On Christmas morning, we ended up waking the girls up around 7am because we could hear lots of little footsteps up and down the stairs. I knew it was time! The tree looked so magical from the upstairs balcony.
the girls with their Santa gifts
a new art kit for Brinley
and a xylophone for Ellie! She loves it.
backpack and new boots
showing off her new boots
Ryan surprised me with a New Balance watch that tracks steps and miles walked and calories burned. It's awesome. I especially love wearing it at work because it is amazing how many miles I walk just around the store!
Uncle Kip and Auntie Hayley
a fun surprise at the toe of his stocking :-) best wife ever!
Santa brought Brinley gum! Up until this point she has not even had one taste of gum and I am happy we held out this long. She has been very good about spitting it out in the garbage and keeping it IN her mouth when she's chewing. She kept saying all Christmas day, "Mom, I can't believe Santa brought me gum! You never let me have gum. I guess Santa wanted me to have it."
post present activities: painting nails :-) Isn't Ryan the best daddy!?
helping Joshua with his new Lego kit
After naps and quiet playing time, we headed outside to play! Ryan's mom and dad were still not feeling 100% and honestly, we tried to stay out of the house as much as we could. Sickness is no fun when you're stuck inside together.
Since everyone either had the stomach bug, or something like it, or had fevers and coughs, we decided to not make anything for Christmas dinner. I was pretty upset about this but my stomach was very anxious about the thought of getting sick and the more I thought about it the less I wanted to eat any rich foods.
Before putting the kids to bed, we bundled up and roasted some marsh mellows! Uncle Kip kept the fire going and the kids were having so much fun roasting marsh mellows.
After we got the kids in bed, Ryan told me that he wasn't feeling well. My heart just dropped. My biggest fear was that one of us would get sick and we wouldn't be able to leave home healthy. Around 1am, he came back into bed after staying on the couch just to be sure, and he said his stomach was just anxious about getting sick. We made the decision to drive home the next day to dodge any sickness. We made it the entire week and the last thing I wanted was to get sick on our final day. So the next morning, we assembled everything quickly and headed out the door around 9am.
When we crossed over the Florida border, Ryan and I felt an immediate weight lifted off our shoulders. We were now 4 hours from home and finally felt like our stomachs weren't anxious anymore. The drive was extra long because of the day-after-Christmas traffic on the I-95, but we didn't mind. We were just relieved to be on our way home.
It was an interesting Christmas week and I wish it had gone better. But there's only so much you can do when a stomach bug passes through the family and when we're all under one roof, the chances of catching it is really only a matter of when, not if. When we got home and unpacked and started taking down the decorations, it felt like we skipped over Christmas completely. It is a big effort to travel over the holidays and I think I'm more inclined to have Christmas at home as a family. The kids are just getting older, and it is a lot easier to have Christmas at home and have your own traditions to keep the stress levels low. We rarely left for Christmas when I was growing up, and now having my own family, I see why.
On Saturday, we pulled out one last surprise for Brinley, a NEW BIKE! We put it together and off we went on an adventure. We've been out biking almost every day since and it is amazing how much better she is getting. Our favorite spot to bike is inside the complex tennis court. Since no one is ever seen actually playing tennis, it's our biking spot instead.
she HAD to stop to pick a dandelion and make a wish :-)
The following Sunday, I made a special make-up Christmas dinner of ham and potatoes. I ended up making a peach cobbler too! It was delicious and after that, I felt like we had made up for the weird week it turned out to be. I am grateful for my little family and the joy they bring into my life. Despite all the sickness and Christmas schedule thrown out the window, we really did have a great time together. It was so great to see Ryan's siblings and share some laughs together and catch up. We haven't had a Christmas together since at least before Ryan and I got married. We tried to make the most of the week. It surprised me how much I didn't like the cold! Holy cow, we are such Floridians! It was torture! We are happiest in our sunshine!
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