A very, merry Christmas!

As it happens every year, we spend months getting the house decorated, the gifts purchased and wrapped, the schedules arranged, the cookies baked... and then Christmas is here and gone before we know it!

This year, it was over even faster than usual. Because David and I have families in opposite ends of the state, our Christmas gatherings normally extend over two to three weeks. This year, we started on Thursday, Dec. 21, with his mom, step-dad, Grandma and Step-Grandpa.

I was amazed—Grandma Emily didn't go overboard! She bought Noah a walker, a baby leap pad, an outfit, socks, onesies and another toy. For her, that was exercising some serious control. Turns out that the walker is by far Noah's favorite present. I wish he liked it a little less... it means our little guy is VERY mobile. It's wonderful and scary all at the same time.



But I digress.

Saturday, the 22nd, kicked off the holiday events with my family. That afternoon we gathered in Navarre, Ohio, with my dad's side of the family. My Grandma Compan is suffering from the middle stages of Alzheimer's, but she still loves to visit with her enormous family. There are easily 50-70 people there each year, and she wanders among us all asking over and over what our names are, are we married, etc., but saying all the time that she's so glad we're all happy.



Noah must have found the events of Saturday very exciting, because he was up until nearly 1:00 AM that day. We ended up sleeping as a family in my parents' living room because I didn't want to keep anyone up with his crying. Oh man were we tired the next day...

Sunday, the 23rd, we got up and went to church, where Noah promptly decided he was due for a nap (not a surprise after his marathon anti-sleep-a-thon the night before). Then we drove out to my Uncle's condo to gather my mom's side of the family. The best part of that day is our annual $15 men's and women's gift exchange. I have never seen so much stealing going on—all for a $15 gift certificate!



We were supposed to go out after our Christmas events that night for our annual Grandma Christmas outing with my Grandma Dilley & Rosalind (my step-grandma), but the weather turned nasty AND the lights park we planned to visit had gone belly up! So we wound up heading home instead.

Monday, the 24th... my immediate family gathered at my brother's house for some loud and festive merriment and gift-opening. I have five nephews, ages 3–8, so these events are always wonderfully insane. :) David and I had to split by 1:00 PM in order to pick up our dogs at the boarder, which also gave us a chance to relax a little while before Christmas morning.



And then we arrive at Christmas day. With nowhere to be until 6 PM, we enjoyed a leisurely start to our day. Noah gifted us by sleeping in until 9 AM, and we were opening presents by 10. It was wonderful to be able to be at our house, cozy and happy, for Christmas. I admit there were parts of my family's traditions I missed—in particular the food, the game playing and the noise—but it was amazing to be able to take a nap (!), watch a movie, and just linger in laziness until we had to meet David's parents for Christmas dinner... at Quaker.

All in all, it was a great holiday. I now get to enjoy a few more days off before I go back to work on Wednesday. I am loving being able to just play with Noah all day, and not have to scramble to work while he's napping, or to worry about cramming in as much housework as possible. It's a fabulous break to the regular grind.

Merry Christmas, everyone!