Our Christmas was incredible. Not in the I-got-tons-of-awesome-new-stuff incredible, but the kind of incredible that you sit and soak up like pasta sauce with bread. Ha. How'd you like that analogy? :)
Our festivities started Christmas Eve.
Last year, we began a new tradition. In order to prevent having to rush around to a million different families on Christmas, we extended it to Christmas Eve. First, we go to my dad's.
Everyone was there (stepsisters with their boyfriends, us, and the parents), except my brother, who decided to go to church with his girlfriend. It was weird without him, but that's life. Anyway, we just had some appetizers; nothing too heavy. Everyone was aware that we couldn't make the evening drag on, since we had more places to be.
Noah was a sweetheart. He looooves to roam around, explore, open and shut cabinets, examine the window shutters, and play with door stops. He enjoys being with his Granddaddy Jimmy and "Mama D", but when we all get together (as in a lot of people talking all at once, crowding the room, etc), he gets a little overwhelmed. And although they meant well, it's hard on a little guy for everyone to be calling his name, trying to get him to be excited about their gifts they got him. He would much rather play with the cabinets.
Still, it was nice to all be together and celebrate.
Cool stuff he got from my dad's side of the fam:
Melissa & Doug wooden car ramp
Paula Deen t-shirt!
a pull-along doggy
Puma outfit
Charlie Brown audio book
Belkie Bear
(local dept store chain that just changed their logo to
look like a Kotex box... this was the last bear with the old logo.)
After my dad's house, we went about 5 minutes down the road to my mom's house for our Christmas with her and that side of my family (which includes my stepdad, grandmother, little sister, and the brother that was still absent). Before I got married, my family would have a pj party Christmas Eve. We'd all sit around the livingroom in our new Christmas pajamas, laughing and chatting, and nibbling on snacks like shrimp cocktail and my Mamaw's crackers and cranberry dip. We've kept the tradition going, so when we arrive, we all change into our pj's, eat our shrimp, and have ourselves a Merry Little Christmas.
The only difference is we open presents.
My parents and little bro and sis wait till the morning for their big gift exchange, but we still have fun opening the ones from eachother. Noah was still a little overwhelmed, but not as bad. He knew exactly where he was. So much so, in fact, that he went straight for the "man cave". He and his Pop Pop like to go up there, relax on their massive leather sofa, drink their drinks, and watch George.
We let him.
He needed some down time. My little sister went up there with him, and he was in heaven.
After we talked for a while, they came down and joined in the fun. We opened presents, laughed at how me and my mom always manage to lose at least one, and said lots of thank you's.
I'm pretty sure my favorite part of the night was when Noah walked up to my little sister and gave her a big hug. It was so unexpected, but so intentional, it made the whole room go "Aaaaawww".
Or when Noah was getting sleepy, and he crawled into his daddy's lap and watched Curious George with him. I know that was Brad's favorite part of the night.
a tiny wheelbarrow
Tigger tshirt and book
We didn't get home until late, and I knew Noah was going to be sleeping in.
Noah was a sweetheart. He looooves to roam around, explore, open and shut cabinets, examine the window shutters, and play with door stops. He enjoys being with his Granddaddy Jimmy and "Mama D", but when we all get together (as in a lot of people talking all at once, crowding the room, etc), he gets a little overwhelmed. And although they meant well, it's hard on a little guy for everyone to be calling his name, trying to get him to be excited about their gifts they got him. He would much rather play with the cabinets.
Still, it was nice to all be together and celebrate.
Cool stuff he got from my dad's side of the fam:
Melissa & Doug wooden car ramp
Paula Deen t-shirt!
a pull-along doggy
Puma outfit
Charlie Brown audio book
Belkie Bear
(local dept store chain that just changed their logo to
look like a Kotex box... this was the last bear with the old logo.)
After my dad's house, we went about 5 minutes down the road to my mom's house for our Christmas with her and that side of my family (which includes my stepdad, grandmother, little sister, and the brother that was still absent). Before I got married, my family would have a pj party Christmas Eve. We'd all sit around the livingroom in our new Christmas pajamas, laughing and chatting, and nibbling on snacks like shrimp cocktail and my Mamaw's crackers and cranberry dip. We've kept the tradition going, so when we arrive, we all change into our pj's, eat our shrimp, and have ourselves a Merry Little Christmas.
The only difference is we open presents.
My parents and little bro and sis wait till the morning for their big gift exchange, but we still have fun opening the ones from eachother. Noah was still a little overwhelmed, but not as bad. He knew exactly where he was. So much so, in fact, that he went straight for the "man cave". He and his Pop Pop like to go up there, relax on their massive leather sofa, drink their drinks, and watch George.
We let him.
He needed some down time. My little sister went up there with him, and he was in heaven.
After we talked for a while, they came down and joined in the fun. We opened presents, laughed at how me and my mom always manage to lose at least one, and said lots of thank you's.
I'm pretty sure my favorite part of the night was when Noah walked up to my little sister and gave her a big hug. It was so unexpected, but so intentional, it made the whole room go "Aaaaawww".
Or when Noah was getting sleepy, and he crawled into his daddy's lap and watched Curious George with him. I know that was Brad's favorite part of the night.
Cool stuff Noah got from my mom's side:
a baby table and chairs for our patioa tiny wheelbarrow
Tigger tshirt and book
a baby Oreck vacuum cleaner
a car ramp toy thing
Curious George book
Curious George ornament
Pooh ornament
We didn't get home until late, and I knew Noah was going to be sleeping in.
Our night was fantastic, and we were so excited for our first Christmas as a family where Noah could be a little more involved... as in, be excited about his toys rather than the bows and paper. :)
Stay tuned...
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