The days leading up to Christmas felt really rushed this year, but without fail, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were completely special and relaxed.
Okay, I just lied a little. Christmas Day was relaxed. I spent 4 hours at my sewing machine on Christmas Eve because I realized there would be no other time to finish my custom orders before the date they were promised. I may also have procrastinated on my handmade gifts. My sewing machine also decided that it would be a great day for the motor to start dying, so that'll be a fun problem to fix in the near future. After the sewing marathon was complete, I finally got to take a shower before the gift wrapping marathon. Nothing like a little procrastination to get you in the Christmas spirit!
 |
| Opening Christmas PJs! |
But once the evening hit, I felt like it was finally Christmas. Every year my parents host a Christmas Eve extravaganza, complete with tamales and lots of dips. It's one of my favorite traditions. I also never take pictures because I'm too busy
stuffing my face catching up with family friends and chasing my kids.
After everybody left and it was just our family there, Avery treated us all to a concert of Christmas carols. That girl melts my heart.
Thanks to my
morning night sickness, Matt let me go to sleep when we got home and he finished up getting the house ready for Christmas morning. He's a gem.
The kids slept until 8:00! They were super excited about their "Santa" gifts, but we opened stockings before opening the rest of their presents. This year we followed the gift guide of something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read, and it was just about perfect. Matt and I even used the rule for our gifts for each other.
 |
| Look at what was in my stocking! My old one broke :) |
 |
| Matt got tired of my ghetto hair dryer and since I wouldn't buy my own, he took matters into his own hands. |
 |
| Slippers aren't lame when they're requested! |
 |
| We're no longer irresponsible parents |
 |
| Matt did good (especially considering his budget)! (I forgot to take a pic of his gifts: slippers, cologne, a Ravi Zacharias book, and a shirt.) |
 |
| Me and my girl |
My mom rocks and cooked breakfast for everybody, so we headed over to their house at 9:30. I had to sneak a leftover tamale before we opened stockings (morning sickness is weird), but we had our usual baked french toast and orange julius for breakfast before heading to the family room to exchange gifts.
Y'all. I got an Erin Condren 2013 planner. This is a big deal.
Our Christmas lunch main course has alternated from year to year (the last couple of years have been
amazing Reata steaks!), and this year it was a Honeybaked ham. Oh my goodness, yum. The side dishes are always consistent though: hash brown casserole, brown sugar green beans, salad, and blueberry jello (don't knock it because it is so, so good).
 |
| This kid is on a major Grandaddy kick lately |
We all just hang out in the afternoon and bust out all the leftovers for dinner.
And we got a surprise white Christmas this year! It even froze our minivan's side doors and confused the sensors, so we got to drive home with the doors beeping at us the whole way. That was fun.
Once the kids finally went to bed, we got busy packing for our trip to Baytown for Christmas #2! Well, Matt got busy packing. I moped around the house complaining about how crappy I felt and how I just wanted to go to bed. I did manage to throw some clothes in a bag before I crashed (in case you were wondering). Matt has been picking up my slack SO much lately. I blame the first trimester.
We took off this morning for Christmas with Matt's family, and we're here for a few days of fun and relaxation. Well, it probably won't be too relaxing for Matt's parents who are in extremely high demand with two energetic kids, but it's a little bit of a break for us. :) We exchanged gifts this evening and had some amazing pulled pork sandwiches for dinner. (Can you tell I'm highly motivated by food these days?)
 |
| This is Landon's tearing-wrapping-paper-is-really-hard face, haha! |
I love Christmas. I'm so thankful for traditions, family, friends, and the birth of our Savior. He came to be our Prince of Peace, and while the world was waiting for the promised Messiah in kingly form, he arrived in a stable. As a helpless baby. The light of the world.
I'm praying for peace and light in 2013. Merry Christmas :)
