Merry Christmas!

Flamingemu

How did your kiddos do with the day?

MrsKipper

Nola LOVED it. She's a pro at opening gifts now and had a great reaction to the main stuff! It's so much fun to have a kid that actually realizes what's going on this year! We have two more days of gifts with other family, so more fun is yet to be had!

Flamingemu

L & I got up bright and early to head to church. We let her pull a few things from her stocking to keep her occupied during church. Had the quickest service ever, and headed back home. She was ridiculously spoiled by everyone (MIL, SIL, etc) and got so overwhelmed, we had to take a few breaks. She still has a few things unopened. I figure she will get to them eventually. 

SHe is currently boycotting a nap, so we let her come back out and play for a bit. I am hoping we can all nap in a little while. Mommy is tired. 

MrsKipper

Going down for a nap was definitely hard. We're at the ILs, so I don't have a monitor to see if she's actually sleeping, but she's quiet so I'm hopeful that she's recharging.

miss50

Sleeping thank goodness. Doc McStuffins sound player and trampoline for the win. If I'd have just let her eat all the candy she'd have been completely happy.

She made me take off all the bows.  Weird.

miss50

@MrsKipper‌ @Flamingemu‌ take a long nap. We need recharged too. )

tyrannasaurusjess

Merry Christmas everyone!! Jasper HATES opening presents, so... last night and today have been fun (Fun= meltdown x10 anytime anyone suggests he open something) He was into the toys once they were unwrapped and such, he just wanted no part of the process. Currently at home letting the kids nap before we do celebration #4. 

BeebopandBuddy

We got up and got started early. Maya had the same response to everything, "Oh, I love this!" They both did great with presents. Now we are almost done with the 5 hours up to NY for Round 2 with SD's. Dinner out and then on to Round 3 with IL's.

Flamingemu

BeebopandBuddy said:

We got up and got started early. Maya had the same response to everything, "Oh, I love this!" They both did great with presents. Now we are almost done with the 5 hours up to NY for Round 2 with SD's. Dinner out and then on to Round 3 with IL's.

Good luck with all the traveling. 

MRoxy0628

We were with my in-laws this morning. Now we're en route to celebrate with my dad and his side of the family. But first we're sitting in the car with lily while she sleeps. I like Christmas, but I'm also really excited for tomorrow when we can relax. Hope everyone's having a Merry Christmas!

27boo

We're having a good day. Aria loves her trampoline! Opening her presents is taking forever becayse everything must be opened and played with/read/put together right then. Lol. We did manage to not watch Toy Story 2 and 3 right away during stockings. She is now down for a nap, so we will finish opening her gifts throughout the day. DH was supposed to pick up pizza for dinner today and never did, so that's up in the air. Breakfast was my job and it was good!

kelbel527

BeebopandBuddy said:

We got up and got started early. Maya had the same response to everything, "Oh, I love this!" They both did great with presents. Now we are almost done with the 5 hours up to NY for Round 2 with SD's. Dinner out and then on to Round 3 with IL's.

Hope everything goes well with the traveling!!

kelbel527

We have had 4 celebrations in two days and no naps for either kid. We are finally back home, just ordered Chinese food for dinner and are planning an early bedtime. The kids were awesome (with minor troubles sharing) but have definitely hit their limit by this afternoon. They got so many awesome gifts and we feel lucky to have had so many people to celebrate with. Merry Christmas ladies!!!

elizabethwig

great day here. took a while cause the kid stayed up too late last night being excited and then slept in, then had to have some breaks because it was all so overwhelming. but so far, hosting for the first time as been a success! i say this before we try dinner..

AlinnJo

My poor Quinny is sick. She did ok opening presents but she was pretty zombie like. I feel so badly for her. She's not eating much and just wants to lay on the couch and watch Minnie. Not the kind of start to a vacation that I imagined but I hope she gets better quickly. Merry Christmas everyone!!!

amandad715

Not my favorite Xmas ever. This morning was lovely with the 4 of us. The boys were excited about everything, and H loved his new drill. Then we rushed out by 11 am to spend time with my dad's side of my family at my aunt's house. We were only there for an hour and a half when we got a call that my great uncle, who was in the hospital, was not doing well. He ended up passing away. My mom, dad, sister, aunt,cousin and nana were there and so were bunch of extended family but we lost my uncle (aunt's husband) unexpectedly this August. So everyone's emotions are still raw from that.

bosha711

amandad715 said:

Not my favorite Xmas ever. This morning was lovely with the 4 of us. The boys were excited about everything, and H loved his new drill. Then we rushed out by 11 am to spend time with my dad's side of my family at my aunt's house. We were only there for an hour and a half when we got a call that my great uncle, who was in the hospital, was not doing well. He ended up passing away. My mom, dad, sister, aunt,cousin and nana were there and so were bunch of extended family but we lost my uncle (aunt's husband) unexpectedly this August. So everyone's emotions are still raw from that.

So sorry for your loss.

bosha711

Merry Christmas! Ours was good. We ended up having a nice night at my IL's last night. DS got a Hess truck which he loves & DD got lots of Frozen stuff. She was a beast opening presents!

We got home late & both kids slept like crap, so that sucked, but this morning was good. They were super excited that Santa came & left presents & ate the cookies they left out. They were loving pretty much everything they got, including back packs, snow boots, Frozen throw blankets, yoga mats, Legos, etc.

We then went to my Mom's for another round of present-palooza with cousins, aunts & uncles. DD was in a bit of a funk & took a while to come around. She asked to get out of her fancy dress right away, which I was bummed about.

But, all in all a great day!

bosha711

MRoxy0628 said:

We were with my in-laws this morning. Now we're en route to celebrate with my dad and his side of the family. But first we're sitting in the car with lily while she sleeps. I like Christmas, but I'm also really excited for tomorrow when we can relax. Hope everyone's having a Merry Christmas!

MH hung out with the kids while they napped in the car outside my Mom's today too

And yes, looking forward to doing NOTHING tomorrow!

elizabethwig

amandad715 said:

Not my favorite Xmas ever. This morning was lovely with the 4 of us. The boys were excited about everything, and H loved his new drill. Then we rushed out by 11 am to spend time with my dad's side of my family at my aunt's house. We were only there for an hour and a half when we got a call that my great uncle, who was in the hospital, was not doing well. He ended up passing away. My mom, dad, sister, aunt,cousin and nana were there and so were bunch of extended family but we lost my uncle (aunt's husband) unexpectedly this August. So everyone's emotions are still raw from that.

i'm so sorry to hear. take care.

redneckmomma25

Christmas was good! DD definitely liked opening and playing with stuff. Mainly the scissors I go her. She then wanted to open all gifts with scissor so I gave her her dress up bin and she played with that for a bit. Eventually she opened the rest. My step mom got her an embroidered lab coat. So cute! And a real stethoscope along with a doctors kit and another MD bag. It is adorable. She's also got a terrible cold and has been up at night coughing. I feel bad.

I hurt so bad at the end of the night. I could not move. I way over did myself. But the food was great and everyone had a great time. Makes it all worth it.

Pokedot

A little late to the party! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We celebrated Christmas morning on the 24th. B lost is crap when he saw the train table and could of cared less about the rest of the gifts. So much so that we opened up the rest when after a late brunch with my parents. He was very good about opening them when he realized there was more than just the table.

He loved his power wheels ATV and was driving it like a pro. My dad showed him how to go backward/forward and he was off until the battery died! Christmas Day was like a Sunday for us. DH worked 12 hours and B and I played with all of his new toys.

Flamingemu

amandad715 I am so sorry.

willy_gert

@amandad715 I am so sorry for your loss!

We celebrated on the 24th because DH worked the 25th.  Luci loved her gifts from everyone.  We also had to remind her that there were more gifts to open, but she eventually got all of them open.  I had to take DH to dialysis, so I decided to spoil him a bit and did want, need, wear, read for him as well.  I think I did pretty well, he was happy, but also felt bad that I didn't get anything from him.  I didn't care.

Then Christmas Day Luci and I got up bright and early and we went to the EMS house and spent an hour with DH before we left to meet my mom, sister and nieces.  Luci did great at lunch even though the restaurant was packed and we had to wait forever, she loved playing with her cousins.  She didn't shed a single tear when they took her with them and played all day yesterday and enjoyed herself.  I spent the rest of the day reading while listening to Christmas movies.  I met DH at the firehouse for Christmas dinner with all of the on duty first responders.  We had a great time and it was very relaxing!

I hope all the sick kiddos feel better quickly!

PenelopePond

So sorry @amandad715‌

hmp1

Sorry for your loss, Amanda.

hmp1

We had fun and the timing of everything happened perfectly. The kids loved playing with all their new gifts. The Christmas of sharing worked out pretty well except the damn Cotton On guitar, I needed 2 of those. And the wooden camera I got for Leo' stocking, it it keeps it's appeal I might need to order a second.

It was also a good year of surprise gifts between DH and myself. He had no clue that I bought him a new lens for the camera and he got a gasp out of me when he sent me into the dining room and there was an old antique double school desk that I mentioned in passing wanting for my next project. So excited to get started on it!

redneckmomma25

@hmp1 that desk is amazing! I'm so jealous!

27boo

@amandad715‌ I'm so sorry.

amandad715

Thanks everyone for the condolences. My nana is the oldest of 9 kids and my great-uncle the youngest. My dad is the oldest of 27 first cousins, too. (My Big Fat Italian Family, really) My uncle was only 3 years older than my dad, so almost like an older brother. Also, he had some mental/learning problems, along with some social issues. Nowadays, he would have been diagnosed with Asberger's. He couldn't live on his own and lived with my nana for probably 40 years, as she became a widow when my dad was 20.
He was always around when my nana was, so all the time. He was a huge sports fan, very funny and had us laughing even yesterday, even with an oxygen mask on. He will be missed by a huge extended family. We all joked with him that maybe he can pull some strings for the Cubs next season, as that was his saddest life-event, not seeing the Cubs win a World Series.

eshee8198

Penny did awesome. She didn't nap all day, but did great with four rounds of present opening and three houses. She was great handing out gifts and only kicked one cousin in a toy related scuffle.

She also just about melted my heart...I made her a set of wooden counting ladybugs, which she saw me start painting at the beginning of the week but didn't see me finish. She opened the bag and just shouted, "Mommy made these!" I die. She also decided her Christmas dress was "like Anna" and spent a good 10 minutes singing, "Do you want to build a snowman" to my closed office door.

I was psyched she loved the gifts we gave her (especially the stickers and m&d broom set), but I think I have to talk to the family before next year. I love them, but they went a little crazy...balance bike (mom), play kitchen (mil), piano (sil), and American girl horse and stable (bro). Plus a million smaller things. For serious. It's all still in the car because I have no idea where to put it all.

Flamingemu

@eshee8198 We are headed to Home Depot this afternoon to buy some storage containers. We are going to put away half her Christmas presents and a bunch of her ones out right now. That shouls help. The problem we are having is where to store them. I can't really use our attic because we have loose insulation which causes an asthma attack every time I open the door and my garage doesn't have a lot of storage space. I may just start selling and donating her toys to get them out of the house. 

MRoxy0628

I hear you @eshee8198‌ and @Flamingemu‌. She got so much stuff!

I gave ideas for "bigger gifts " to people, but of course, mil/fil built her a doll bed and got her a bitty baby (while still getting her another big item) after I told someone else to get her a doll bed and said no to a bitty baby (considering she has 3 other babies). I'm keeping it all though, because I have guilt about returning gifts. I am miffed at my MIL though because she asked for a list, bought it all and still made/bought more. It's too much! No lists next year. /endrant

27boo

I wrangled my DH and brother into moving furniture between rooms so that we could get DD into her big girl room. My main reason was because it's a bit bigger and I needed somewhere to put her toys. I will have to go through them at some point, but I have guilt giving away things from other people too. Even if Aria never really played with it. I did loan 3 bigger toys to some friends with a 6 month old until we need them for baby brother. (The dog, music table, and ball popper). That helped a lot.

TiffanyT85

Merry Christmas everyone! We had a great holiday at my parents, and my dad's parents came for diner with us all.

DS had a great day, and didn't get too overwhelmed by all the gifts. He got a very cool car ramp toy from my brother that he hasn't stopped playing with for 2 days.

My DH did awesome this year and got me my solo ice level ticket to a figure skating show in the spring, I'm very excited!

eshee8198

@Flamingemu that's our issue here too. I need to get better about cleaning and purging old stuff too, but I just get so damn sentimental about everything.

Eastie156

Merry Christmas to everyone, a few days late!
Ethan did really well and my family actually didn't go overboard this year. He got some big gifts from us-an easel, an upgrades kidkraft kitchen and a my first scooter, but it didn't seem like too much. H helped me purge his playroom on the 26th and we stored/rotated a bunch of toys he hasn't touched in months to the basement.

Eastie156

Also, H and I decided not to so presents this year for the first time ever because of buying the house, furniture and a new 2nd car this year. Well, H let it slip that he ordered a necklace for me that has both kids birthstones in it. I'm really excited but also feeling guilty that I really didn't get him anything.