Christmas 2017
Merry Christmas!! [one day later of course!] Christmas this year has been quite fun...and quite interesting! Check out all of our festivities below!
First off, Melody had a visit with the main man, Santa. She was far from a fan. I half expected this, but I was hoping she would eventually warm up to him. We visited a traditional mall Santa. We visited him early in the evening because he took a break near dinner time to go feed his reindeer. We were literally the only ones there, so we had plenty of time for her to warm up, but she wouldn't. We actually had a few decent pictures, but the teenage photographers didn't have the setting right on the camera, so they were blurry.
We decided to go get dinner ourselves then we went back and visited Santa. Unfortunately, there were a lot more people so we didn't have the one-on-one time we had before. We were able to get a fairly decent picture where Melody wasn't having a complete meltdown.
We decided to try and take a few pictures of Melody when we got home near the Christmas tree since she was dressed up. I got a few cute ones!
The weekend before Thanksgiving, we visited the Enchanted Forest in Memphis. We were visiting Brad's parents, and this is a longtime Memphis tradition that they wanted to introduce us to. Ticket prices are reasonable for everything that is included. We went on the opening day, so it was quite a bit crowded. Santa flew in on a helicopter this day, so there were a lot of people who wanted to see that and stayed to explore the "forest". After purchasing your tickets, they have movies that you can view, or you can just start exploring. This visit included two toddlers, so a movie wasn't really a good option, ha! So we skipped right to the exploring!
First you go upstairs and start in the Festival of Trees. There are so many trees decorated with different themes by various companies. They had everything from a Darth Vader tree to an Elvis' Blue Christmas tree. It was really neat to see how they were all decorated.
After you walk beyond the trees, you can walk through the actual Enchanted Forest. There are different snowy settings containing fun animated characters. There was also a Gingerbread Village, Model Train, and Christmas Village. Throughout the walk there were a few photo ops as well.
As we were walking through, we noticed an exceptionally long line we were standing in that was barely moving. We were really just there for the forest and trees. However, we found that we were in a line for Santa that went throughout the forest. So we actually decided to leave before viewing everything, but we did get to see a lot of stuff including the neat model train. I really wished they had a line for Santa that did not spill over into the forest so that we could have seen it all. I look forward to going back next year and seeing all of it!
Of course, we spent a week at Disney World as well. We did a few Christmasy things, but I plan to write all about that later! In the meantime, below is a cute picture in our matching Christmas family shirts!
After returning from Disney World, we had a Christmas gathering with my mom's extended family. Melody was so cute trying to act like one of the "big" girls. My cousin has two kids that are close to Melody's age. One is 3 and the other just turned 1. Of course the 1 year old is as big as Melody, and Melody is as big as the 3 year old, ha!
Next up, we continued our annual tradition of going to one of our local favorite restaurants, Grille 29, for an early Christmas dinner. They have an amazing brunch and an even better dinner.
We went and visited Brad's family in Memphis for Christmas on the 21st. We stayed with his parents until Christmas Eve.
Thursday was a fun, around town afternoon. We arrived in Memphis around lunchtime. We ate lunch, then we went to town and did a bit of shopping. We visited a new bookstore, and we got a Starbucks on our way back to their house.
For dinner, Brad's brother and his wife came over with their two daughters. Brad and I were finally able to meet our newest niece, Annie Michel. Due to traveling and doctor's appointments, we were not able to make it up to visit before this point. She was so small and precious. It is so hard to imagine Melody being that small now!
Speaking of Melody, she was so fascinated by this real life baby doll. She honestly didn't know what to do!
On Friday we went and visited Brad's Grande. It was around Melody's nap time, so she wasn't super outgoing, but it was still a nice visit.
Saturday we celebrated Christmas with his immediate family. We had dinner around 4 pm. Brad's mom cooked a traditional meal with all the fixings. It was delicious. I would have had seconds, but I had to save room for the yummy desserts!
After dinner, it was time to open presents. Melody still doesn't quite get it. She was interested in opening one, maybe two, presents. Then she just wanted to play with all of the toys, including Caroline's! Little Miss Doesn't Want to Share, ugh! She didn't want to share Caroline's own toys, ha! As Brad's mom put it, she was definitely over-stimulated! A few fits were thrown, but we all survived!
We had some yummy desserts, then we rested before calling it a night!
On Christmas Eve we had brunch at Brad's Aunt Cindy's house. The attire was Christmas Sweaters/Christmas Pajamas/Matching Family Pajamas, etc. I made a sweater, and Brad wore his Disney pajama shirt he just bought on our visit. Melody wore matching dresses with Caroline and Annie Michel.
After brunch, we headed back home to spend Christmas Eve night at our house waiting on Santa. I made sugar cookies and attempted to have Melody help decorate. She only wanted to eat the icing, but it made for a memory and pictures.
We left a few cookies I decorated for Santa.
Brad read Melody The Night Before Christmas, then off to bed she went!
Finally Christmas morning arrived! Melody woke up around 7:30 am, and Santa arrived! She seemed really happy with the toy box and Little People bus he brought.
Melody ate a quick breakfast, then we unwrapped gifts. As we unwrapped, a breakfast casserole was cooking for Brad and me. By this point, she has finally grasped the unwrapping process!
She enjoyed her toys for the most part. We still had a few meltdowns when the stroller wouldn't go where she wanted. And she doesn't quite grasp the concept of the toy box yet. Right now it is a nice table, ha!
We took a quick picture in our matching family pajamas, then we got ready for the day!
We spent the afternoon at my parents' house. Melody and I took a quick picture before heading over to their house.
When we arrived, we opened presents first. We all received some great gifts, and Melody had some really fun ones too. She didn't really have a meltdown since she didn't have to share with anyone, ha!
We had all the traditional Christmas fixings for a late lunch. It was all very good as usual! Afterwards, Melody played in the floor with my parents some and enjoyed her toys. Oh, and she changed into one of her new outfits from my parents. Apparently her Christmas dress was getting in the way of her playing, ha!
I also was able to sneak in a picture of Melody with both of my parents before we headed home!
We are all so blessed with amazing family and friends! We had such a wonderful Christmas this year. I can't wait to see Melody next year enjoying Christmas again with all of our new traditions! That's an exhausting wrap to the holidays! Bring on 2018!!!
