Christmas 2017

I am slowly coming off of the Christmas festivities high with a 2.5 day work week and LOTS of coffee.  We had an absolutely amazing Christmas weekend- 5 days off work, 3 days of presents, lots of family and even a few naps.  I was am sick with a brutal cold and couldn't taste anything all weekend until I woke up from a nap on Christmas day and could FINALLY smell all of the delicious things cooking in my parents kitchen. I was determined to be able to taste the full turkey dinner they were making so I loaded up on cold medicine and cough drops and it was successful.  Halleluiah! 

 

I have to say that Christmas with 1 baby was amazing but Christmas with 2 babies is just the best.  Duke learned how to say "Merry bismas!" and told everyone he could which made my heart burst every time.  Theo didn't really have a clue what was going on but he tried to eat his fair share of wrapping paper and tree trimmings so I'd say it was a successful first Christmas!

I had Friday off last week and since I wasn't feeling the best, Dennis took the boys to daycare and I enjoyed a completely solo day at home being mildly productive in between binge watching #alltheshows and catching up on rest.  Saturday morning I got the boys up and running and we headed out to my parents house to see my sister, brother in law and sweet niece who had gotten to town late the night before.  We were prepping for our immediate family Christmas that night so everyone was bustling about with last minute errands and prep and the kids all asked when it was time to open presents 47 million times.

We had a low key dinner and then dove into a MOUNTAIN of presents. Seriously, the room was so full and we questioned once again why no one paid attention to the "go easy" message on gifts.  I'm not sure how many more people we can squeeze into the living room but it sure makes for some fun chaos.  Next time we're considering doing a post-brunch opening of the gifts and then sending the kids to the basement to play with their new toys while the adults slowly open their gifts and actually see what everyone got!

On Sunday morning, my crew slept in a little bit and had a low key morning at home before naps for the boys and getting ready for church.  We go to the 4 p.m. service on Christmas Eve so we had plenty of time to get ready and make it to church around 3:30.  All of the kids did surprisingly well and I managed to only wince a few times when Duke played on the kneelers {flashing back to when he knocked his tooth out last winter} After the beautiful service, we stopped at home to get the food we were bringing and cousin gift exchange items and went to my parents house.  I will say the easiest way to not gain a million pounds on Christmas is to not be able to taste the food- I kept my snacking down to a serious minimum.  We had just under 40 people so it was pretty nutty but everyone had a great time and loved watching the craziness of the next generation playing together all over the house. After the kiddos exchanged gifts, we hung around for a couple more rounds of cocktails and good conversation before heading home to get ready for Santa's arrival.

Dennis and I totally failed on playing Santa this year but the boys certainly didn't notice.  When they woke up on Christmas day, Duke begged for Mickey Mouse and we had to convince him that opening presents was way more fun than watching "Mouse".  I got a piping hot cup of coffee and we hunkered down in the living room to open all of our gifts. The boys were spoiled by family in Colorado who had sent gifts and we went a little overboard with them AND each other so it was a long slow morning of opening gifts and playing with new toys. I loved every minute of it.  While Theo took a nap, Dennis and I took all of the Christmas gift aftermath out to the garage and got ready to head out to my parents house for a day of relaxation and turkey dinner prep.

I really needed to increase my vitamin c intake so I opted for mimosas and cold medicine followed by a nap while all the kids were sleeping.  After a solid hour in a coma I woke up to Duke and Theo who were up from their naps and ready to play.  My parents were finishing up all of the dinner prep and I was so excited when I walked upstairs and could actually smell it cooking! I hadn't been able to smell or taste for about 3 days so I was thrilled.  We ate way too many servings of turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, sweet potatoes, stuffing, and rolls followed by pie.  Duke and Theo played with some new toys after dinner and hung out with their cousin Emarie before we all headed home to crawl into bed.

I am still soaking up my favorite holiday season and looking forward to wrapping up the last few days of 2017 with my favorite people. It's been a really wonderful year for us, our first full calendar year in South Dakota, and we are feeling extremely grateful for our health, great jobs, and the best boys around.  My 2017 year in review is coming at you in a couple days...I love looking back at everything we've done this year!  Happy last Friday of the year, friends!  Make it a good one. :)

-T-