Christmas seems like ages ago now, but I want to blog about it because I can barely remember it now and I want to be able to remember it years from now. This Christmas was so crazy. We had just been to Ohio about a week and a half before Christmas for my Father-in-law's funeral and we had left our children there with their Grandmama for the week between that and Christmas. I had thought it would be great for them to spend time with their cousins but then they ended up being sick and we had to keep them apart which was really sad. So my husband and I flew home between the funeral and Christmas because he had to work and I had chemo. On our flight back here it ended up being delayed 6 hours! So that was a challenge. I'm so glad our kids weren't with us for that. Then when we packed up all the presents and headed back to Ohio a week later we got about 30 minutes from our house and our van broke down! Once again, glad the kids weren't with us, but it was really stressful and we had to have it towed and wait at the car repair place for them to open (we left at 5am) and then wait for it to get fixed so it put us super behind when we finally got on the road. We tried to drive straight through, but I hit a wall about 9pm and started crying (I'm so not a crier) and made my husband take me to a hotel. I was feeling pretty horrible at that point from chemo so I'm surprised I lasted that long! That hotel bed was the most fabulous thing I'd felt in a while! We got to Ohio a day later than expected but we made it. Last year we had stayed with my mom for Christmas but she sold her house this past summer and so we stayed with her and my grandpa. It didn't have the same nostalgic feel that last Christmas did since it didn't bring up any childhood memories. The kids were troopers though and didn't complain too much about sleeping on air mattresses on the floor for 2 whole weeks. My very selfless mom gave up her bed for us and she took the couch for which I am very grateful. My husband took our kids and drove a couple hours north to see his family for the holiday while I stayed home for fear of another allergy attack like I'd had the last time I'd seen them. It was hard missing out but I had to take care of my health. Unfortunately that means no pictures of their celebration because I wasn't there to take them. We were able to see my family and cousins that week which was really nice, but even though I was there, I somehow didn't take any pics. I was extremely tired that week, and picture taking sometimes feels exhausting to me, so I guess that's why. I also got to get together with a few sweet girlfriends who I'd been missing dearly. I didn't really have the energy to see more people than a few close friends and family. When I think back now to how I felt then, I can't believe how much better I feel. If I were to go for a visit now I'd have way more energy and be in much better spirits. Overall, we had a lovely Christmas, but after driving home we swore we'd never leave town for Christmas again. We are thinking about doing Thanksgiving instead. I just really want a Christmas at home next year. No dragging presents with us and not sleeping in our own beds. No one judging how we do our traditions. No massive pile of excess to bring home. Just a few presents and some friends and family sounds perfect. Of course, I could totally change my mind by next Christmas, but being sick really puts things in perspective sometimes and a really simple, meaningful holiday sounds just about perfect. More focusing on Jesus and family. With that said, I do have some photos to share so enjoy!
Now that my girl is older it is so hard to find a cute Christmas dress. I feel like I went to every store in Clearwater and shopped online before I finally found one. And it ended up being the Annie dress from Target. I didn't like it when I first saw it but my girl loved it and it looked much cuter on.
She was super excited about the high heel shoes. :) I got to see my cutie pie nieces who I hadn't seen in months and they are so cute!! I wish I had some video of this one dancing, but trust me, she's adorable and she's got some major hip action.
My mom loving on her grandbaby. She had stolen my phone...little stinker. :)
A Christmas portrait of my sweet boy.
And one of my girl.
Christmas Eve with my brother and sisters and families. There's my other cutie pie niece who was not my biggest fan. Teething and separation anxiety are both not fun stages! Hopefully next time I see her I'll be able to win her over. I love that my other little niece wore one of my girl's old Christmas dresses. It's so fun to get to see them again!
Modeling some of her new clothes. I think this was the first year that she was excited to get clothes.
Christmas morning. Santa did not disappoint. He got the MIP robot he asked for. I think the most played with toy is that ball maze though. He actually solved it a few weeks later. He's awesome at stuff like that. It has 100 little twists and turns and I can only make it to number 5. He also got a disco ball, something he's wanted forever. :)
Love that photo in the middle where she was so excited to get her Ugg style boots. She'd been wanting them forever and I kept telling her how impractical they are for someone who lives in Florida. She's actually worn them a lot though! She was also super excited for her Meowchi cat which was her #1 thing on her list to Santa.
I remembered when going through pics that I had an old collage of all their Christmases and I decided to add to it. Here it is. They are growing up so fast!
Next up, my girl's birthday! Hopefully I'll have energy to get to it next week.
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