Christmas 2012

The obligatory "Bow on the Baby's Head" photo for her first Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

It's still technically the Christmas season right?  For a little longer at least.  When does the Christmas season end?  New Years?  Well, that's what I'm going with.

So, dear readers, how was your Christmas?  I hope well.  Ours was fantastic.  The biggest part about it, obviously, was that it was Stella's first Christmas.  First Christmases are so much fun.  More so for parents, but still.  Next Christmas will be tons of fun for Stella as she will understand it better.  I think I mentioned that in a previous post.  Oh well.

Another fun thing about this Christmas was the fact that it was the first one Amy celebrated as a First Grade teacher!  This means that we both, finally, had the whole Christmas vacation off together, as a family.  This is something that we were very much looking forward to and have been enjoying every second of.  

The celebrations began last Friday, Amy's last day of school before break.  We were headed out of town to Kansas to see Amy's family the next day so we had the kids open some of their presents that night.  To kick off the Christmas spirit, and to give them some much-needed cold weather clothing for the impending trip.  It was fun and gave us a preview to Stella's enjoyment of Christmas and opening presents.  Her favorite part by far was trying to eat the wrapping paper, or bows, or ribbon, or tissue paper.  Basically any form of wrapping that she could get ahold of went into her mouth.  Yes folks, we're fully into that stage!

Jackson and his new pillow pet (much needed and appreciated during our road trip!)

I love this shot of Stella!

Amy and the gift the kids and I made for her, it was a success!

I can't remember what this was, but Braeden sure did love it!

Jack and his new hat!

Another favorite of Stella!

Stella in her new hat (it has matching mittens)

So, after opening presents and cleaning up, it was straight to bed so we could wake up at a ridiculous hour and begin our road trip to Kansas!  I love a good road trip, but 10ish hours is long.  But I can't really complain because Stella is an amazing car traveller.  She slept a good chunk of the way and can now hold her own bottles so feeding wasn't an issue.  She only fussed a bit toward the very end so that was awesome!  The boys did really well too though, thanks to toys and the iPad!  We had originally hoped to see some snow in Kansas but the front was delayed.  That didn't mean that it wasn't crazy cold though starting off in the low 30's when we first got there and in the low 20's when we left.  We Texans were bundled up.  We did learn that Stella does NOT like cold weather at all.  She prefers a balmy temperature so I guess we'll have to work in some fun travels for this summer.

One of the days there we ventured out in search of leftover snow from the storm that occurred a few days prior to our arrival.  Luckily we found some (although it was pretty hard-packed and closer to ice than fresh snow) and the boys had a blast!  I got one shot of Stella and Amy bundled up before they spent their time in the car.  I stayed with the boys and tried to warm up my camera to get some good shots of them!

My girls all bundled up!

Amy and I! 

Jack running around in the snow!

Braeden with a snowball!

My Boys!

They invented a game where they threw snow over this wall.  I think they could have done it all day long!

We spent a few fun days in Kansas visiting with Amy's family and it was great.  Stella charmed everyone and the boys became enamored with their teenage cousins!  We left early Christmas morning, after seeing that Santa had brought their stockings and filled them, and headed home.  The weather wasn't too bad on the drive home and we made great time.  Sadly though the snow came in right behind us.  Oh well, maybe next time!  We drove straight to my parents' house to celebrate Christmas with them and that was a lot of fun.  More presents, more family, more food, and more fun!  We were tired and car lagged from our travels but had a great time!

Braeden opening gifts!

Another shot of Stella with a bow!

Jack and his much asked for Scooby Doo toys!

My mom with Jackson and his monster feet!

Love this one of my mom and the kids!

After coming home from my parents' house we had just enough energy to unload our traveling stuff from the car (we got the presents from Mom & Dad the next day) and head to bed.  I think we all slept soundly that night.  Although we'd had a great time traveling, it was great to be home.  I'm sure you know what that's like.  The next morning we let the kids open the rest of their presents at home before heading to Amy's Mom's house to celebrate with her family.  Again, more presents, more family, more food, and more fun!

Braeden has been asking for Monopoly Jr. for a while!

I love this shot of the boys helping Stella open her gifts!

Stella testing out her toys!

Braeden and his much-loved new Saints jersey!

Jack has been asking for Hulk hands for a while.  Now he can smash!

Braeden at Amy's Mom's.

Jackson has the best faces when opening presents!

Stella "opening" her gifts! 

Presents!

Madden '13!   Oh happy day!

So, all in all it was a wonderful Christmas.  Full of, as I've mentioned before, family, food, and fun.  Stella had a blast for her first Christmas, truly seeming to enjoy everything going on.  Jackson also gave us another favorite part by stating, after every gift he opened, "I've been wanting this!".  He is always so genuinely excited by gifts.  It was a busy week we've had.  Wow, has it really all only been a week?!  But as busy as it has been, it has also been relaxing and soothing in a way.  Being together as a family.  Celebrating Christmas and Jesus' birth.  Spending quality time with family members.  Eating great food.  I hope that your Christmas was as good as the one we had here in Drosche Land.  The next few days have tamer plans as we rest, relax, and clean up from the holidays.  New Years in Drosche Land is gearing up to be a simple night at home, but that's a post for another day.  It's late and this has gotten long.  But an update was needed and I wanted to share the pictures and the joy!

All is well, still in the Christmas spirit, in Drosche Land.