This year was the same as any other around the holidays: hectic! We are hoping that this little girl will be the answer to some of our craziness around this time of the year, with a few people coming to visit her next year and not so much running around for us :)
We started out Christmas Eve with Nick's mom's side of the family around 1:00. The Hall side knows how to do Christmas. There is always plenty of food and good cheer to be spread around. I love Nick's family so very much and we just don't get to see enough of them. Of course, we were spoiled as always, but E didn't miss out on the action this year; she got a set of keys and teething necklace (both staples when all of the kids were little) from Aunt Melanie and Uncle Kenny, as well as burp cloths from Uncle Milesy and Aunt MaryBeth. I tell ya, this kid has been awaited for a long time for this family! The youngest on this side is 19 years old, and the last girl they had was Lindsay, who is now in her 30's.
Christmas Eve night we got to see our bestest friends at church at 6:00 service, and I was so happy my mom and dad could join us. I knew that I wouldn't get to see Amie until after we got back from Florida, and being away from each other isn't our forte, so I was happy that I got to spend a little time with her and also to kiss my munchkin goodbye for Christmas :) Love, love, love C Monkey's latest fashion trend... amazing striped leg warmers. I love those little legs running to me in them!
After church, we headed up to Nick's dad's side of the family at his Uncle Mark's house. We always do a White Elephant type thing, which is a hoot. I ended up doing great this year; a gift card to McDonald's!! Nick also did well, as he got an Old Man bobblehead from A Christmas Story, one of our fave holiday movies.
Christmas morning, I slept in until 6:45 (I am a very early Christmas morning riser normally). N and I exchanged gifts and then headed down to my mom and dad's house. We got so much stuff, including presents from Santa. He got E her bedding (pictures to come soon), and a mobile for her crib. I got plenty of pregnancy clothes, which I need for the upcoming months. Eliot got a super cute outfit from Nan and Pop (UofL shirt, leggings, and matching bow) which I can't wait to put on her during basketball season next year :) We got great stuff from Mom and Dad and Caitie and Tyson. E even got her very first junk box! A tradition in my family is that my Mom collects stuff all year on clearance and makes us a "junk box" filled with things like socks, belts, and other stuff. I know it is crazy, but it is always our favorite present! I hope to pass it on to Eliot one day, too (even if Nan still makes her one). :)
We headed to my Grandma Mary and Grandpa Bud's for breakfast around 10:00. After an always awesome breakfast, we opened gifts from everyone, and this year we all chipped in and got my grandparents a flat screen TV. My grandpa was so excited that he could watch the Nascar races even better :) He is too funny. E got more stuff and we got some great things, too! My grandparents even bought her paint for the nursery, which was extremely thoughtful and much appreciated! We only stayed until about noon this year because we had to get back home and finish packing for Florida before Christmas dinner at my Grandma Sandie's house. I got one of the greatest presents as we were leaving. Amie, Chris, and Camryn were just getting to his mom and dad's (which is about four houses down from my grandparents), and I got to hug Amie and Cammie bye one last time. I know it sounds crazy, but a week away from those girls can make me homesick quicker than anything else! As much as I love vacation, I would love it even more if we could all go together, all of the time :) This made my Christmas very complete :)
N and I headed back home to organize our Christmas goodies and get the rest of our stuff packed. We did a great job and almost had the house back to normal before we had to leave for my mom's parents's house. My grandma always makes an amazing meal for Christmas dinner, and we always have prime rib and twice baked potatoes (prime rib being a favorite of N and twice baked potatoes being a favorite of mine). Then we all exchanged gifts and E wasn't left out of this celebration, either! My grandma hand-crocheted a blanket for her which had me in tears immediately. My grandmother has a really hard time seeing and is legally blind. I know how much work this took her and how much time was invested in this precious blanket for Eliot. She is the first great-grandchild of their's and I think they are pretty excited :)
We had to leave there and get gas in the Jeep because we were set to leave at 5:30 the next morning for our Lawrence Family Adventure 2011 in Destin. What an amazing Christmas we had!!!
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