Our Christmas - 2014

I realize I'm almost a month late with this post, but I'm gonna go ahead and say that's ok. I've been focusing on a lot of different things in my life other than blogging, and for right now I only want to come here when it makes sense for me and I really have something to say. And today, I guess I've got something to say about Christmas ;)

This year our Christmas was pretty low key, and pretty perfect. The weekend before Christmas we went to Oklahoma to spend some time with my Dad, which Grayson absolutely loves. He could spent an entire day out at the barn with my dad, playing in the dirt and just generally being a real country boy. This is hilarious to me because when I was a child I had zero interest in my dad's barn or any of the horses inside of it. I was so not "country". And somehow I've got a son who is being raised right smack in the middle of a city and loves nothing more than being inside a smelly barn.

The next day, we went on to see my Uncles. We love spending time with those guys, and their place is pretty much our home away from home. Things are quite relaxed when we visit these days since Grayson is involved. Before he was a part of the group, we spent a lot of time going out and having drinks and staying up all night. Now I typically go to bed with Grayson around 10 or so (he gets to stay up late at the Guncles house), the hubs will stay up with the Uncles and mom having a glass or two of wine, then everyone's usually in bed by midnight. BIG change.

On Christmas Eve we had A's family as well as my parents over to our house for a little Christmas gathering and lunch. Grayson and his "big" cousin Haik played together more than they ever have before (Haik hasn't been Grayson's biggest fan thus far haha), so he had an absolute blast. After a very long and relaxed lunch/dinner, all of A's family headed home and we did our gift exchange with my parents. This year I swore I wouldn't go overboard because this kid already has so much stuff and doesn't NEED anything else, but I really just can't resist. And neither can my parents, apparently. We set out cookies for Santa and G got to stay up pretty late that night, too.

Christmas day we woke up early and did Santa gifts, as well as opened our stockings. Stockings have always been my favorite part of Christmas for some reason, so I made sure A knew he better stuff my stocking with some good stuff! After that, we headed north to Oklahoma for Christmas with my mom's side of the family. There are so many littles running around now with that side of my family, so it's just so much fun to watch them all playing together. There's Grayson who is 20 months, Isabella who is 21 months, Jayden who just turned one, and Jonah who turned one on Christmas day. It's so cute to see so many tiny ones right around the same age together. Wish we all got together more!

This year was so much fun because Grayson was really into it. He got excited about all his gifts, opened them on his own, and loves his toys so much. Last year he was just kind of taking it all in, but this year he was running around like a maniac and enjoying every minute. I can tell that every year is going to be more fun than the last one - hopefully in the future I can get it together and refrain from going overboard with things one spoiled little boy really doesn't need. Ha, good luck, right? Even though it's so ridiculously late to say this, I really hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season with loved ones!

Wait....it's December?

I seriously cannot wrap my head around the idea that Christmas is in just a few weeks. Time seriously passes by so fast these days, I can't keep up. However, December is one of my very favorite months, and I'm practically giddy all throughout the holiday season, so I'm definitely not complaining.

But the bad news is, I am nothing but a big fat procrastinator, so I am so not prepared for it to be at this point in the year already. I did get a few Christmas gifts over the weekend, but my list is still loooong. I'm not sure what the plan is really for any of our holiday get-togethers. My house is kind of halfway decorated. There are a million holiday activities that I want to make time for, but I just realized that there are three weekends until Christmas and every one of those is pretty much booked up. So not really sure how that's supposed to work...

Flash Back! I mean, really? Look at that fat little nugget! How was this a year ago??

But, the season is upon us, and I can now officially blast Christmas music whenever I want and not be judged. I have a beautiful tree and glittery decorations all over my house, and every where you go there are houses covered in flashy Christmas lights. So I'm going to ignore the mild feeling of dread that I feel down in my gut, and I shall embrace this wonderful time of year.

Since Grayson was so little last year we didn't really start many actual traditions, but this year I have so many fun things I want to do. Plus, he's SUPER pumped about the Christmas tree, and will grab my hand and walk me to the front room several times a day to show it to me. So I can already tell that this year is going to be on a whole new level of fun. Can't wait to see him open all his gifts!

If you are a lazy bum like me and are just now getting started on your holiday to-do list, good luck to you. Embrace all that December has to offer you, and don't let it stress you out until you feel like you just might lose your mind like it has the tendency to do.

And if all else fails, just drink lots of spiked eggnog. That should fix it. I mean, that's my plan.

Grayson's First Christmas

Really, a Christmas post the last week of January? Reeeaaallllyyy? 

I know.

Basically, I have been completely slacking on this and I would just let it go BUT it was Grayson's first Christmas and I feel like I have to document it. So I'm gonna be short on words and heavy on pictures and once this is done I won't feel like a terrible mommy blogger who skipped over her baby's FIRST CHRISTMAS.

So here we go.

Grayson's first Christmas was a lot. Just, a lot. We went from Texas to Tulsa to Norman back to Texas. We celebrated with my mom and uncles, then the rest of my mom's family, then with A's brother's family, then with my parents, then with all of the rest of A's family and my parents. It was a lot.

Grayson got more gifts than any 8 month old baby ever should. He got so many gifts that I still will get in his toy box and pull out something I don't remember seeing. He absolutely loved it, although sometimes he seemed to be a bit overwhelmed by it all.

We put out milk and cookies for Santa and he wore his cute little Santa pjs...and then he slept until something like 10 on Christmas morning. It was awesome, and I have a feeling that will be the very last year that he's not waking us up at the crack of dawn to see what Santa brought.

And don't worry, Addie was almost as spoiled as Grayson. She got several gifts from my family, and Santa brought her a few things, too. She looooves opening presents, and it was so super overwhelming for me to try and keep up with her and Grayson at the same time. How do parents of more than one kid handle Christmas?

The only downside to the entire thing is that I did a terrible job of taking pictures. You wouldn't know it, because there will be about a bajillion attached to this post, but I feel like I missed SO much important stuff. Like, pictures with grandparents....it looks like Grayson didn't even see his grandparents on his first Christmas! And a really cute sitting under the Christmas tree photo? Where is that?

But aside from that, it pretty much was amazing and fun and wonderful and memorable and all of the things that a baby's first Christmas should be. It was by far the best Christmas I've ever had, and I can't wait until next year when he really gets it and is super excited.

Loved it, love him, love you guys. See ya tomorrow.

I'm Bad at Planning

So, apparently I'm not so good at planning ahead. I thought this was an area I was getting pretty good at, but after the past few days I would say not so much. Since Friday, my mom and I have spent basically all day every day Christmas shopping. I'm not exaggerating. I have no idea why I waited until like 10 days before Christmas to start my shopping....I'm just gonna go with bad planning.

It's safe to say I won't be doing this next year. I am so tired. So very tired. My brain is fried and I can't think about anything but gifts. I'm pretty sure I'm going to dream about shopping tonight. Normally that would be heavenly, but I have to say....I'm kind of tired of shopping. I literally never thought I would say, type, or think those words. But I'm pretty much over it.

(I googled "tired after shopping" to see what kind of hilarious images I might find, and it gave me this little gem. I really love it because this is exactly how I look when I'm exhausted: fully clothed in jeans and heels, laying uncomfortably on a sofa with my head on my forehead, surrounded by color coordinated shopping bags. Pretty accurate depiction.)

On top of just the physical act of walking around store after store for three days straight and the exhaustion that it causes, we also get to throw a little baby into the mix. A seven month old, wiggly, temperamental, BORED baby. On a normal day he doesn't like being stuck in his stroller while I shop. Imagine how he feels after three days of it. Not so pleased. That kid has figured out the whole "throwing a fit" thing...and he's been practicing it. At the moment it typically just lasts a few seconds and then he can be distracted by one of his little snacky things or a toy, but I've got a pretty good indication where we're headed in the near future.

Anyway, now that I've bought a bajillion gifts, I am faced with the task that I really dislike and I'm really not so great at: wrapping everything. I don't think it would be so bad if I didn't care what my gifts look like, but I want them to be beautiful. My mom is like the world's best gift wrapper, so she's set the bar pretty high. Like, she uses ribbon to make beautiful bows and everything looks better than when the people at the store wrap it for you. So I want my gifts to look like that, but I want to spend minimal time and effort on them. I'm torn, really.

Am I the only person who did this to myself? Are you guys all those brilliant people who planned ahead and finished your shopping in October and now everything is wrapped and sitting under your pretty little Christmas tree? If so, please tell me your secrets...I can't handle another year of this. It makes me want to cry.