Bates Visit

The Bates came down to St. Louis to meet Bennett and celebrate Christmas.  They arrived on Saturday afternoon and after the boys' naps we headed down to catch up. 

Bennett was cuddled up by his Aunt Jeni.  Gabriel started playing with his cousins, Austin and Riley.  Riley was great with Gabe.  

She wore him out.  They played all night and Gabriel passed out on the drive home.

On Sunday, we headed back down to Scott's parents house to play, celebrate Christmas and dinner.  The boys had another great Christmas.  

On Monday morning, before the Bates' left we all met up at the Egg and I for a quick breakfast.  

Zoo Day

We had amazing weather the day after Christmas.  And we happened to have the Holtzinger's in town for Christmas.  So what better way to catch up with them than meet them at the zoo.  Scott and I had some errands to do early in the morning(ya know, get our new iPhones set up) and then it was time to head down to the zoo to burn off some energy.

We had to test out our new wagon.  It was a big hit and was so easy to bring all our stuff without worrying about who had to carry what.  Santa, he is so thoughtful!

We met up with the Holtzinger's in Big Cat Country.  There were so many animals outside, sunbathing.  Gabriel was able to really see the animals and even say some of their names, zebras, lions, and tigers.

We went in a few of the indoor houses and the sea lions.  It was a great way to catch up and tire Gabriel out.

We watched the lemurs for a really long time

Christmas 2014

We had a great Christmas 2014.  Gabriel and Bennett made out like bandits!  Gabriel woke us up around 5:30-no big deal.  We made some lattes and then walked Gabriel up to check out the Christmas tree.

Seeing the note from Santa

Santa drank the milk

Time to check out the presents

Checking out the new wagon

Stocking Stuffers

Give Bennett his gift

Completely thrilled

Scott finally gets his garden gnome

Gabriel was extremely excited to see his new wagon.  We had to show him how to check his stocking for goodies and then it was time to open presents.  Gabriel wanted to play with everything.  It took a while to get through all the presents. 

After presents we baked cinnamon rolls and relaxed while Gabriel played with his new toys.

We got cleaned up and headed down to Scott's parents house.  We opened presents and at a wonderful dinner. After dinner both boys were exhausted from the Christmas excitement.

It was a wonderful Christmas for the entire Allenzotti family.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve started like any other day. Gabriel went to daycare.  We brought Miss Mary's gift to her in the morning, that way to wouldn't forget it.  Mary loved it, and who wouldn't love a gift card for a massage.

Then I was wrapping presents and putting in the final touches for he boys first St. Louis Christmas.  Scott worked a half day and grabbed some more Christmas goodies.

We had our family Christmas Eve dinner that I quickly prepared as Scott picked up Gabriel. We had a wonderful meal of ham, mashed potato, and green beans.  Gabriel did well trying the ham and potatoes.  After dinner we headed to the basement to watch The Polar Express.  Gabriel loved that movie and it was nice to watch it as a family.  

Before bed time Gabriel wrote a note to Santa and helped Scott put out cookies. I'm pretty sure Scott and I were more excited about Christmas morning than Gabriel.  We couldn't wait for him to go to bed.  A few more Disney Christmas movies and it was time for bed.

Once Gabriel was successfully asleep, we devoured the cookies as we put together the gift from Santa.  This years gift, a red wagon, was pretty easy to put together. Scott had it completed in 30 minutes.

Bennett slept through is moving things around and hammering.  After watching Elf, we headed to bed.  

The Mall

It's Christmas time and I'm on maternity leave so that means I go to the mall, right? Well today while looking for a parking spot with Bennett I came to realize that in his very short life (6 weeks old), he has been to the mall way too many times.

It's to the point that I can't even count how many times, but I'm starting to know where the stores are from the outside of the mall.  This is used for parking purposes only.  I know that you want to go to Nordstroms for the best place to nurse.  They have a great ladies lounge.  I can even tell you the best ways to get to elevators in all department stores.  As a side note, this is mostly for West County Mall.

This little bit of randomness comes from a very peaceful house.  Both boys are sleeping and I have time to address Christmas cards.  Who knows, maybe I'll get crazy and send out birth announcements before Bennett is 2 months old.

Santa Baby

Tis the season to go see Santa Claus.  We decided that we would get dressed early and head to the mall on a Saturday in December for lunch and Christmas shopping.  We weren't the only people with this brilliant idea.  We, somewhat quickly, found a parking spot and headed in to the mall.  Our goal was which ever had the shortest line would be first.  Amazingly enough, Santa had 3 families in line in front of us.  Santa won.

We waited a while for the other families to get pictures and go over their lists, Gabe started getting restless.  He still isn't too sure what's the deal with Santa and why he should like him.  Once it was our turn I handed Bennett over to Santa and Gabriel clung for dear life to Scott.  We eventually got him to let me hold him and me sit next to Santa.  Of course, during the picture taking Gabriel was squirming around trying to get away and it was not a good picture.  The very kind Elves let Scott join in the fun and hold Gabe.

As you can see, Gabriel is still not a fan and really just wants to run away.  Bennett has no clue what is going on since it's his late morning nap time.  And the best news of all, we have a family picture that we will enjoy for years to come.

Thanks Santa!

Flooring

Remember way back when I talked about us ripping up the carpet and putting in new flooring in the house?  It was back here.  I have finally uploaded the pictures of the process from start to flooring finish.  It's weird to even look at the kitchen and living room and see the old (disgusting) flooring that was there.  We still have a few more improvements left to do before you can no longer see any signs of this project.  But that's our new years resolution.

Enjoy the pictures and try not to really look at what's under that carpet.

Scott did an amazing job on the flooring and baseboards.  I'm still extremely happy with the results!