Much to all of our surprise, we had a white Christmas in Georgia! It was the icing on the cake of a seriously wonderful week. Like every year, we kicked off the Christmas festivities with the Christmas Eve-Eve Open House. But, unlike other years, I actually live here this time. I was able to send Jeff and the kids to his parents for the night while Mom and I cleaned and prepared until 7:30 in the morning. The party was a big one this year, and it was awesome to see some faces that I haven't seen in ages... including my childhood best friend that I haven't laid eyes on in 20 years. To top it off, we had sitters to help with the kids, so parents and kids could all have a wonderful night. If that's not magical, I don't know what is!
Taylor and Cameron spent the night with Asa and Addison, which I has become a tradition that I absolutely love. How fun to have a sleep over with cousins the night of an extraordinary holiday bash. The next morning, we woke to a yummy breakfast and presents with my brothers, sisters-in-law, and all of my nieces and nephews. Ivey was amazed by the whole thing. She sat, quietly, deliberately opening every present. She was soaking it all in, as she does often in the same silent, wide-eyed way that she did the day she was born. Asa got the remote controlled helicopter that he had been asking for and Addison was in video game heaven!
After the bits of wrapping paper had settled, Hal and Jen and my entire crew headed over to Papa's for lunch. Usually, the family has dinner on Christmas Eve, which always conflicts with church, dinner, and presents with Jeff's parents. This year, we were able to go, stay, and enjoy ourselves! I had such a wonderful time seeing everyone. We have really been missing out all these years and I am thrilled we were able to go!
By the time we made it to Jeff's parents' house, it was way past naptime. I was able to get the girls in bed, but we had to wake them up less than an hour later so that we could go to church. This went as well as could be expected... Ivey really likes to wake up in her own sweet time! Jeff complained that we were going to be late. We were. By 15 minutes. In my opinion, that's just 15 less minutes for me to have to work my tail off keeping two babies quiet and still! We piled our gaggle of children into the pew and I proceeded to entertain, give a bottle, fix a show, take off my necklace to give it to Ivey, draw stars on the back of an envelope, juggle babies from one side to another... one person to another... on pew to another. Toward the end, Ivey made it back to sit with Papa, where she was very happy until the last three minutes of service... when hot wax from the candle dripped right on her long skinny little finger. Needless to say, it didnt' go well.
I know that in a few short years, we will have four children who should be perfectly capable of keeping relatively quiet for 45 minutes. This phase of constant baby care and perpetual motion will no last, and I am sure I will look back and miss the days of Christmas Eve service baby juggling.
On the way back to Jeff's parents' house, we went to see the Christmas lights at the Gaddy's. The girls weren't the only ones completely exhausted. Twice that day, Asa had fallen asleep in the van! As tired as they were, everyone perked up when we made it back to Randy and Linda's house. Addison asked me if I could please "eat fast" so they could get right to the presents. They were bouncing off the walls! This year, Jeff and I went in with Mike to get the boys' Christmas present. I wanted to get them a telescope. Mike wanted to get them a telescope. Well, when we combined our efforts, I quickly realized that Uncle Mike would get a way cooler telescope than I ever would. So, he took the reins. When he walked into the house with their gift, my jaw dropped. I swear, we could set up our own observation center with this thing! It was cold outside, but we went out and checked out the band across Jupiter, Jupiter's moons, and then the next night we got a seriously fabulous view of the moon. I was blown away! Leave it to Uncle Mike to make a Christmas present super cool.
On the way home, I was all smiles. The van was full of wonderful noise... The boys were asking us to hurry and talking to each other about how they needed to go right to bed so that Santa would come. Olive was cooing and holding out those long droning notes that means she is one step away from sleep. Ivey was singing "Santa Claus is coming to-niiiiiiiiiiite" to herself over and over again. The sweet sounds of Christmas Eve.
Although I was completely and utterly beat, I managed to jump out of bed when Asa and Addison came up to get us at 7:00. Like last year, we did Christmas morning in rounds. Ivey likes to sleep in, so we were able to focus on Asa and Addison (and Olive) first. They hit the jackpot, with LEGO kits and Wii games and K'NEX sets galore. This Christmas, they acquired over 4000 pieces of LEGOs. Luckily, they are ultra organized! Addison got the new Harry Potter LEGO wii game he was hoping for, and Asa got the roller coaster set that he wanted. They also got a surprise from Santa, an 80 foot long slack line.... but with the wet, cold weather, they will have to try it out another day.
Once Ivey woke up, she walked into the room and entered into her quiet observation stage. She knew Santa had come and she wanted to see the one thing that she asked for.... CANDY. She inspected her stocking, picking out a package of M&M's. She knelt down on the floor, picking up one little M&M at a time, trying to wake up and absorb all of the craziness around her. Less than an hour later, she was bouncing off the walls, ecstatic about the candy in her stocking, as well as her parents' unusual willingness to let her eat it. She was having a blast. She began to realize that there were tons of toys all around her... all for her. She had a kitchen set, books, a puzzle... she loved Olive's toys as well. It may not have been Ivey's first Christmas, but it was the first one that she truly understood, enjoyed, and immersed herself in!
Later that day, the Registers came over for dinner. Ivey was still having the time of her life. For her, the parties could just keep on coming! Each group of people we saw presented her with a whole new crowd of candy possibilities. We spent time with my aunts, uncles, and cousins... eating another great Christmas meal. Although I ran out of steam, Mom's energy seemed to come straight out of Mary Poppins magic bag. Her ability to pull out a new buffet of holiday food was simply impressive.
For Olive, it was a great first Christmas. She may not understand any of it, but she sure enjoyed all of the wrapping paper, boxes, and toys that littered the floor! There were people around to smile at and lots of arms to hold her. She ate up the attention. Jen was a lifesaver for me. She and Hal stayed here at the house for four days, and Jen jumped in and took a lead roll in Olive duties. I had worked myself into a state of extreme sleep deprivation (and some pretty bad dehydration, actually), and it was an awesome Christmas gift to have her help! She is a natural... She even handled being completely drenched in regurgitated milk with grace!
It was a wonderful Christmas, and for all of my stress and worry that I wouldn't be ready in time, it went off without a hitch (or at least without a very noticeable one). Now, I just need to settle in for a long winter's nap!
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