'Twas the Night Before Christmas

What a lovely Christmas Eve we had! How adorable are my two men? From the moment I knew I was pregnant I began thinking about how I would dress my boy / girl on Christmas Eve for Mass. When we saw this hat and tie at Janie and Jack I almost died from the cuteness. He was such a good boy and pretty much kept the hat on the entire time.

We went to an early Mass at 4 o'clock, but it was still very packed.

Before Mass began we took a few pictures. Owen was so good the entire time. He loved looking at all the people and kids around him. I think the sights and sounds were interesting to him too. When Fr. Mike spoke the first time Owen got really still. He loved the stained glass wall next to us.

Toward the end he did require a little snack. He just sat in the pew between us and ate his puffs from my hand. Keith and I joked that he thought he was at the movies and needed some popcorn.

After Mass the whole family came together for dinner. The menu:

We kept it simple (and fun!) this year and had a panini bar. Thank you Kendall for the ideas and the printables! Everyone enjoyed the spread and the kids have been saying they want to make it a Christmas Eve tradition.

Our niece Natalie made this beautiful cake for dessert.

These are just some of the cookies we spent the better part of Sunday baking.



Owen with his cousins Amanda, Jessica and Holly.

Owen and Aunt Kelly.

All the men + Owen's picture since he was already in bed asleep waiting for Santa to come. 

Christmas Eve is always so much fun and SO exhausting. I'm usually totally tired by the time everyone leaves and we go to bed. Tomorrow I'll be back with a Christmas day recap.