Christmas this year was extra special for me. You see, when I found out I was pregnant with Connor, my mind immediately calculated the days, and I knew that we wouldn't be traveling to Baton Rouge this year because we'd have a newborn on our hands, in addition to our toddler. Just not feasible (at least for me anyways). I was so sad, because Christmas has always been a huge tradition holiday for our family. My sister Megan and her husband Ben were planning on coming to visit, but it just wouldn't be the same without the rest of the family. So when we had Connor, and mom and dad mentioned possibly coming up along with Meg and Ben, Drew and I were elated. We decided that everyone would just stay here. Everyone being all 8 of us adults, plus our two kids. That's 10 people in our 1300 square foot house. COZY. But you know what? We had so much fun, and made great memories.
Wednesday the 22nd, Mom, Dad, Laura and Jeff arrived that evening right before B went to bed. Brayden was beyond excited. Wawa and Papa were finally here (we've finally decided that they are his favorites)! Then Thursday Meg and Ben showed up in the afternoon. The night that Meg and Ben arrived we had a nice steak dinner to celebrate the entire family being together:
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| Drew caught most of us mid-bite. I promise we don't look like this all the time :) |
Friday was Christmas Eve. Most of the day was spent just hanging around the house:
The boys went skeet shooting in the afternoon, and then that evening we went to our church's Christmas Eve service. It's very child oriented, complete with glo-sticks. Brayden had a blast and did so well the entire service! He even clapped and said "yay" after some of the different skits and songs.
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| hanging with his Auntie "Wawa" |
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| I know this is blurry, but I had to put it on here. I get teary eyed every year during candle light services... it gets to me in a way I can't even explain. |
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| someone stole the camera |
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| Showing off his new toys... he LOVED the glo sticks! |
When we got home, Brayden was able to open up his Christmas Eve gift. I started a tradition last year where he gets a new pair of jammies on Christmas Eve. He opened Connor's too :)
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| Ever since Brayden was little, he's always wanted his blankie and his paci before bed. He then rubs his blankie on his nose. It's the surefire way we know he's tired. |
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| someone wasn't too happy about posing in his new jammies |
Saturday morning we all woke up with the birds (and Brayden) and celebrated the birth of our newborn king! Drew read the Christmas story:
And then we all opened gifts (mostly we just watched Brayden open gifts!):
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| notice the dogs snooping around |
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| Another goldfish break :) |
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| Dad got a blu-ray player! |
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| taking a break for some goldfish-- perfect stocking stuffer alternative to candy! |
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| A Thomas the Tank Engine set from Gigi and Poppa D. He LOVES "choo-choo's"! |
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| Our gift to him was new hot wheels and a car rug. |
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| Laura and Jeff got him a Woody doll with a matching blanket. Considering we already knew he was obsessed with Toy Story 2 (I haven't let him watch Toy Story 3 yet, and he wants Jessie every time I try to get him to watch the original Toy Story), this was a no brainer present. Woody and the blanket have to be with him now when he goes to sleep! |
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| Laura was pretty excited about her Sonic card from Meg and Ben. |
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| the dogs had to get in on the goldfish action |
For the rest of Christmas day we kind of just laid low. Megan got some good snuggles from the Santa Baby himself:
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| his Christmas outfit that he wore for about 2 hours before completely soaking it with spit up :( |
Laura slept, and gave me evil eyes for carrying around my camera:
And then later Christmas evening my Aunt Kelly and Uncle Paul came over with their 4 girls and we spent some time with them.
The entire fam left the day after Christmas. Talk about a dramatic let down to a fun filled week of celebration. I am so grateful that we had the opportunity to have everyone together though, and wouldn't trade it for anything.
