Merry Christmas!!!

  Christmas Eve was our usual routine.  

 Christmas Eve was our usual routine.   Lots of cuddle and smiles and for this year board games!  

Carson is finally big enough that he will actually play the way you are supposed to.  He still gets distracted and bored before it's over but he is very interested in at least starting to play.  We spent most of the day like this, just hanging out as a family.  We put on a couple Christmas shows but no one paid them much attention.

Christmas Eve we always have dinner with Grandma and Papa H.  It was Aunt Anna and Uncle Scott's year to be with us so we got to see baby Eliza again!  I got some high quality snuggles in with the little love while everyone was eating.

She was asleep and Carson came up to me "I washed my hands so I can hold the baby".  He hunkered down next to me and I gently laid her in his arms.  He was fascinated.  He sat there and touched every finger and toe.  He gave her kisses and was enthralled by her tiny-ness.  She kept telling me how beautiful she is. Dillon didn't want to disturb her sleep but he kept swinging by and kissing her head or rubbing her back.  At one point he told me "I wish she was our sister".  That just about broke my heart.  The plan, once upon a time, was to have four beautiful children, the last of which I was sure would be a girl (I know, I know).  Life has a tendency to do other things.  A fourth baby simply wasn't something for me anymore. It took a lot for me to get past that vision of my future. To give up the idea of having another of my own.  To hear him talk about her in that was made me feel very nostalgic and bereft in a way.  I don't want another child, not anymore, I am content and completely in love with the three I have,,,but my heart still knows I wanted another one.  So my sweet new little nieces can plan on extra loves from me.

On the way home from dinner we decided to drive through a neighborhood that was supposed to have good Christmas lights.  There were parts of it that did an amazing job, lights strung up over the street between houses, amazing.  Kayda and Carson had a great time driving through, Dillon was pouting because he wanted to go home and go to sleep so that Santa would get here sooner. Carson sat in my lap with the window down and his head hanging out so he could see better.  Kayda kept exclaiming how beautiful everything was and pointed out every reindeer.  She gets VERY excited to see the reindeer decorations.  A few nights back a friend's barn was flooding so we were driving over in the pouring rain, in the dark, towing a trailer to go help them; she kept yelling "deer" every time she saw one.  She was scaring me out of my wits every time.  Deer frequently are seen along the roads in town and I kept thinking one was about to jump out in front of me!

When we got home they all went to sleep like champs.

Christmas morning Daddy makes them wait until Mom and Dad are all set up for them to come downstairs.  He loves to video them walking down the stairs and in to where Santa left them presents.  Forgive the blurriness, our good camera is nowhere to be found...

This year watching the kids open presents was especially fun!  I have a tendency to wrap gifts in whatever boxes we have which means they end up in cracker boxes, oatmeal, cereal etc.  This year with almost every single gift the kids would open it and exclaim how excited they were to get crackers or cereal!  They are turning into such funny, kind, grateful and smart people.  I truly enjoy my time with them!

Notice Carson just lounging while Daddy does all his work?  I think he helped at the beginning but quickly grew bored.  They all did legos while I started cooking so that we could run up to Grandma and Papa H's before running over to Grandma and Papa G's.

We were able to make it to Grandma and Papa H's without making them all wait more than about 10 minutes. The men folk (yes I just said that) were engaged in trying to figure out how to get Uncle Greg's new drone out of a 60ft tree.  They went back to it on occasion with breaks for unwrapping gifts and chatting.  The drone is still there...  Daddy described opening gifts quite well.  He says it is basically everyone piling up their gifts and opening them as they please.  In the chaos you'll here "Thank you Scott and Anna, Thanks Peggy, Thanks...."  So it becomes a magical, short, time period where your senses are overloaded in every way!

Then it was off to Grandma and Papa G's.  Fortunately Uncle Justin, Aunt Ayana and Baby Clara were here for Christmas.  We were all in love with Clara, again. As soon as we came in it was candy and Clara.  Eventually we got presents unwrapped and then the kids took turns hanging out with Clara.

 I know this picture is blurry but Carson had taken his gloves from a gift and was holding them on her head singing about her being a baby reindeer.  He then went on to sing about how she has a nose that glows so bright!  She sat there quite pleased to be chewing on a toy and hanging out with her big cousin!

Dillon was out playing football for a while but when he came back in it was all Clara!

After dinner we headed back home to play more legos and ALL the new board games.  It was a very busy Christmas, I can't say we'll do it every year, but it was fun.  The kids all say they had a great Christmas, even when presents weren't considered. Merry Christmas everyone!