Christmas 2009

On the morning of Christmas eve the boys both came down with colds, and so we had a very slow day.  They both woke up super early (thanks to their colds) and no amount of persuasion would convince them it was still nighttime.  So they got to watch Bambi while I got my act together and made breakfast.  


Mark took the boys with him to do outdoor work at his parents' house while I stayed home and did meal prep for Christmas dinner and cleaned the house.  We decided not to go to church in the evening because of the boys' colds, which was very sad to me because I love our church's Christmas eve service and had been looking forward to it for weeks.  Instead, we went out to eat at a yummy Italian restaurant, came home to do our final celebration of advent, and put the boys to bed early and watched Love Actually together.

Sleepy boys watching Bambi

On our way to Christmas Eve dinner

Christmas morning was much the same as yesterday morning, early, yet slow.  Both boys woke up early again, but this time I was already awake before them because of my own cold.  We ate freshly baked gingerbread and apple slices on the couch while Mark read the story of Jesus' birth from our favorite storybook Bible, and then opened our presents.  The boys both received Tag readers as their 'big' present and they spent most of the morning playing with them.  The Tag Junior is a bit above Ben's level (rated for ages 2-4) and the original Tag reader (ages 4-7) is a bit above Tommy's level, but we hope they'll grow into them in a few months.  


The rest of the day was mellow: we took a meandering walk around the neighborhood, then returned for a lunch of leftovers, and all took early naps.   After naps we hung out around the house some more and then headed over to Mark's brother's house for our extended family Christmas celebration, and then returned home for our Christmas dinner.

While there were many happy moments during this Christmas, overall it's been a pretty rough week. The kids getting sick has been difficult, mainly because of the sheer volume of whininess and clinginess.  I've also been struggling with sadness over the child I wish was with us this year and feeling impatient for another one, yet feeling like I "should" be happy simply because it's Christmas, and people are supposed to be happy, right?  I'm honestly happy this holiday season is over, and I'm looking forward to the new year. 

Tommy trying on Mark's new sweatshirt

Mark and Ben playing with the Tag Junior

Tommy engrossed in The Cat in the Hat.  He also received The Little Engine That Could, Green Eggs and Ham, and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom! for his Tag reader.