Month: December 2017
Because we aren’t always in Paducah for Christmas morning, Mom’s stockings don’t always get used. She has an awesome friend that makes them for her when a new grandchild is born. I wanted a picture of all the kids with their stockings. My kids were a little unhappy they were given a stocking to hold with nothing fun inside them.
We almost always have at least one cousin “sleepover” if not multiple when we are in town. This trip we were only there two days and with the craziness of Christmas we (meaning Melissa and I) didn’t think it was the best idea. I was hoping to get a new cousin picture now that the cousins number six and decided to use my dad’s house for the pictures. Once I realized we were going to be at his house anyway, I had Melissa bring her kids in their pajamas and we staged a sleepover picture. I just love seeming them all together in their pajamas.
Then we got everyone coordinated and attempted a big group picture. By far my favorite was the picture of everyone laughing. I had been asking them to do all kinds of faces – surprised, sad, mad, etc. Then Aunt Lissy got their attention and licked my cheek – whatever it takes for a good picture!
Hotels have been a challenge for us since Alex was born. My kids go to bed really early and it makes sharing a room not so fun. Plenty of hotels have adjoining rooms, but most will not guarantee adjoining rooms – which makes them worthless. We have stayed in hotels that offer suites but those are a little trickier to find – especially if you truly want separate rooms with doors and not just a “living room area.” We are on our way to Tennessee – a two day drive. This is the first trip we have taken with four kids. Wade had the brilliant idea of looking for a house to rent on airbnb. It was perfect. We stayed at this little farmhouse on a farm and didn’t have to worry about the kids playing loudly or a crying baby at 2 am. We had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a kitchen with a dishwasher to wash bottles – perfect! The best part was it was just as cheap as booking two hotel rooms.
We all woke up to a white Christmas. It snowed all night and we probably got 4 inches or so. Our kids were excellent about waiting for us to come get them from their rooms. I have no idea how early they woke up, but definitely before Wade and me! They rushed downstairs and loved seeing the gifts Santa left – a dollhouse, Legos, light sabers, the promise of a puppy, etc. We spent quite a bit of time in our pajamas playing with toys and having a big breakfast.
We finally convinced the kids to get showered and dress before opening our family gifts. Most everyone took a nap (or played in their new iPads) while Gram and I did a little cooking for dinner. Then we got outside and played for a few minutes in the snow! It was a perfect holiday. (And now I have to get to packing for our trip to Tennessee.)
My Mom is spending Christmas with us and today we started the fun stuff! We cooked. We played. We let each child open one gift. We made cookies for Santa. We went to an evening service where Wade, Ben, and I were Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. (Thankfully Ben fell asleep as we were in standing in the hallway waiting to make our entrance and slept through his entire performance in front of the church.) Then the children each picked out their favorite cookie and left a plate for Santa.
Another class party is in the books. I am the only official room mom for Teague’s class (but I do have a mother who comes to help the day of the parties). I planned the activities/games/crafts and everything went smoothly – thank goodness! We made snowflake ornaments, had a snowball race, and decorated each other as snowmen.
One of my biggest regrets with Alex is that newborn pictures weren’t quite a thing yet. I have loved the pictures we have taken when we met Teague (pseudo-newborn) and had Kaitlyn. Today I got the pictures from Ben’s newborn photo shoot. We had a great time and I love the pictures Lynn Quinlivan took for us!
Side note – We are taking bets on whether Ben ends up a red-head…