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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Surviving Christmas

Whew.  I am exhausted.  Christmas this year was a 3-4 day event, with our various family gatherings not spaced out at all.  The exhaustion was absolutely worth it though, as our two year old had a wonderful time!  Before I had a child, Christmas being on a weekend didn't make things any tougher, but now it is a hard deadline! 

My little one loves Christmas lights, and so she was thrilled when we finally got our tree up...three days before Christmas.  Oh well.  That's okay.  It'll likely stay up until Valentine's Day, so she will still have plenty of time to enjoy it! 

Thursday we went to see Santa.  We weren't planning to take her this year, figuring that she would be afraid of him still, but after a week of hearing, "A go see Santa?" over and over, we decided to head to the mall.  I'm glad that we did, as she was all smiles as soon as she saw him and we got a really nice photo out of the deal.

Our holiday travel marathon began on Friday night, when we drove down to my parent's house.  If there is absolutely no traffic and no stops along the way, the drive can be done in a little over 2 hours.  Our drive was not quite so easy.  Three hours, a dinner stop and three potty breaks later, we arrived.  We spent Christmas Eve with my husband's family, having brunch, opening presents, eating cake and coffee, then dinner.  It was like the day that wouldn't end, topped off with another three hour, three potty stop drive home.  Upon arriving home, little one fortunately went right off to bed, which left me to wrap and play Santa in preparation for Christmas morning.  I dropped into bed exhausted, but excited to see her face the next morning. 

Christmas morning was just the three of us.  I went downstairs a minute or two ahead and turned the tree lights on and got the video camera ready.  I am really a bad videographer, but I wanted to see if I could capture the look on her face when she saw the tricycle under the tree.  She saw the tree and the trike and her smile lit up her whole face!  I was as excited as she was for her to climb aboard.  She started pushing on the floor with her toes, and within about 5 minutes had put her feet up on the pedals and started pedaling.  Craziness.  I really didn't expect her to get the hang of pedaling so quickly!  We had so much fun on Christmas morning, it's a memory I will treasure forever.  Our little one didn't get a lot of presents from Santa, but what she got, she loved, so her mama is happy.

My parents came up for Christmas dinner and to exchange gifts, and we all had a lot of fun together.  Then on Monday, my extended family (aunts, uncles, cousins, first cousins once removed, etc) all got together and enjoyed each other's company.  Despite the two hour drive each way, we had a good time.  I always think of my grandmother at this particular family gathering, and how happy she would be that we all still get together to celebrate the holiday.  From the time I was young until her death in 2002, I gave her an angel for her Christmas tree.  I still buy one in her memory every year and hang it on our tree.  Merry Christmas, Mom-Mom!

I survived the Christmas marathon, but I need to re-think my strategy for next year.  I should probably try to figure it out now, while the memory of this year is still fresh.  I think Christmas is on a Tuesday next year...

Forget it.  I'm too tired to even think about it! 

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