Let's open another one!

Another Christmas successfully in the books…let’s jump right in, shall we? Thursday night was the beginning of our extended weekend and we kicked off the holidays with a trip to Rick and Sandy Jones’ house. Uncle Adam was in town and we all hung out, had a fantastic dinner, and got in the festive mood. Landon had a blast counting all of the Santa’s that he could find at “Miss Sandy’s” and he thoroughly enjoyed rough-housing with Adam and Rick. At one point I think Rick wasn’t prepared for our little warrior, as he bent over to wrestle with the little guy Landon charged him with a full head of steam, somehow managed to land a knockout punch to his head and then bulled him down with all the force of a 40lb javelina! He was fine and ready for more action, but that was the last time that he’ll underestimate our little Tasmanian Devil! We all had a great time and can’t wait to do it again sometime soon.

Friday morning kicked off with a run for the parents, followed by a whole host of chores we needed to get done before the holiday. Eventually the evening rolled around and it was time to head off to church. Michaela and I are “those” people that always talk about wanting to go to church more often, as we always enjoy ourselves when we go…however, we really only manage to go once or twice a year…usually Christmas Eve and Easter. Just like a true Catholic! Okay, maybe not...I can see Nana Alice rolling her eyes as I type. :-) Anyhow, we did go this year, and we tried out a new church that had a fantastic service. When we got there we were a little concerned as it was literally “standing room only” and we did stand for the first 10 minutes or so. Eventually an usher found us some seats and we were able to more thoroughly enjoy the experience. Landon was fantastic in the church…I think it may have helped that we bribed him with a huge candy cane….and speaking of that, we learned that it’s not a great idea to give your two year old a red candy cane when you are dressed in nice clothes and wearing white! Both Michaela and I had red hand prints on our immaculate clothes…oh well. Landon also enjoyed the songs that were sung in church…he would rock his head from side to side while they were singing, and when the songs were over he’d yell “All Done!” loud enough that everyone in the vicinity would start laughing…good times! Anyhow, we are pleased to report that he made it all the way through the service without any meltdowns…we could tell he was getting antsy towards the end and I’m really glad that the service didn’t last any longer or we’d have been playing with fire, but honestly, I was getting antsy towards the end, so how can I expect a toddler to do better?

After church we headed over to my Grandparent’s house for the traditional clam chowder and oyster stew meal. Once again, it was fantastic! We also got to see my sister, my Dad and my Aunt Cindie and Uncle Terry who were in town for the event. Unfortunately we couldn’t get Landon to try the Clam Chowder this year but the rest of us agreed that it was excellent, along with a fantastic bottle of wine and great company, it was quite a night. Then it was on to the house where we had to get everything ready for Santa’s visit. Landon was so excited to put out the cookies and milk for the big guy…he also said “goodbye” to his Elf on The Shelf (Buzz) who finished his job and headed back to the North Pole on Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning Michaela and I woke up bright and early assuming that Landon would be chomping at the bit to open presents. The little guy had other ideas though, as he promptly slept in until almost 7am! Michaela and I got the chance to enjoy some quiet time and coffee before he put in his big appearance. At that point it was on like donkey kong! Landon was excited to see the leftover cookie crumbs from Santa, and was sad to realize that Buzz really had gone away until next year. His eyes lit up when he saw the stockings and tree brimming with presents.

We spent the remainder of the morning opening presents, and trying to reign in Landon (who would open a present, ooh and ahh over it for a minute, then say “let’s open another one!”….over and over and OVER). It was like he had some sort of Christmas disorder, because he couldn’t get enough…he was opening other people’s gifts as well…he didn’t care if it was to him or not!

At one point while opening a present and pulling out his new super hero big-boy undies and a new book, we realized there was more left in the bag to open. When we asked Landon, "what else is in the bag?" he responded with, "Ahh, nothing. Just clothes." and tossed it aside. What a typical kid! Of course, nothing compares to getting that first real gift from Santa. In our case, the only thing Landon repeatedly told us he wanted Santa bring him was an Iron Man toy. Luckily for him, he was on the nice list.

After all that, my Mom and Dennis and Nicole came over for breakfast. I made my Tata’s egg/sausage casserole, Michaela made her Grandma Carol’s famous Monkey Bread (pure sugary heaven) and her Grampa’s Egg Nog….it was a great meal and left us stuffed for the rest of the day.

We enjoyed a great dinner with my parents at their house, then spent the rest of the evening watching my Dallas Cowboys put some salt in my wounds…man they are terrible this year!

Yesterday was supposed to be a day of recovery, and it was to some extent…but I still feel completely exhausted and recognize that I need another vacation to recover from this one….good thing we’ve got another long weekend coming up!

We hope you had a very Merry Christmas….

See you in 2011…