Merry Christmas 2014

Back on a lighter note

Christmas this year was truly magical. For the first time, we had that bright-eyed wonder of Christmas and Santa and Stickers and Presents and Cookies and Lights.  Yes, this boy and his lights!

It was so fun to watch PDG start to actually get it this year.  And to watch little MDG waddle around completely confused by it all but wanting to share in anything his big brother did or found.

We didn't make it out to any big light shows like the temple or the zoo, but we did make quite a few trips to nearby neighborhoods, driving 15mph and oohing and ahhing over even the smallest displays. Plus, each afternoon as the sun would set PDG helped me "wake up" our own two blow-ups in the front yard. I've never had decorations as a grown up, so I might've been just as excited as he was. And thanks to post-Christmas sales, next year we'll have even more to "wake up" in the yard.

Although the first round of cards didn't get this treatment, PDG helped with the second batch of cards by putting stickers everywhere and scribbling with a red crayon on the back. If you got one of those, know it was made with love. If you didn't, know it was done after bedtime for ease and sanity.

We were perhaps so prepared for the holiday this year in part because J-Man had to fly home to attend his grandmother's funeral, and took MDG with him for some silver lining on the trip and to introduce him to some of the G Family.  That left me alone with one kid (which feels easy now, after juggling two - how did that happen?) so I could decorate and shop and wrap at the beginning of the month.

That, plus amazon prime is a life saver.  How did my parents ever actually shop for everything for us growing up? In real stores?

We had our annual brunch which is quickly becoming full of babies.  Baby boys to be specific. MDG was caught between the big boys, now old enough to just go play in PDG's room building lego towers by themselves, and the smaller babies content to roll on the floor with the toys he's now grown bored by. But it's MDG, so mostly he just sort of walked from person to person, checking out their plates, laughing with that goofy grin of his, and then deciding he was scared and wanted no one but his mama.

By the time Christmas did finally arrive, the boys were ready. They'd been filling up on Advent calendar chocolates all month, watching the present pile under the tree gradually grow, searching for our Elf on the Shelf named "Elf" and running around with reindeer antler headbands long enough to have broken most of them.

We went to see J-Man's family for Thai take-out Christmas Eve dinner, woke up to Santa's presents at our house, then drove for more food, family, and present exchanging with the H Family. We all got a little spoiled by each other.

 

Perhaps one of my favorite moments was when my parents opened their gift from me, Big Sis and Big Bro - a new pillow with a family photo on it.  It seems only yesterday we got the original, even though Big Bro's sons are probably older now than I was in that first photo. It seemed time for an update.

I love Christmas and the chance it gives us to focus on the people we love and making them happy. Yes, I believe in religious pieces of the holiday, but even if you don't, I think we can all agree that sharing a gift that will bring a genuine smile to the face of someone you love is a wonderful pursuit. And yeah, receiving a gift like that isn't so bad either.