Got up and watched some of the parade together as a family, then Jeremy started getting ready to head off to the Lion's game, and I headed into the kitchen to attempt making his late Grandmother's sage dressing.
The whole cooking process all went very smoothly, and I felt like a pro with all my machines out and working at once. And Landon was beyond occupied with his new Dora the Explorer / Diego Christmas video from Grandma Laeder, so he was happy as a clam, too.
After lunch and a bath, he headed to nap and I had the opportunity to get entirely ready, all.by.myself. ALL BY MYSELF! Nobody in the bathroom rummaging through cupboards, nobody shaking half empty pop cans all over the bedroom. Nope. Just pure, hot shower, christmas music playing, bliss. Yet another reason to be thankful!
Once everyone was up and ready, we headed to Jeremy's parents house. Landon was fortunate enough to be able to spend another holiday with BOTH sets of Grandparents, and TWO Great-Grandmothers. Not many kids can say that, and I feel so lucky that he can.
Two oldies and a youngen make picture taking pretty tough, but you get the idea.
Landon also greatly enjoyed stealing GiGi's snacks from her at every given opportunity. Sneaky little bugger, that one.
While we waited for the rest of the men to get to dinner (Jeremy, his brother, his dad and his uncle), Landon discovered the fun of the Mega Blocks wagon.
He also discovered that he could (somewhat) fit into it, although not at all comfortably, and it would take him about 15 seconds to start yelling, "Get out!!!!" once he was in. But of course, as soon as he got out, one foot was back in and he was saying "I do, I do" all over again. A bit of hilarity ensued.
Once everyone arrived (LATE thanks to OVERTIME), we enjoyed an amazing meal (of which Landon wanted no part of, except for the fruit, of course), and wonderful company. We were even lucky enough to have two sets of four generations at the dinner table!
So, so, SO lucky!
But of course, Landon's mass intake of fruit at dinner, reared its ugly head at around 10, when after sleeping soundly for two hours, he decided it was time to get up and play. Until 4 am. Mind you, I hadn't attempted to go to sleep yet, which means I, too, was up until 4 am. We tried everything. Laying him back down, rocking him, gave him Advil, thinking maybe his teeth were bothering him, changed his diaper, everything. Nothing worked. Until he finally gave up at 4. Only slept until about 8:45, so I was expecting a horrible day, but he actually did pretty amazing. Thank goodness, because this mama was BEAT.
This morning, we decided to brave just ONE store (in case you didn't already guess, yes, it was Old Navy), and it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. We got ourselves a couple good deals, and came home to get ready to go see Santa, who, here in New Baltimore, shows up via helicopter. Fabulous.
Landon wasn't able to hang outside, he was pretty irritated with the wind, so him and my parents hung out inside, near the cookies, of course, and I went out to snap a few pictures.
I'd say he was much happier in Grandpa's arms with even MORE sugar in his mouth.
His first glimpse of the jolly ol' big guy. Didn't seem too impressed, or too freaked out, but he was with his Gramps and he had a cookie. I mean....he was in heaven.
So we stood around waiting, for a very long time, even though we were fairly close to the front of the line to begin with. But, Santa is a sweet man, and wanted to take plenty of time with each kid and their list, which I'm sure when Landon is older, I will greatly appreciate. But today, after about 35 minutes of line standing, my mind started turning. We are totally going to stand here for an hour, and then get up there, Landon is going to freak out, and we'll be done in 30 seconds.
Needless to say, my mom instinct was dead on.
Oy. Poor Santa.
And just because it is SO hideous, I have to show you the picture the kind, lovely people at Lumber Jack snapped for us.
Oh goodness. A high mother, a screaming child, and a petrified Santa. Happy Christmas, y'all!
But once we were done torturing the poor kid, we took him to fill his belly with food, and then back home to get some quality nap time in. Which I thought I would be desperately be wanting at this point in the day, but surprisingly, I was so pumped with the prospect of Christmas throwing up all over my house, that I just dove head first into that.
Here is where I must say, my dad is a master. Him and my mom had a Christmas village that they would set up in their living room for years. I used to love it as a kid. I would make up stories about the people living in the houses, and I'm pretty sure if you asked my mom, she could show you a travel brochure I made once for the town. Yep. That happened. But, since they now have the 80 pound furry mistake I made, aka Scout, the village just isn't happening anymore. Two years ago, we decided to put it up on top of our kitchen cupboards and we loved it. Last year, Christmas came and went and we never got around to it. But this year, oh, this year. Michael went to work, and it...looks....amazing!!!
We discovered today that there is no good way to take pictures of this, but I promise you, it's wonderful.
While my dad worked away at that, my mom and I went to town on the rest of the house. Take a look around, it's lookin' good in here!
One of my most favorite things, ever. Our gorgeous nativity, given to me by my old babysitter, as a wedding gift. I still need to buy the rest of the pieces, but I just love it.
My gorge new buffet transformed from Thanksgiving fabulous to Christmas wonderful.
Including this vintage little Santa feller.
These bulbs are all old, old, old bulbs from my Grandmother and Jeremy's Grandmother. With Landon in the house, I'm afraid to put them on the tree and risk them getting broken, or, even worse, not being seen. So they'll spend the season on display here.
Since Landon is still a little too young to understand the whole elf on the shelf deal, his elf is staying safely tucked away for one more Christmas, but this little dude, another retro addition, will hang out here for sure. I've decided to name him Clarence, since that's who he at one time belonged to. And, in accordance with his name, he gave me a lot of trouble when trying to set him up. Oooooh Clarence. Good thing you're cute.
A festive little centerpiece, eh?
Landon's adorable nativity. Which as I sit here, now includes a lion, farmer, and a zebra. He's doing a little rewriting of the Christmas story, it would appear.
I'm not totally satisfied with my mantle yet, I'm looking for the perfect wreath to hang above it, but this little tree is too beautiful not to share in the mean time. Agree? It's also pretty much the inspiration for all the rest.
This gorgeous addition is up there too. Loving Scentsy's holiday warmers this year. Please disregard my streaky mirror. Thanks.
Love these wooden blocks. They were a cheap find like 3 years ago, and they come with endless possibilities.
And of course, Landon got his own little tree for his bedroom, which he was....mildly helpful in decorating.
When I snuck in to snap a picture of his little tree, I saw this:
....which melted this mama's heart.
Look at those little crossed legs! Such a little man.
It has been an absolutely wonderful two days, and tomorrow is primed to be the same. It's Christmas tree day! We have always cut our trees down, from the time I was little, and then once Jeremy and I moved in together, we carried on the tradition. We ride the tractor out to the field, hunt for the perfect sucker, chop him down, and haul him home. Last year, because Landon was so little, we attempted to find a farm that we could drive into ourselves, so we didn't have to do the wagon. It was a big flop. We drove forever to find a sparse little tree farm with not much of a selection, and ended up at the corner lot at 7 at night picking out a tree. It was still perfect, and it's a story we'll always be able to tell monkey. But this year, Mama is making sure he gets to experience it the right way (at least, the right way for us). Soooo that should be wonderful. Here's to hoping that we all get to sleep tonight in preparation for the big hunt!
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