Christmas 2013: A Mega Post

Gotta do a recap, which is apparently going to include a lot of various Christmas-type activities. Settle in, friends. This is a bit of a boring regurgitation of events but I can't skip over a holiday like Christmas and have too many pictures to share. I hope the pictures load but you might need to be patient.

I love the anticipation of Christmas so much, that sometimes it can be a bit of a downer when the actual day comes and goes. But this year was just plain awesome and we haven't hit the post-Christmas blues just yet since our families are still here visiting us.

Wisconsin has gotten a ton of snow in December which automatically means a more cozy, traditional Christmas somehow. I love snow pre-Christmas, but it's bordering on being annoying already just a few days later. Kids still love it (for the most part) so I will embrace it for now.














I made a BOAT LOAD of Christmas cookies using Royal Icing this year and probably over did it a bit. But they were just so pretty, I will deem them worth it despite the multiple hours/days they took to create.










We drove through Candy Cane Lane this year, and totally loved all of the lit up insanity. Truman even tolerated the Santa who walked up to our car because there was candy involved. 



Another blog-worthy topic: We had an awesome time at the annual Christmas party between friends. This year Erin hosted and we were all super impressed with the amazing behavior from these eight children. Next year there will be even MORE chaos/kids and we may have to use a bigger couch to hold all of the offspring for our traditional picture;)






My contribution to the food spread--really into dipping things in chocolate!


Oh, and to back up a little bit more, Truman had his first Christmas Program on Sunday, December 15. It was freaking adorable and we were so proud of our boy. He was scared when I dropped him off with the teachers and I had to literally pry his hands from my neck as he cried for me, but he pulled through;)  He never cries when we leave him at Sunday School but this was just too different, I guess, but I knew he was in good hands and only felt a teeny bit guilty as I walked away. He had practiced 'Away in a Manger' a lot at home and did four rounds of the song with the other 3-4 year olds. We got to see two of those sessions and oh my goodness, Truman loved being a performer. He actually got more animated as the night went on and gave us huge waves and smiles when he saw us in the audience. My little sweet shepherd...with his monkey in the front row. ;)





A video if you dare.

OK, onto the actual week of Christmas now. Nate and I both worked on Monday and Friday of Christmas week this year but had off the rest of the days. Tony watched the kids for me on Monday (since Lori was already off) as I worked and had my 12 week OB appointment.

Then on Tuesday, Christmas Eve, we had a fun family day together. We went to church at 4pm and Truman and CC did great at the kids service. Also, CC wore her adorable dress made by my mom.



We got home and let each kid open one gift while we ate some left overs. Both were big hits and Truman said, 'Thank you!' about one hundred times that night. I was relieved to hear a bit of gratitude from my boy who was SO wound up for present.presents.presents. Our count down until Christmas was getting rather intense and there were multiple statements like 'it's just SO hard to wait for Christmas' along the way.



We put the kids down for bed later than usual, then Nate's parents arrived with Nate's brother, Jon and his girlfriend Brittany. They flew in from Oregon this day and we all ate sushi and chatted until the wee hours, as we also assembled Cecelia's toy kitchen. Good times, man. Even better---our house all ready for the big event.



Christmas Day started at 6:30 am on the dot, which was pushing it for Truman's mental sanity. He came into our room and said, 'Merry Christmas, mommy and daddy' and we told him to go wake his sister. She wasn't as excited to be shaken from her slumber but quickly realized something very awesome was happening. We all opened gifts over the next 1.5 hours or so and it was a ton of fun. Nate and I kept it fairly low key and got each child 5 gifts---just the right amount if you ask me. We set up a lot of them, played, and watched a bit of The Little Mermaid (one of T's gifts) before we headed over to the in-laws for brunch.



Traditional 'under the papers' shot!





I love brunch. Especially when my mother-in-law makes it all for us;)




Big bump in the family pic!



After chatting there a bit we all packed into our cars and drove to Madison, to see Tony's side of the family. Both kids were zonked within a few minutes of the car ride but surprisingly they only slept for about an hour total---only naps of the day. Recipe for disaster for sure, but it was Christmas so whatever. We visited in Madison a bit, then headed back to my in-laws for a pizza dinner and gifts. Both kids blew us away with their good behavior, yet again, considering that they were totally overstimulated and exhausted and hopped up on sugar. They each got about 5-6 gifts here, too, and some of the big hitters on Truman's list were had---which made his Christmas, of course.





Just a few of our favorite gifts:







We finally headed home on Christmas night and all of us were ridiculously tired. I forced Nate to watch one episode of Friday Night Lights, though, just because we were nearing the end. (Spoiler alert: SO freaking good, we ended up finishing the series the other night and I could cry because it's over).

Thursday morning=day after Christmas fun with new toys.


Also, on Thursday my mom, dad, and brother flew in from Colorado and got in around 6pm (after missing their earlier flight, whoops). Truman came to the airport with me to get them and all of us grabbed McDonalds on the way home while the rest of the crew ate out that night. I hear Cecelia stole the show at the restaurant and fun was had by all, but I can tell you that our take out Mickey Dees was just as divine. After that, and once Nate and CC got home, we all opened gifts AGAIN. Another 5 for each kid and a whole lot of chaos with wrapping paper and playing ensued. It was a fantastic Christmas overall and I'm glad we didn't go completely overboard with gifts. It felt like just the right amount of indulgence for their toy needs;)




Biggest hit (without a good picture yet): Cecelia's handmade doll by my mom. Her hair looks like CC's and they have matching Christmas dresses, pink boots, and pink Toms shoes. I die over it.




Woah, ok. THIS is chaos.


My family stays through Thursday of this week (and watched the kids on Friday and will did it again on Monday), and Nate's brother will be here until Tuesday. We've been living up the built-in babysitters, the younger/hip siblings being in the same town, and have had a lot of fun catching up with everyone. One night we had everyone over for pizzas and just having 11 of us sitting together, visiting and being in the same room made me so happy. Having out of town family is hard sometimes but it makes it extra wonderful when we all get together. We like to show the pansy Oregonians and Missouri-turned-Coloradians what a COLD snowy Christmas can be like here in Wisconsin. I mean, the high was 5 degrees today, so there's that.



Family.

I think we shall continue eating our way through the holidays, while I hold a mini-grudge against everyone for enjoying in so many holiday cocktails/brews. I suppose I can find my satisfaction in food versus booze for a few more months.

No big New Years plans yet but who knows--we might get wild and go to a hip concert with my baby brother. I work on Monday and Friday again this week but Nate is only off on Wednesday, so it feels like a holiday week for me but not so much for poor Nate. But the two of us have had a few nice (cold) walks together lately for some date time, my mom and Cecelia are totally inseparable, and my dad/Michael/Truman are hilarious together. Happiness all around. It's a crazy time of year but always so worth it and I can't wait to do it all over again next year.