Christmas

Santa came! 

We knew our kiddos would have a blast this Christmas, but what we didn't expect was how much they would anticipate the big day all. month. long!  Sydney woke up every morning of December and asked "Is it Christmas yet??"  Sydney was very intentional about trying to stay on the nice list, even though both of their behaviors were much worse than nomal during this exciting month!  I am excited about the introduction of The Elf on The Shelf next year!   Both of their favorite things to do at night was to go look at Christmas lights.  Stinks that this was the year we decided not to go to Callaways for Fantasy in Lights.  (We were still recovering from Disney!)  They both experienced Christmas Lane for the first time in Thomaston-- a holiday tradition that I will always remember.  They were quite impressed as we walked through the old, lit up mill village, and I remembered it being MUCH bigger.  We also experienced the Gaddy's Christmas lights in Fayetteville, which was a first for our whole family after hearing people at work talk about it for years!  We were all equally impressed by it!

Throughout the month, we tried to remind both kids the true meaning of Christmas.  Sydney was very into this and could tell you that it was Baby Jesus' birthday (as she could last year), that God had a special message for Mary:  you're going to have a baby; don't be afraid (Thank you Faith Lutheran Preschool); and could sing a dozen precious Christmas carols.  Eli, on the other hand, is so stinkin' stubborn.  When you asked him whose birthday on Chrirstmas, he insisted it was "PaPas!" and there was no debating it!  Oh well, buddy, you were going to be really smart, but instead you're just going to be stubborn!  :)  He could tell you that Santa says "Ho, ho, ho!" and lives at the "Pole!"  We will work on his Christmas priorities next year, I promise!  :) 

Fortunately, I have an amazing job that has allowed me great flexibility in scheduling, so I was off from December 22-27 without taking a single day of PTO.  Our Christmas celebrating went from Friday-Monday,as follows:
Friday-- Christmas with my Mama, Daddy, and two sisters+ their families
Saturday (Christmas Eve)-- Lunch with Ben's dad's whole family in Griffin and then a Christmas Eve service at Trinity Baptist Church in Thomaston with my parents (which Sydney slept through) and then  Dinner with my parents, grandparents, and aunts, uncles, and cousins  (Between the two of these gatherings, we probably saw 100 family members!)  Thank God for my kids' one-day-aunt Jamie for helping so much at the first gathering-- I might have lost them otherwise!
Sunday (Christmas)-- Breakfast brunch with my parents and grandparents at our house and then lunch with Ben's parents + herd of kids ... Thanks to everyone for coming to us so our kiddos didn't have to leave their loot!
Monday-- Back to Thomaston for a reunion with Ben's college roommates and some of our best friends Will, Brittany, Cory, and Ginny and their kiddos (So much fun and chaos-- we have 6 kids between 1 and 3 between us!) and then lunch with Ben's mom's family

On Christmas morning, both kiddos walked straight to the toys they had spent December asking for!  Sydney walked straight to her kitchen and exclaimed "I got everything I wanted!  It makes me so happy!"  (not sure if that makes her the sweetest or most rotten child ever.. verdict is still out, but it did melt my heart!) and Eli went straight to his guitar, started playing it and saying "Strum it" (Thank you, Uncle Jonathan!)

I am sure that for the next several years, we will say this, but this was definitely my best Christmas ever.  I love seeing the excitement and amazement in the eyes of my children.  Thanks to all of our family and friends for sharing it with us!  We love you!

Sydney dancing with her bff, Max