What a fun Christmas we had! Between Christmas eve and Christmas day, we had a lot of down time at home, which doesn't usually happen around the holidays. But we also got to see our families between the two days. We did our Christmas morning on Christmas Eve, in the morning. That's confusing to say. But we switched it because of Joshs' family's schedule, I didn't want to be rushing through our morning so we could get to their house. This way, we enjoyed a relaxing morning/early afternoon opening gifts and eating a yummy breakfast. I had this ideal vision of how I wanted the morning to go...wake up early, start the gluten free dough for
cinnamon rolls to be eaten on Christmas morning, make the gluten free
pancake mix and start our yummy breakfast before the boys woke up. But like most days, this day did not start as planned. I got up at 5am. Enough said. Channing had woken up just after 4am and by the time I got him back to sleep it was just after 5am. I knew if I went back to sleep, that would be an end to my ideal morning. It was nice to be up before anyone else and get a lot done. I was able to make a small dent in the preperation of the cinnamon rolls, which turned into an allll day baking extravaganza. By 8am, everything was set to go but then I got hit with a nasty headache and tummy upset. So I decided to take a short nap with Channing, which of course is always a special treat, especially as he's growing so fast. I felt much better after I woke up but Josh and Lucas had already had breakfast and opened their stockings. So, we jumped right into opening presents. It was so fun watching Lucas opening presents. We also had him handout presents between Josh and I. I think he enjoyed seeing us opening presents too. He'd shriek with joy at the sight of a box and yell, "Booooox!" This year from us he got a Thomas reusable "coloring" book (uses a water pen and the page turns colors but becomes blank again after it dries), some books, matching pajamas with Channing and the big one...a train table/train set! He's been playing non-stop with it ever since! I got a new Bible (a study Bible, yay!), a pair of grey flats, pyrex bowl set, a kitchen scale and a new printer. Cooking supplies and a printer for couponing...see a trend? Josh got a new pair of shoes, Under Armour socks, pajama pants and a wallet. After presents I made breakfast, which was just about lunch time, so Lucas had pancakes for breakfast
and lunch. It was Christmas after all.
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| The Goods |
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| No real tree for us, for the 3rd year in a row. We've just run out of any possible space for one. And I wasn't really up for redecorating a tree every day, with two kids in the mix. So we went with a four foot undecorated fake tree. |
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| Sweet Channing, always smiling |
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| 1st present... |
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| Matching pajamas for the boys! I had originally planned for Lucas to open this present Christmas Eve and wake up in them on Christmas morning. But because we switched our present opening day at the last minute, we quickly changed them into their pajamas after this picture.=) |
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| Too cute! |
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| I never got a picture of them together nor did I get a picture of them that night in their matching plaid button-ups...fail. But I was too busy enjoying the moment. |
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| Somehow, Channing kept getting ahold of wrapping paper. A few days later there was some in his diaper. Ooops! |
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| I started the tradition of new ornaments for the boys. Channing got a pair of porcelin baby booties with his birth stats written on the soles. Lucas got Curious George, it's one of his favorite shows. |
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| "Keeeese" for the camera. Notice all his new cars lined up. |
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| Train and Robot movie from Grammy |
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| Still all smiles |
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| A few seconds later, the tree landed on him...another reason we went with a small, fake tree. |
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| New books! A gift set I got at Women of Faith back in October. Includes a toddler nightly devotional. |
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| Opening my kitchen scale. I am so excited to put this to use. There are quite a few gluten free recipes that use weight instead of measurements because all the flours weigh differently. |
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| I thought he'd be so confused by the diaper box but he excitedly yelled "Box". The train pieces were inside. |
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| Putting together the new train set. |
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| "Where'd it go?" |
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| Daddy building the tracks. |
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| Loving his new train set! |
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| "My 1st Christmas" outfit borrowed from cousin Levi. I think he looks like Mario wearing the frog suit from Super Mario Bros. |
I spent the rest of the afternoon finishing the cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning, the chocolates that I had been working on all week and prepping the yummy apple pie that I was bringing to Grandma and Grandpa's for family dinner. I had a lot of successes baking this week so I hope to post my favorite recipes.
We spent the evening at my Grandparents house in Centralia eating their Christmas Eve shrimp (SO yummy!), opening presents and eating sweets! I wish my brother could have been with us. He's currently deployed in the Navy, on his way to give some relief to another ship. It was the first year in many that my step siblings have been with us
on Christmas, not after, and it would have been nice to complete the family celebration with my brother. It was a fun night, chaotic at time with two toddlers and a baby and LOTS of presents. But it was really fun.
Christmas morning I popped the cinnamon rolls in the oven in just enough time to get dressed and rush out the door with them piping hot. We spent the morning with Josh's dad, brother, sister and her two kids. I brought the cinnamon rolls and a crockpot egg casserole that I had made at 1am early that morning and let it cook overnight. It was a yummy breakfast and I
was am so proud of the cinnamon rolls. I even found a
frosting recipe that tastes just like the stuff from Cinnabon. I still have some in the fridge and rolls in the freezer, hmmm....midnight snack? After breakfast, came a lot more presents and we came back home so the boys could nap. For the first time in years, we were able to spend Christmas day with my mom. It was such a fun time! She spent the day here, playing with the boys and chatting while I made dinner...a crockpot turkey breast,
green beans almondine, Joshs' mom's yummy hashbrown casserole and crescent rolls made from the leftover cinnamon roll dough (9 cups of flour, enough said). It was a delicious dinner! I couldn't wait for my mom to open her present from Josh, my brother and myself...a KitchenAid mixer! She was sooo excited! Thank you pre-black Friday sale at Kohl's!
It was a wonderful Christmas season and ultimately, I'm so thankful for Jesus. Without His birth, there would be no reason for Christmas. I'm still trying to think of traditions that I want to do each year to celebrate His birth and make it special for our family. It's so hard not to get wrapped up in all the hoolabaloo that is Christmas in America. I admit, I had a hard time remembering the Reason for the Season this year. Next year, I will work on prepping earlier and spending less time "getting things done." I hope you and yours had a special and memorable year!
