Our Christmas Story 2010

Another year around the Christmas bend and we are much happier. The drama was much more minimized this year so that gave us something to be merry about! We are in our new home, but still not quite settled in, so Christmas decorations were the bare necessities--the Christmas tree, the banister garland, and stockings on the mantel. That was the coolest, having a mantel to decorate and put stockings on. Plus there is now a fireplace the kids could see that Santa would come down! Exterior illumination was nixed because we used some unusually warm November weather to finish outdoor projects (ah, no more association!).

So this was year two that we took a pass on the extended family parties, and instead saw the Dixes at Thanksgiving and we had the Macys over to the new house the weekend before Christmas. There was some disappointment, but a lot of understanding, and we still appreciate that we are so "in-demand" for this holiday!

Slowly during the week, the presents from mom and dad started piling up under the tree, and the kids got really excited. I think it really sunk in this year. We had found a great place to visit Santa, Ice House Mall in Barrington, so the kids got lots of time to talk to the Big Guy. The funniest part was that for some reason, Lily could NOT remember what she wanted to ask for, even after we saw the movie. She asked for a Rapunzal barbie doll (from the new Disney movie, Tangled), and PJ asked for the Toy Story 2 movie (no, not 1 or 3, just 2). It was also great to see how much more they understood what the season is truely about. We've found a new church and they enjoy going to the children's liturgy, so they were very excited to be celebrating Jesus' birthday on Christmas. They looked forward each day to opening the windows on the Advent calendar, and they were counting down the days until the baby Jesuspicture . We had also made a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child, where we went to the dollar store and filled it with necessities and fun things for a child in India. We do love that they are more open to helping others, while still be excited about receiving their Christmas presents.

Christmas Eve morning now starts our Christmas celebrations, and Lily woke up with a horrible rash on her face. It just wouldn't be a holiday without a call to our pediatrician, Dr. Shah! We were at first concerned it was strep throat, but it turned out to be just a reaction to my face lotion that I had put on her a couple of days before. Washing her face, a dose of allergy medicine and some hydrocotisone cream, cleared it right up. So on went the festivities! Everyone got to open a few presents under the tree, but we decided to spread out the opening throughout the day. Mommy made the famouse Christmas tree french toast as a little snack before brunch later. Grandma CJ Carol and Grandpa Jerry joined us late morning (Grandma her Cubs in pajamas again), and we enjoyed opening presents with them. Grandpa Jerry surprised mommy with a beautiful bouquet of winter white flowers (the first flowers in the new house!).

We spent a lovely afternoon until Grandpa Jerry had to leave to start snowplowing, and we had to get ready for church. Everyone dressed up, including Daddy in a suit and Lily's baby doll in a matching dress with Lily, but this was not much fun in the snow that had started falling. Plus, we hadn't ancitipated how crowded the 3pm mass would be (we'll know better next year!). Still, there were lovely people around us, and there was a beautiful bell choir (mommy's favorite!). We made it home through more falling snow, and dinner preparation began as we opened a couple more presents. Mommy does enjoy making at least one holiday dinner! After dinner it was time to open the new pajamas for almost everyone (mommy loves that daddy thinks she still looks like she did when they started dating), and to set up the cookies for Santa. Then it was off to bed (and mommy and daddy's new record of being in bed by 12 midnight). Also, we had not one, but two magical visits this night. PJ had lost his tooth a couple of weeks earlier while daddy was on a business trip, so we remembered to put his drawing under his pillow (he lost the tooth at school during lunch). Maybe the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus bumped into each other!

Christmas Morning brought so much excitement, and somehow we convinced Lily to wait to get us until 7am, but we had a different wake-up "call." While Lily was waiting until her clock said "7," she went into daddy's office and found his phone (unlocked). She started playing and not only called Grandma CJ Carol, but also one of daddy's co-workers in Virginia (luckily she was an hour ahead but she was still in the shower and wondering why work was calling her on Christmas morning). Lily came running in to wake us up, just as the phone started ringing, with Grandma CJ Carol telling us she got a call from daddy's cell phone. Daddy sure learned his lesson! We had to wake up PJ because we gave him allergy medicine the night before because of a cough. That made for a sleepy PJ and a funny morning. The highlight of opening the stockings was watching PJ sadly look around for his stocking saying, "Where's my STOCKING?!?" while it was tucked under his arm the whole time. Mommy and daddy were laughing so hard, and were very sad the video camera had no battery charge left (maybe next years present). The other highlight was when Lily opened her present from Santa, and STILL couldn't remember the name of the princess doll (Rapunzel).

We finished up opening presents and then started our mini-Mad-Christmas-Dash. We didn't have any milk, so mommy made some eggs so that we wouldn't be really hungry until brunch later in the morning at Grandpa John and Grandma Carol's house. Well, that backfired because they had a big breakfast planned, including eggs, which prompted a little negotiating from Lily. She wasn't really hungr, but mommy felt bad so she wanted Lily to eat a bunch on her plate. She turned to her mother and said, "Here's the deal." Grandma and Grandpa were in stitches, they were laughing so hard. And before eating, we were honored with a wonderful prayer from PJ, in which he mentioned that Jesus would have a cake on his birthday that wouldn't have tree nuts so he could have it because God doesn't put tree nuts in cakes. It was a loooong prayer, so at the end he got a rousing "AMEN!" from everyone, and he was very proud of himself.

Opening presents was fun, especially since the kids were able to help Grandma surprise Grandpa with his gift. They led him into the living room, where a brand new grill stood, and Grandpa exclaimed, "Holy S$!t!" Always a good word for Christmas. After the present frenzy, we all chilled out on the couch and watched the end of the Disney Christmas parade (mommy wishing they were all there!), and then it was time to hit the next dash.

We got to Grandma Nona and Grandpa Paul's house early afternoon, and were excited to see baby Charlie was already there. Coffee cake was enjoyed by all (except the kids), and we settled in for a lovely Christmas day. We opened stockings, and Grandma Nona was a great Santa's helper! Then the kids were able to open a couple of toys while dinner was cooking. At this point, the kids were doing a great job keeping it together, but it was starting to get a little tiring. Grandma had PJ open a new set of trains, and we watched how much fun he had with them, while Lily played with the baby (Charlie really loved her hair!). Then we had a delicious dinner, a little later than planned, and on to more present opening. It was really nice this year because the kids were old enough to occupy themselves watching a movie in the other room, while the adults enjoyed opening each other's presents. That will surely change when Charlie will be roaming the room!

Festivities continued the next day (through changed plans), and Grandpa John and Grandma Carol's house with the Martin's coming up a day later than anticipated. Poor Josh had thrown up Christmas morning, so they decided not to come, but then he felt better that night. So they traveled instead on the 26th, and we had a lovely, traditional Holiday dinner of Enchiladas and Tacos. Still yummy! The big surprise was they had also brought up their brand new puppy, "Princess," and she was a big hit for Lily, daddy, and Aunt Gerre. So, this year we had two new additions to our Christmas celebrations!