Christmas Eve night we always go to Devin's grandma's house and celebrate with his extended family. He has a ton of cousins and we rarely get to see them except on Christmas Eve. When I first started going to these celebrations, only a couple of the cousins had kids. Now it is an explosion of kids and completely crazy to see how many have been added each year.
Finley and Jude both got some really fun gifts. Jude got a ball popper thing that was a hit with his sister and a lot of older kids! He also got a bath toy and a Vtech alphabet dinosaur. Finley got one of those cool cardboard houses that you can color, a Tangled outfit and wig, and a new outfit.
I mentioned in my last Christmas post that Finley just might be becoming a girly girl and one of the reasons I think this is because she LOVED her Tangled outfit and wig!!!!! She put her little dress on and just started spinning! She has played with it quite a bit since bringing it home. She has never gotten into dress up, but maybe that's just because we hadn't bought her any outfits! I'm already envisioning Tinkerbell and Snow White dresses before long. HA!
After the kids open their presents, the adults do a gift exchange. It's one of my favorites because almost everyone brings giftcards so we usually go home with something really nice! This year Devin and I ended up with the two giftcards we brought so we were super happy!
It was a long night and we didn't get home until after 10. As I already posted, Jude threw up as soon as we got home so it took us awhile to get both kids in bed, but it was a good night in spite of it being long!
Christmas Day:
On Christmas, we woke up and packed everything for our trip to my dad's. It's almost a two hour drive so we made a quick pass through Starbucks and were on the road by 9. I was so thankful that we had already done our Christmas so we weren't trying to hurry even more to get out of the door! The kids actually did great on the way there. We typically have to start a movie for Finley or at the very least turn on her music, but she didn't request either. I think she was still a bit sleepy so I gave her breakfast and then let her look out the window! Even though Jude had just woken up, he actually slept a little on the way there as well!
When we got to my dad's, we unloaded presents and at lunch. It was yummy! My uncle, aunt, and cousin came from Texas so it was fun to have them there as well!
After lunch, we opened presents! Jude was ready for a nap so in the middle of presents, I attempted to put him down, but no such luck. It appears the one thing Jude is picky about is the pack-n-play... he's not a fan! Finley was pretty sleepy by this point as well so even though she was actually behaving quite well, I always felt like we were seconds away from a meltdown.
Aunt Tracey and Uncle West spoiled the kids as usual! They always get them great gifts and this year was no exception! My aunt and uncle got them books which was fun because Devin and I are tired of reading the same books over and over each night! My dad gives the kids money and then also several stuffed animals. My dad isn't a "shopper" so it is very sweet that he does shop for the kids.
After presents, we hung out for a little bit and helped clean up the kitchen, etc. My dad took Finley for her tractor ride, but the 4 wheeler wouldn't start. Finley wasn't too disappointed. She is absolutely in love with the tractor and loves to see the cows!
We left early afternoon and I was pretty amazed that we had survived without any major fits. It had been a long few days with very erractic sleep, but all-in-all, we couldn't have asked for better behavior. Both kids slept all the way home which was a bonus!
When we got home, we read out of the Jesus Storybook Bible all about the birth of Jesus. I love that we were able to do this all together.
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