the christmas post......finally!

I know I said I wouldn't be around much - but who was I kidding? If I keep my blog up-to-date, it helps un-jumble my head. Anyone else that way?

So, while L is taking a nap and it seems our house is (slowly!) on it's way to being fixed, I thought I'd post our Christmas post before it got too late and I'll be dreaming up posts of the New Year and L's birthday!

*This may be a bit of a long post*

We kicked Christmas Eve off with our new traditional dinner of spaghetti with meat sauce and garlic bread. Last Christmas was the day before I got induced and spaghetti is what I served for M and his family. It was my last "good" meal before L was born. In her honor, it's our new family tradition.

Then, we headed out to look for some Christmas lights. It was alot of fun - just getting into the holiday spirit and listening to Christmas songs with my loves.

If only we knew, we had a waterfall in our living room.

We got home two hours later and walked in to water gushing from upstairs through our living room ceiling fan. M rushed upstairs and found the source (our master toilet), he cut off the water and called the emergency line for our housing complex. Then, we rushed to push our furniture out the way, but it was kind of too late. Toilet water + sofas, they don't really go together.

Basically, nothing could be done at that time. We needed to let the water finish running, which it did about a half hour later. We called our friends to move the Christmas dinner from our house to theirs, put L in her new Christmas pj's and tucked her into bed. We dragged our mattress into the guest bedroom, settled ourselves in and called it a night.

We woke up on Christmas morning early, way before L. After making a couple phone calls, sending our Merry Christmas's, M and + opened our stockings then made breakfast and got L up.

We had to put gift-opening off until the carpet man came to vacuum the water out of the carpet upstairs.

So, we hung out on the stairs instead.

Finally, around 10 AM, we dug in! L wasn't sure what to do first, but she got the hang of it. Bags and tissue paper were her favorite. Oh, and she liked the cookies and Fisher Price kitchen set she received!

We all got spoiled! M's big gift was his PS3. It's safe to say that was a hit, he's been playing it everyday since! He also got a gift card and used it to order Call of Duty Black Ops, which he is happy to know arrived in the mail today. My big gifts were the Canon Rebel XL, a Kitchen Aid stand mixer and Prudent Advice book. L got a dollhouse, a tea set and the Fisher Price Laugh + Learn kitchen. We have toys everywhere!

Christmas night, we went over to a friend's house and had a big get together. There was so much food and all of it was delicious. I supplied the turkey + gravy, mashed potatoes (compliments to Pioneer Woman for the delish recipe), choc. chip cookies, deviled eggs and a cake.

After a great dinner and relaxing with friends girl talk, hanging out with the husbands, going back for leftovers and keeping an eye on the 5 children running (or walking in L's case) around, we called it a night and headed home. I think we were all pretty exhausted.

Then, we got hit with a blizzard! It snowed all day. And, all night. A little bit the next day too. 

So, what does a grumpy girl do? Play in the snow!

Now, we're slowly getting back on our feet after the holidays. The toilet is fixed. The insurance claims have been forwarded to the right people. We're waiting on an electrician to double check the fan. And, we got the okay that our ceiling won't collapse and we can resume using our bedroom/bathroom again. Although, it does make me kind of nervous!

I've got to go in party mode now. I need to find something to wear to L's party - I'm gonna be looking back at these pictures for years to come and I don't want to cringe! I finished up the game-making and most of the decorating. I need to print off some photos for her garland, decorate her high chair, shop for food, make her cake and wrap her gifts. Otherwise, we're golden..ish.

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday. I did, but I'm glad their over. I got some big ideas and wishes for the New Years. Then, I'll be counting down the days until spring. Dreaming of fun patterns, bright colors, trips to the park and these + those. Sigh.