More Christmas Fun!

First of all, some little boy I know is turning THREE tomorrow!! How is this happening so fast?!

It's this little boy, and Emilia's face represents my feelings towards it! haha

Last Sunday was the big Gerber Christmas. There were 40 something people in Opa & Oma's house! The little kids all got a gift from Oma Gerber, and the adults and older cousins celebrated with food and drink. This family just keeps growing, with another great grandchild expected in just a couple weeks! There are new significant others brought by the teenage cousins, and others bring friends along who may not have anything going on for Christmas with their own families. 

Everyone used to do poems to summarize their year, but this year it was sort of a free-for-all, with a focus on things you've learned from each other throughout the years. It was mostly my dad and his siblings who shared, but it was still nostalgic and fun to hear. I was a little distracted though, as Emilia was with me (par usual), and spent most of the time giggling and flirting with Scott, or playing peek-a-boo with cousin Charley over my shoulder. 

Dom settled in quickly at the gathering, I think partly due to Ashleigh coming and starting games up with him and Roman, who is 6 I believe. Emilia though, she also exceeded my expectations. She was the life of the party - toddler style. She didn't play strange, she laughed and played with most people, she even let "strangers" hold her here and there! Instead of crying, she just said, "Down. Down." Must be so nice for her to communicate her needs/wants. We got home to put the kids to bed around 8 and then also crashed ourselves. Yup. I didn't take a single picture at this outing. I can't wait until I can get a new phone; I'll be much more inclined to take pictures. 

We didn't have much for plans on Monday, but Dom and Dave were both sick with a cough (same thing happened last year apparently). I decided to take Emilia out of the house in the afternoon and join some people at Oma D's house for sushi to celebrate her neck brace being removed!! I still can't believe the medical roller-coaster she's been on. She seemed so happy and relieved and more energetic. It was contagious. Emilia was also a ham-bone at this dinner, bringing her little tea-pot and vet set. When I can just sit and focus on her and don't have other things to do or other people demanding my attention I can really appreciate how sweet she is. I love her so much. 

Tuesday was Christmas Eve. Dave was feeling a lot better, but Dom was still sick, so we laid low for most of the day. We went to the 4:00 service at church, and it was really nice. We were there at 3:30, because I remember last year we got there closer to "on time" and there were no seats left. We ended up way at the back behind the 6 ft + Gerber boys and I couldn't see anything. The Christmas Eve services is an important part of Christmas for me, and I was determined not to let anything get in the way! During the service Dom was a total goober, so Dave had to take him out. I kept Emilia in my lap, but almost had to leave during the sermon because she was being too happy and silly. We made it though, and I didn't let anything take away from the gezellig evening. 

Hmm.. couldn't quite replicate the pre-service photo from last year... At least Dom looks happy haha

We got home and threw some of the pizzas I had made a few weeks ago in the oven and had dinner with just the 4 of us. We hung out and played with toys until it was time to put the kids to bed. David and I decided not to do gifts this year for a few reasons, the largest of which was financial constraints. It's been a weird year for us! I did miss shopping and giving gifts to him. Receiving gifts is not my love language, but I really love putting thought and time into gifts/things that I know someone else would love. Instead, we did some scratch and wins, grabbed some snacks, opened a bottle of wine, and went to the theatre downstairs and watched Jumanji. It was a very enjoyable date evening!

Christmas Day! Emilia was up around 715, and Dom (still sick) slept in until 730 or 745. We made cinnamon buns for a special breakfast, and then let the kids open their one gift from us. Dom got a puzzle and Emilia got some strange plastic animals I got off marketplace. A seal, shark, hippo, rhino, horse, cat and dog. Very odd group. 
The kids both went down for naps early and right when they got up we packed up and went to Dave's parents for Christmas dinner! At their place we exchanged gifts, snacked, drank, played games, and ate way too much of the delicious dinner! We had a semi-traditional Christmas dinner. Instead of roasting a turkey, we had some rolled turkey breasts stuffed with stuffing. Those, with mashed potatoes, more stuffing, gravy, beans, two festive salads, yam bake, meatballs... I may be forgetting something. Anyway, it was DELICIOUS! 

I was having feelings about the environment this year when I was thinking about wrapping presents. I ordered some brown paper, and after I wrapped the presents for the year I got carried away with some pens. I mostly got excited that my white gel pen was actually showing up on something! Also worth noting that Dom can recognize his name in writing. (That's why his isn't in calligraphy)

Rachel, Kyle and Rebecca couldn't join us for dinner as they had another dinner to go to. Rachel also had a horrible migraine, so she actually just went home to rest I think. We put the kids to bed around 730, and settled in to play some games. Emilia was asleep immediately (ah. she's the best), but Dom took over an hour and a half. Poor guy (yes, still sick) was in a new bed, and could hear us all yelling and laughing down the hall. Eventually he settled though, and we got them up to leave at around 11. 

The ever-predictable Shutterfly calendar! I've been doing these every year for probably 4 or 5 years!

This and the two bags below contain the same things. I went with a homemade theme this year. I picked up an old game of Scrabble off marketplace and made fridge magnets! Allana and Gabriel got F-Y-N-N and V-O-L-T-A-G-E.

This is the gift I was most excited to give!

Gramma and Grandpa got K-I-M-B-E-R. This idea was inspired by some magnets my parents were gifted that say G-E-R-B-E-R that I've always loved!

Rachel and Kyle got R-E-B-E-C-C-A. I didn't know how to wrap the scrabble magnets, so I ended up crocheting little baggies for them. I get so randomly crafty haha.

Thanks, Dave for taking pictures of my presents :)

Poor Rebecca got a cut on her thumb, so she was feeling a little sad. (Side note, does she not have the thickest, waviest hair ever for a 1 year old?!)

Check out that scowl!

And this is the gift I was most excited about! Rachel (and maybe Rebecca) loves giraffes, and I was on another crocheting kick. I decided to crochet a giraffe stuffy for Rebecca for Christmas! It turned out better than I ever expected, and I had so much fun doing it. It's so cute <3 She pulled it out of the box and immediately gave it a big kiss haha. 

Forgot to get a camera picture before wrapping it up, but took this on my phone!

When you're always the one behind the camera and feel left out hahaha!

Nothing like a little whiteboard Pictionary to get the competitive juices flowing!

On our way home the "Check Battery Charge" light came on in the van. It was also making a whining noise, and we noticed a few electrical glitches. As we were pulling into the garage at home the van died. Lost power. I am so grateful it got us home, but Merry Christmas to us, it looks like we likely have to replace the alternator on the van. 

That made this morning a little tense and stressful. We're stranded, tired, Dom is starting to get over his cough, and in a financial pickle! I thought we were done after all these unexpected vet bills, and Dave getting hit with a huge tax bill last week! Forcing us to put things into perspective and stop feeling sorry for ourselves! Looking forward to starting fresh in 2020!