Post-Christmas

After all the hubbub, it is finally over. Christmas Eve I took the boys and headed down to meet some of my family at the mall for our annual lunch. The idea is that everyone is supposed to be all ready for the holiday to start and we can just sit in the food court, enjoy our lunches, and laugh at all the other people running around the mall who aren't ready yet. At least that is the idea. It was the first time I ever took both kids anywhere by myself. It likely wouldn't have been a big ordeal, however, I had to be prepared for the entire day which meant stuff for eating out, going to the mall, eating in, napping, church, and pj's to change into since we wouldn't be heading back home until late. That was a lot of stuff. Our car really isn't all that big. William slept the whole car ride (about an hour) and Marcus decided not to fall asleep until five minutes before we got to the mall. So when we arrived, Marcus woke up and was crying because he wanted to be asleep. I was trying to get the stroller out of the back of the car but that meant I needed to remove everything else out of the back of the car first, get the stroller out, and put everything back in the car. Then I was trying to get the diaper bag in the stroller when the bag tipped over and everything fell out and started rolling across the parking lot. It was about then I heard someone yell, "It's Aunt Annie!" It was my sister and her kids who got there just after all the chaos was coming to a close and I was able to fake being totally together and organized and stress-free.

Lunch was very nice and I got to see some lovely ladies in my family. We got stuck there for awhile because Marcus must have been starving to death based on how much food he ate. He just kept eating and eating! Then I was off to my parents' house. It was way past nap time but before I could get the kids to take a nap I had to get them out of the car and into the house. Then I had to get all their stuff out of the car and into the house. Then I had to get the pack 'n play set up. My mom had taken my aunt back home so she wasn't even there to help. Finally I thought I had everything ready for the nap and managed to get both kids upstairs. Only I forgot the diapers. My mom came home and was able to bring those up. I wasn't even sure if the kids would nap since it was a strange place and all. I laid on the bed with Marcus for a bit and he fell asleep rather quickly. William on the other hand, he wanted to know what was going on on the bed and he kept peeking over the top of the pack 'n play. I finally got him to go to sleep by sitting next to the pack 'n play for a good while so he could see that I was still there. Amazingly, the kids slept for about 2 hours.

Greg showed up (he drove down separately) and the kids got up and it was time for presents!!


(The sweater that William is wearing was handknit by Amanda and totally beautiful. The sweater that Marcus is wearing was a gift from Melissa. Thanks girls!)

My parents got Marcus a pretend vacuum since my kid has this fondness for cleaning. He pretended to vacuum the entire house. He was even getting under the kitchen table. The vacuum makes noises. We haven't even put batteries in the vacuum yet since he is finding so much entertainment in it while it is in quiet mode.

After presents we had a nice dinner with my parents and then got ready for church. It was around that time when I decided to let my stupidity get the best of me. You know how there are warning labels on things? It really doesn't do any good to read them if you don't follow the warning. Marcus and William were getting into everything so I decided to stick William in the walker my mom has, the walker I used when I was little. I needed to adjust the height though and even though I KNOW you are supposed to remove the kid from the walker before doing this, I didn't. I managed to smash several of my fingers on both hands into the walker as the thing collapsed. I thought I had broken about five fingers but it turns out that they are just bruised. Christmas Eve evening and yesterday they were feeling quite sore but today they are much better. Which is good because otherwise I wouldn't be typing this.

It was off to church. The kids were very antsy and Marcus threw a temper tantrum during the sermon. That was fun. Oh, and William burped really loud and it echoed during a very quiet moment. After church we stopped by my old neighbor's house to visit with some neighbors and show off the kids. Finally we hit the road and headed back home. The kids went straight to bed and so did we so we could wait for Santa to show up.

Christmas morning!!

I figured the kids would be really tired since they didn't fall asleep until after 10:00 the night before. Nope. They were up around 7:30. We ate cinnamon rolls and checked out the presents.


Greg and I were on a low budget for gifts for each other so I got some great gifts like ear plugs and this:


Then we played with with presents.


Marcus enjoyed his new toys for about 5 minutes. Then he was back to vacuuming.


The sweetest boys ever. Marcus is giving his baby brother a kiss.


After lunch we hit the road for the hour and a half drive up to Greg's parents' house. The kids slept the whole way and I kept thinking that I should be sleeping too. When we arrived we had a very yummy meal with Greg's parents, his sister, and his grandfather. Then it was time for... more presents!!



Greg's aunt and uncle stopped by to see the boys and we all just pretty much hung out after that and played with toys. We did pause to get some photos for four generations of men in the family.


At one point while we were visiting, Marcus was grunting and turning red in the face and I whispered to him, "Are you pooping?" He nodded and I said, "We're going to have to take care of that." As soon as he stopped his grunting, he ran across the room, grabbed the changing pad with the diapers and wipes in it, ran back, unrolled the diaper pad, and laid down on it. Sweet! And I thought having kids around was just so they could fetch the remote!

So yes, it was a very nice holiday. It was great seeing everyone and amazing to get to see two little boys of my very own dancing around the Christmas tree on Christmas morning.