Wow, what a crazy whirlwind Christmas was this year. I thought about trying to slow things down, savor the good moments and make memories with Kylie. I gave myself little "pep talks" in my mind about how I wouldn't let anything get to me, how this year I would just roll with the punches and relax and enjoy everything going on around me instead of stressing about it. I promised I would be present with Kylie the whole time and do whatever she wanted to do. I wanted to spend the whole month of December doing fun holiday activities like going to tree lighting's and doing Christmas crafts with Kylie. I planned to read her Christmas books like "The Polar Express" every night before bed and watch every kid friendly Christmas movie that was on TV. I wanted to start new traditions.
Of course, things never work out that way. Maybe next year?
On the Eve of Christmas Eve, Jordan and I scurried around tying up loose ends, wrapping the last few gifts, and assembling Kylie's "big" Christmas gift. This took around five hours and we didn't even get the custom wallpaper up like we had planned.
This is how Jordan "helped:"
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| "Oh noo!" |
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| "Must...continue...please.. |
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| "Oh bother. Why Preston I do believe you've run over Santa...again." |
Actually he helped a lot with gift wrapping, something I don't particularly enjoy but he is great at. He wrapped at least half of my gifts for me, carefully trying to line up the paper so it would look perfect. He told me that he thinks about it almost like a meditation and that he had learned that from his dad. I love when he lets me in on those little details from his past.
During the day of Christmas Eve we finally got to spend some time with Sarah, Kylie's (often absent due to her adventurous lifestyle along with her poor decision to get her PhD all the way out in Michigan...j/k Sarah...kind of.) Godmother and Saadet (Sarah's girlfriend from Turkey who I feel as though I have known forever even though we only just met on Christmas Eve!
We love it when Sarah comes home, we spend so much of the year missing her. Skype is great but it will never make up for moments of real connection like this.
Kylie is very shy, and it takes her awhile to warm up to people. She has known Sarah since the day she was born but because she only see's her a few times a year, it usually takes awhile for her to get comfortable with her. It seems like it gets easier every time we see her though, and this year it took Kylie all of 30 seconds to know exactly who Sarah was and how much fun they always have together.
When we left Sarah's house on Christmas Eve we went home and I decided it was time for the big dollhouse reveal. I wanted to give it to Kylie early because I knew she wouldn't get much of a chance to play with it over the next week or so.
As we walked into Kylie's bedroom and she saw the house for the first time I said "Kylie, what is that?" and she smiled and exclaimed: "It's a castle!"
I am pretty sure she likes it. I know I can't wait to play with it...when she isn't home.
When I redid my old bedroom for Kylie I put a lot of thought into exactly how I wanted it to turn out. Adding the dollhouse really makes the whole thing feel perfect.
While Kylie checked out her new digs, I went downstairs to help my dad set the table. When that was done it was time for Kylie to put on her Christmas dress and come downstairs to join the festivities.
We had nine people at our house for Christmas this year. My dad, Kylie, Jordan, my mom (Grandma Susan), my brother (Mumple), Amanda, Ariana, Elisa, and me.
Having kids around on Christmas really makes it infinitely more fun. It also increases the number of presents under the tree a lot.
This is a totally acceptable amount of gifts, maybe even necessary. Right?
Kylie has really started to take Ariana under her wing lately. She takes her hand and leads her around the house. She tells her what she can and can't do, and what she can and can't eat. When Ariana cries, Kylie gets very concerned and asks me "Why is Ariana crying? Why is Ariana sad?" She even named one of her favorite baby dolls "Ariana." Luckily, Ariana is a willing participant and let's Kylie's bossiness just roll off her back. She is also a year younger than Kylie although you wouldn't know it by looking at them together.
Even my dads normally shy and reclusive dog Mora decided to join us for a bit to beg for affection.
My brother couldn't get out of work Christmas Eve. Kylie spends Christmas Day with her dad, so we had no choice other than to have a really late Christmas Dinner. Starting around 7:30pm. Kylie served some coffee to help us all stay awake.
Kylie made sure that her favorite baby, Momoko was being properly cared for at all times.
I decided to break out some of the Christmas books I have been neglecting to read all season and read a few to Kylie and Ariana.
Jordan stepped in and tried to read Kylie, "The Sweet Smell of Christmas" which is my personal all time favorite Christmas Book, but she was too excited to sit still. That sounds better than, "my two year old couldn't sit through anything other than a board book if her life depended on it," right?
Meanwhile Ariana is sitting nicely reading "The Polar Express" all by herself...
Well maybe she got a little distracted too.
Finally, Mumple arrived and we sat down to dinner. My dad really went all out this year. He started us off with shrimp cocktail, fresh garden salad, and fluffy white dinner rolls. Then he moved on to roast beef, chicken, and swordfish. He made all the standard sides; mashed potatoes (which might have been a bit of a disaster), stuffing, green beans, etc. When everyone was so full we couldn't possibly take another bite it was time to open presents!!
It would have been nice to take it slow, open the gifts one at a time so everyone could see what everyone else got. To get pictures of Kylie unwrapping her toys. But unfortunately it was after 9pm and there was no way Kylie or Ariana would be able to enjoy that sort of slowed gift opening process so it pretty much turned into complete chaos. Everyone was ripping open gifts simultaneously, paper was flying everywhere, and most of the time no one knew who had given them whatever it was they just opened. Not exactly what I had envisioned, but hey, whatever works right?
Finally around 10pm everything was unwrapped and dessert was served. The girls were running on fumes and that energy they get when they are overtired. Kylie changed into her Christmas jammies and put Momoko to sleep in her new bed.
Kylie was up until at least midnight. That put a bit of a damper on Christmas morning. I tried to wake her up. I excitedly told her that Santa had come and she had more presents to open. My dad unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher loudly. Jordan stumbled out of bed and opened his stocking. Kylie refuse to crack an eyelid.
Eventually I gave up and packed up her stocking to bring with us to the Ketchen/Lipson Family Annual Christmas Brunch. I slipped her clothes on barely waking her up and put her in the car and off we went. Only about 30 minutes late.
All the usual suspects were at brunch and it was the perfect way to spend a lazy Christmas morning.
Merry Christmas!!!!
