It was a busy Christmas - I definitely wasn't prepared mentally/emotionally/physically for Christmas with three children. For some reason, all of our Christmas celebrations were one right after the other. All of that excitement, along with the travel and lack of a schedule (including naps!), was exhausting for us. The boys also decided that they needed to go through a little growth spurt during the week as well and wanted to eat 4-5 ounces every two hours. All of the exhaustion and stress caused a drop in my milk supply, which only served to exhaust and stress me out more! However, as crazy as things were, it was wonderful to be with family and there were wonderful moments that I will remember. So here goes. . .
You would think as excited as Lucy had been about Santa coming that she would have been up at three in the morning! However, she didn't wake up until around 7:30. . . I was walking back down the hall after getting something out of the kitchen when she sat straight up in bed and said, "Santa! Has he been here?" We went into the living room, where she went straight for her Tinkerbell doll.
Eventually, she got around to looking at all the other things as well. She needed a little guidance to figure out what exactly her Leap Pad was, but once she learned how it worked, she was good to go! :)
The boys got this piano play gym which they LOVE. Santa should have been smart and gotten two . . .
After Daddy and Charlie came and joined Mommy and Lucy and Alex, Lucy decided it was time to open stockings. She dug items out of her stocking one by one and got excited about each one. She pulled out a bag of Mint Hershey kisses, which she loves, and some Mini M&M's, followed by "Princess Lipstick" (Bonnie Bell lipgloss) and then PONIES! My Little Pony has these little ponies that come in a bag at Walmart. The excitement is that you never know which pony you will get! She pulled one out, got all excited as I opened it, and then went back to her stocking, only to pull another one out. She got even more excited, and then pulled another one out. I wish we had the video camera out as she pulled out the fourth one (four in all) because she was jumping up and down and screaming and it was hilarious! After she discovered all that was in her stocking she moved on to help the boys open their stockings. (She also helped them "play" with their new toys too - isn't she thoughtful! ;) ) When she opened her Daddy's stocking, she found there was toothpaste, deodorant, razors and things like that. (Santa wasn't creative with Mom and Dad's stockings!) Michael asked Lucy, "Does Santa think I smell?" and she replied, "You do sometimes!"
Lucy played a little more with her gifts from Santa while the boys kicked and played with their new mat. They seriously love this thing - they have always loved to kick and now it has a purpose. They also love all of the items that hang from the overhead bar. We have several playmats that we've used with them and this is the first one where they will reach out and grab at the hanging items.
We opened the family presents that were under the tree next. . . . there was no waiting until after breakfast! Everyone seemed to enjoy the things they received. On Pinterest, I had seen a pin that talked about the four gift rule: A gift you want, a gift you need, a gift to wear, and a gift to read. . . . I thought this was a smart idea and after this year, I think we're going to stick with that plan. Michael surprised me with my "gift you want" and got me a Mother's ring. He designed it himself and it has the three birthstones of my precious babies. :) Needless to say, I was shocked - not only had he paid attention when I said it was something I wanted and done all that work himself, but he had managed to keep it a secret from me! That's pretty big considering he told me about my engagement ring the day that he bought it! ;)
After all the present fun, Daddy played with all the kids so that I could get breakfast going. We had French Toast Casserole (thanks again to Pinterest!), bacon, eggs, and mimosas for the grownups.
We played until about lunch time, then loaded up the car and headed to Mama Mae's house. Below is Lucy in her dress made by my college roommate, Carissa. Lucy wanted to put the dress on as soon as she opened the package - she LOVES it! :)
We got to Mama Mae's and after a crazy screaming session by two hungry little boys, we had a nice meal together. Things from that evening are a blur to me, but it was nice to see everyone. The next morning was something out of sitcom though - all you could do was laugh at the insanity of it. We had just finished feeding the boys around 4 AM and had gotten them settled and back to bed. I had gone to the fridge to put in the milk I had just pumped and came back to find Michael stuck - one of the bed frame slats had fallen and he was wedged in between the mattress and the headboard. It was obvious that we couldn't fix the bed since all three kids were also asleep in the room, so I laid down in the floor with Lucy (who didn't have a nap the day before and also didn't fall asleep until sometime after 10:30!) and Michael went and laid on the couch. The boys soon woke up, wanting to eat again, Lucy woke up in an extremely tired state and that combination of fatigue/post-nasal drip/lack of food in her system caused her to get sick a couple of times. So the morning was spent washing her hair again after getting sick, trying to keep the boys calm enough until we could get food in them, as well as trying to pack up for our next Christmas celebration! Too bad we don't have a reality TV show - that morning would have made a good episode!
We headed to Statesville for our next Christmas with Great Mommy and Great Daddy. The boys got to finally meet everyone on that side of the family and we had a really nice meal. Charlie was a little tired out though . ..
We played Dirty Santa which was a lot of fun this year. It was also nice to see everyone as well - we don't get to see everyone from that side of the family as often as we would like so we really enjoyed our time. I was also glad that "Great Mommy" got to see how big the boys are getting.
The next day was Christmas with Grammy and Poppa, Aunt Nae, Mamaw, and Uncle Latimer. We weren't celebrating until the evening, so the boys had a nice afternoon nap. It's hard to tell in this picture who is who, right??
Of course, Lucy's naptime was spent like this. . .
How can you sleep when you have such fun toys to play with? Oh well. We tried to keep the morning/afternoon as low-key as possible. So we mostly played with new toys all afternoon. Charlie and Grammy had a good time together. . .
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After a DELICIOUS meal (Can you tell that we ate well during this week?), we got ready to open presents. It was almost the boys bed time when we got started. Alex managed to stay awake for a little while. . .
He saw a few of his presents. . . he gave this giraffe the staredown. Even now, when we pull it out to play, it holds his attention for awhile - I think he must really like this toy!
Charlie never saw any of his presents that evening. He had to wait until later. . . he was so sleepy. The boys went to bed about halfway through the present fun so Mommy and Daddy opened the rest of theirs for them. And just in case you were wondering, Baxter is still around . . .
Lucy was wound up tight that evening as well. . . as you can see, she was hardly still!
We had lunch the next day with Tanya and the Thrifts. Lucy was so excited to get to go play with Nathan and Lillian. I think she would have enjoyed her time even more if she had been well rested. She was remarkably well behaved for a child that had missed her nap for 5 days in a row but she had a major meltdown at lunch. I took her back to Tanya's room just to rock and rest and pull ourselves back together but while I was holding her, she fell asleep in my arms for about 10 minutes. I can't even recall the last time that happened, so I know she was tired. And this is what she looked like on the way home . . .
Uncle Latimer came back by with Jenni that evening and we had more presents! All three kids love spending time with their "Funcle!"
Finally, on Saturday, we had just a lazy day. . . full of rest. (Oh, and feeding the boys every 2- 2 1/2 hours!) It was a much needed break!
Isn't this one of the sweetest little faces in the world?
On Sunday, Uncle John and Aunt Carol came over to see the boys and Lucy. It was their anniversary - 12 years since Kendra and I had played the music at their wedding. Seems like it was just yesterday . . . . time sure does fly.
On Monday, we went over to the Flack house - Lucy had the best time playing with her cousin. She loves Harper so much! It was a crazy, fun-filled time with four kids under the age of four. Wow. . . .Harper is growing so fast and is at the age where she is crawling and exploring everything. As I watched her flit from place to place, I thought about how much life is going to change once these boys are mobile. Not quite sure I'm ready for that. . .
Tuesday was another lazy day. Michael and I did get to go out to dinner that night followed by a trip to Target. It's the little things, right? ;)
Wednesday was our family Christmas at the Flack house. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from that - forgot my camera! I'll have to get some from Mike. We had a good time together and Lucy enjoyed showing off her reading skills by reading the To/From tags.
And then it was Thursday. . .time to pack up and head home . . . only to repack and go to a hotel because our oil had run out and the house had no heat. Oh what fun. The excitement of the hotel was almost too much for Lucy to handle! This little girl thinks hotels (even the Holiday Inn) are a big deal!
So that's our Christmas. . . in a nutshell. There were many times this week where I found myself overwhelmed and stressed and just ready to hide in a closet and not come out. But after a few days at home, as I reflect back, I know that there are many good things to remember. Like the time with family - we aren't promised more than the moment we're in and how blessed we are to have so many family members to spend time with. We won't always be so lucky. We received so many wonderful gifts and our kids will be so well dressed and have so much to play with in the coming months. As I look back on this Christmas, I want to remember the feeling as my baby girl sat in my lap and read a book to me. Yes, READ to ME. I helped with a few words here and there but she was reading. . . and it was book she had never seen before. And even as crazy as it was, I am so thankful for my family of five. I have a wonderful husband who works hard to provide for his family and loves his kids and me. I have the best daughter in the world. She is wicked smart and so funny. She loves her brothers so much and when she hugs me, my heart just melts. And my two boys - they have the best smiles in the whole world. Even though they exhaust me in this infant stage, I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love them more and more every day and am so thankful that God knew I needed both of them. And even as chaotic as this Christmas was, I am so thankful for the chaos. It means that my life is full of hope, joy, love, and even peace. . . just like that first Christmas. And when I reflect on the arrival of Christ, I imagine that it was a little chaotic as well.
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