Tis' the Season for LOTS of LoVe and FuN!!

This certainly is a beautiful season filled with lots of LOVE! ;)

I think Hudson's favorite Christmas decorations were the "Santa man" and "Snow lady"...I absolutely adored listening to the fun/creative conversations he would have with them! ;)

After Nana's visit... it was Granddaddy's turn!  Another GREAT time {and Merry Christmas "visit"} was had by ALL!! ;)

My parent's drove up on Friday (Dec 23)... Hudson with both of his Grand-dad's... Granddaddy and Dee!! ;) I think it's safe to say Hudson was lovin' all the grandparent love and attention! ;)

With my mom/dad after our Christmas EVE service.

Hudson was very involved with preparing Santa's snack... we were hoping our neighbors left lots of goodies for the reindeer {I always have a hard time remembering to leave treats for them!;)}.

A little blurry but I had to share.

This was hilarious... I told Hudson to "pose" with the cookies {a silly request from me...} but this is what he did... I love that he actually "appeased" his momma and layed down with the cookies!  It gave us all a good laugh!! ;)

{Yes, Hudson is obsessed with his "Tough Mudder" t-shirt..or as he calls it "the fire-man" t-shirt!}

Santa's snack is almost ready...

Now... it's ready!  Notice the glass of red wine! ;) We thought Santa would enjoy a nice little sip of relaxing red wine on his stop at the Brown house... {we added this after Hudson went to bed} ;)

More pictures to come of Christmas morning {and DAY}... but here is a little sneak peak of what Santa brought... Hudson's first BICYCLE {with training wheels} and his very own keyboard {this kid ADORES music!!!}...

And look... Santa loved his snack and left Hudson a note... ;)

To Be Continued...

Nana came to town...

It's not just Santa that visits the Brown house this time of year... it's ALL 4 grandparents!!! ;) First visit, NANA!!!! :)

Brad and I are very thankful for our extremely generous and thoughtful gift... the iPAD! WOW Nana...that was just way too much but we THANK YOU!! This has given me my 2012 resolution... become more "tech savvy"! ;)

I LOVE my ornament that Nana gave me... it's the verse we pray for Hudson (since the WOMB!;)...

Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it. ~Proverbs 22:6

We loved taking Nana to the LIVE nativity in Afton, VA (only about 25mins away)...my camera didn't take very good "night time" pictures but at least I got one of the camels (a highlight for Hudson!;).

THANK YOU Nana for coming to visit!  We hope you had as much fun as we did!! :) A Merry Christmas "visit" was had by ALL!! ;)

Our 2011 Christmas Card

Yes, I am an indecisive person so of course I ordered 2 cards! ;)

MERRY CHRISTMAS from the Brown's!! ;)

But the angel of the Lord said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of GREAT JOY that will be for ALL the people.  Today in the town of David a SAVIOR has been born to you; he is Christ the LORD. ~ Luke 2: 10,11

Christmas card fun! And..a little holiday "catch up"

WOW! I can't believe we only have FIVE days until Christmas...this beautiful season goes by WAY TOO fast!!  I want to cherish every little moment that I can...and the worst part is I've been bad this year at remembering to document (with pictures) all the "little" moments!

I'm so thankful for the fun time we had taking these Christmas pictures (for keepsake AND our Christmas card!;).

We met our photographer (Melissa) in Crozet on some beautiful land/property...

Hudson loved running around...the wide open space always helps when picture taking! ;)

Along with these pictures we've already had a ton of holiday fun...

baking and decorating cookies, looking at Christmas lights, Nana (Brad's mom) came for her Christmas visit (pictures coming soon!;), I hosted a little "Mom's cookie swap", decorating the house (inside AND out), enjoying our Advent calendar...the baby Jesus one AND the chocolate one (you open up each day and there is a piece of chocolate candy), a little shopping (obviously;), singing Christmas carol's, visiting LIVE Nativity's (the one in Afton, VA was incredible!;), talking about all the ways we celebrate Jesus' birthday ;), buying some sweet gifts for children in need around C'ville, and of course, who could forget eating breakfast with Santa! ;)

We still have lots of Christmas fun to come... Granddaddy (Brad's dad) comes tomorrow and my parents come on Friday... lots of last minute things on my "to-do" list... but I always love family/friends visiting..especially this wonderful time of year!! ;)

Breakfast with SANTA at Boar's Head!!! (Take 2)

We did it again!! Breakfast with Santa... you can click HERE to see all the fun we had LAST year! ;) It's such a fun experience and I'm so thankful we have made it a family tradition for a second year in a row (crazy to think we'll have a little 9 month old baby with us NEXT year!!!;). WOW...and yikes?!?! ;)

Hudson and Jack awaiting their turn with Santa!

Hudson has been talking about eating with Santa ALL week...he wanted to hear Santa sing "Jingle Bells" (which he did) and say "Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas!" (which he also did!;).  Thanks Santa... I'm fairly certain that's been the main thing on Hudson's Christmas "list"!! ;)

Lovin' our breakfast... we met several of our good friends! A big thank you to Robin for making our reservations so early (in October)...it fills up fast!

We took-in sweet little Gianna for our family picture.  We were helping Lina with her 2 kiddos...Matt is deployed for 6 months..we MISS you, MATT!!! ;)

The Hines (minus Matt) and Brown's!

Sweet little David cuddling with me...I'm pretty sure he was having a sugar crash from his candy cane(s)! ;)

David and Hudson loving the carriage ride (for about the third time!;)...just livin' the life! ;)

Lovely Lights...

This first picture was taken on Thanksgiving day (right before we left for Lina's house to have dinner;)...I just found it on Brad's iphone and thought I'd post it. ;)

Here is the latest picture Brad took w/ his phone of our "lovely" Christmas lights!! ;) This was the night Brad worked on them...and in my opinion they're even prettier NOW! ;)  Plus, Brad has worked on the wreath that's hanging from the window...I'll be sure and post more pictures soon! ;)  My favorite new decoration is an ornament wreath that's hanging from our light post that reads "Merry Christmas Y'all"... I bought it this year at Martha's Market and I just love it! ;)

Hudson is 100% all about Christmas this year... he wants Christmas music playing at all times (especially in the CAR!;), he loves having nightly "dance parties" to Christmas music, he loves singing Jingle Bells, pointing out any and all Christmas decorations whereever we go, and he and his buddy Jack had a blast dancing to the large plastic Santa at Lowe's the other day (it was a nice surprise to run into Jack and his daddy, Jay;)... "Breakfast with Santa" is next Saturday and I can hardly wait... Hudson has been "Ho, Ho, Ho-ing" and "Merry Christmas-ing" for days now so I know he'll be thrilled to see Santa (or at least I think he'll be thrilled;).

Cute story: I told Hudson the other day that we needed to go shopping for his cousin, Mallory.  He asked if it was her birthday... here's our conversation...

Me: No, it's Jesus' birthday and we buy for others to celebrate HIS birth

Hudson: I don't sing Happy Birthday to Mallory because it's Jesus birthday?

Me: That's right...Mallory's birthday is in October and Jesus is why we celebrate Christmas! ;)

Later that day when I was watching and listening on his monitor before he fell asleep at nap time I heard him singing... "Happy Birthday to Jesus, Happy birthday to God, Happy Birthday it's Christmas...Merry Christmas"

Talk about melting my heart!  I love my little boy and all his inquistive and curious personality! ;)