Christmas Memories 2012

I thought for sure that last year's Christmas/surprise trip to Disney would be impossible to beat, but this was the most memorable Christmas yet!

Let me back up a bit to make note of the entire holiday season.  Jackson is at the age now that truly makes Christmas (and everyday) magical.   Even being 9 months pregnant during the month of December, I tried my best to give the season my all because of the joy it brought to Jackson.  From nightly drives through the neighborhoods to look at the "pretty decorations" to singing jingle bells every night on our way home. These are the memories I will hold near and dear to my heart.

Santa, oh Santa, how memorizing you are in his eyes.  Even the tacky blow-up ones that cover the lawns of most neighborhoods.  Now that the decorations are coming down, my sweet boy has decided that you all blew away up the chimney with Santa and Buddy (the elf) back to the North Pole.

Speaking of Buddy the elf, you made this Christmas for Jackson.  The first night you joined our house, you made the mistake of resting on a shelf in Jackson's room.  This caused serious problems when it was time for you to report back to Santa at the North Pole at 11PM and a certain little boy was still sitting wide-eyed in his bed, watching and waiting for you to fly away.  Yes, Buddy, that was the last night you took up space in his room! Please be sure to warn the Tooth Fairy;)

Mr. and I were sure that Christmas Eve would be much like Buddy's first night at the house.  But, much to our surprise, Jackson slept through the night...unlike his baby sister:)  Christmas morning started out slow and sleepy and quickly turned into a fast and furious scramble.  This may or may not have been my fault.  Jackson woke up and didn't take much interest in the new presents under the tree.  So my sweet husband turned on a show and snuggled with him on the couch and let me sleep.  Yes, I made my son wait for Christmas morning so I could catch another hour of sleep.  New mom fog!

The biggest surprise of Christmas was a swing set (Jackson calls it his playground) that Santa brought for the kids.  My brother-in-law and step-dad assembled the entire thing while we were in the hospital! So, my parents called at 9AM to say that they were on their way over after a change of heart over wanting to see Jackson's reaction to the swing set.  And from that point, Christmas was on!

Jackson was so surprised by the swing set, which was quickly overshadowed by his sadness when he realized that Buddy was gone back to the North Pole.  A meltdown later and a huge lesson learned for next year, we were back on track.  Presents were torn through at our house until Jackson opened his T-Rex from Santa (the one and only thing he really wanted, which was discontinued and Amazon saved the day).

Once Jackson was satisfied with his new dino, he was ready to head to Loli & Pops for more presents! So, we packed everything up and headed to our next Christmas at my mom's.

A delicious breakfast was served in our matching pj's, with mimosas and coffee with Bailey's.  And much to our surprise, Santa was very good to us at my mom's house as well.  On top of an all-inclusive, all-expenses paid, week at a 5-star resort in Aruba for the 4th of July, Santa loaded the family room with presents and castles!

The rest of the day was spent playing with new toys, nursing babies and catching quick naps when we could.  We ran home to get cleaned up and waited for my Dad and his girlfriend to arrive from St. Louis. Christmas was certainly not over, as we had a nice dinner planned back at my mom's.  And because the more, the merrier, Mr.'s dad's side of the family joined us for a visit too! It was so nice to be able to camp out and have everyone travel to us to see sweet Mattie Jayne and celebrate Jesus' birthday!

After dinner we had a cake with candles and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus.  It is after all what the holiday is all about!

My dad and Nancy spent the rest of the week at out house, which was so nice.  We didn't do much at all during their stay, but the days went by so fast.  We spent a lot of time lounging by the fire, playing with all of Jackson's new toys and getting to know our new baby girl.

I wouldn't have changed one thing about the holiday, except for maybe the weather! I'm so over the rain and ready for some sunshiney afternoons on Jackson's new playground:)

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!