Reid's First Christmas: Our House

While the gingerbread people and houses were fun to make, they caused quite a mess in my kitchen. By the time I got everything cleaned up, I was pretty wore out and wanting sleep, but there were presents still waiting to be wrapped for the next day and laundry to be washed. Usually I love wrapping and am ahead of the game, but this year I don't seem to be on top of much of anything. Dave helped me some, but it was still way after midnight before either of us got to bed. Thankfully the kids slept in the next day, but with Reid's night time feedings, we were still dragging Christmas morning. Nonetheless, we sucked it up, climbed out from our cozy covers, and made our way out to the tree to start watching the kids open their packages.

This camera was a complete surprise for Caleb. He's been wanting to use our Nikon a lot lately, so in order to protect our nice camera, he got a kid friendly version.

Reid was too small to tear the paper off himself, of course, but there was no shortage of willing helpers.

Hadley's special toy this year was a Bubble Guppy school bus. 

I expected Caleb's biggest reactions to be over the toys we bought. Instead, he was most over-the-top about his books. (This must be the son of an English major/Reading Specialist.)

Dave asked for books for Christmas too, so maybe it's just a family tradition.

There was one special present that Hadley and Caleb ended up having to share.  For weeks, Dave and I had planned to buy our Bubble-Guppy-lovin' girl the school Fisher-Price makes. One day when looking through the toy book though, Caleb told me that HE would like to get the Bubble Guppy school for Christmas. I tried to convince him that this would be a good gift for Hadley and that he could always share it if she received it, but in a pitiful voice he just kept telling me how much he really wanted it. I didn't know what to do and hoped that he'd forget about it. To my disappointment though, every time he came across it again in the magazine, the same conversation surfaced.

We'd actually already bought the toy and had it waiting for Hadley, so Dave kept encouraging me to stick with the original plan. However, there was this nagging in my heart since it was one of the few things Caleb had really asked for. If I didn't have the Bubble Guppy school at all, I might not have felt so bad, but to let Hadley open what Caleb wanted seemed kind of sad and unfair. I didn't want any tears Christmas morning!

While I knew Hadley wouldn't know the difference anyway and would still get to play with it, I felt bad taking it away from her too because I knew how much she'd enjoy the gift. Finally, I made a decision to just put both their names on it and let them have it together. Dave was a little hesitant about the idea, but my mom gave Courtney and I shared gifts when we were kids and it worked out fine, so I tried it. Although Caleb was slightly disappointed at first that he didn't get the gift all to himself, they have done a great job of sharing it, so I think I made the right choice.

Reid was my hardest child to shop for this year. I had lots of ideas for the older two, but what do you buy a two-month-old? This was especially hard since he has a lot of hand-me downs from his siblings already. I talked about ideas with my friends and family, searched on Pinterest, and even posted on Facebook seeking for something good. People kept telling me not to worry about it, that he wouldn't remember anyway, but I wanted it to be fair. I tried hard to make sure I spent about the same on all of them and that they all had the same number of presents to open.

I also wanted to be fair in making sure that he got some "special" first Christmas presents. I bought Caleb a rocking chair for his and gave Hadley the doll I got for my first Christmas on hers, so I wanted some type of keepsake type toy for Reid too. I know the gifts themselves didn't matter, but I want him to know that his Momma put some thought into it because he is just as special to me as the other two. I never want him to feel like just our third kid who gets the hand-me downs.

One toy I decided to buy was a drum. I thought it was a traditional idea and was also practical since it had some fun instruments inside that he should be able to shake and play with very soon as his motor skills develop. Another find that I was very excited about was a plush tool set that I found on Amazon. It was adorable and age appropriate, plus what a cute find for my little man! On top of the toys, I also tried to find some classic books to start a good collection for him, including: Where the Wild Things Are, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, The Very Quiet Cricket, Don't Forget I Love You, and a collection of Curious George stories.

Reid started getting cranky part way through opening the gifts, and I didn't want a bunch of pictures of him with a fuss face so we saved the rest for later and moved downstairs to do stockings.

SLINKY! YES!
(Side note: Today he broke it and commented something to the extent of: "Maybe it isn't the greatest thing ever.")

Hadley loves to put on her brother's underwear or mine, so while she isn't potty trained yet, she still got some Minnie Mouse ones of her own in her stocking.

Does anyone else's kids get this excited about underwear in their stockings?

After stockings came the mad rush of getting everyone ready and out the door to go to Granny's for breakfast. This was the part of the morning when things really began to fall apart. Still exhausted from the night before, I was extra edgy and mole hills became mountains. I was upset that I didn't get all the pics I wanted of Reid opening his gifts on his FIRST Christmas due to his fussiness and Hadley jumping in front of him trying to open the present every time I tried to take a shot. Our late start was causing us to get to Granny's much later than intended which frustrated me for several reasons; the first being that I had hoped to get there only the early side to help keep the wintery germ spreading to a minimum, and the second because the kids were getting hungry wanted to eat before we left which in turn was making us even LATER! Caleb was having a meltdown because he wanted to eat gingerbread for breakfast. Reid's sweater was still damp in the dryer; I couldn't find one of his shoes; and I realized I never washed his little corduroys....

This was the point when I sent Caleb to his room to finish his fit while I ran out to the garage, shut the door, and had a fit of my own. Dave came down to check on me and I politely asked him to close the door and let me have a minute. Then I composed myself, came back in, and the two of us got the job done and out the door we went. It was at this moment, that I reevaluated things, scolding myself for doing it all wrong. I'd been too caught up in the details and it was ruining our Christmas morning. I settled down, vowed to take the kids to Granny's in their pjs next year, and began thinking about how to do it better the next time around. 

But, you know what? That's the greatest part of why Jesus came and why we should celebrate His birth: "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus..." (Romans 8:1) And, His grace is sufficient for me, so sufficient that I don't have to beat myself up for getting it wrong, but instead can move forward with the drive to do it better the next time.

Run, Run As Fast As You Can

Some shoppers chose to wait for the thrill of the Christmas Eve rush to buy their final gifts, but the McKinstry family had their presents purchased weeks ahead of time. As a result, the day before Christmas was a pretty laid back one for us. I took Reid to have some pictures taken to get a free trilogy frame I had a coupon for, and Dave kept the other two kids at the house. Since we had a few new toys that had been opened already, even staying home had its perks though. Caleb spent a good chunk of his time focused on his "Marbulous" marble run, which has gotten to be pretty impressive thanks to his engineer daddy.

That night though, we were planning to go out for a party at my Aunt Debbie's. For as long as I can remember, the Vaught side of my family has celebrated Christmas Eve together with a big dinner at someone's house. Last year was the first time I can ever remember it being canceled, but due to snow, everyone spent the evening at home instead. As it approached this time around, I was looking forward to the family time and wonderful food. I had the kids' outfits picked out, knew what food I was going to bring, and even planned to bring the kids some pjs so they could fall asleep on the way home. Sadly though, my plans were thwarted due to all those wintery germs sneaking about trying to pull down our Christmasy fun. While my own kids were healthy, their cousins had everything from colds to the flu and from Bronchitis to Pneumonia. Dave, too, came down with something the night before which was even worse the next morning.

Taking care of three littles is hard enough, but when all of us are sick, things get really hard, so I wasn't sure I wanted to risk it. I debated back and forth if we should go as a result, especially since Reid is so little and hasn't had all the immunizations the other two have. In the end, although I was a bit disappointed and didn't want to let anyone else down by telling them we weren't coming, I had to make the good protective mommy choice to stay in for the evening and hope everyone would be on the mend the next day. My cousin Stacey also chose to keep her kids home to let them recuperate overnight, so I felt a little better that we weren't the only ones staying put for the evening.

When it was all said and done, this turned out to be a good idea anyway because Reid was a bit cranky as the night progressed. The evenings are usually his fussy time of day, and we are always a bit leery of evening outings for that reason. Between acid reflux and fighting sleep, he can get pretty cross, so we might not have added much to the party anyway.

We didn't miss out on all the festive activities though. The McKinstrys had some good Christmas-time fun of their own thanks to a last minute purchase I made on my outing with Reid earlier in the day. Knowing how much fun Caleb had making a gingerbread house last year, I swung into Michaels hoping to find another kit. They were sold out of the large houses, but to my surprise, I found a box of miniature ones as well as set of gingerbread men marked down to 70 percent off. What a deal!

I know what you are probably thinking: "This lady is nuts giving a three-year-old and one-year-old candy, cookies, and icing to play with." And, you are right....but we had a good time!

Hadley: "Put some icing on mine, Mommy."

Someone was more interested in eating her cookie than decorating at first.

No cookie decorating event is complete without a little drama, is it? Maybe her gingerbread person tried to run away!

Guess he wasn't quick enough

After Mommy demonstrated, she finally learned not to lick all her icing off before putting the decorations on.

Once she got the hang of it, she stuck her candy on and then immediately pulled it back off to eat it.
(Taste must be more important than presentation in her opinion.)

Caleb did a really nice job decorating this year, and he kept most of the candy pieces from rolling off on to the floor. 

The icing bag was still too hard for him to do solo, but Mommy was nearby to help.

Dave tried his hand at the icing too.

Hadley just kept chewing on her cookie's head.

Getting creative!

Dave and I made cookies of ourselves. Mine is on the left and his the right.

Next, I made a person with thick curly hair which Caleb said had to be NaNa because he is always telling her she has "crazy hair."  (See pic on the right)

Thanks to some cooking magazines my mom has, Caleb has a strong interest in Paula Deen. He doesn't know about all the news controversy from the past year; he just likes looking at all the good food in her books. So, while we were making the cookies, a conversation about whether Paula Deen makes gingerbread cookies started, and it wasn't long before he wanted me to make a gingerbread Paula Deen. I tried my best to create this celebrity cookie for him as gave me lots of pointers about exactly how she should look. Take a peek at the cookie on the left. How did I do?  

While we were busy with that, Dave began making the small houses.

We learned last year that this part is for parents only, and even then it's a difficult task. Instead of letting Caleb get frustrated when it wouldn't stand up, Dave was the one sighing as the houses fell apart a few times and had to be reconstructed. While it sounds good in the story books, for the record, we are going to recommend no one try to build their homes out of gingerbread and icing.

We moved on to the next set of cookies to decorate.

Since we had a NaNa, we needed a Pop too. My dad is bald on top, so Caleb said he just needed a little hair on the back of his head. I tried to get him to understand that we couldn't put icing on the underside of the cookie, just on the front and sides. Then, I tried to put a Carhartt shirt on him but ran out of room. Regardless though, I think it does kind of resemble my daddy. Do you agree?

Caleb: "This is crazy me."

Reid slept through most of the action, but he woke up for about two seconds for me to take a picture. He's cuter than any cookie. :)

Hadley was getting so filled up on icing, cookies, and candy, that I had to think of something else to feed her, especially since it was approaching bed time. CHEESE! Thankfully, we had some shredded cheddar handy in the fridge.

After the gingerbread people were finished, it was time to decorate the houses.

It was a little more tricky than the flat cookie.

Caleb made this one for Grandma and Grandpa McKinstry's house.

Uh-oh! Caleb, didn't you hear what happened to Hansel and Gretel?

He wanted the Caleb cookie to go to this house.

Grandma Nora Ann and Granddaddy's house

The house on the left he said was his house, but he was burnt out at this point and didn't add much flare.

I got the pleasure of decorating the last dwelling. Since there was only one house left, he decided that Granny and Grandma Swan could share.

Gingerbread anyone? :)