Christmas, take one and two

Andrew and I decided to split our Christmas into three parts this year. We had Griffin's first Christmas at home on Saturday morning. Friday night we watched Horton Hears a Who (I fell asleep halfway through due to still not sleeping through the night) and we finished it during Griff's morning nap on Saturday. We took our neighbors cookies on Friday night which was fun because we never get a chance to visit with them! We have great neighbors...luckily there aren't any crazies! Wait...maybe we're the crazies...Anyway, Andrew went next door to help our sweet neighbor (seriously the nicest person you will ever meet) hook up her TV and DVD player after Griffin went to sleep on Friday. This left me at home with nothing to do. Dangerous! He came home to find me making a list of names for our next bambino. Found some good ones!

Saturday morning we got up and let Griffin open his presents and go through his stocking. He seemed a little surprised with the whole situation. It was sweet, the little nubbin! We got him a bunch of little toys, spoons for when he starts eating, teething rings, and a travel bed (exciting, I know...but he'll need it in NY). Then we let Henry and Elizabeth Taylor get their stockings (just some treats...we neglect them). Andrew gave me some Panera Cinnamon Crunch bagels in my stocking because they're my fave. I exclaimed that I felt like a little Jewish girl and he looked at me like, "who the heck did I marry?" Am I the only one that associates bagels with Judaism? Must be the dietitian thing. Anyway, they were yummy!

Then we worked off our sugary bagels with a nice long run with the boy. He had a blast in the jogging stroller. While he napped I packed and finished laundry while Andrew took the other furry kids to Christmas Camp (AKA the kennel) but not after Henry unwrapped and ate a Reece's Cup...oops...

Christmas, take two!

Then we loaded up the car and headed to Murfreesboro. We had a blast with Andrew's family for a few days. We went to church on Sunday morning which was wonderful. I love Andrew's parent's church. It's a great way to start the celebration of Christ's birth. We celebrated Christmas on Sunday night by dressing up in matching pajamas and having breakfast for dinner. Then we opened presents which was a ton of fun with 4 little boys. They each got matching capes with their letter on them. That will come in handy in the future. It reminded me of a story a friend of mine in Texas told me once about when he was a little boy. He had older brothers and sisters who would make him run around in nothing but a towel as a cape and follow them up a tree. They would all swing off a branch but he was too small to jump off the branch. Therefore, he would be hanging from a branch naked except for a towel cape in a tree in their yard. So very boyish. I hope we find Griffin hanging naked in a tree with his G cape one day!

Monday, we went to the Ice Grinch thing at Opryland Hotel. It was basically a who-ville made entirely of ice with a big ice slide. We went in it with Katie and Matt and Conner for his 3rd birthday and I think he had a blast. My eyes were frozen so I'm not sure. We accidentally got there an hour early so we walked around Opryland Hotel for a while which was fun. We haven't been there in forever. P.S. there aren't any good places to feed a baby so I ended up sitting on the floor in the hallway with my stroller (hopefully) blocking any view of my boobies. Jane and Ted took Mason and Griffin to Opry Mills while we were freezing our booties off where they had a lovely time changing Griffin's diaper (we couldn't before because I had a huge diaper bag packed to the brim...with absolutely no diapers. Diaper bag with no diapers. That's right. Bad mommy!). He had a blowout so they bought him a new outfit at Gymboree...thanks!

Then we ate at the Rainforest Cafe where the faux thunderstorm and monkeys freaked out Conner. Poor kiddo.

After that we just had a good time hanging out and on Christmas Eve we had a brunch with Andrew's extended family. It's always fun with 4 little boys running around (well, 3...Griff isn't quite to the running stage yet) and Uncle Rick's Shenanigans.

Andrew's extended fam came over for Christmas Eve brunch. We had some yum yum food, watched Uncle Rick's Christmas video where he shamelessly dressed up as Buxsome Bettina and Jasmine from Jasmine's Jazzersize and did a one man show for a good 15 minutes (hilarious!). Then we did a dirty santa gift card exchange (TJ Maxx here I come!) We also played the Name Game for a load of cash (Matt one, ending Kat and Andrew's streak of wealth...boo!).

After the brunch, we headed to Knoxville in the pouring down rain with a screaming Griffin. That is where Christmas, part three begins. Blog to follow.