The Christmas Adventure!

Christmas this year has been nothing but incredible. We were all spoiled rotten, the kids had such a fun time everywhere we went, and now we are simply vegging....having a movie day, ordering Chinese food later, and still have parties to attend tonight and tomorrow night. What a week of fun, indeed!

 

I've been baking up a storm the past two weeks. I have taken huge platters of Christmas goodies to work and Kendall's daycare. I also have another one to make for tomorrow's party. It's been insane in my kitchen, but this house has smelled amazing.

 

 

 

This time of year, Joey camps out under the Christmas tree. I'm not sure why, but this is where she can be found 99% of the time she's inside the house.

 

 

 

Per usual, we spent Christmas Eve at my parents' house. We ditched the normal finger foods we have always done and instead had a wonderful sit-down dinner. It was delicious!  The kids were squirming in their seats the entire time, eager to open their presents. I just wanted to get back and sit by the fire!

 

 

 

 

It finally begins!  ;)

 

 

Dana and Veronica sent down some gifts for the kids. Kendall got a Frozen dress-up box. She chose Anna's outfit first and kept it on most of the night.

 

 

 

Carter got a basketball hoop and has now spent hours and hours shooting hoops.

 

 

 

 

The most sought after toy this year was definitely the Doc McStuffins Get Better Mobile. This thing was sold out in stores and online. Fortunately, my mom and I hunted one down and I wish I had video of Kendall opening this gift! She was over the moon!

 

 

 

 

A while back, when the kids and I were roaming stores to get ideas for their wish lists, Carter and I happened upon a game called Mouse Trap. This is a game I remember from my childhood, and while it's a little bit different, the goal of the game is still the same. And Carter won!

 

 

 

Giving Papa a check-up!

 

 

 

Christmas morning was crazy in our house. Eric was up most of the night with some stomach issues, so I made my way to the couch to attempt to get SOME sleep. This didn't happen and Carter kept sneaking out every 30 minutes to catch Santa. I was one tired mama when the kids came out in the morning.

 

Santa brought Kendall a balance bike. Eric.....I mean SANTA.....swears that these produce better results than bikes with training wheels, so I guess we'll find out!

 

 

 

 

Santa brought Carter Grimlock Stomp & Chomp......a dinosaur that turns into a Transformer. Pretty fancy.....and loud.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both kids also got big Lego sets - I spent about an hour with Kendall yesterday, putting together a small portion of her house. It's so fun to watch her think and build. I'm scared to even open Carter's set - almost 1000 pieces?!

 

 

 

 

The rest of Christmas Day was spent at Eric's sister, Ashley's house. We had a wonderful prime rib dinner and then opened gifts with the family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Again, we were all spoiled rotten. It was so nice to just sit around in a circle and watch the gift opening and visit with everyone.

 

 

 

 

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

A Christmas Summary

I am combining the Christmas celebrations into one post this year.  We pretty much had three big ones.....one with my family, one with just the four of us, and one with Eric's family.  And I will provide plenty of pictures, naturally.

Kendall has officially outgrown being swaddled for her naps and overnight sleeping.  She also rolls out of her sleep positioner, so we took that out of her crib and advised her daycare to do the same.  So sleeping free of all restrictions is fairly new to her.  But it seems to work just fine and she is back into her normal schedule.

 I did a lot of holiday baking this year.  I tried two new recipes - a shortbread thumbprint with black raspberry filling and a glaze, and the second recipe was white chocolate macadamia nut bark.  Both were fantastic and I received many compliments.

 On Christmas Eve, we went over to my parents' house to celebrate.  We had some great fingers foods and open gifts. 

 Don't Break the Ice was one of Carter's favorite gifts, and Dana challenged him to a game.  Carter actually won!  I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot of this game in the future - certainly brings back memories of my childhood!

 Kendall was somewhat active in opening presents.  She loved the bows and would occasionally pull on the paper.

My brother brought his girlfriend over.  They are moving to Alaska in a matter of weeks, so it was nice to spend time with him.

 Dana got Carter an awesome bike helmet.  It is quite fitting of Carter's personality, that's for sure, especially since he sported a mohawk for quite a while this summer.

On Christmas morning, Carter came running into our room, showing us the sword that Santa brought him.  He also received a VTech learning game system from Santa.  He and Eric spent quite a bit of time playing around with the different games (there were 8 total).

 Santa brought Kendall a stand-up music table.  Carter had one of these when he was a baby and absolutely loved it.  So we figured we (I mean Santa) would get her one too in the hopes that she would get as much enjoyment as her brother did.

 Peek-a-boo!

 Chewing on her phone.

One of the gifts that Carter received this year was skiing lessons up at Bogus.  We needed to make sure he had all the proper gear to go along with the lessons, so we got him some snazzy goggles and a ski helmet.  He also got new gloves.

 Kendall received lots of little toys to develop her manual dexterity.  It's so fun to watch her manipulate the toys....though they usually end up in her mouth to be chewed on.

 She also got some new books to add to her collection.  I need to find her a bookshelf!

 Once we were done opening gifts, I sent the kids to their rooms to play with their new toys while Eric and I finished cleaning and prepping for the big celebration later.

After her morning nap, I got Kendall all dolled up in her third Christmas outfit.  She was such a cutie!

 Once Eric's mom, stepdad, sisters, brother-in-law, and grandma showed up, we began another round of gift opening.

 Ashley, David & Kendall

Janelle and Kendall

 Ashley and Kendall

 Mr. Handsome and me

 After we were done opening gifts, we got ready for the big dinner party.  I was hosting 17 people this year!  Much bigger than what I'm used to, and I somehow managed to keep my stress level under control.

 Eric, his Grandma Dort, and Bill discussing how to make the prime rib.

 Game time! 

 Grammy Michelle and her grandbabies.