Annual Gift to Donate on Behalf of J's Parents:
Every year J's parents give their kids a theme and a limited dollar amount to go out and purchase a toy to donate in their respective cities. We take pictures of the gifts and wrap them up for J's parents to open on Christmas. This year the theme was music...which is right up our alley! We got a tried and true toy that P got for Christmas last year from his Aunt Linda and Uncle Rob.
Smiling with the toy. :)
I love that his eyes are still so blue 2 years in! May they stay that way!
Baking for the Neighbors
I spent a couple of nap times baking cookies and treats to give to our neighbors. I made fudge, dark chocolate covered pretzels sprinkled with peppermint and drizzled with white chocolate, saltine english toffee, and "reindeer cookies," which have everything in them except the kitchen sink (thanks for the recipe, Amanda!). :) The treats were a hit, and the neighbors were really appreciative. It's a great time of year to have an excuse to go and love on a neighbor that you don't know well or see very often. In years past, I've wanted to do this but haven't always been able to get my act together. Glad it worked out this year.
Ready to be delivered.
The pretzel was my favorite.
Christmas Eve
I love me some Christmas Eve. It's probably one of my most favorite traditions of the holiday season. For my entire life we've gathered at my parents' house with my extended family to have dinner...and watch A Claymation Christmas. :) This year we opted to get together earlier so that we could go to the 8:00 church service instead of the 11:00 service, which in years past has been getting us home around 12:45 in the morning. So, the festivities started around 4:30 and went until 7:00 instead of the usual 6:00 to 10:00. Losing an hour and a half of our get-together made a HUGE difference. We all agreed that it felt rushed, but we did have a lot of people who were able to join us at church for the beautiful Christmas Eve service, so that was great! Next year I have a feeling that we'll go to the Children's Service (aka "The Zoo Service") at church, so we'll have to re-adjust our schedule again. Flexibility seems to be the name of the game when it comes to kiddos. :) Going to the earlier service meant that we were home by 9:45, which gave us plenty of time to put together P's kitchen and pack to go out of town the next morning before it became too insanely late.
Isn't this a beautiful picture of my family on Christmas Eve? :) I really wanted a picture before we left for church, but there wasn't anyone around, so I did my best. I think I win the prize for looking the cutest. P loses, hands down. :) I also love that my parents' crazy cat Toby is in the background. :)
Christmas Day - Our House
Christmas Day we woke up around 5:30 to finish packing and to get ready for the day. P woke up around 6:45 or so, so we went in with a big "Merry Christmas!" and came out to do presents.
P's big present was a play kitchen.
His favorite parts were the burners that light up and make noise, the microwave that makes noise, and the phone that makes noise...sensing a theme?
Putting in the digits.
Making a very important phone call.
P's stocking.
Checking out his loot.
Eating a graham cracker next to Santa's cookie plate.
Another awesome family shot! :) I think I still win the prize for "cutest" in this one, too. :) What can I say? I'm a humble girl.
Christmas Day - at Grammy Share's and Grandpa Ron's with Aunt KiKi, Uncle B., GiGi, and Gramps
After opening presents at our house, we packed up and went over to my mom and dad's about 9:15. P was greeted with a basketball hoop from Aunt KiKi and Uncle B. J and I just pray that he has more skill than either of us in this area...we are both abysmal, and J would agree. It's really sad.
Slam dunk.
Cheese.
Snuggles with Grammy Share.
Christmas Breakfast - hooray! We're no longer allergic to eggs!
Checking out his new keyboard from Grammy Share and Grandpa Ron.
It plays some cool songs that P loves to dance to.
For my next trick I will remove my socks.
LOVING his new huge dog stuffed animal.
He loves the puppy.
Hey look! It's a decent family picture! :)
Christmas Day - Austin w/ J's family
After we finished opening presents at my parents', we came home, got packed up, and jumped back in the car to drive to Austin. As luck would have it, there was a snow storm that blew into Big D that afternoon, which was sooner than expected. The roads were fine as we were driving south, but it was kind of sad to not be able to experience a white Christmas. We made it to Austin around 5:00 and went over to J's grandparents' house to celebrate, along with his parents, brother, sister-in-law, and their daughter, and his aunt. (It should also be noted here that because we had to share a room with P,
when he slept, we slept, which meant we got to take naps and go to bed by 8:15 both nights! It was probably the most sleep we had
gotten in weeks. It was SO nice!)
Snow falling out the window on our drive down to Austin.
One of the things we were so excited about was P being able to spend time with his cousins. This is his cousin, E, from L.A. She's 6 months younger than him and is a precious ball of energy! :)
Grandma Judy is reading them Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes.
They both love this book.
Sweet P.
Sweet E.
Opening presents.
P got some cool stuff!
Checking out their loot.
Here is P stealing a kiss from E. This just seals the deal that we need to work on giving hugs as a sign of affection, as there are some people that it's just not appropriate to mug down on. :)
Playing with the bells.
Hitching a ride from Grandma Judy.
Miss E. flying around.
Snuggling with dad.
Dec. 26
There is no personal photographic evidence, but we did go to Austin's Children's Museum the day after Christmas and had a great time! :) I sure wish Dallas had a place like this!
Dec. 26-Dec. 30
While we were in Austin, we somehow managed to not get photographic evidence of P's great grandparents, his Pops or his aunt and uncle. :( This is where the Christmas story takes a turn.
So our sweet sister-in-law is stuck in the hotel room because she's still sick. Boo.
J's oldest brother is just getting over something else, so we don't get to see him and his family. Boo.
Our car starts making a weird noise the night before we're supposed to leave. Boo.
J takes it to the dealership at 7 AM when the doors open and is told that they're backed up and won't be able to even look at it until 4 or 5 that night. Boo.
L prays in the hotel room for a miracle. God answers, and the guy at the dealership is able to work us in first thing. Yea!
There's a rock stuck somewhere. Boo.
It's any easy fix! Yea!
It's $60. Seriously!? For a rock? Boo. :)
We have breakfast with J's parents, brother, SIL, and Miss E. The kids run-a-muck in the hotel lobby. :) Yea.
We get on the road so we can get home and get things in order for P's 2nd birthday party. Yea!
2 hours after we get home L is hit with the worst stomach bug she has ever experienced and is quarantined to her bedroom for the next 2.5 days. BIG BOO!
J spends his planned vacation days hanging out with P while bringing L saltines and Sprite. Boo.
L is SO sick that they cancel P's birthday party. BIG, BIG BOO. :( I mean seriously...how sad is that??? Thankfully, he's two and not five and won't remember and doesn't know any better, but I felt just awful about it. :(
L's sweet cousin planned to come into town from Austin for P's birthday (SO sweet of her!) AND agreed to bake cupcakes for the party (SO, SO sweet of her!). Unfortunately she had already baked the cupcakes before L could let her know that the party was being canceled. Boo. :(
Fortunately, she hadn't frosted them yet. Yea. :)
L finally feels well enough to go and celebrate mom and sister's birthdays by watching Les Mis (if you are reading this, you MUST go and see it!) and then we all go over to mom and dad's that night for a birthday dinner with the fam - including Aunt KiKi, Uncle B., GiGi, Gramps, AB, and my sweet cousins from Austin. Yea. :)
Dec. 31 - Happy 2nd Birthday, Peanut!
The Peanut is 2! Yea!
L is still feeling crummy and doesn't even have wrapped presents for her child. Boo.
The only indication to the child that it's his birthday are the balloons tied to the back of his chair. Boo. :( (It should be noted here that I ordered a dozen latex balloons + a Mylar Elmo balloon at Party City a week earlier and forgot to cancel the order after getting so sick. So when we go to pick them up on the 30th - a day late - we are greeted with a puddle of latex balloons on the ground and 1 Elmo balloon. Wah, wah. It should also be noted that the Elmo balloon is STILL inflated and currently on our kitchen ceiling).
There is no personal photographic evidence, but we did go to Austin's Children's Museum the day after Christmas and had a great time! :) I sure wish Dallas had a place like this!
Dec. 26-Dec. 30
While we were in Austin, we somehow managed to not get photographic evidence of P's great grandparents, his Pops or his aunt and uncle. :( This is where the Christmas story takes a turn.
So our sweet sister-in-law is stuck in the hotel room because she's still sick. Boo.
J's oldest brother is just getting over something else, so we don't get to see him and his family. Boo.
Our car starts making a weird noise the night before we're supposed to leave. Boo.
J takes it to the dealership at 7 AM when the doors open and is told that they're backed up and won't be able to even look at it until 4 or 5 that night. Boo.
L prays in the hotel room for a miracle. God answers, and the guy at the dealership is able to work us in first thing. Yea!
There's a rock stuck somewhere. Boo.
It's any easy fix! Yea!
It's $60. Seriously!? For a rock? Boo. :)
We have breakfast with J's parents, brother, SIL, and Miss E. The kids run-a-muck in the hotel lobby. :) Yea.
Chasing each other on the stairs.
Riding in the elevator.
We get on the road so we can get home and get things in order for P's 2nd birthday party. Yea!
2 hours after we get home L is hit with the worst stomach bug she has ever experienced and is quarantined to her bedroom for the next 2.5 days. BIG BOO!
J spends his planned vacation days hanging out with P while bringing L saltines and Sprite. Boo.
L is SO sick that they cancel P's birthday party. BIG, BIG BOO. :( I mean seriously...how sad is that??? Thankfully, he's two and not five and won't remember and doesn't know any better, but I felt just awful about it. :(
L's sweet cousin planned to come into town from Austin for P's birthday (SO sweet of her!) AND agreed to bake cupcakes for the party (SO, SO sweet of her!). Unfortunately she had already baked the cupcakes before L could let her know that the party was being canceled. Boo. :(
Fortunately, she hadn't frosted them yet. Yea. :)
L finally feels well enough to go and celebrate mom and sister's birthdays by watching Les Mis (if you are reading this, you MUST go and see it!) and then we all go over to mom and dad's that night for a birthday dinner with the fam - including Aunt KiKi, Uncle B., GiGi, Gramps, AB, and my sweet cousins from Austin. Yea. :)
Dec. 31 - Happy 2nd Birthday, Peanut!
The Peanut is 2! Yea!
L is still feeling crummy and doesn't even have wrapped presents for her child. Boo.
The only indication to the child that it's his birthday are the balloons tied to the back of his chair. Boo. :( (It should be noted here that I ordered a dozen latex balloons + a Mylar Elmo balloon at Party City a week earlier and forgot to cancel the order after getting so sick. So when we go to pick them up on the 30th - a day late - we are greeted with a puddle of latex balloons on the ground and 1 Elmo balloon. Wah, wah. It should also be noted that the Elmo balloon is STILL inflated and currently on our kitchen ceiling).
Sweet birthday boy.
J goes back to work after no real vacation to speak of. Boo.
P and I go back over to Grammy Share's to hang out with her and Cousin Whit. Yea. :)
Here he is on his new slide! :)
Cousin Whit comes over to hang out for New Year's Eve. Yea. :)
We eat sushi from Sushi Sake. Yum!
Mmmmm....
Yes. That is a lot of sushi for 3 people. But I hadn't eat in about 4 days, so I was really hungry! :)
We eat a good dinner, watch Pitch Perfect, and stay up way too late. Yea. :)
We get in bed and around 1:45, J says he's not feeling well... Boo.
J thinks he just ate too much and that he's really fine. Yea.
Turns out this is not the case. BOO.
It's J's turn for the stomach bug, so he spends the next 2.5 days quarantined in the bedroom while L, who is still not feeling 100%, has to entertain P. Boo.
This picture of P kind of sums up how we were ALL feeling about life at this point. :)
Because of all the illness within the family, we didn't get to exchange Christmas presents with J's parents on Christmas...so we did the next best thing. Merry Christmas on Jan. 5! :)
P got a wagon, which, incidentally, he LOVES!!! :)
So THAT, my friends, is the story of Christmas 2012. While we made some wonderful memories, I can say, without a doubt, that I would prefer a much less hectic holiday season next year! I will also go ahead and throw in here that on Sunday, Jan. 13, about 1 week after J was well, P came down with some illness where he ran a low-grade fever from Sunday until Friday! Sigh...
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