Well, since we are four days into the new year, I suppose I should get LAST year's Christmas blogged, huh? I was just thinking about how I used to blog a few times a week when Whitney was a baby, but now, with two kids and a LOT more adventures, I am pitiful at this whole blog stuff. I know we are only four days into the new year, and I dont want to jinx it, but Ive been pretty awesome about all my "resolutions". I might lay it all out there and write a post about my lofty goals and plans to attack life while earning a "Wife and Mother of the Year" award......but who am I kidding? I have BARELY been able to blog the important stuff like monthly updates and holidays! How in the world will I find time to write extra stuff?! And even if I happen to find TIME, how in the world will I have the ENERGY!?
Sigh.
So...at long last....and after much rambling.....I proudly (though sorta half-assed since Blogger doesnt want to cooperate with my pictures) present you with our Christmas excitement.
We started our month-long Christmas events with Eric's dad's side of the fam. Im sure Ive mentioned it before, but I'll say it again. I LOVE these people! Always a fun time with good laughs, cousin time, sibling time, and a reminder that life is short and sweet so we should spend more time with the people who make us happy.
We have some HAPPY kids! They are ALL soooo smart, too! Wise beyond their years and sure to make us all proud as we watch them grow into adults with families of their own someday.....Someday WAAAAY far away in the future.
Im never sure who has more fun. The adults or the kids!? We were really missing Eric's brother Jake and "Aunt Tina" and our youngest nephew, Sawyer, but I got a cryptic text from Christina asking when the kids' birthday party will be, so Im hoping they will make a trip home to Florida this Spring!
So my kids are the only ones not smiling, but the picture is still fabulous. And further proof that it is IMPOSSSSIBLE to get photos of both of my kids smiling WHILE looking into the camera at the SAME time. Im not giving up though.
Apparently Whitney, Gary, Dean, and I were the only ones who got the "make a silly face!!" memo.....
Allllll together now!!!
We ate THE BEST pulled pork from Gary's best friend, Mike at The Blind Mullet. It is sooo good and we have leftovers in our freezer..."for next year".....(or perhaps for the next time I forget about Weight Watchers rules and points, and just want something DEEEELICIOUS!) ;)
I absolutely LOVE watching Grandparents down on the floor with their grandkids. LOVE.
Grady was in the midst of the-cold-that-stilllllll-will-not-vacate-his-tiny-body, but was so happy to look in a mirror at his Papa play with his Papa :)
It doesnt get much better.
We have this brilliant tradition to help manage the chaos of Christmas shopping. Each adult buys an ornament for another adult in the family. Kyle, the oldest nephew, pulls names to tell us who we are buying for each Thanksgiving. Its always nice to have those special ornaments from family. And the kids all get books! Because really, we all have sooooo many toys for these kids, but can we ever have too many books? Dont think so. Aunt Crystal and Uncle Daniel picked out a GREAT book for Our Meatball!
The kids loved blowing out the first "Happy Birthday, Jesus!" candles of the season :)
Our visits are always too short but Im always left with a full heart and our kids are always ready for long naps after so much fun with their cousins. I am also excited that we left this Christmas celebration with plans for a family vacation in the works for this Summer. All of us in a beach house!? FUN!!!
The weekend after our first celebration, we carried on the fun with celebration #2! My parents' country club has a delicious Breakfast with Santa that was a big hit with both kids and adults! The food was delicious, as always, and Whitney was thrilled to meet Rudolph AND Santa after breakfast!
We were trying to figure out what she was telling Santa since we had NO CLUE what she wanted for Christmas this year! EVERY single time we asked, she would say, "A PENNY!! I just want a PENNY!"
Sigh.
She looks so grown up in this pic....as I started planning her FOURTH birthday party last night, I cant even fathom what she is going to look like at Christmas this year. :(
We tried to sit Grady in Santa's lap with Whitney, but Grady continues his fascination with beards, and almost gave Santa away!
That night, Eric's mom's side of the family came over to have our Christmas celebration. I think that was Christmas #3 of the season :) We kept it simple, ordering pizza and hanging out with football on TV and more cousins belly laughing :)
Grandma Debbie and Papa Butch hit the nail on the head with this year's Christmas gift for Whitney! She loves the "Build Your Own Bear" kit and was excited to have Ariel, Cinderella, Tinker Bell, and Sleeping Beauty outfits for her new bears!
And, in true kid fashion.....the box was a big hit, too.
And in keeping with a crummy tradition, almost as SOON as Debbie and Butch pulled out of our driveway, I remembered to take a picture of the kids with their grandparents. Grrrrrr. Hate that I have about two pictures of the kids together with Eric's mom and stepdad. NEXT TIME, I HAVE to take pictures!
The next night, we went to a fun campfire with Christmas caroling at our church! Whitney was SURE to remind me that it was NOT a cookout....it was a CAMP FIRE. And she was SUPER excited to roast marshmallows and spend time with our church friends.
It wasnt exactly camp fire weather, as it was 70+ degrees that day, but we all still had fun!
That wrapped up our weekend Christmas celebrations.....but the fun didnt stop there!! One of the MANY reasons we are so thrilled to be back at Whitney's old school is because of the Christmas show. Her old school was not church-based, so we wouldve missed out on the opportunity to see Whitney sing Christmas carols and celebrate Jesus' birth with her classmates and teachers! And how could we deny this kid the opportunity to be on "stage"!?
(bottom right side of the stage)
The difference between Whitney's two year old group and three year old group is incredible! Last year, only a handful of the kids would do any hand motions or sing the songs. Still cute, but not exactly in sync. This year, almost ALL the kids participated with hand motions and singing all the words! Even Whitney, who had only been back in the class for a week, knew all the words and motions perfectly :)
Two days later, Whitney had her last day of school in 2012....Eric took the afternoon off I was able to go get Whitney from school without lugging Grady along. She was soooo excited to give Ms. Lori and Ms. Maria their gifts, and even more excited to see Daddy at home after school!
Whitney had been talking about snow a lot, insisting that it would be snowing when she got out of school for Christmas vacation. Im sure it was a combo of the books we've read, the movie about Jingle the dog we were watching, and some conversations Ms. Lori had about snow in class, but I didnt want to disappoint this Florida girl :)
She and I cut out paper snowflakes after school and had every intention of taping them to our windows, but spontaneity won and we ended up having a "snowball fight" instead :) She crumbled up the snowflakes and, with shrieks of pure joy, started tossing them at me shouting, "SNOWBALL FIGHT!"
My favorite part was when she giggled, "This is the BEST snow ball fight Ive ever had!!"
The platters we made for her teachers were, of course, Pinterest-inspired and a lot of fun! I wanted something with the kids' names and a way to remind Ms. Lori of her first year teaching preschool at Lakeside.
These kids are SO cute, and they absolutely LOVE their teachers!
Pile on Ms. LORI!!!!
These women hold an even more meaningful and special place in our hearts after the Newtown events that hit so close to my hometown in Connecticut. I just know they take such great care of our kids, and I know they love them as much as they love their own kids. I really cant say enough great things about Whitney's teachers and her experiences at school.
Snowball creations:
On Sunday, my brother arrived from Boston. Everyone could feel the holiday approaching, but it didnt realllllllly feel like Christmas to me until my brother was in town.
Whitney absolutely ADORES her Uncle Jay. There is no awkward "remember Uncle Jay?" warming up period for these two. Whitney falls right back into place with Jay, wrapping him around her finger and roping him into all kinds of silly antics.
We were all a bit worried that Grady was struggling with his ear troubles again, but Uncle Jay had just the answer. Sit in one spot, cuddle, and allow the nephew to eat an entire can of cheese crunchies in one sitting, without interruption.
Happy boy is back in the building!!
Mom bought them their matching shirts....cute, right? I know. :) And NOT the only time these two wore coordinating ensembles this week!
And after Christmases 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.....the fun was really just beginning!
After our last guests headed home to get kids in bed with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads, Whitney was SUPER excited to scatter the Reindeer Food she made at school. We hustled out front, sprinkled the mixture of oatmeal and glitter, and hurried back inside to await Santa.
Scatter? Dump? whatever.
Love that kid.
Eric and I excitedly tucked our kids in and got to work, taking our role very seriously.
This is one of my FAVORITE things we do as a team. "Teamwork makes the DREAM work" is kind of our motto around here, but Christmas Eve is magical for many reasons.
I get a glass of wine and start wrapping presents while watching "Its a Wonderful Life" on TV, and Eric gets to work in the kitchen making the breakfast casserole for Christmas morning.
Sleeping baby? Check. Pinot? Check. "Its a Wonderful Life"? Check!
Hot husband? CHECK!
Every year I think "this Christmas was even better than last Christmas!"...and its in large part thanks to this guy. Best. Husband. Ever!
Casserole ready, presents wrapped and under the tree, and credits rolling on "Its a Wonderful Life"....life is good. Time for bed.
The next morning was a lot of fun as we heard Whitney turn off her sound machine and get out of bed. We raced across the house to make sure she didnt head to the family room without us :) She went into Grady's room, who happened to just be waking on his own, too. She kept telling him "Grady!! It's Christmas! It's Jesus' BIRTHDAY! We get presents!!" He was still half asleep :)
We let Whitney tear into their stockings in the playroom while we waited for Mac, Gramps, and Uncle Jay to arrive.
Then we all headed to the family room where Whitney proved she has perfected the art of rippppppping wrapping paper in lightning speed :) As I mentioned, we werent really sure what to get her this year. Honestly she has a TON of toys. A ridiculously embarrassing number of toys. But we couldnt exactly say "Nah, you dont get anything for Christmas...", so we stayed under budget and got a handful of things to go with toys she already enjoys.
Little People princesses.....more books for her Tag pen.....a Barbie car.....
and a few boardgames that both kids can eventually use. We've already played the Super Why game, and LOVE it!
And of course, we had to give our girl the penny she wanted so desperately :) I wrapped it in tissue paper in a big red box and she was super happy to open it. :) This kid has about $11.00 in change in her piggy bank, but that penny was shiny and new and something she really wanted. How could we say "nooo, you cant have a penny!" :)
We attempted our not-so-annual picture in front of the Christmas tree. Im hoping to one day put them all in an album so we can see how we've all changed year after year. :)
And in true Bass Kid fashion, capturing that magical moment was quite painful....
Grady didnt open one single present, but he was in LOOOVE with all the paper and tags and tape!
And Whitney was thrilled with all of her gifts, but her Merida dress and Brave DVD were definite hits bright and early that morning!
Eric's dad came over around noon to begin his annual Papa-Claus route through the state of Florida. He manages to see all of his Florida grandkids on Christmas Day, no matter how far he had to sit in that car!
He came bearing gifts from Eric's brothers in Texas and from Papa and Ms. Martha.
Grady likes all the sounds and buttons on his walker from Papa!
And he wasnt sure what to think when he heard Scout say his name! He did the best triple-take when he realized the stuffed animal was actually saying, "Grady!"
And apparently following the theme (and another reason I have a resolution to use my camera more often instead of relying on my phone) of not taking pictures, I did not get one picture of Gary with the kids :( Bummed.
After some naps and showers, we headed over to my parents' house for yummy food and wine and even MORE presents! (No wonder Whitney couldnt think of ONE toy she wanted for Christmas! Her grandparents buy her everything!!)
Grady got in a drum session with G.G.
And there was not one adult who missed out on the opportunity to get down on the ground and play with these kids. It was so fun to see my own kids in the arms of my family.
As many people who love Grady, he really only has eyes for my dad. He loooves Gramps!
Uncle Jay fulfilled his Uncle duties for the decade by assembling a pink and purple castle, involving a screwdriver and a lot of stickers and patience.
And taught Whitney how to play tic-tac-toe.
Whitney was overjoyed that her Violet would now have a playmate in Grady's Scout :) She didnt want to put either of them down :)
And of course, the Second Annual whipped cream event was held between Uncle Jay and a very giggly Whitney :)
And both kids were LOVING having Daddy home for days and days!
This picture may not be exciting to many people, but I love it. LOOOOVE. It shows exactly who Eric is as a dad. Fun and exciting and silly and happiest right in the thick of toys and madness. He makes the best horse/boat/car/rocket/Peter Pan/train/elephant noises of anybody on the planet. He spoils these kids in so many ways. Not just with toys and books, but with his time and his attention. These are two of the luckiest kids youll ever know, folks. Because Eric is their Daddy.
And of course, we tried for more photos of family togetherness....
Christmas seemed to take forEVER to arrive after Thanksgiving, and then flew by in a flash. Taking the time to look back at these pictures, I realize again how blessed we are. SO many people to spend time with. SO many people who love our children and shower them with hugs and high fives. SO many memories to cherish and appreciate. I couldnt tell you a favorite gift I unwrapped last month as we celebrated Jesus' birth. These pictures and these memories are the very best gift I could ever have imagined.
I dont think anything can live up to the memories I have as a child growing up in Monroe, CT, especially during Christmastime. But Im trying my best to give these two cuties the fun family time and amazing memories I never want to forget about my childhood.
I think we get closer and closer every year. :)
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