Christmas 2015

Ahhh....Christmas...it seems like so long ago, yet we are still enjoying blizzards and negative temps on a regular basis. Sometimes I find the big holidays...you know...the ones with about a million photos to sift through...to be a bit, well...overwhelming to say the least. Today, I'm finally dedicating C's nap time to officially getting my ducks in a row and reporting on Christmas 2015.

As you can tell...C was not impressed with picture taking!

Our Christmas celebrations this year were decidedly less stressful than last year. T had Christmas Eve off, and we were able to go to the 4 p.m. afternoon children's service at our church instead of the regular evening service we attended last year. We were not so naive to believe that the service would be any less packed than any other Christmas Eve service, and were not surprised to find chairs set up in the aisles for the overflow. Luckily, we were able to snag a seat next to an older gentleman who was attending the service by himself, and directly behind a family with young kiddos to keep C entertained throughout the service. On a side note, as we left the service and wished those around us a Merry Christmas, T & I were reflecting how very lonely it would be to spend a holiday like Christmas all alone. We decided that when we are older, assuming we are lucky enough to still have each other around, it would be nice to invite someone like the gentleman who sat beside us at church, without family or friends to surround him, to join us for a Christmas Eve celebration so they wouldn't have to spend the holiday alone. 

After church, we headed home to gather up some gifts, and then we were on the road to celebrate with T's side of the family. Things to be thankful for: 1. We made it out the door with all of the gifts...unlike last year when T had to turn around and make a second trip to get the gifts he forgot, and  2. C is no longer nursing as he was last year, so we didn't have to dedicate extra time to feed him before our family gathering. C had so much fun this year with Christmas, and after enjoying dinner, was all about investigating all of the boxes, bows, and bags. He was his usual curious self, and followed the presents around as they were handed out to make sure he didn't miss any of the unwrapping.

The following morning, T & I celebrated our family Christmas with C. He was soooo excited to wake up and see that Santa had brought him a brand new grill with all kinds of yummy food to prepare that he hardly had any time for any other gifts. Understandably, opening clothes and some new books was not probably nearly as exciting as pretend grilling!

Christmas with my side of the family had to wait this year until New Years Eve weekend as work schedules didn't allow for all of us to get together on Christmas Day. We still ended up making the trek to my hometown so that we could spend the day with family...aka enjoy Mama J's cooking and give C a chance to play with Cousin J. Everyone had so much fun strategizing over board games and playing together, that we hardly missed the fact that we weren't opening gifts until the following weekend. 

New Year's weekend kicked off with bowl game mania and a Hawkeye party to watch the Rose Bowl. Before I was able to convince a sulking T to join in on the fun and make the trip to watch the game with the other diehard Hawk fans in my family, we flipped on the TV to watch the Rose Parade. C absolutely LOVED watching, and barely blinked while all of the amazing floats and marching bands went by. Later during the afternoon, just before kickoff, surrounded by an audience at Grandma & Grandpa N's house, C decided that it was high time he started walking on his own. Woot woot! Even though the Hawks weren't able to pull off the win, it was still a day to go down in history, and one we won't likely forget anytime soon!

Later New Year's weekend, we enjoyed celebrating Christmas with my side of the family, and had so much fun watching the little boys climb all over boxes, get excited about each other's gifts, and basically run the show. C of course sidled right up to Aunt C, who continues to own his heart, and helped her unwrap most of her gifts. It may have helped that she just happened to unwrap an iPad and let C play with her smartphone, but nevertheless...#love.

Look at the determination on this kid's face!

Maybe I'll just sit on the box until someone notices!

 The remainder of the weekend was spent having fun with the boys as they played with their new toys, all of my brothers old toy tractors and diggers, tinkled out some tunes on the piano, pulled out all of the pots and pans in Grandma's kitchen, and C continued to practice his walking skills. Overall, I'd say this year's Christmas holiday was a smashing success, and we all had so much fun celebrating.