Christmas Concert at Preschool- 2012

I can't believe I almost forgot to post about this! The kids were, once again, so adorable at the Christmas Concert! We tried to get the very best seats, and although we were front row, I couldn't see Trey at all! We were able to see Allie, most of the time, who did awesome (of course). Poor thing couldn't "spot" us in the crowd at first, but once she saw her Mommy and Daddy, she was thrilled. The kids sang an adorable song to the tune of "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, Knees and Toes", but instead the words were "Antlers, Bellies, Knees and Hoofs, Knees and Hoofs"- or something like that. The motions were hilarious, and the kids cracked up through the whole performance of the song. It was quite a Merry Christmas Pageant!

Christmas in Virginia- the fun continues

We went to Wilmington the weekend before Christmas, and from there, headed to Virginia to be with the Keenan side of the family by Christmas Eve. The drive from Wilmington to Northern Va wasn't bad at all, and we went straight to Tony's for some pasta and pizza before heading to NaniJay and Big Daddy's house. Christmas in Virginia was also wonderful- again, lots of spoiling for the children who received more clothes, fire engines, trucks, new rocking chairs, baby dolls, books, puzzles, and tons more. I'm fairly certain our children have no concept of Christmas giving- just another thing to work on this coming year :). With all of these new "things", we did take a few moments to put Carrington in the same dress I wore when I was 2 years old at Christmas. She was adorable! The "style" in the 80's was a MUCH shorter dress, and I kind of felt like Carrington was wearing a mini-skirt, but she was just way too cute for words, and I loved it.

My favorite Christmas tradition is Papa reading the Scripture on Christmas morning before we open any of our presents. As I get older, this is more and more precious to me, and I don't want to forget a single moment. He is passionate and eloquent, and even though the kids are over-stimulated and struggle to remain still and quiet, it's still such a peaceful moment when Papa pulls out his Bible.

And let's not forget one other Christmas tradition- the Christmas Jammies!!! We took a pretty awesome picture this year- I know you are jealous. :)

From that point on, we spent the remaining time in Virginia shopping and eating, and the kids played with all their new toys. Unfortunately, Carrington came down with a pretty nasty stomach bug the night before we left, and she threw up all morning. As we were putting her in the car, I sent up a quick prayer that she wouldn't barf all over the carseat on the way home (there is nothing on this earth worse than cleaning puke out of every nook and cranny in a carseat, and the stench of vomit in a closed up car). Luckily- she was barely even awake for the 6 hour drive back to Charlotte, and you better believe that the moment we pulled into the garage at our home, she started throwing up all over again. But at least we were home!!!! And bless Aunt Kristyn's heart, she totally handled being thrown up on without complalining even once. Now THAT is a good Aunt!

Christmas in Wilmington

For the very first time, the entire DeEsch side of the family was able to make it to Wilmington for the holidays. What better (and more predictable) way to celebrate than by having Family Pictures done to commemerate the moment! In our "perfect world", the pictures would have been outside, on the beach, with gorgeous 70 degree weather, and everyone would be looking fabulous and smiling the most beautiful of smiles. In our reality, that morning brought extreme and high winds, a temperature in the 40's and far too bright sunlight. Add to it a 6 month old with a cold, and our picture dreams were crushed. Luckily, the photographer's Plan B meant that we headed to the local Marriott and did pictures in the hotel ballroom- not exactly an ideal setting, but still very pretty, and the pictures were going to be special no matter what the circumstance, because we were all together- and still looking fabulous. :)

Connie and Doug (Grandma and Grandpa) went ALL OUT for the grandkids- and children- but REALLY for the grandkids this Christmas. There were so many gifts, and so many "rounds" of gift giving, that there is no way we will ever be able to compete with this- EVER! The kids received Innotabs, doll babies, firetrucks, clothes, art supplies, drum sets, coloring books,... the list goes on and on. And TONS of food- cookies, pasta, meats, cheeses... It was unbelievably generous and wonderful, and we were all on a Christmas overload! But, more than anything else, the entire family was together, and happy, and I can honestly say that we will all cherish those memories.

Starting New Christmas Traditions

The Saturday that we arrived home from the Polar Express was December 1st, and the perfect time to introduce the "Christmas Season" to the kids. So that evening, we read The Elf on the Shelf book, explained to the kids that one of Santa's elves was going to come to our house to make certain that they were extra good, and then told them to go find him, because he was hinding somewhere RIGHT THEN! They searched and searched, and Trey finally found him coloring behind a picture in the Living Room. He was so excited!!! That's when we told Trey that not only was this elf going to stay at our house until Christmas, but that he was an extra special elf- just for Trey and Carrington- and Trey could name him anything he wanted. Of course, that was a very big deal, and Trey thought about it for a few moments and then said "ABCD"... ummm... pretty sure that's not a name. So we told Trey to give him a real name, and that this was serious- so this time he got really serious and said, "His name is Jumping Jack!". Doug and I looked at each other and figured, why not? Jumping Jack is a great name! We also explained to Trey and Carrington that they could never ever touch Jumping Jack because if they did, he would lose all of his magic. I wasn't sure how much of this they were actually getting, but apparently more than I gave them credit for! Every morning they would run around looking for him, and they never, not one time, touched him. Jumping Jack didn't really make Trey be a "good boy", but it did make him very, very sad every time he was bad! From that moment on, every time Trey got out of hand, we immediately threatened to "tell Jumping Jack" and that scared the tar out of Trey and Carrington!

We also had the kids open up a Christmas book that evening, wrapped special just for them, and we did this every weekend until Christmas. It was so fun getting to read to them the Christmas stories- we started with "Away in the Manger", and ended with "Jesus's Birthday". Trey has also been learning a lot about Jesus, and he told me one night before bed that he wanted Jesus in his heart, so we prayed together for Jesus to be in his heart, and to help him make good choices and to be a good boy. Trey was very concerned that Carrington and Molly couldn't ask Jesus to be in their hearts, so we prayed for them too. :) About 15 minutes after these prayers, Trey started crying because Jesus had "fallen into his belly because there wasn't enough room in his heart." I'm pretty sure this is a concept we are going to have to re-visit as Trey gets older! :)

That night we also started the advent calendar to count down the days until Christmas Day. Each door had 2 candies behind it- one for Trey and one for Carrington and we got to open one door every day until Santa came and Jesus was born. After all, we are trying to teach two concepts here- Jesus AND Santa! I loved opening up the advent calendar doors when we were kids, and I hope this is something my kids will remember and treasure too.