Wow, the last week was full of such fun! But man oh man, I am one tired mama. Like really tired. And I am one usually game for anything. Between Ben's 2nd birthday party just four days before Christmas, buying all the presents, wrapping all the presents (wow...that took a lot of time!), cooking, baking, church, hosting Christmas Eve at our house and then the thrill of Christmas morning and all the little details in between, I need about a week of recovery. But even though it was a lot of work and even some stress (I even went running in 38 degree weather at 9:00 pm just to blow off some steam!), it was a wonderful week of celebration, counting our blessings and spending time with loved ones. And of course, why stop now? We are heading to our final Christmas celebration tonight with Chat's dad's family and then off to the bay to celebrate New Years!
First off, Ben's birthday party. I can't believe this guy is two! He has added so much 'spice' to our family and I loved being able to celebrate all that feistiness, love and craziness he brings to our family. Never again will I say that my baby is so low-maintenance and easy because you have no idea how that can change! We had all of our friends and family over to the house. Truthfully, I didn't take many pictures. But I did take a few of Santa's visit, Ben's cake and our little reindeer food bar.
The Birthday Boy!
(A terrible picture, but the only one I really got of just him. MOM FAIL!)
Santa Visited!
A cute picture of Luke and his cousin Kaden
The first cake...with the fallen down Christmas Tree and no "Happy Birthday!"
Second cake...much better!
Our reindeer food bar and a certain someone who wouldn't quit eating the sprinkles!
Where you found Ben the entire party...eating gingerbread men.
Seriously I think he had 7 or 8.
Cute picture of my dad with Ben and his new cousin Jack!
So after Saturday evening, we got all of Ben's party cleaned up and then we got working on Christmas. The next day we went for cookie decorating at Chat's stepdad's house. It was so much fun! Monday consisted of last-minute present shopping, wrapping tons of gifts and grocery shopping. Oh and we did a quick trip to the train and dinner with some sweet friends!
Tuesday morning was filled with cookie decorating for Santa with cousin Molly....
I did a lot of cooking in preparation for Christmas Eve dinner that night. Then it was naps and getting ready for church. We went to the 4:15 service and it was designed for kids. There were tons of children there and always a slight roar throughout the service as kids became restless. Luke did pretty well, but eventually Molly and Ben had to be taken elsewhere to run and play while we finished up. But overall, I was happy that we went and sort of got through it. I am thinking next year will be much better!
I was very proud of Luke
This guy got a bit silly
Of course Jack was the best!
My sister and I taking a selfie because we wanted to document that we had 4 kiddos under 4 at church. Ha!
We tried to get a picture of all the kids after church together.
This is the best we could do...
This is the best we could do...
After church, we headed home and started preparing our Mexican dinner for everyone. My parents, my sister and her family and Chat's mom came over. This was the first Christmas Eve my parents did not host since I can remember. It was fun to start a new tradition. My sister and I will switch off every year to host Christmas Eve. I loved having it at our house, but wow, lots more work for me! It was worth it and I was so happy to have all of our family. Such a labor of love! Everyone was gone by about 8:30, so then it was baths and then pajamas. We then went out and sprinkled reindeer food on the lawn. Eventually we got the kids down by 9:30 or so and then Santa got to work getting all the presents out. Chat and I practically fell into bed around 10:30 and we quickly fell asleep. After a very full day, we were tired and we had a big day ahead of us the next day!
This post is long enough. Next up...Christmas Day!
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