Before I jump into Christmas 2013 I just had to fit in these stragglers that never found their way onto one of my Christmas posts. They were too cute not to include so I'll just put em right here.....
So excited to wear her festive outfits during the season
And of course more than willing to pose in them
We had a special family Christmas lunch with daddy at his work....she had to try out the computer and somehow with the click of some random keys she inverted his screen. Pretty good laughs.
Trying to earn back some Santa points after a day of not obeying and being sassy. She kept asking "does Santa see me taking the trash up here?"
Dolled up and ready to light the advent candle at church
The script said "Reader 1 and Reader 2"....silly script, I don't read in public. Thanks hubby for reading and letting me do the lighting. Hallie "helped" light and I had to pry the lighter out of her hand because she was ready to "do it myself" ;)
Sideways, oops, sorry. I was particularly fond of this paper sent home from Sunday school. Gave me the warm fuzzies!
She was "super duper" proud of her snowman she painted one afternoon.
Ok, I think I've covered all of the stragglers. Now to get the party started. Christmas this year seemed like one giant non-stop party filled with every special friend and family member (missing a few) with non-stop eating and non-stop present wrapping and non-stop non-stopping. The
holiday parties were non-stop as well. So when Christmas Eve Eve rolled around this momma was ready to take the non out of the non-stop and just stop. Welllllllll, the ice didn't much help my cause. The Monday before Christmas was a doozy of a work day filled with back roads of solid ice, running behind and getting lost in said ice at the end of the day...
When I finally made it home around 7:00 I sat down and took a breather. No wait, just kidding. I came in the door, changed my clothes and went to town in the kitchen making a cheesecake, gathering ingredients for a couple casseroles and prepping and marinating 13 lbs of brisket for our Christmas Eve lunch the following day. Oh and I think I said hello to my family. Oh wait, yes I remember now....I had a helper in the kitchen. She loves to help me make anything but especially something she can lick off the beaters when we're through. So licking she did and was happy, happy, happy. What also had her smiling was this precious apron made my Jennifer, the mother of a couple of my favorite patients/students. I was blown away by her thoughtfulness.....
Yes, she's wearing her nice Christmas dress underneath it. Why? I'm not sure.
A few minutes later she was dressed in this holding this....
Never a dull moment.
Riley was my savior and swept, mopped, straightened the house up while I cooked and set up the tables. Hallie helped with putting out the silverware, cups and napkins. Everyone was given five napkins each and some were lucky enough to get two cups and two knives. It may have taken a bit longer with her help but I just can't turn down such a willing and hilarious assistant.
Cheesecake settling. Check.
Cherries on top. Check.
Kids table. Check.
Grown up tables. Check.
Santa suit rented. Briskets in the oven at 3 a.m. Casseroles cooking. Cookies on a platter. Butter dishes out. Kids gifts in Santa's sack. Christmas music on. Let's gooooooooooooooooo!! The Fannings started arriving right at 12:30 until all 23 of us were settled in the house. Everyone brought something for our lunch and a gift for Dirty Santa. Catching up with family was followed by lunch then dessert then..........SANTA FOUND OUR HOUSE FOR A VISIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Riley was going to dress up in the suit but he was worried that Hallie would know it was daddy so Papa Bill suited up and puffed up for his Santa job. The kids were so surprised when he knocked at the door and their eyes were priceless when they realized it was Santa. He brought a bag full of toys for Hallie, Carmen, Bowen and Bhric.....
I took several thousand pictures of the kids during this moment but my memory card wasn't in the camera so they don't exist and that makes me sad. He had all of the kids fooled except for Carmen Jo....he was walking out the door and she hollered out "Papa?" Too funny! Dirty Santa was entertaining as always....the theme this year was scarves. Six scarves! It was nice to catch up with family that we don't get to see very often and even more nice to host everyone. Ya know my whole obsession with hosting has gone to another level....here's why....I don't stress out anymore. Nope, just calm, cool and collected. Yes, hard to imagine I know. Me? Calm? It's true. ;) Once family had said their goodbyes I packed the Santa suit back up and returned it while Hallie took a much needed rest break before church that evening. Time flew by and before I knew it we were headed off to worship at the candlelight service. We look forward to this service on Christmas Eve. But after the way things went this year there may be some residual fear come next year. There wasn't a nursery that night so the congregation was elbow to elbow packed in the pews with kids scattered all over. Restless kiddos and parents trying to keep them quiet for the service. Not only was I way too distracted but Hallie was not the most still and calm creature. Up and down and in and out and here and there. Nanny, Riley and I took turns taking her to the back of the church to quiet down and returned each time just to take her out again. Three-year-olds in church.....whew....that's all I have to say about that. I'm thinking next year will be her year....four seems like the magic number. Needless to say we missed the actual candle lighting part of the service because we were in the very back of the church (so that her screams could not be heard) trying to wrangle up a maniacal child who had turned into a wild woman within a matter of seconds. We ended up carrying out a tired and very loud Hallie to the car and unfortunately had to tell her we wouldn't be opening presents that night like we'd planned. She was devastated. It broke my heart but I did not want her thinking it was in any way okay to act like that at church....or anywhere for that matter. We somberly made our way into the house and I wondered if the night was going to turn around or if we'd all sit around with exhausted and baffled looks on our faces all night. Luckily things quickly took a turn for the better. Hallie turned on the charm with kisses and hugs and questions about Santa. My heart was way too full of Christmas spirit to deny her the excitement of opening a few presents. So that's just what we did! She tore into her packages from Riley and I and barely stopped to look at each of them. She was so thrilled to be ripping the paper that her presents sort of piled up and waited until she was done to receive any attention. She had tons of playing to do once everything was opened and oogled over......
New Playdoh set
"Hmmmmmmm, I wonder what's in here...."
She loves to use my broom and mop so we got her her own cleaning supplies
Doc McStuffins in the house
In the midst of Hal's toyfest she and her sneaky dad brought a small red box over and laid it in my lap. I looked up with a skeptical look because it was clearly breaking the "we aren't buying eachother presents this year" rule that we had established at least five times. I immediately felt like a jerk because I'd actually followed the "no present" rule and had NOTHING for Riley to open. But I opened the box and found a router inside. "A router????? Why do we need a router babe." He gave me some goofy answer about using it to make my falling apart and very sad and aged laptop work faster. I bought his answer being the tech idiot that I am. Until he told me to turn it over. There I found Microsoft Office. I glanced at it...and then to him....and then to it....and then I came to my senses and realized that my amazing husband had bought me a brand spankin' new computer.
I was so surprised that he'd snuck it past me and had put so much thought and effort into the gift. At this point I felt like a major jerk for not having bought anything for him. I had to control my obvious urge to take the bad boy out of the box right away and get to organizing things on our desk and starting it up. The three of us kept on playing until it was time to prepare for Santa's arrival. Hallie filled up eight cups for Santa's reindeer (we forgot Rudolph's cup....please don't tell Hal), sat out a cold glass of milk and some of the special sugar cookies that she had made with her choice of blue frosting.....
Riley and Hal opened up the fireplace doors to make things easier for the big guy...
I laughed as Riley told her to peek up in the fireplace to make sure he had enough room. Her response: "not at all!"
I thought she'd fall asleep quickly with the promise of presents waiting under the tree when she awoke but we're talkin' about Hal here....the non-sleeper....it took her awhile but she eventually got comfortable by stripping her clothes off (oh my!) and tucking herself tight under the covers....
Santa finished off the cookies, milk and carrots and left behind some crumbs and a special note for a certain little girl....
He also left behind a mess underneath the fire place....
Oh yeah, and some really nice loot too....
Around 8:00 I was awoken by the sounds of her little feet running across the wood floors as fast as she could go. The door to our room flung open and I couldn't wait for her to holler what I knew she would....."mommy, daddy, Santa was here last night!!! He ate my cookies!!!!" She was semi-patient as we got out of bed and got the video camera ready for her to dig in to the bag of gifts he left behind. She kept commenting on the snow he left behind and offered to clean it up with her new broom and mop. Ha! First we let her pull the goodies out of her stocking. She loved the paint set, candy, new fuzzy socks and scented pencils.....
Next came the big moment.....would Santa come through and bring the Minnie's Pet Salon, baby doll, Barbie and block set that she'd been asking for?????
We had a few hours to enjoy at home together before getting dressed for Christmas lunch so we painted a couple masterpieces.....
We made some Playdoh spaghetti and pizzas....
Around 11:30 we drove over to Nanny and Papa's house for a nice relaxing Christmas lunch. When we arrived Michael the chef was torching the dessert with a torch that was extra torchy.....
Gracen the cat was inspecting all of the gifts....
And I was recovering from shock after opening THIS.....
Turns out husband wasn't done spoiling me. He and Kathy and Bill had bought an iPad for me. She totally fooled me when she handed me the package and said "Riley, I didn't know you were going to buy her a router so I guess you can open this and return it." When I opened it with wide eyes she said "oh wait, just kidding!" I was definitely feelin' the love! What a surprise! Nanny prepared the entire meal and gave us a Christmas present of not having to cook anything. Now THAT was a great gift right there! The kitchen and I had been getting pretty tired of one another by that point. She made a delicious prime rib, mashed potatoes and the creme brulee for dessert. Perfect Christmas dinner. I made sure to "eat for two" that day. After lunch we filled up the living room with boxes and paper and bows as we unwrapped gifts. Hallie Grace was once again spoiled this year by her grandparents and aunts.....
Katie had a fantastic idea for our afternoon when she suggested that we meet up at the movies later to see Anchorman 2. Nanny volunteered to watch the girls so we went home for some playtime and back over to their house later that afternoon. Kylie, Michael, Katie, Luke, Riley and I laughed our rears off at the movie. Shoving popcorn in my face and laughing til I cried with family? Yes please. I rarely get to feed my love for movies so it was definitely a treat. Hallie and Carmen were on fire when we returned to have dinner. Wearing underwear on her face and attacking Papa were a couple of the things she was busy doing.....
Bible bedtime stories and thanking God for the precious gift of his Son was the most fitting way to end the day as I snuggled with Hallie in bed. The best part about this Christmas........the fact that she gets it....she understands the reason for celebrating. It sure is a beautiful thing to see. The following day I went back to work with hopes that I'd be able to take Friday off to prepare for my family coming to town. Hallie and I took a special trip to Walmart so that she could spend some of her Christmas moolah from her great-grandmas. What she chose pleasantly surprised me. I fully expected her to pick out a toy consisting of ten thousand pieces that she would play with for two days. Say hello to scooter girl.....
She's determined. She's driven. And she's just a tad uncoordinated. As I suggested that she use the handlebars to steer away from the walls and doors she informed me that she didn't need to and she knew what she was doing. I couldn't help but laugh. Scooter practice is my new favorite thing to watch. ;)
Thursday night we were treated to dinner by Katie and Luke. Hal and Carmen were thrilled to have some time to play with Carmen's new toys while the grownups ate a tasty meal. Seriously YUMMO! Friday rolled around and I decided to make a last minute spontaneous trip to Enid with Katie and Kathy to do some shopping. I could NOT pass up a girls day and Pearl Junkie shopping! Katie and Kathy were introduced to the amazing-ness that is Pearl Junkie and while there we talked with the owner who shared some exciting news with us.....she will be opening a store in WOODWARD!!! Day. Made. The ladies and I shopped our hearts out, had lunch at Chilis and headed home where my Gman and Meg were already waiting at the house on me. Oops! But things worked out well because they went to pick up Hallie from daycare which she was a big fan of. Once I walked in and dropped my bags off I headed into the kitchen to start a pot of chili and pulled the cheesecake out to set for awhile. Hallie entertained our guests while we waited for Aunt B to arrive. Riley had hid her gift from Gman and Meg in our closet. I think he had a brain fart and forgot that our closet is her favorite place to hide when she plays hide and seek. It didn't even dawn on me when Hal and Gman started playing that game and sure enough she eventually ended up finding her big surprise. Riley found her in our closet hiding underneath the blanket that was covering up her new baby grand piano. He came out laughing and she followed with a big grin on her face as if she'd just accomplished something pretty spectacular.
We ate dinner and laughed at this girl....
The piano got plenty of attention as Hallie played a concert with special guests rotating in and out as her co-performer. Gman was up first.....
After each "song" she would holler out "clap now!!!!"
Presents came next because she just couldn't wait any longer. In fact, while I was cooking she brought every single present to me and asked "does this one say my name?" Aunt B and Uncle Spencer got Hal a purple pony and some really fun sticker books that we are now obsessed with....
The tears were flowin' when Bailey and I opened our gifts from dad. Unbeknownst to us he had all of our family home videos converted over and had DVDs made for each of us. Most perfect gift I could've ever imagined. We all know how much I love videos, pictures, journals.....so this just blew my mind. Very blessed with such a thoughtful father. ;)
My family left around 10:30 and I crashed hard. The holidays had finally caught up to me. The Monday had finally caught up to me. Luckily Hallie got the memo and sort of slept in on Saturday. We had a lazy morning before heading out to Aunt Betty's house for Spaeth family Christmas. We had a great afternoon with family eating, playing Dirty Santa and watching the kids have fun. Hallie and Peyton hit it off again and were instant best friends playing doctor and recruiting everyone in the room to be their patients. The most common diagnosis seemed to be lock mouth. Ouch! Sounds painful. Some patients even came away with the prognosis of death. Serious doctors!
The kiddos took turns opening their presents. Hallie opened some pjs, a cute stocking cap with a cat tail that flips up and an adorable sleeping bag that I can't get her out of now. ;)
While the adults opened presents the girls played outside in the pretty weather.....
And just like that our marathon of Christmas parties, tours, celebrations, gatherings and pageants was over. It really felt like a marathon and I did what anybody would do after a marathon.....I put on pajamas, didn't move a muscle and ate two slices of cheesecake. I gave myself a good 12 hours to rest and then reality hit......magic fairies weren't going to show up to take down the Christmas decorations. So the real Christmas finale came Sunday morning and took me around 7 hours to finish. During that time I think I forgot several times that I was in fact pregnant and was doing things that a pregnant person probably shouldn't be doing. I rewarded myself with another slice of cheesecake when all of the boxes were finally taped up and ready for the attic.
One week later now and I think I'm in a post-Christmas coma because I can't seem to pry myself from comfortable surfaces and blankets and pillows keep finding their way to the couch for me to lay on. Funny how that works.
