Christmas 2013 Recap

It's the 4th Sunday of Advent and the 12th day of Christmas and what a Christmas we've had.  Oh my!  Our decorations are down.  Charlie was just asking me today where the tree went.  He thought it was in "Mim's bedrooms closet" (i.e. the closet our guest bedroom).  I told him it was in the attic.  He told me we would go up there later and get it down!  He has also asked about Santa a lot.  We told him that he was on vacation so he now says "Santa is at the beach"!

After work, we traveled to Grundy on Friday, December 20th.  The drive was perfect other than it being late and us being a little tired.  Charlie did not fuss a single time.  He was so happy.  It was his best car trip to date and that's saying a lot because he's a pretty good traveler.  We got there late and Charlie woke up and was so excited.  He just had to stay up and visit for a little while.  :-)

Saturday morning, we went to the local park.  It was unseasonably warm.  Too warm for December in my opinon but a great excuse to spend a part of the morning at the Poplar Gap Park.

 

We came home and took a nap so we could be ready to PARTY!

We had a our Christmas with my folks and I don't normally do this but I thought I should take a picture of this table.  It was so pretty!

 

My Uncle Rob and Aunt Susan came along with my sister and her boyfriend and we had such a great time with everyone.  Charlie did great unwrapping all of his presents.

Sunday, we went to church and then Charlie got to come home and play with his new gifts.  He went to the movie theatre and visited Santa.  Meredith, Matt and I stayed to see Anchorman 2.  Charlie went home to get some one on one time with his Pops and Mim.  My mom cooked all weekend and we had good food.  That night, we had a delicious dinner.  We watched Home Alone that night with Dad.  It's a family favorite!

On Monday, we got up and headed on back to Richmond.  We were all ready to get out of the car but the drive was uneventful.  We managed to get home, get unpacked, and play with some toys.

Tuesday was Christmas Eve!  We had such a fun morning playing with toys.  Daddo made Charlie a special breakfast.  We had a couple of last minute errands to make which didn't take long.  Then we headed over to Aunt Knee-knee's house.  We've gone over to her house the last couple of Christmas Eve's and we just enjoy a little bit of time over there.  This year, we made cookies for Santa

and reindeer food while we were at her house.

 Charlie taste tested the dough and thought Santa would approve of his cookies.

We came home and took a nap. (Whenever I say we took a nap, I mean Charlie!  I only wish I was taking a nap!!!)  Our church has a wonderful family Christmas Eve service at 4 so we headed out for that.  Charlie woke up on the wrong side of the bed so he wasn't in the mood for pictures.  It's too bad because we all looked so nice even if Charlie wasn't feeling the church clothes.  (He had a complete meltdown over this outfit!)  

We came home and had a nice family dinner.  Matt and I are pretty sure that it was our 2nd best meal of 2013 (steaks, mashed potatoes, and roasted brussel sprouts) which is pretty hard contest. 

We put our food out for the reindeer.

 

When we were ready for bed, we got our plate ready for Santa.

We put a couple of carrots out for the reindeer and of course the cookies and milk for Santa.  Matt and I read Charlie the Christmas story in the Bible.  Honestly, Charlie wasn't feeling it but he has a book that is more toddler friendly on Jesus' birth so we read that one too.  Charlie read that book a lot this year.  After that, we read Twas the Night Before Christmas.

 

We told Charlie that he needed to go to bed and he had to stay asleep in order for Santa to come and he couldn't wake up until it was light outside.  About 11pm, Charlie woke up and we were worried it was going to be a long night.  Luckily, Matt went in a said he had to go back to sleep until the morning and Charlie did.

Christmas Day

What a day!  We woke up and first stop was to go downstairs and see what Santa brought.  I had already snuck down to get a peek and take a couple of pictures.

 

I got up at the crack of dawn (seriously)!  I wanted to have a shower and be fully ready and not miss a minute.  I'm a morning person anyways so that was fine.  I got ready, put my pjs back on (cuz you have to take pictures in your pjs on Christmas morning) and was ready and waiting for Charlie to wake up when he got up about 6:45.  Charlie's big gift was the train table.  He also loved his new microphone and the Mickey Mouse train.

 

 We opened a few presents that were from us.

 

Then, Grammie, Papa and Knee-knee joined us for brunch and more presents.

 

Charlie got a little tired before it was all said and done so we laid down on his chair and opened his presents.

 

That afternoon, we headed over to Grammie and Papa's house to veg out, take naps (ok, this time I did fall asleep) and just some good family time.  Charlie played with a couple of his new toys and worked his new puzzle.

 

That night, we got to see a few of the houses that were all decked out with lights.    It was a little frigid!  We got out and walked around but didn't take any pictures.

Thursday, the day after was rough on us all.  We had to go to work and daycare.  It was a hard morning!  Poor Charlie wasn't feeling daycare.  I understood because I wasn't feeling work either but it is what it is and we survived.  That night, we got to celebrate with the Hamricks.

I'm sad that I didn't get a picture of Baby Noah.  I love these sweet boys.

They are best friends but already fuss like brothers over anything and everything.  They are toddlers afterall!  Ali got Charlie a guitar!!  He loves it!!

Friday we all headed back to daycare and work.  That night, we all needed a break and we just spent some time playing with all the new toys and had a few moments of quality family time.  

Saturday, December 28th, we spent some time outside and just hanging out at home.  We actually did a little yard work.

 

I felt like Charlie need to try to get outdoors an he loved his "gloves with fingers" thanks to Mim!

Later that day, we headed to Virginia Beach to celebrate Christmas at the Saunders home.

Lisa made the best white chicken chili so we ate more rich food.

Yum!  The kids get presents.  Charlie was just fine to sit with Katie for more surprises.

Charlie got a drum and symbols to go with his microphone and guitar so we have a band.

What a wonderful holiday.  New Year's Eve, we spent the time at home.  It was nice a low key.  Sadly, Matt and I didn't make it until midnight.  New Year's Day, Charlie played with Papa and Grammie while Matt and I took the decorations down, cleaned up the toys, and got everything to the attic.  Later that day, we all went over and some of our first bit of 2014 with our friends.