Tis the Season

What a wonderful holiday season this has been. Every year, I feel more and more blessed to have the family God gave me from birth and through marriage! I don't know how I would make it through the day without these special people in my life...
On Wednesday night, we went to my brothers and Kadi's for a family get together. I love that all of our families mesh so well and enjoy spending time together. We didn't get a group picture but it was certainly a festive bunch!
The next day, we went to see Sylvia's dearest friend Jean. She lives at Alexian Village and is the kindest soul you will ever meet. I hope we brought her a little holiday cheer... Trace brought her trains and ate her chocolates of course.

A tradition we started over 30 years ago when we ran across our front yard in our PJ's to our next door neighbors house on Christmas Eve morning, continues to this day. Every year we celebrate with the Campbell's, which have grown to include the spouses, first rounds of kiddos, and as of next Christmas... 2 more!
Sweet Anna Claire and Trace... someone's been in the candy dish!
On Christmas Eve, my mom's side of the family comes to her house. This year, we gave mom and dad our framed wedding portraits. Yes... almost 2 babies later and SEVEN years of marriage and she has yet to get it framed. We thought, OK, if we don't, she never will. Before we left, my brother and I gladly took down my Senior portrait "Glamour Shot" (remember those ;) and his high school picture and replaced them with these. It was high time to update!!
Aunt Kadi trying on Trace's new Batman snow hat...

I don't know who in the world would allow children to bring stools in from the kitchen to sit up ON TOP of the coffee table to watch there shows.

Clue... the fun "Nana" in the purple sweater sitting behind them. Again... notice his candy stained mouth.
Just after Santa left...
So, Christmas morning we wake up to a beautiful snow. It was breathtaking! Our plans to head to Alabama to spend Christmas with Jimmy's family quickly changed when we realized they were looking at the same scene out of their window. In the 9 years we've been together, this is only the second Christmas we haven't been there. It didn't feel the same without going, but we knew there was no sense in chancing it. We've got an extra bundle of "precious cargo" with us this year.

The plan was for the grands to all be here around 8:30 to see Trace "open" Santa. We had already made the decision that if he woke up before they got here, we would not dare make him wait, but at 8:00, when he was still asleep, I called them both and told them to start trekking this way in the snow (if they could safely) and we would keep him quarantined in our bedroom until they arrived. They got here just as he was waking up and luckily Diego held his attention long enough for everyone to get into place with cameras and camcorders to capture the big reveal.
I said he certainly had the "trifeca" of Christmas mornings. First, he bounded to the dining room doors and exclaimed "Look at the snow!!!", then turned to see his 4 most favorite people in the world standing in the kitchen (no, sadly, it isn't his mommy and daddy...we've known for a long time and we're OK with it) and then rounded the corner to find all the goodies that Santa left him!

Can't ask for a better Christmas morning than that!

Can you believe of all the things sitting in that living room (ahhh, hello... like the $300, 2 person, battery powered John Deere Gator) he instantly ran to the $2.99 Thomas electric spinning toothbrush... go figure?
That's better!

You notice, he immediately ripped the bow off. Apparently he shares his daddy's sentiments, that John Deere's should never be accessorized with big red bows... it's just insulting.
What was Santa thinking?
Since there were 3 inches of snow outside, he had to take it for a little spin around the house. Can't wait for Girby to hitch a ride with him (Lord, help my heart!) We were going to get the cheaper, one seater version, but then we figured we are quickly becoming a 2 kid family and Ginger can even ride in the Gator on the back!
Funny thing is, of all the Christmas toys he got, the one he's gone to bed and woken up playing with was actually a birthday present of his he found on Christmas Eve, buried deep under some clothes in the back of my dad's closet. He and Nalin were upstairs playing when they somehow spotted his new Tomica Train Mega Station set that mom and dad had already bought for his birthday (which we are celebrating next month due to Girby impending arrival).

I look up from the dinner table to see and hear this massive box being drug step by step down the staircase and "OHHHH, Mommy look what I found!!!" There was no going back from there. Before an adult could even get to them, he and Nalin had half the box torn open, had already begun assembly and had a dozen stickers/decals stuck in all the wrong places.

Oh well, I'm learning to pick my battles... and hide gifts behind locked doors! ha!

MMMOOOO...
I emerged from the closet wearing Jimmy's hunting long underwear pulled over my enormous belly, to which he quickly commented "Boy... those'll never be the same." He then helped me climb into and zipped me up in his camo coveralls and had to put on and tie his waterproof hiking boots around my 3 layers of SmartWool socks and swollen feet.

Needless, to say, it wasn't our 3 year old this year that got completely dressed from head to toe only to then exclaim, "I've got to use the bathroom!"

He was very sweet not to say it, but I know he was thinking... Woman, don't you DARE pee in my long underwear and coveralls. Deer can smell that a mile away!

I'm not ashamed to admit it, I've had a few little "accidents" this go around. We won't even go into what happened when a bird got caught in our Christmas tree and then flew right past my head at warp speed... you can use your imagination.

If not... I've unfortunately got it on video.

For the record, 35-year-old bladders were not made to have a baby sitting right on top of them.

We have spent the weekend around the house mostly in our PJs, since we weren't able to make it to Alabama and our church got canceled because of the snow. It has been a wonderful, white Christmas and I am thankful beyond belief.

Hope you and yours had a very merry one as well...can't wait to see all that 2011 has in store for us!!