Christmas Recap

Ah Christmas. The babes' first Christmas has come and gone, and we survived our long road trip crossing state lines (but barely on the return journey). One more family get together this weekend (At our home- thank goodness I have all week off of school to clean. My home hasn't been cleaned adequately since October when the last relative came for a visit.) and Christmas 2010 will be in the books.

Our dog Bella had her best Christmas ever: at the last minute our friend (who has a littermate of Bella's) invited Bella to stay at her place for the duration of our trip to Minnesota, instead of the mean ol' nasty kennel (where a stressed out Bella ate her own leash last time). Our friend was staying at home and apparently liked the thought of two puppy-like labs staying in one apartment for a few days. This also meant that Bella got to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning at our home since we didn't have to drop her off at the kennel during their office hours. It wouldn't have felt quite right without her there.

We went to our church's 4:30 pm Christmas Eve candlelight service this year; because of our babies' bedtime the later service we used to attend just wasn't a possibility. We weren't prepared for the much larger crowd and actually ended up sitting in folding chairs in the sanctuary by the front door. We were so far back that I couldn't read the words on the tv screen set up just so the overflow crowd could follow along. Wowza- I will have to remember that next year we need to be at least a half hour early, if not more. It warmed my heart to remember singing my favorite Christmas songs at the candlelight service last year to my uterus, and this time being able to sing them while snuggling my babies close. Anna punctuated a few songs with her noisy "Mwah!" kisses. And then it didn't matter one bit that we were sitting under the exit sign by the drafty door.

Sam wet through his special Christmas pjs overnight (accidents at night still seem to be more regular than I'd like, even though we use overnights diapers), so we postponed stocking unveiling and gift opening until I could wash and dry the sleeper. (Hey, it was only for an hour and a half and Sam and Anna didn't know the difference. Plus, the pictures were a lot cuter with the matching Santa pjs.) In true little kid fashion, the wrapping paper was a bigger hit than the gifts. In our family, Santa only fills your stocking with smaller gifts. Santa brought Sam and Anna socks (that he got from babysteals, naturally), slippers, ornaments, books, and their first toothbrushes. (because when else can you put socks and toothbrushes in a stocking without an adverse reaction?) Anna thought that Sam's wrapping paper rustling was the most hilarious thing ever that she fell over guffawing at him. I adore that little girl's laugh. Sam and Anna got one gift from us- My Pal Violet and My Pal Scout. We didn't feel the need to get more than one thing to unwrap as our family of four because they don't have a clue anyway, and we knew they'd get more than enough from our other gift exchanges. Scout and Violet are the first toys that belong to just them- everything else so far is pretty much community property (because how can you tell a 9 month old that something belongs to their sibling?) I preprogrammed their names into the toys before they were wrapped, so right away the stuffed dogs were ready to say, "I love you Sam" and I love you Anna."


We hit the road that afternoon and 4 hours later arrived at Christmas gathering #1. It went well, even though Anna decided to skip her second nap (This has never ever happened before. A car napper she is NOT.) and the babes were up 2 hours past their bedtime. I kept looking nervously at the clock, but they were troopers and did not get fussy until we finally put them in their pajamas. We just couldn't put them to bed any earlier because we were staying at my parents house and there was no way they would have been able to sleep through the ruckus. So yes, Anna was awake for around 8 hours in a stretch. I credit the fact that I've always been really aware of their sleep needs that one day that was wayyyy off of their sleep routine didn't cause them to meltdown. They did not get enough sleep on Christmas Day, but were still able to function well because they aren't perpetually getting too little sleep. Since my father cooks the turkey in the fireplace, the heat didn't really kick in all night, and we woke up to a chilly room at 59 degrees (since the door was closed). I was really worried about Sam and Anna, but apparently they fared well in their onesie+fleece sleeper+fleece sleepsack.



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We then headed to Christmas #2 the next morning on the 26th. This also went well, although Anna once again had a second nap strike. We planned on leaving at their usual 7 pm bedtime that night and driving the 4 hours home while they slept. This worked okay for us at Thanksgiving and so we thought we'd try it again. As it usually goes, we ended up leaving much later than we had planned and finally hit the road at 8:30 pm. Anna did not do as well during this nighttime drive; probably because she was so overtired from skipping a second nap two days in a row and staying up late both days as well. They both started out sleeping, but Anna ended up awake from about 11 pm until 12:45 am. I must have replaced her pacifier 50 times trying to get her to fall back asleep to no avail. I think we will really have to evaluate how it went before we try the nighttime driving plan again...

We did get home in one piece and are slowly trying to get back to our typical routine (minus daycare for the next week). The poor kids have so many new toys they can't even play with all of them in one day. If the toys hadn't taken over our home before this, they certainly have now. I'm learning that as they get bigger, their toys get bigger too...

(The 6 foot tunnel was a big hit)