Justin & I are entering a new decade of our lives this year. And our daughter is growing up quickly. It is great to have a place to keep people updated on our lives.
Last year, Santa had brought Paige an electric car and a bike, but she was so disappointed that she did not get this tiny, inexpensive Tinkerbell Lantern. So this year, we were determined to make her dreams come true. She asked for a Light & Glow Rapunzel Doll.
The video is long, but her reaction at the end is adorable! And just the reaction I was hoping for.
We got out of bed around 7am on Christmas morning. I convinced her to crawl into bed with us an watch a show. Of course, Justin got up and started pacing the house so as soon as her show was over, I knew there would be no more delaying of Christmas. She opened her Stocking and presents from Santa first. And then a few gifts from Ohio. We then hung out for a couple of hours before heading over to my parents house.
We showed up at my parents house around 9am. We had some of our traditional Christmas morning food like Breakfast Pizza and I believe it was pumpkin bread. We also had some coffee which was much needed for me that morning. We settled in for hours of gift opening. We did take a couple of breaks.
My mom had a unique theme this year. She did the "Four gifts of Christmas" for each one of us (OK- she actually did 5 since we each get an ornament every year too!). Each person got a gift in each of four categories:
1)Something They Want
2)Something They Need
3)Something to Wear
4)Something to Read.
It was a lot of fun. I am thinking I may have to adapt some of my gifts to that theme next year too. One other unique gift I got this year is from my mom's Aunt Nancy and it was a family tree. So cool.
Paige was spoiled as usual! Some of her favorites were a Pretend fish tank and the ever popular lip gloss/stick! We did have to hide the lip gloss from her. She becomes a bit of an addict with that stuff. We spent the rest of the day relaxing as a family and had some ham and scalloped potatoes to eat. We also had a 3 way video chat with my cousins in Las Vegas and my Aunt/Cousin who were in Hawaii! I love technology.
The week leading up to Christmas this year had me feeling a tad bit overwhelmed. I was also nervous as to how this year would go with the Huffman's. Justin's oldest brother Stan had been doing well and staying out of trouble earlier this year. For the first time in a long time he had come to Thanksgiving and the whole family was looking forward to having him at Christmas too. He was absent for so many since I came into the family and I know how much everyone missed him. But on Monday he got into some trouble and we were not sure if he would be there or not. And then our nephew Joseph also hit a little road bump and he was not going to be able to make it. All of these things made me sad.
Justin's brother Dan & his wife Michelle have been hosting Christmas Eve at the house Justin grew up at for a few years. It is a good "Central" location where everyone is comfortable. We planned to get together between 11am and 3pm so we could head back to my parents house for our Annual Skype gift exchange with the Pidgeon Family in Boston.
So Justin, Paige & I headed out bright and early. We stopped at Whole Foods when we got into Santa Cruz to pick-up some shrimp for the shrimp coctail. We then stopped by our friends Evan & Danielle's house to drop off their Christmas presents. They were not there yet, so we dropped them off and headed to May Ave a little early.
We unloaded all of the presents (Except Josephs) under the Christmas tree. Paige & Teagan had a great time playing with the empty boxes. Our other two nephews arrived shortly after. Justin sent a couple of Joseph's presents with his mom so he could open them on Christmas (When he was finally home). All of the kids played outside while I set up some of the appetizers I had brought and I hung out with my sister-in-law for a little bit. Grandma showed up a little bit later and then Chrissy showed up with a turkey. Dan & Michelle had also cooked a ham, so we (As usual) had way too much food.
We ate and hung out together. We then all gathered into the living room to open presents. Unfortunately Lucus & Alyssa had to leave around 2pm to go with their Mom to her family's house for Christmas eve. As much as we try to organize the presents, it is always somewhat Chaotic. But it was fun never the less! We all hung out for a little while more before Justin & I loaded up the car and headed back home. We hope to find a way to spend some more time together as a family next year, but sometimes it is just hard to coordinate!
As usual we got some awesome presents including some pickles, green beans and olives from Grandma!
Teagan in a box
Justin & Alyssa
Teagan Riding her bike
Paige wanted both her & Teagan to wear crowns but Teagen was not that into it!
My attempt at getting some of the cousins together. Again- Teagan does not really like to cooperate!
Dan & Michelle opening Teagans presents with her.
After Keith missed Christmas last year- I was so happy he was there this year!
Justin video taping, Carla Chrissy & Stan
Paige, of course started posing.
Lucus got a "Cell Phone"- This one was the gag gift.
This was the real one!
Teagan & Paige climbed into the gift boxes and then started using the tops as drums.
Paige was trying to make daddy into a gift!
Lucus opening his new cell phone
We spent a couple of hours at my parents house. We had a great skype call with the Pidgeons. It is sometimes hard to organize but we do love to "see" everyone since we don't really get to see most of them unless we go to Boston for a visit. We then went home to get ready for Santa. That included sprinkling the reindeer food, getting the milk & cookies ready and watching Prep & landing!
The week before Christmas was a blur. We were fortunate to have some visitors and unfortunate to have a full week of work. Chelsie & her boyfriend tony came in late on Saturday the 17th. I hear they had quite the adventure when they first arrived. Our parents were at the neighbors' house for a Christmas party. There was some wine drinking so when one of them noticed Chelsie's car they called the house and invited them over. It was a good thing they came over because it turned out that one of the guests had to leave because their son was in an accident (He was OK but needed a ride) and Chelsie & Tony were able to give them a ride since they were not drinking. Way to welcome Tony to the neighborhood!
The next morning we all met at church for the annual Children's musical. I am thinking it will be a little less painful to sit through next year, because my daughter will be in the choir. Things almost always are better when your child is in it! We spent the rest of Sunday hanging out and eating (As we do many Sunday's). It truly is a joy to be able to get to know Tony better. He is becoming part of our family. I love how happy he makes my sister too! My parents left in the afternoon for another Christmas party, but it gave Chelsie, Mikaila & me an opportunity to discuss song options and practice for Christmas. We had hoped to record a song for my dad, but were unable to make it work this year so we wanted to at least do something live for him.
I went to work most of the week during the day and most evenings we headed over to my parents for dinner and to hang out as a family. On Tuesday my Grandma Myers came in from Boston. My best friend, Stephanie also came over for dinner and so I could give her Christmas present too her as well! I love giving presents to people. On Wednesday we did some relaxing at home because the rest of the family went to San Fransisco that day. Thursday we have Tony our gifts to him (And he gave the family an awesome gift! A Boston Red Sox Sandwhich maker! It puts the Red Sox name on the outside of the bread while making grilled cheese or other stuff!). We were not sure if my Grandma would be headed to Las Vegas to visit my cousin & her family in a couple of days, but decided to wait to see if she "Passed" her medical tests on Friday before giving her the presents. Good thing we did since she failed so we got to keep her for another whole week including Christmas.
Unfortunately, Thursday night was the last time I got to see Tony before he headed back home to spend Christmas with his family. He left late on Friday. But I woke up on Friday feeling nauseous and dizzy. Paige got sick before I left to drop her off at my moms. I thought she had just gagged on her toothbrush, but she ended up getting sick again at Pete's coffee with my sister and again a little while later. So we ended up staying home together on Friday and did not get to see Tony again. Apparently, Tony did not feel too well either.
Good news was that we both felt better the next day. The week was really busy and there were a few moments I thought I might breakdown. But I got to spend some quality time with family and all of my Christmas shopping was done!
Paige had her first Ballet performance today. They did a small version of the nutcracker. Her group was candycanes. They were all 3-5 years of old. THey were adorable. Paige did forget where hse was supposed to go a few times, but they are so cute it did not matter!
The final Bow!
Friday, December 16, 2011
I am a live tree type of girl. There is nothing like picking out a tree, bringing it home and having that feel and smell. That is Christmas to me. But if you recall- we have had a few Christmas's where things just did not work out. Before Paige, we didn't really get a tree. We still spent most Christmas mornings at my parents house (Especially when Mikaila was so little- she still required us to be there at 7am).
The first Christmas with Paige, I can't remember how we got our tree. In fact, since she was born the morning after Thanksgiving- I can't remember a whole lot about that Christmas- Blame it on the lack of sleep. The 2nd Christmas we went out to the mountains and cut down the perfect tree as a family. I had really hoped to make that a family tradition. But then the next year, money was a little tighter and it did not work out. So Justin took me to Home Depot to get an "Affordable" tree. I actually cried. How are you supposed to pick out the right tree when they are all wrapped up?
Last year, once again it was not going to work for all of us to cut down the tree together, but I asked Justin to cut one down while he was dropping the nephews back to their house in the mountain. He came home with 3 Christmas trees- all of them reminding me of a Charlie Brown moment. But he had some good intentions (Saving money), so- even though we could only put about 1/2 of our Christmas ornaments on the tree- I tried to make peace with it.
So this year, I was getting my tree. The Sunday after Thanksgiving we headed to a local lot and picked out a beautiful tree in our budget. I was so excited. We hung ALL of our ornaments. Our house looked & smelled like Christmas
On Tuesday Morning- I was looking for a necklace that Paige had "Borrowed from me". We looked behind the chair in her bedroom where she "hides" when she is doing something she should not. No necklace, but we did find several ornaments. While putting them back on the tree, I realized- despite care from us- our tree was DEAD. With over a week an a half til Christmas, I knew we were going to have to do something about it. So, while at Wal-Mart for something else, I bought a 6 1/2 foot prelit fake Christmas tree.
That night, Justin was HAPPY. He has wanted a fake tree since he laid eyes on my parents beautiful tree. Our tree is a lot smaller and much more fake looking, but it will not die and we did not waste more money on a real tree. So we took the ornaments off, took the old tree out, vacuumed the needles, set-up the new tree and put the ornaments back up! Then we passed out our Christmas gifts for the neighbors, had dinner and finished with one last homemade gift for Christmas! What a night.
Overall- I am happy. However, the first thing Paige wanted to know is if it spins like Nana's. So our plan is to use this tree for the next few years- put away the money we would spend on a real tree and then buy a bigger, better tree that spins on Christmas clearance.
This really fits in with the theme of this year for our family "Redefining Blessings!"
