Christmas was different for our family in 2018. We were missing Jenn and Chandler who were in NYC. This was the first year we didn’t go to Trussville for Christmas; instead, Paw and Rae Rae came to our house for a couple of days. We were also dealing with a difficult family situation that made the holiday more stressful and less joyful (at least, I felt like that way) than it normally is. Our kids had a blast though, and that’s one of my main priorities at this point. As long as they enjoy the holidays, I can deal with the rest okay. I just want them to be able to be care-free and be kids.
All dressed up on the Sunday before Christmas (12/23/18) – I love each of their smocked dresses so much!
It’s hard to get a good picture of all 3 of them looking and smiling…this was about the best we could do!
Brooklyn got herself dressed on Christmas Eve and was so excited for Paw and Rae Rae to get to our house!
So glad that Mommy and Daddy made the “good” list this year! Poor Abigail was on the “node” (naughty) list, and Savannah somehow made it onto both lists??
After Paw and Rae Rae arrived, we unloaded their car, ate lunch, and then opened presents. The girls were so excited, especially when they saw the huge mound of gifts :)
Daddy helped Abigail grab the stuff out of her stocking :)
This was the first Christmas that Brooklyn has really gotten interested in giving gifts to others. She “wrapped” me up a glue stick in a box made out of Magna Tiles ;)
Savannah was very slow and careful when opening her gifts. She’s never in too big of a rush to do anything, so why should Christmas be any different??
Brooklyn also bought some trinkets at a “gift shop” at her school and chose who to give the gifts to. She gave Savannah a little plastic giraffe. I love how Brooklyn was watching for Savannah’s reaction when she opened it.
Brooklyn couldn’t tear into her gifts fast enough, of course!
Wrapping paper was flying everywhere!
Brooklyn was really excited about the Wild Kratts toys and “creature power vest” from Paw and Rae Rae.
The pack of frisbees that we gave to Savannah didn’t get quite the same reaction…haha :)
Brooklyn and Savannah took turns helping Abigail open her gifts…
Abigail was content to scoot around and explore all of the chaos around her :)
She did help pull the tissue paper out of the gift bags…
…and she sat in an empty box she found. Look at those cute little toes!
Brooklyn bought Rae Rae a gift at the gift shop too. I love these pictures of Brooklyn watching Rae Rae open the present…
It was a “Grandma” magnet! :) Look how excited Brooklyn was! It’s really neat that she is starting to learn about the joy of giving even at her young age.
After all the gifts had been opened, we were all pretty tired! The girls took naps that afternoon, and then we ate an early supper…
…and headed to a nearby neighborhood with a house that has a really neat Christmas light show synchronized to music. We were all able to pile into the van together, which was nice! Brooklyn and Savannah really seemed to enjoy the show, so I think we will definitely go back next year too.
That night, the girls set out some cookies and milk for Santa (and some carrots for the reindeer) and hurried off the bed. Brooklyn was so excited that she kept coming out of her room because she couldn’t fall asleep. I think it was almost 10 PM before she couldn’t fight it anymore, and sleep finally won :)
Santa came!! He just had to wait a while to make sure everyone was asleep first :)
Brooklyn’s top two things on her Christmas list were a robot and a unicorn. Santa brought those, along with a fishing pole, pack of paper for drawing/art, and a stocking full of small stuff (winter gloves, candy, stickers, etc.)
The only thing that Savannah really wanted for Christmas this year was a kite! Santa picked out a rainbow kite, a fishing pole, kitty cat stuffed animal, clock puzzle, pack of paper, and a stocking full of the same kinds of stuff that Brooklyn got.
Abigail got an activity cube, a stuffed animal moose, and several small things in her stocking (new pacifier clips, a winter hat and gloves, small toys, etc.).
Paw and Rae Rae spent the night with us so that they could be there for Christmas morning, so I wanted to make sure the girls waited for them to come downstairs before they ran to see what Santa brought. They both got up pretty early (before it was even completely light outside), so I had them wait in chairs over by their hallway until we told them to run to the living room. Can you tell who is the most excited?? :)
Brooklyn was pretty excited about the robot and unicorn!
Still trying to wake up….haha. She didn’t even run over there when Brooklyn did. It took her a few minutes to decide she wanted to check things out.
Brooklyn named her new unicorn “Goldie”
Savannah was excited about her kite! (even though you can’t tell it)
Somebody else woke up when she heard all the commotion!
I think Savannah was as excited about the activity cube as she was about her own gifts :)
Brooklyn and Paw opened up her new robot, Botley, and got him working.
There he goes!
Savannah REALLY loves stuffed animals, and it didn’t take her long to fall in love with her new cat. She decided to name her “Markey”.
Little cutie!
We really enjoyed having Paw and Rae Rae with us on Christmas morning!
This would have been the perfect picture if it weren’t for Brooklyn’s hair. I love my girls!
We had to get some pictures with Paw and Rae Rae before they left to go back home…
This one turned out pretty good!
I love all the silly faces :)
Had to get a picture with boring ol’ Mommy and Daddy too. We had a fun morning!
After we got the girls dressed and ready, we headed over to Cici’s house to spend the rest of the day. Gift opening was the first thing on the agenda, and the kids were all excited.
I loved how they all sat down in a line and opened their gifts. It made for some cute pictures!
Savannah was excited to get a big box of washable paint. We had run out of paint at home, and she’d been asking for weeks when we could paint again :)
Abigail was happy to sit with Cici and watch the madness unfold!
I think almost all of Carter’s gifts were dinosaur themed…that boy is obsessed :)
Abigail got her very own plush doll :)
I wish I’d gotten a picture, but all 6 kids got their own stuffed animal that Cici “ordered” from Maci and Heidi Weatherford…they sewed them all by themselves! They are adorable. It was a sweet gift.
After lunch, the adults opened gifts while the kids were napping (Travis was literally opening his gifts while holding a napping Abigail…haha), and then we played games the rest of the day.
It was a fun day! We are so thankful for our families and the time we spend together.
December 26th was a nice day, so we spent some time outside. Travis recently bought an extension ladder and decided to do some measuring in case we want to hang outdoor Christmas lights next year. I was glad I didn’t have to climb the ladder…I think I would have panicked when I got to the top!
The big girls did some digging in the flower beds :)
…and Abigail scooted up and down the sidewalk on her bottom!
The girls all had a dentist appointment on December 27th. This was the first time that Brooklyn got her teeth cleaned by the hygienist with the real dental tools. In the past, she has always acted nervous, so they didn’t push it. She did great! I think she chose “birthday cake” flavored toothpaste, so that made it fun.
I was super proud of Savannah…she also got her teeth cleaned with the real dental tools for the first time ever! I was cracking up at how her leg was hanging off the table…it was like she was ready to make a quick escape if necessary :)
That day it was pretty windy outside, so we decided it might be a good time to try to fly Savannah’s kite. I was absolutely dying at Travis trying to get that kite to stay up. It was hilarious especially with the girls chasing him back and forth across the yard. My stomach hurt I was laughing so hard!
The problem was that the wind was gusting pretty badly, and so it would whip the kite around for a minute, and then the kite would just nosedive and hit the ground.
I’ll admit that after a few minutes I gave up and went inside. I didn’t think he’d be able to get it to fly…
…but I was wrong!
Savannah got to help fly the kite first. She was really excited!
I loved this picture. Savannah looks so proud!
Finally Brooklyn got a turn too :) We haven’t flown the kite since that day, but Savannah asks about it every now and then. “When will it be a good day to fly my kite?” Next time, we need to pick a breezy day, but maybe not quite so windy ;)
Brooklyn got Guess Who for Christmas, so we enjoyed playing it several times over the break. Guess Who was one of my favorite games growing up, so it’s been fun introducing it to Brooklyn too.
Melissa gave me this vinyl wall decal to go above the growth chart by our laundry room, and we got it hung. I was really happy with how it turned out. We are definitely blessed beyond measure in so many ways.
We also busted out Savannah’s new paints and art smocks. Savannah is getting to where she loves painting/coloring just like Brooklyn does. I don’t think it’s quite to the same level, but she is always happy to paint or draw when Brooklyn does.
On December 31st, Abigail got ear tubes put in and had a lingual frenuloplasty (tongue tie clipping) done at the hospital where I used to work. The tongue tie thing was kind of a last minute addition after the dentist noticed her tongue tie at their appointment the week before. I mentioned it to Dr. Castillo’s nurse, and we were able to get both procedures taken care of at the same time. We had to be there bright and early at 6 AM. Abigail was the first patient of the day, so at least we didn’t have a long wait. She did really well in pre-op and was pretty content until it got close to 7 AM (I could tell she was getting hungry by then). I was able to walk with the nurse all the way back to the OR doors (one of the perks of knowing people…haha), and Abigail didn’t cry at all when the nurse carried her off and I left. I was surprised by that!
She made up for it after the fact in recovery though. Whew. I was expecting her to cry, but she was really unconsolable for almost the entire time until we were ready to go. I think it was a combination of being tired, waking up angry from the anesthesia, plus her tongue was hurting. She didn’t want to nurse or drink juice or anything. She was just angry. I was feeling pretty guilty at that point for how miserable she was and questioning whether we’d made the right decision to do the tongue tie clipping at the same time. Thankfully, she fell asleep on the way home and wasn’t quite as irritable the rest of the day.
She definitely was tired and not feeling like her normal self though. She and Daddy caught a little cat nap on the couch after lunch :)
Unfortunately, the rest of the day was anything but restful for most of us. Brooklyn and Savannah had spent the night with Cici, and she brought them home after we got home from the hospital. I turned around and took Brooklyn to see Dr. Dudley not too long after that because she’d developed an itchy rash while taking Amoxicillin a few days prior (I think it started on the 29th). Then, Brooklyn had a birthday party to go to for Victoria, one of her best friends in Mrs. Patterson’s class at school. The party was at our neighborhood clubhouse, so at least we didn’t have to go far. It was a painting party—right up Brooklyn’s alley! Brooklyn chose to paint a unicorn, of course :)
It was a fun party, and Brooklyn enjoyed seeing some of her friends that she hadn’t seen since school let out.
Then, that evening we went to a New Year’s Eve party at the Childs’ house. They have an epic arcade in their garage, and everyone always enjoys playing games when we go over there.
We didn’t stick around too long after eating supper and letting the kids play for a little while—Travis and I were tired after getting up so early and then having so much to do after that. Abigail did really well at the party. I think she was definitely feeling much better by that point than she had been. Regardless, we headed home pretty early that evening. I think we were already in bed when the clock struck midnight.
Notes and Quotes from the last week of December:
- 12/24/18 – Savannah: “When my tummy growls at me, I get mad at it.” Haha!
- 12/28/18 – Abigail will stand alone without holding onto anything pretty often now. Not always for very long, but she is definitely getting more steady and comfortable with it.
- Brooklyn and Savannah really got into singing Christmas songs this holiday season. Brooklyn especially liked singing Rudolph and “Feliz Mommy-da!”
