids right when we got home. The light was perfect, I was rocking manual mode, and getting good smiles… I was so excited. I put H down for a nap then sat down at my computer to edit, only to find my SD card wasn’t in my camera. HATE when that happens! I believe there’s a setting on my camera that will prevent me from taking pics without a card… I need to activate that ASAP. So anyway - that’s when I took the above pics of Knox, but Hadley was already asleep.

The kids’ preschool held their annual Christmas program Thursday night. The theme this year was Room Around the Manger. (Hence the title of this post.) 1 year olds were not participating, so this was Knox’s night. I realized I hadn’t put a Christmas outfit together for him yet. Leave it to me to wait an hour before the program to monogram a holiday shirt for him…

I got 1/2 yard this houndstooth suit fabric for appliques months ago and I’ve gotten some great use out of it! I love that it has the wool texture of genuine houndstooth… I thought this would look handsome paired with his cuffed jeans I did back in October.

Since I messed up getting a photo shoot with both of them earlier, the following pics were taken in a mess as we were rushing out the door…

I haven’t mastered taking their pictures together yet. I usually have to bribe H with something she’s not supposed to have to keep her still for 5 second increments, and it usually ends up in her mouth… All the while I’m trying to prevent Knox from tackling her and telling him to look at me, not her.

Before the program we grabbed a quick dinner at a local diner/soda fountain…

This is where I messed up. I was thinking we were supposed to be there at 6:30 and the program started at 7… When actually it STARTED at 6:30. (We were supposed to be there at 6:15.) I knew something was up when we got there at 6:25 and couldn’t find a parking spot. We ran in and luckily I was able to sneak Knox in line with his class as they were making their way to the sanctuary… Whoops.

James is in trial right now and wasn’t able to join us. I knew I was going to have to get creative with Hadley if I wanted to sneak up to the front and get pics/video like I normally do…

I was able to snag a front row seat off to the the side. I parked Hadley there, set her up with a pacie, cup and snack, and THANK GOD she was good the whole time.

I was only about 20 feet away so I was able to keep an eye on her. I think she was convinced she not only was IN the show, but she was the star! Every time I looked at her she was standing up as much as she could in the stroller, singing and doing the motions right along with the other kids. The family sitting in that same row got the biggest kick out of her.

Knox’s class walking and getting in position…

He did so well! Especially considering he only had 2 days practicing with his new class…

There were a few silly faces :)

I know these all probably look the same to y’all, but I love each one!

Pre-kids I would’ve never been able to stand sitting through one of these things. It makes me laugh to think about how proud I am over something so small. Especially knowing everyone there is ONLY looking at their child and thinking the same thing…

It also makes me laugh because out of all the people there, it’s always the same 20 or so moms who “sneak” their way to the front (which is technically reserved for the teachers), with their DSLRs in one hand and their video cameras in the other… And I’m shamelessly one of them. I can’t resist ;)

I promise not to post the entire show, but here are a few cute videos. Knox is in the second row, behind the little girl in the green dress. Whom I had to resist the urge to pick up and move just 6 inches to the right… ;)

This one was Knox’s favorite. He’s been singing it to me for weeks.

This next one starts out rough because I was trying to take pictures at the same time, but Knox’s faces just crack me up. It is SO my silly little boy :)

These videos are crystal clear when I take them on my phone, but loose quality once I post them to YouTube :(

Waiting for his turn to walk out. Looking too cool for school.

I know it’s not the best picture, but that’s Knox’s new teacher helping the kids walk out - Ms. Amanda. Switching to her class has been the best decision! She has 3 boys, ages 13 to 4, so I don’t think there’s anything Knox could ever do that would shock or threaten her. She knows exactly how to deal with him - stern but loving, no getting worked up - and I can already tell he picks up on that. He tested the limits the first day with her, she expected it and set boundaries right from the start, and he’s had GREAT days with her ever since. After the past few months, I could just squeeze her :)

They had a cookies and milk reception afterwards. It was PACKED. The program has grown so much this year. With everyone’s family, grandparents, etc. I don’t think they were expecting such a crowd. There was no room for me to push the stroller and mingle so we just hung out on the side while Knox finished his treat, then hit the road.

I’ve been feeling a sinus infection coming on for a few days. Knox and Hadley are pretty snotty too. Were just hanging around the house today. I grabbed a few pictures this morning…

Hadley is really good at putting things together, and not just toys either. She knows where everything goes… I promise to get some video of her soon. She’s doing/saying so many fun things right now!

This boy loves his planes.

And no worries… He only wore that shirt for 2 hours yesterday, I promise it’s clean. I try to cut down on laundry whenever I can :)