We had an absolutely wonderful Christmas! We were blessed to be able to spend lots of time with both of our families both here in Jacksonville and back in North Carolina. Christmas was so much fun this year, since Sam was big enough to understand that Santa was coming and was able to tear open all his own gifts. We've come a long way from just eating wrapping paper last year!
As much fun as he had with the presents, I think Sam's favorite part of the holidays has been having so much family around to play with all the time. Sam and I have had almost two and a half full weeks together, which has been so awesome, and he got to spend extra time with Nana and Papa, Chip and Phy, Auntie Meredith, Uncle David, and lots of extended family too. He's relished all the company and all the extra playmates and attention!
Our celebration kicked off the weekend before Christmas at Chip and Phy's house, where we spent the night and woke up to have a "Christmas morning" complete with stockings, gifts, and a TRACTOR! Unfortunately I couldn't upload any tractor photos for this post, but I'll see if I can get some and post them later. Sam's tractor roots run very deep. Not only was a tractor his Chip's favorite Christmas present ever, but both his great-grandPapas, Papa Ray and Papa Hal, would be proud to see him driving a tractor just like they did!Sam got a stocking full of "choo-choos" and he has not stopped playing with them since!
"CHOO-CHOO!"
After our first Christmas celebration, all the McCullys arrived at Chip and Phy's house for a big family celebration. Sam had a great time eating at the kids' table and eating his weight in pulled pork (I was so proud!). Then Sam and Annie and I left straight from McCully Christmas to drive to North Carolina. One pregnant lady, one toddler, one dog, and an 8-hour drive in rainy weather... it all went well, but let's just say I probably won't do that alone again anytime soon!
Sam and I got to spend a FULL WEEK at Nana and Papa's house, which was really special to us. Despite the freezing cold and the strong winds, Sam wanted to spend every morning and afternoon walking around outside, especially in the fields behind Nana and Papa's house. He had the best time! He would just run and run and run, laughing the whole time. We picked up rocks, watched some big trucks, helped Papa pick up pinecones, and had a blast. Sam wore himself out doing this, and one morning he literally collapsed and fell asleep in the front foyer as soon as he walked in the door. How cute is this?
But he had fun!!!!
And in a rare moment of Tousey Family Blog history, we are actually including some pictures of people other than Sam! Now that David is in Boston and we are in Jacksonville, it's not as easy as it used to be to get all the Stricklands together in one place...but it's very special when we do! It was so great to be together and have so much time to catch up.
And look - it's unprecedented since Sam's birth, but we have a photo with BOTH mom and dad in it at the same time :)
On Christmas Eve morning, my mom's family all came over. Sam had fun playing with his second cousins, Chloe and Cameron.
And on Christmas Eve night, he left some graham crackers (rather than cookies, since graham crackers are Sam's favorite!) for Santa. Sam really loves Santa. He had fun helping Nana place all of her Santa figurines all over the house in the week before Christmas, and every time he saw one, he would say, "Saan-ta! Saan-ta!" I think he's going to be very sad when everyone takes down their decorations and stops talking about Santa during the next 11 months. 
And then it was CHRISTMAS MORNING! Sam slept a little later than usual for the occasion (all the way to 6:45!) so he'd have plenty of energy to open presents and play with his toys! 
Uncle David helped put together Sam's new golf bag while Sam used his club to hit a ball off his new teeball tee :) He was not a big fan of the baseball bat, but he loves those golf clubs!
Usually we save stockings for last, but when Sam spotted his stocking, he really wanted to dig right in!
Sam loves his new basketball net, golf clubs, and teeball set. He seems to have the games a little confused (the baseball usually goes through the basketball hoop, and he keeps swinging that golf club at the tee), but he's having so much fun with them!
Sam got lots of new books, and he wanted to stop and read each one before we moved on to another present. Here he is with Papa, reading about Lightning and the other Cars...
He also liked it when OTHER PEOPLE received new books, and he tried to read all of those, too. :) He sat right down with Papa's new political theory book and started flipping pages!
And then there was the awesome Charlie Brown's Christmas book, which plays lots of music. Sam LOVES books that play music. He stands up and starts dancing around the room (which usually means spinning in a circle and stomping his feet) :)
Uncle David gave him a Red Sox hat, which he tried on while he played with all his new vehicles - helicopters, trucks, trains, and fire trucks!
Papa got a rooster weathervane for his yard, to remind him of the weathervane on the roof of the boathouse at the Cabin, and Sam loved playing with it too!
This room is getting a little FULL!
Nana and Papa waited until a little later (once it had warmed up a LITTLE BIT!) to give Sam his big present from them...a TRICYCLE! Sam had so much fun on this thing - we had a very hard time getting him to come back inside for lunch. Initially he just loved getting pushed and riding along, but Nana and Clay taught him to put his feet on the pedals, so he was sort of figuring out how to ride it by the time we went inside. Once his legs are just a little bit longer, he'll be able to do it all by himself. We won't be able to keep him off of this!
We finally got him inside by letting him bring the tricycle back inside with him :)
One of Sam's gifts was a new backpack with trucks and trains and planes on it. He loved wearing it around the house. With his new crayons, doesn't he look ready to go back to school?
And here he is posing in his new Red Sox cap :)
The snow came on Christmas night, and by the time we were ready to get together with the whole Strickland clan on Sunday morning, Eastern NC was a winter wonderland! About 8 or s0 inches fell in Greenville, and we had a bit of a treacherous drive to get to Smithfield that morning to see the rest of the family. It was really gorgeous, though, and Sam just loved the snow. I'm so glad we were there for the snowstorm!We drove home that night and have been spending the past week unpacking and playing with ALL THOSE TOYS! It was an incredible Christmas, and it just reminded us how grateful we are to be blessed with such wonderful families and friends. We are so lucky.
As we look ahead to what we know will be a very exciting year for our family, we wish each of you a 2011 full of love, joy, hope, and peace. HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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