Christmas 2021
Christmas is always so much fun. It can be so magical to see it all through Melody’s eyes. Now it can also be super stressful. This year I made sure to finish my Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving. Most was done before November. We also cut back on our traveling this year because we wanted some time at home because Brad’s work travel will pick by up in 2022. But we kept busy, and I decided to just throw all of the fun in one post!
Decor
Now I did not end up getting pictures of all of our Christmas decor. But I did try to get pictures of some of the new things we purchased this year. We got new stockings that we hope to be our forever stockings. The burlap was exactly what I have been looking for, and we finally have our names on them. We also purchased a Christmas sign for above our coffee bar from Smallwoods. It was the prefect size and can be something we use every year. The only other addition we made was a new tree in our dining room. I made it the Melody tree. It contains all of her ornaments she has crafted over the years. And I was ecstatic they made a so many at school this year! And that is mostly all the new things.
Breakfast with Santa
We went to Memphis mid-December to attend Breakfast with Santa at my in-law’s country club. We haven’t been in a few years, so it was really nice to go. None of the girls cried which was a huge success!
Crafting
We did find time while home to bake, make gingerbread houses, and paint Christmas pictures!
Christmas with my Extended Family
Our first Christmas gathering was the weekend before Christmas with my extended family on my mom’s side. I hosted (which I loved). We had lots of yummy food, and it was so much fun seeing everyone. I loved that we also got a picture of all the littles with my grandpa.
Christmas with the Owens
We also hosted the Owens the weekend before Christmas for our gathering. I did not put as much effort into the table settings this year. I did get the kids placemats, cups, and their own Oreos. Instead I focused more on the activities. We set up gingerbread houses and let the girls and guys decorate them. I baked cookies earlier in the day, and we let the girls decorate those. And we also played the “The Left/Right Game”. Or whatever you want to call it. I bought 4 small gifts and wrapped them as well as a $1 and $5 bill and wrapped those. I made up a fun story, and it was a cute activity. Lastly, we let the kids swap gifts. We kept the food simple with pizza and desserts.
Christmas in Memphis with Brad’s Family
So heading to Memphis got a really rocky start. We were supposed to go on the Tuesday before Christmas. But Brad had a doctor’s appointment come up for Wednesday morning, and Melody started feeling sick on Tuesday. By Wednesday morning she felt worse. So bad we called her pediatrician. She has stomach issues we are trying to get sorted out, and this seemed to be a part of that. Before the nurse called us back, Melody had already thrown up but felt completely better. After talking with the nurse, she seemed ok with us traveling if Melody felt well. So we left for Memphis after lunch and made it around dinner time. She did get nauseous about 10 minutes from Brad’s parents’ house. So she kept a puke bucket with her almost the entire time we were there.
On Thursday we celebrated Christmas with his parents, brother, sister-in-law, and nieces. We opened presents, then had breakfast, opened stockings, then had a snack, decorated gingerbread houses, then had a nice dinner. It is always so fun to see all the girls together. These moments always remind me that I do wished we lived closer so the girls could spend more time together.
After dinner, we packed up most of our stuff and headed home to get ready for a Christmas Eve we wouldn’t forget, ha.
Christmas Eve
We got home late the night before Christmas Eve from Memphis. We unloaded everything and even put away some things. I would say it was 2 am at least before we went to bed. Well Melody woke up not feeling great. Her stomach still hurt and she just looked weak and pale. So we called her pediatrician who happened to be open on Christmas Eve and headed there around 10 am. There was not a whole lot they could do with it being the holiday, so we headed to the ER. Surprisingly, the ER was quick in getting us to a room and starting treatment. We were there from 11 am until around 5 pm. And while it was not the most ideal Christmas Eve, we were lucky it was not an overnight stay.
We got McDonald’s for dinner and filled her medicine. We then went around some neighborhoods to see lights before heading home. We wanted to try and make as many non-ER memories as possible for Melody. After getting home and getting bathed, we made and decorated cookies for Santa. We left the cookies, milk, and a letter for Santa, and then we left some food for the reindeer. We took some pictures in our matching pajamas, then one more with Unicorn the Elf before heading to bed!
Christmas Morning
We had hoped Melody would sleep in with the busy day we had before, but that was not the case. She was up by 7 wanting to see if Santa remembered to bring her anything. And HE did deliver! After seeing all that Santa brought that was out, we all opened our stockings. The stockings were the thing Brad and I were both most excited for for each other (I got Brad a few things with his app logo on it, and he got me a small Lionel stuffy)!
We did convince Melody to eat breakfast before unwrapping gifts. She was still not quite to 100% yet. We ended up keeping it super simple after the chaotic night and simply had Mickey waffles. Then we dug into unwrapping all of our gifts. We each take turns to make it last a little bit longer. Then the rest of the morning was spent being lazy. We watched the Disney parade and just played with our new toys.
Christmas with my Parents
Later on Christmas Day, my parents and brother came over to celebrate. It has kind of become a new tradition to allow us some extra time at home on Christmas Day. We had some appetizers, unwrapped all the gifts, and took naps (well the boys did). Then mom and I cooked before eating an early-ish dinner around 4. We got a few pictures of us all before calling it a night!
Other Christmas Fun
So while not tied to a specific event, we did have more Christmas fun throughout the month!
Melody wore red and green to her final gymnastics class of 2021.
We met Unicorn the Elf and saw all of her shenanigans.
Melody got to open her Lego Advent calendar.
Melody was mesmerized with presents this year. It was the first year she has really went around looking to see what was hers.
She dressed in Christmas clothes for her last dance class of 2021.
We helped her put together her legos from her calendar.
We visited my grandmother.
And we got several new pair of Christmas pajamas. I think her favorite was the nightgown!
