Here we are, two weeks later and I'm finally blogging about our Christmas! I have a ton of photos from the entire holiday season so instead of multiples posts, I'm just going to recap bullet-point style.
Long before Christmas Day--and even before the birth of Rhett--we ventured down to Union Station for all things festive. The boys always enjoy looking at the trains (Holden would
not ride the train however) and I enjoy snapping photos in such a gorgeous setting.
Our Christmas tree went up waaaaay later than normal this year because I was trying to avoid Christmas decor in newborn photos. I finally gave in because, well, someone was being super stubborn about his arrival. Turns out, the decor avoided any and all photos anyway, so we totally could have put it up mid-November. Oh well.
We celebrated Christmas early with Craig's parents when they came to meet their newest little grandbaby. I don't think the boys minded the opportunity to open presents mid-December. Among their gifts? Two 6-foot tall goal posts that sat in our dining room for three weeks before getting the boot to the basement!
It's not Christmas without matching jammies, am I right? Definitely made a point to take photos of the boys in both sets.
This year, I thought it would be a good idea to decorate a gingerbread train. I should have purchased the pre-made house, but the train was just too cute! Anyway, our caboose fell apart, but the boys had fun adding embellishments to the engine. Brantley was super into it, examining the picture of the train on the box, and wanting ours to look just like that one! And despite my control freak tendencies, I stayed out of the way and let them do the decorating.
Some of our newest neighbors hosted a "Jingle while you Mingle" Christmas party the weekend before Christmas. The hits of the party were definitely these face coasters that double as masks (I'm not even sure what to call them).
On Christmas Eve morning, we had reservations to eat breakfast in a gingerbread house at Great Wolf Lodge. It was quite different than we had pictured, but fun nonetheless!
Just some Christmas Even afternoon selfies, no big deal. Clearly, Holden woke up from his nap on the wrong side of the bed.
Because we didn't travel this year for Thanksgiving, we thought it was only fair to our families to also not travel for Christmas. I have wanted an excuse to stay home for years and I
so enjoyed waking up in our own beds on Christmas morning. Staying here also meant we got to attend the Christmas Eve candlelight service at church. Perhaps my most favorite part of staying in Kansas City. I busted out the tripod before we headed to church for a Christmas Eve family photo. To my surprise, no one complained and we even got 4/5 smiles!
Upon returning home from church, my boob was beginning to hurt. A few hours later, I had a 101-degree fever and could barely even play the part of Santa Claus. I woke up on Christmas morning feeling even worse with all the classic signs of mastitis, so I spent much of my Christmas Day on the couch. I was thankful to get an antibiotic that afternoon, but still not a fun way to spend a holiday. Needless to say, photos were not my first priority that day.
Despite being sick, I was overcome with gratitude on Christmas morning. I couldn't help but feel so incredibly lucky to have three healthy kids, especially the youngest after our earlier scare with Down Syndrome. For some reason, it hit me extra hard on the holiday and I just couldn't thank God enough for blessing me in the ways he has.
My sister and her family came to meet Mr. Rhett during Christmas break. We got adventurous and braved Union Station and Sea Life for a day on the town. Craig was working so it was me in charge of three kids...a small glimpse of what my summer is going to look like. (Spoiler alert: I survived. Barely.) Anyway, Brantley and Holden loved the time with their Iowa cousins.
Our neighbors hosted a NYE decades party (dress from your favorite decade), which meant I got to crimp my hair and wear my fanny pack all night. Meanwhile, Craig busted out the Doc Martins...the ones from the 90s that he never got rid of!!!!! For me, the night wasn't quite as crazy as
last year. Turns out, breastfeeding kind of ruins the fun, but I did make it past midnight which I consider a huge win!
P.S. When you ask the 4-year olds to snap some group photos, this is what you get!
And finally, I was home with all three boys for two fulls weeks during their break from preschool/daycare. I definitely enjoyed the extra time with them, but I also finally understand the line in that Christmas song "Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again." They've been back at daycare for three days now and I'm back to enjoying my quiet, clean, relaxing maternity leave.
