A very Merry (and snotty and scary) Christmas

I'm chalking this one up to a fabulous Christmas, despite the snot and the doggie scare. It was Keatyn's first (and sadly, probably our sweet Ginger's last) but she welcomed her first holiday season with a raging double ear infection. That poor baby looked like she had been in a bar fight, but she was such a trooper. :( We scaled down our "events" and stayed home a lot more than we wanted but Dr. May says she is on the mend and will hopefully ring in the New Year fully recovered!

Exchanging with Granddaddy and Sisty...





Sick as can be, but always up for a little peek-a-boo...
And it just wore her out.
Christmas Eve day, when I was attempting to cook for 2 different parties while my sick baby was finally napping, I found these guys in my kitchen floor putting together a Hooks and Ladder Lego set with 275 pieces. It took 2 hours and nearly took the holiday spirit right out of Jimmy but they (he) did it... right in the middle of my kitchen. Many other rooms to chose from, but they picked the kitchen to set up shop. Ahhh... Christmas joy!
Christmas Eve at Nana and Papaw's...







I have loved these Ballard Design stockings for years, but was always hoping my little family wasn't quite complete. Once it was, Nana bought me these for Christmas. I'll always remember I got these on Keatyn's 1st! So special.
Someone's been good this year...

Christmas morning...



Since Keatyn was still not feeling well we decided making the trip to Alabama was too much for her. We let Trace go with Granddaddy and Sisty on Christmas afternoon. We knew he would have SO much more fun there with his cousins than at home with us and a sick sister. I sent my camera with them so we could see all the good times we missed.
Spiderman was a re-occurring theme this year.



Trace made Mimmie and Nanny nativity scenes out of flower pots. He painted them and drew the faces all by himself and they turned out SO cute!

We have to keep updating Mimmie's blanket because there are new babies almost every year. What a blessing!
The kids put on a production of the Christmas story and we got to watch it on video. It was so sweet, and probably took years off sweet Hannah's life coordinating all those little ones.

They spent the night at the hotel that night because Mimmie's was so crowded. Trace LOVES hotels, especially ones with heated indoor pools and fish tanks.

Yes, he's in his underwear. I didn't realize there was a indoor pool, so they had to improvise. Luckily, he was the only one there!
Sara Kathryn came over for a Christmas dip too. Millie had already packed up her swimsuit from last year so she swam in her dance leotard. ha!


While Trace was gone on Christmas night, Ginger gave us quite a scare. She couldn't lay her head down and began laboring to breath. About 10 o'clock that night, I called my parents and they came over so we could take her to the Emergency Animal Hospital. She had fluid in her lungs and was in heart failure. They kept her there overnight and gave her high doses of medicine that helped with the fluid. They said she is not in any pain from the cancer and this was fixable for the time being. It cost a small fortune, but it's worth it to have her a little longer. I couldn't stand the thought of losing our precious dog on Christmas. We will love her and spoil her for as many more days as the good Lord gives us!

The faces of Christmas' past (before they get covered with crayon)

I realized while going through old Christmas cards the other day, that the ONLY copy of each of my past cards were cut and crammed into an album that around here could be lost or destroyed at any given moment.

(Have you heard the story of me drawing ALL OVER my parents wedding photos with crayons??? Yes, yes I did. And I can't believe I lived to tell about it. Payback...it won't be pretty.)

So... I thought it might be smart to "blog" my precious memorabilia to preserve for eternity. lol

Some of the words are chopped off (apparently I went with 5 X 7's a few years, not realizing my photo album only held 4 X 6's) but the jist is still the same...

2007- Trace's first Christmas

(I'm ashamed to admit, I don't think I had ever sent Christmas cards until I had a little cutie-pie to put on one.)

2008

We had lost our precious dog, Chase, that summer and I vowed to get a professional picture with Ginger and Trace after that.

2009

Taken in front of Granddaddy and Sisty's tree in his Christmas pj's.

2010

Anxiously awaiting the arrival of Miss Keatyn.

2011

The word "Joy" jumped out at me when I saw this template, because that is what these two are to me... pure JOY!

But the "real" wisemen didn't get to wear baseball caps

Well, after weeks of preparation, the HPC preschool pulled off another adorable rendition of the birth of baby Jesus. This was Trace's last Christmas performance here (sniff, sniff) and he was a wiseman. Appropriately donned in purple for his Nana.
I was a little leary of how he'd do, because reports from rehearsal were of him walking in balance beam fashion along the altar, having a hard time standing on his X, and being a tad over zealous and anxious to perform. (This could not possibly be my child)
But the night of, he did perfectly. He stood (still), sang sweetly, rang his little bell (his favorite part), and delivered baby Jesus' gift without flaw.
Oh my heart.
The profile picture. His crown was so big, he had to wear a ballcap under it. ha!