Christmas - Part 2

Christmas morning came early for Ryan. I think we had told him he wasn't allowed to come and get us until 7 since they went to bed pretty late and were pretty worn out from the day before. Ryan informed us that he had barely slept at all the night before and had been up for quite a while that morning. Once Wes and I were ready for the boys, we had to go and wake up the other two sleepy heads.

 I feel ya, Charlie. I woke up feeling pretty exhausted and not quite myself either.

Ryan was ready to go!

 B quickly perked up and got pretty excited as well.

 Sleepyhead, on the other hand, wasn't too sure of everything that was going on, and he definitely was  a little unsure as to why we were taking pictures at 7 am!

He caught on pretty quickly once he figured out that one cute picture was all that stood in the way of racing down the stairs to see their presents.

Annnndddd they're off.....

Ryan was clearly excited!

I think Charlie wasn't too sure about the whole thing and somehow ended up coming around the other way into the living room.

He had no clue what was his, where his toys were, nothing. We had to direct him to his Santa pile.

What's the first thing he goes to?!?!? The new Mickey Mouse cup, go figure.

Now, that's a lot of paint!

Ahhhhh, the toot microphone. What every 4 year old dreams of.

On to check out if Santa ate his cookies or not.

He did!!!!

"Come see, Brabley!"

Back to the presents.

"My own bike helmet!!!"

I think this was the biggest hit of the morning, and still is to this day. He really wanted a gumball machine and had been asking for one for months. Well, Santa delivered even though he can't have gum. We threw away the gumballs and have replaced them with jellybeans and Skittles!

After the excitement wore off and all of the presents had been examined and opened, we had some breakfast and I went to bed. I woke up not feeling myself at all. My bones were aching and I was exhausted. Wes took over with the boys, and I ended up taking a two hour nap. Once I got up, I did feel a little better, so we kind of tidied up the house and presents and got ready to go have Christmas at CoCo and Poppy's. We tried to get a few family pics before things got too hectic.

Tried our best with CoCo and Poppy as well.

Bradley and Harris. He was all about wanting to hold him for as long as he could, particularly without any parental supervision.

The boys played elves again, and got everyone's stacks of gifts set up.

Charlie was pretty pumped about his clothes. He had to put it on right then and there.

Have to capture the plumber's crack as it appears often for Buzz!

Each of the boys got something fun to do outside. Ryan got a new bike as he has outgrown his old one. He was thrilled!

Charlie got his own scooter and has ridden it almost everyday since we've moved. They beg to go outside and ride their bikes/scooters. Bradley got on of those cool Razr spin bikes which has been a huge hit with all of the boys.

Helping CoCo open her gifts.

Somebody had a fun Christmas!

We had a lot of fun, a yummy dinner, the boys got in the hot tub, and we put them to bed. The adults stayed up and play some dominoes, but I went downhill pretty quickly. When I woke up the next morning, I was in a pretty bad state. I woke up with 102 fever, chills, and started throwing up. A few hours later after waiting in line at the Redi-clinic with the rest of Houston, I tested positive for Flu A. Not how we imagined spending Christmas break, but I think I had just gotten too worn down from all the events of the month. Unfortunately, our house in Katy was being photographed the next day by the realtor. I ended up going back to my parents for most of the day to sleep and stay away from the kids and Wes took the boys home to put away all of the Christmas decor and clean up the entire house for pictures. I am not sure who had it worse, me or Wes. He worked his tail off getting that house ready and it definitely paid off. We learned our lesson to not wait until the last minute on things as important as this. I was down for about 5 days as it really sucked the life out of me. Ryan started throwing up on Wednesday with fever, although tested negative for flu. I think Bradley was throwing up by Thursday. We thought by Friday everyone was in the clear, so we got out of the house as a family for the first time together since Christmas. We went to BB's cafe together for one last time, and on our way home, I heard something in the backseat. As soon as I could turn around to assess the situation, Charlie was projectile vomiting all over the backseat. We immediately pulled over into a neighborhood, stripped him down, he threw up again! We had about 15 wipes that we used up pretty quickly before putting him back in his seat and heading home. Somehow, Wes escaped all of this, thank goodness! He was a trooper and took care of all of us that week. It was definitely not how we envisioned spending our last week together as a family in Houston! We were finally all well within about 48 hours of Wes heading to Alabama!!

Christmas - Part 1

This year we kept Christmas a little more simple and spent one day with Wes' side and one day with mine. It definitely made for less stress, as well as less cranky children!! We got up that morning and took a few pics in front of the tree since I knew I wouldn't be able to get them to sit still on Christmas morning. We had made big promises of letting them open up one gift, which we have done the past 1 or 2 years. They very eagerly sat down and started posing!

 Charlie is always the wildcard...

 

 Once they got the go ahead, they tore right into them!

 Nerf guns all around!!!

After the full 30 seconds off excitement passed, we had a big breakfast and eventually all got ready for church. We went to an early service at a church we don't normally go to, so the kids had to sit with us. Bradley and Ryan really enjoyed the singing as well as the nativity scene re-enacted by children. They kept asking if they will be able to participate next year. Charlie did pretty well, and only had to leave for a few minutes due to him being "thirsty." After the service, we headed to Sugar Land for the Mock Christmas. Ryan had planned out a scavenger hunt weeks leading up to Christmas when he was at GiGi's one day. He wrote out a script and explained the rules to us. It was so sweet. We had to go searching for the various letters that make up the words Merry Christmas, and whoever found the most, won!

When it was time for gifts, we let the boys play the elves and help pass all of them out. It was a madhouse!

 Finally, it was time for the boys to open theirs....

 Charlie was ecstatic over his own Magnatiles. The kid is still obsessed to this day.

Ryan had randomly told me about 3 days leading up to Christmas how he wanted a snow globe. At that point, it was too late. I had hoped he would forget about it. Lo and behold, Aunt Nina had bought each of the boys their own and put pictures of them with her in it. She had no clue how much they wanted them. Ryan was pumped.

 He also really wanted a Chia pet, which I was able to relay the idea to Christina. We currently have it growing on our deck at the moment!

B wanted anything and everything Peppa Pig this year. Well, GiGi did not disappoint. He now has an extensive collection of Peppa and Paw Patrol!

 "THE PEPPA HOUSE!!!!!"

 Charlie's snow globe

 ....and of course, more Peppa. There can never be enough!

We got a big group shot of all of us, including the newest addition, Henry!

 A little close up of my newest nephew

After a ton of food and delicious desserts, we headed home for some more work to be done. We got the boys in their Christmas jammies, put out the cookies, and read T'was the Night Before Christmas before getting the boys in bed. Santa arrived not too long after they were in bed. I began feeling very fatigued and my bones were aching. I assumed I was just exhausted and got in bed as soon as I could. Little did I know what the next week would hold for me!!

 Santa must have been hungry!!!