Our Second "First" Christmas

Technically, this was the babies second Christmas.  However, since they were born unexpectedly only 2 days before Christmas last year and in the NICU, this Christmas really seemed more like their first!

Christmas 2013

I wish I could say this year was the best Christmas EVER, but I think that time has yet to come.  I say that because almost all of us were sick!  Rylee was the only one that hadn't come down with a nasty cold yet. When Ayden and I both woke up with very colorful snot (sorry), I knew we should probably stay home from our planned Christmas Day festivities with Tony's family.  In addition to the snotty noses, Tony and I also had not-so-fun coughs.  So we all stayed home and made the best of our day together, which was still pretty special simply because WE HAD BABIES to celebrate with!

My family traditionally has celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve.  However, this year we moved it to the Saturday after.  As our extended family grows through marriages and added children, it becomes more difficult to plan a time that works with everyone.  We found ourselves without Christmas Eve plans, but it turned out to be a great day anyway!

Tony actually had the day off work, so we took advantage of that and had his mom come over to watch the babies in the afternoon, allowing us to have a much needed movie date.  We went and saw the new Hunger Games movie, the Mockingjay.  We loved it!  It might be the one and only time I've ever thought the movie was better than the book!  I found the 3rd book to be a little slow and hard to get in to, but the movie was fantastic.

Later that night, we all went out to dinner together at a local Mexican restaurant with Tony's parents, Grandpa, and Aunt.  It was the first time we'd ever taken the babies out to eat for dinner.  We were so impressed with how well they did!  I packed them each a baby spoon in the diaper bag and we ordered them a kids meal to share: chicken enchilada, beans, and rice.  Ayden and Rylee just seemed to take everything in and enjoyed the outing.  Of course we had to keep everything on the table out of arms reach from them!  Ayden was intrigued by the ceiling fan and all the people.  We spoon fed them their dinner in order to keep them as clean as possible and they ate their dinner like champs.  They also surprised us all by being able to drink from a straw!  In addition, they got their first taste of sherbet for desert.  It was a hit!

We knew we had colds Christmas Eve, but by Sunday morning they were a lot worse.  We called the family to let them know we would be skipping out.  We are sad that we missed spending Christmas with family, but what a blessing to be able to spend it with our own little family of four!

We didn't put up a Christmas tree this year, because with two mobile babies that like to eat absolutely EVERYTHING, it would have been a nightmare.  Plus, with being in the middle of selling our house and planning to move... It just seemed easier not to have a tree.  I put a few decorations out, but not many.  I'm hoping that in the years to come, we can make it a family tradition to go out and hunt for the perfect tree together.  Being from Oregon, we HAVE to have a real tree!

Our big gift to the babies this year was 4-in-1 trikes.  They start out with a parent handle to push and steer, and the seat comes with a 5 pt. harness.  Then it transitions into a regular trike that they have to pedal.  With their birthday being so close to Christmas, buying gifts was a bit of a challenge.  What they will need and be able to play with 6 months from now is a lot different from where they are developmentally right now, so some of their gifts will need to be put up and brought out at a later date.  Tony put together the trikes Christmas Eve and I wrapped the other few presents and filled their stockings.

When they woke up Christmas morning, we gave them their bottle as usual and then we opened presents!  The trikes were a hit and they loved the wrapping paper of course.

Loving their new bikes!

"Wrapping paper sure does taste good!"

Pure joy for their first T-ball set!  (We can pretend they actually knew what it was.  lol)

Rylee actually did pretty good pulling things from her stocking.  I just had to get her started by showing her there was stuff in there!

"What is this cool little ball that lights up?"  He was intrigued.

We had a great morning, but the day as a whole was a little rough.  Both babies decided they didn't want to nap all day.  Ayden skipped his morning nap altogether, and Rylee only slept for about a half hour.  For their afternoon nap, they both slept for only about 20 minutes and both of them were up screaming.  Kind of like they are doing right now as I type this.  Sigh.  They were most definitely grumpy cats with the lack of sleep.

We decided we would distract them and take advantage of the no rain by taking them for a stroll on their new bikes.  It was either that, or let them keep screaming while fighting their naps.  They enjoyed being outside and we enjoyed the walk.

Our only Christmas Day family photo

Overall, it was a good day spent together.  We were sick and we were all a little grumpy, but we were together.  It was so much fun to experience giving them their first Christmas gifts and actually being able to put them to good use right away.  We have my family Christmas tomorrow and Tony's extended family gets together the first part of January, so we still have some Christmas left to be had.