Christmas Chaos...Ain't It Grand?!?

Bear with me - this is going to be a long one, but I want to get it all down for posterity!

Rudy and I spent the days leading up to Christmas being super-productive around the house. We prepared Nola's nursery, washed baby clothes and blankets, fixed things that needed to be fixed around the house, rearranged the attic (Rudy) and basically got lots of stuff done! We managed to fit some family time in there too.

December 23rd

Rudy prepared a turkey for the church's community Christmas lunch. I went up to the church to help decorate and set tables, but the letter I got was wrong and the set up was actually scheduled for the 24th. I ran errands instead and then we took Caleb to see Santa at the mall. After that, we took Caleb to dinner at Olive Garden (one of his favorite places) to spend some time with just the 3 of us before the beginning of big family time. We came home and put Caleb to bed then watched A Christmas Story.

December 24th

We spent Christmas Eve with the Voise family this year. After Nana's health scare the past month, it was certainly good to be together with the family and have her there and recovering so well. Everyone was in town, so we had an abundance of family, food and fun. We ate until we were stuffed and then had fun with the annual Dirty Santa gift exchange. The weather was sketchy all night and we ended up driving home in the snow. One of the highlights of our evening was getting to meet our nephew, Dax. He'll be one in March and we hadn't even met him yet! Here are some pictures from Christmas Eve:

Dax

Caleb, Jan & Elle

The Voise Family

December 25th

Rudy and I were thrilled to get to wake up in our own home on Christmas Day this year! We loved having the morning to ourselves and cherishing the beginning of the day together. When Caleb woke up, we let him play with the toys that he got on Christmas Eve from the Voise family while Rudy made pancakes for breakfast. Here he is playing with the DRUM SET that his Uncle Todd gave him. (Gee, thanks, Uncle Todd.)I put birthday candles in Rudy's pancakes and we sang Happy Birthday to him! Caleb deserved a special treat for Christmas too, so we put sprinkles on his pancakes and you would've thought we had coated them in pure gold. After breakfast, we let Caleb open his gifts from under our tree. Rudy and I didn't exchange gifts at all this year and we were just fine with that. I was kind of proud of both of us for sticking to it! Jerry and Sherry sent Caleb a Bounce Back Racer remote control car that he loved. We gave him a Trio building set, Gator Golf, Hi Ho Cherry O, the Toy Story game for Wii and his most requested toy of all: The Mack Attack Racetrack for his cars. He was so excited about his new toys and we had so much fun watching him rip into that paper. When it was all opened, he looked at both of us and said, "You my best grown-ups ever." That's all I needed for Christmas. We spent the next couple of hours puttting batteries in toys, surgically removing toys from packaging and assembling that blasted racetrack. The joy on his face as he played with each new toy was worth every penny and every second!

Rudy and Caleb wearing the 3D glasses for the Toy Story gameOnce the toys were appropriately explored, Caleb just couldn't help himself. He HAD to go outside in the snow. Rudy bundled himself up and bundled Caleb up and off they went. I decided I should probably avoid the snow and ice to keep from landing my 8 1/2 month pregnant self on the ground. They didn't stay out long, but apparently had a good time exploring the snow. Caleb was disappointed that we didn't have enough snow for a snowman, but he was okay with it since we didn't have any carrots to make a nose anyway. We had a surprise visit from Jerry and Sherry on Christmas Day! They were on their way from Harrison to Ft. Smith and made a detour to come by and say hi and see us for a few minutes. We were so glad to see them and enjoyed the short time we had with them.

After they left, we got ready to go back over to Nana's house for Christmas dinner. It was a smaller crowd, but just as much food and family time. We had an amazing prime rib dinner and I surprised Rudy with a birthday cake afterward. Caleb took a couple of his new toys over with us since he was the only kid there. We opened up Hi Ho Cherry O and I was astonished at how much he loved it! He played for over an hour. The adults kept having to switch out but he just kept on playing. He got the hang of it so quickly and was so funny playing it. He would get so tickled when someone's bucket would spill - even if it was his!


Just before we ate dinner, we watched 7 deer grazing in Nana's backyard. Caleb was enthralled with them. I wasn't able to get any pictures of them because it was getting dark, but they were just beautiful in the snow.

December 26th
We hit the road bright and early on the 26th for Sherwood to spend the day with the Hatch family. We made it there about 11:30 and had a wonderful leftover Christmas lunch. It was the only turkey and dressing meal that we had all year so we didn't care if it was leftovers from the day before or not! We spent the day with Memmie and Poppie, Ron and Mary and Hannah and Chris. Here's Poppie in his new hat:
Here are Memmie and Poppie opening some of their gifts:

Ron and Mary gave Caleb a train set for Christmas and he thinks it's about the coolest thing since sliced bread. We have put that track together about 20 times since then and he loves it. I bought some bins for it to keep in the playroom so that he has easy access to it. We ended the night sitting around the kitchen table with several people shelling pecans. I just had to get a picture of Caleb "helping" Poppie.

December 27th

We left Sherwood on the 26th in time to get to Mom and Mr.L's house and head for bed soon after. We got up on the 27th and had breakfast, then opened even more Christmas presents. Caleb was just dying to get into those packages!

Big thank you hugs for Pops and LaLa:After we opened presents, Jimmy and Kim came by for a few minutes and brought a blanket and some bloomers for Nola. Both were embroidered with her name on them and a Razorback. So stinkin' cute!

Around 3:00, we went over to Pepapa and Anna Joyce's house for the Locke family Christmas gathering. We were super-excited to see Maddox (and his parents) who we haven't seen since this summer. Caleb has talked about Maddox for weeks, but when they actually got there, neither of them were quite sure what to do. They played around each other for quite a while before they ever decided to have anything to do with each other.

The boys with Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Kim:

Again - we ate way too much really good food and had a great time with our family. The whole crew was there and we played Dirty Santa like we always do. Maddox got a Razorback jersey for Christmas, so Becca asked me to bring Caleb's jersey to get a picture of both of them in their Hog gear. Maddox was all for the photo shoot, but Caleb wanted nothing to do with it. We had to have a major attitude adjustment to even get a couple of decent pictures - much less a good one.

December 28th

We stayed in Hot Springs on the 28th just to have some downtime with Mom and MrL. Rudy made chocolate gravy for breakfast and we decided that might have to become a Christmas tradition. It was deeeeelicious. Mom and I went out and did a couple of Christmas returns and got a few clothes for Caleb and Nola. It was a nice, relaxing day. Rudy and I took advantage of Mom and MrL's generosity and went to a movie together that night. We so rarely get to do that. We saw The Blind Side and it was awesome.

The 28th was a big day for Rudy's side of the family too. Rudy's mom, Jan, got married in Ft. Smith that night. It was a small wedding - just a few friends - but we saw pictures and it was really a nice event. We're very happy for Jan and Bill and wish them all the best! (Even though Caleb says that he is already married to Grandma.)

December 29th

We made the long, curvy drive home. Yuck! We got home in time to unload the car and get laundry started before I went to my OB appointment. It was uneventful, which is always good until at least week 36, which is when I go back again. I did get my Rhogam shot - unpleasant, but not too bad.

December 30th

Rudy's Aunt Kathy volunteered to watch Caleb for a day during the Christmas break so we took her up on it on Wednesday, the 30th. We weren't sure we were going to get to go through with it because of the snow we got overnight, but it warmed up early and we were able to drive to Branson. We had lunch at The Pasta House and then hit the outlet mall for some after Christmas shopping. Rudy got some great new clothes and a new tent. I finished out getting newborn and 0-3 mos clothes for Nola. She has PLENTY of cute and functional stuff now. I even managed to get some things for Caleb. Nothing for me this trip - I won't be buying any new clothes for a while. Our drive home was a little nerve-wracking. The fog was thick and the roads were curvy, but Rudy got us home safe and sound.

December 31st

Yesterday was New Year's Eve. We were back to being productive again. I cleaned out the pantry, took down the Christmas decorations, tackled the mountain of laundry that we had made, wrote some thank you notes and basically got a lot done. Rudy cleaned out his closet, helped with the laundry and Christmas decorations, went to the grocery store and made an amazing New Year's Eve steak dinner for us. We worked so hard all day that we could only watch sleepily (me) and snore (Rudy) through the ball dropping in Times Square. We are such party animals. :)

January 1st

Ah, 2010! It's finally the year of Nola! Today has been another get-done day around here. I've finished up laundry and started cleaning up the baby gear that Rudy got out of the attic. We've watched football while working around the house and Caleb has played. It has been a nice day. We had dinner at Nana's house tonight with her, Jan and Bill.

Whew - I told you that would be a long post. It may be the longest I've ever written, but that's just indicative of how our break has been. So busy and so productive and yet so very enjoyable.