How blessed are we?!
Also, how busy and pooped are we?! Haha. We are so lucky to have two amazing families and extended families to gather with over the holidays. Everyone seems to get along, too. I hear about all this tension at family dinners, Christmas events, and get togethers. I cannot relate. There is so much love to go around. Yes, I may be busy, but I will not take this for granted.
This is what life looked like from December 22 on.
December 22: My Family Gift Exchange & Dinner
With my family we alternate years between giving gifts and playing games. Last year we did an experience together (Cirque du Soleil) and played games. We had a tournament and everyone put in $25-$50. Whoever won the tournament took all the money to donate to a charity of their choice.
This year was gifts. We all provide lists, and my parents get some stuff for everyone. We also draw names and exchange gifts with a $50ish price limit. Dominic and Emilia were so excessively spoiled! Dom in particular because he's so much fun to buy gifts for at this age. We headed over there after nap time and did gifts with the little ones throughout the afternoon, taking breaks as needed. Emilia went down to bed just before dinner time, and then we ate the MOST delicious filet mignon dinner. If I had paid $75 to eat that I would not have been disappointed in the least. After dinner and the kids were both in bed we exchanged gifts with the adults.
I had a horrible headache all evening which is really too bad. I look forward to this evening all year. However, we still managed to stay out til 11pm, and packed the kids up and brought them home to finish their sleeps. I have to say, I am SOOO grateful that our kids are such good sleepers. It takes a lot of stress out of these sorts of things.
Tons of cooking going on
Oma testing out Dominic's new hat
Dom "helping" everyone open their presents
Here we go! (Emilia in the background is too cute)
A Paw Patroller!
A storage truck for his cars!
A huge candy cane! Story behind this one. I got one around Christmas when I was his age and now we need to recreate this photo (below)
Now I see why Dom always seems to have a mullet.
What's next coming down the hallway?
A wagon!
Weeee!!
Dom, what's this?
"Dom 'Tar!!!" (Dom's guitar). How did he even know? It was still wrapped!
Proud owner of a new guitar
This was our dinner. 5 stars! Also, notice the sloth wine marker climbing up my wine glass. A bonus gift from Scott & Ashleigh! Haha
"My favorite people call me Opa"
Jeff's been asking for a personalized calendar for a few years since I try to make one for us and our parents every year. I didn't have his name, but I put one together anyway!
Personalized socks from Mom. Marta's socks had a hidden double-meaning (to be revealed the next day) "What's next Gerby? I need adventure"
December 23: Was supposed to be a day off.
A lot happened on December 23rd! First, Janine had a baby boy, Jag Dev Stevenson Sharma! He was in the NICU for a while due to some initial concerns with his oxygen levels. On Boxing Day Janine and Neil were able to take their new little adorable bundle home to celebrate the rest of the holidays with their family.
So cute! Jaia turned 2 on Christmas day, just 2 days after her little brother was born <3
Next, we had Scott & Ashleigh over to play Cards Against Muggles (oh yea. I forgot to mention, David had Cards Against Muggles printed for me/us for Christmas! HILARIOUS!) while we waited for some particularly exciting news.
Cheers!
JEFF AND MARTA ARE ENGAGED! Our family was in on the secret, so we were all anticipating the announcement sometime in the evening. Jeff and Marta were exchanging their gifts and Jeff saved a special one for last. I'll spare all the details so they can share the story with the family themselves. We're so excited for them! Now every one in our family is married or engaged. Family dinners are going to keep getting bigger and bigger!
During the part of the day that was actual free time I dressed Emilia in this ridiculously cute crocheted outfit that I think was made by David's Grandma many many years ago.
And this, because her face is funny and it reminds me of Slughorn from Harry Potter.
December 24 was actually a pretty relaxing day for us. I was feeling worn out already, and anticipating the busyness of the next week, so we had a bit of a down day. We went to the Christmas Eve service at 5pm, and then came home and put the kids to bed. Last year Dave and I exchanged gifts, but we decided not to this year because there isn't anything we need/want really. Instead, we had some cheese and crackers, wine and ice cream. We played a few games and just had a gezellig little date night together.
I can't decide which picture I like the best. Thank you to Grandpa for making a funny noise!
Earlier in the day I was cooking at the island and out of the corner of my eye I saw Dom's oven glowing. I went over to check it out and...
He had put his angels from Bo Bo Moma in there to keep warm(?). Oh kids. This made me laugh.
December 25: Christmas Day.
Typically David's family gets together on Christmas morning, but now that everyone has their own little families it's hard to round everyone up. Shelley opted to have Boxing Day be our Christmas Day this year. That being said, David and I didn't have any plans in the morning, and no gifts to open, so we went over there around 9am. We opened a couple presents with the kids and put Emilia down for a nap. We had cinnamon buns and coffee with Baileys and then had some waffles for an impromptu brunch! We were home in time for Dominic's nap and I was actually able to squeeze in an hour long nap too!
Dom ripping his Paw Patrol wrapping paper. He had an unintentional Paw Patrol themed Christmas and birthday this year!
I should add, that during this week Dominic still has a horrible cough, and David is sick with a bad cold too. So far Emilia and I are okay... knock on wood. Nobody has said anything about Dom's cough sounding suspicious, so I'm just going to assume it will go away on its own and it's all fine.
After nap times it is time to pack up and head out again! Another open invitation Christmas Dinner at my parents place. This time it's ham! We spend the afternoon and evening in fellowship with most of our family, and Opa & Oma Gerber. We eat, drink, chat and play games. The kids go to bed and we stay there until 11 again. Again, I am grateful they sleep well and the transfer from playpen to van to crib went okay again! I neglected to take any pictures here apparently. Oops.
December 26: David's Family Christmas.
Whew. I'm getting tired now! David is sick as a dog and everyone is grumpy. Emilia won't let me put her down, Dom fell off the couch and hit his ear pretty bad, Dave is snotting all over the place, and I am peopled out. To add to this, I have completely forgotten it's Dom's birthday TOMORROW! Oh my goodness. Thank you to Mom for offering to take care of the food for me!!
We get to David's parents' around 4pm and everyone is already there. We exchange some gifts with the babies and then sit down for a delicious dinner - I was in charge of gravy. After dinner we put our kids to bed. FREEDOM! We played games, ate and drank until about 1030pm. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.
Super cute Mother-Daughter outfit
David's parents are starting the process of looking to move, so this could likely have been the last Christmas dinner in this dining room. I guess we are out-growing it rapidly!
December 27: Dominic's 2nd Birthday.
Again, Dominic and David are having a hard day. This, in turn, makes it a hard day for me. Everyone is a little extra tired and grumpy. That being said, we invited our families over for dinner, gifts and cake/cupcakes (or as Dom calls it, PIE!). It all turned out well and Dominic was SO excited even though he played through his entire nap time haha.
Dominic was again totally spoiled with presents. He has gotten very good at opening gifts by now! We had cannelloni for dinner (thanks, Mom), and I made some cupcakes and buttercream frosting for dessert. Everyone headed home before the kids went down to bed and we were toast and ready to sit down and relax too.
This is what happened when we tried to take his 2 year photo with the bear. We will try again another day... He also wouldn't let us measure him. Good thing he won't change much too rapidly. #Beingtwoisfine
Our $5.99 wine of choice!
This little stinker is over at the tree every chance she gets.
Dominic does not know about delaying gratification just yet. Every time someone brought a gift in he opened it, immediately. He knows what's up!
A little bit neater than his 1st birthday cupcake!
Emilia actually let other people hold her a few times. This NEVER happens! Yay! Also, I'm so sad she's outgrowing this sweater.
For Christmas from Allana and Gabriel, Dominic got this ride-on Marshall Firetruck (Wee-oo). He was excited to ride around on it, and really wanted to push Emilia on it. He walked over and picked her up under her arms. With my help, he brought her over and sat her down and proceeded to push her around the house. Talk about melting my heart! He just wanted to share his fun experience with her!
Yaya and Baba standing at the activity cube
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