It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Merry Christmas!

What? Cut the eye rolls, I’m well aware Christmas was over two weeks ago. We actually took the liberty of celebrating it the entire month of December, so, I figured extending my Christmas post two weeks into January was nothing to bat an eye at.

How was your Christmas? Merry and Bright? Jolly? Did you see Mommy kissing Santa Clause?  Did you rock around the Christmas tree? Drink FIVE GOLDEN BEERS? Wait. (Stellar parenting moment: this is how Tyson actually sings that song. Pride: it flows over, I tell ya.)

As mentioned, the 2012 Pavel Christmas will live to go down as the MOST DRAWN OUT CHRISTMAS EVER. My kids now fully believe that Christmas is actually a month long event where they can consume all the candy they want and open presents nearly every day. Next year they will be in for quite the shock.

Our first Christmas celebration included all of these kids. Look! Mine is the only one crying!

Santa came and brought presents. Again, mine cried.

We ate lasagna and both kids stayed in their seats for the entire dinner. Mainly because we told Tyson that if he didn’t he wouldn’t get to open his presents later. You can call that bad parenting, I call it the main reason why he wasn’t crawling under the table with his cousin Brody as per usual at family celebrations. Potato, potahto.

The second Christmas celebration was at home.  Just us four.  Dan gave me workout clothes and a workout video. I gave him a golf bag and home brewing kit.  Tyson, if you are reading this in the future and have a wife or girlfriend, take note that this was not even a remotely fair gift exchange.   

Tyson was really into Christmas this year. And I don’t just mean the part where he got to tear into all his new presents. He also LOVED buying things for everyone else too. Including a God Awful Ugly hat for Mila. I cringed when he brought it over to me, but practically ran to the register when he said, “Please Mommy? I buy Mila another present? I think she would look beautiful in it.” Sorry, Mila-he won. I couldn't shell out the $12 fast enough. 

We left for Florida the morning after our family Christmas at home. Tyson was thrilled that he was allowed to go out of the house in his PJs. In hindsight, we could have just chalked that up as his Christmas present(s) and he probably would have been equally as happy.

The plane ride to Florida-Mila’s first plane ride ever- was a success.  We took Tyson to Florida at 13 months old and the plane ride almost resulted in the demise of our marriage. At 10 months, Mila slept for a little over an hour and then proceeded to eat her way through the next two and half. Tyson watched Dora and Monsters, Inc. on repeat. To say I was pleasantly surprised is a vast understatement.

When asked after the trip, Tyson’s favorite part of the plane ride was the part where we were on the ground, the part where we took off, the part where we were in the air and the part where we landed. So….

Florida was filled with beaches and pools and parks and urgent care rooms (don’t ask) and train rides and golf and a date night  and presents and playing outside. Which clearly means my kids (and I) were in some sort of heaven on Earth. Except for the part where we had to watch our ten month old trying to walk on  the ceramic floor all week long by pulling herself up onto the glass tables. That part wasn’t heaven for me.

  

We celebrated Christmas Eve (the real one, not the twenty other ones we’ve already had) at the beach playing in the water, eating shrimp and building sand castles.

Tyson wrote this note to Santa. It CLEARLY says:  “Dear Santa, I want a dart board and a helicopter that flies.” (Daddy’s ideas because that’s what we bought him.)  We set out cookies and milk for Santa and Wheat Thins for Rudolph (Tyson’s ideas because that’s what he likes).

The Papa read, “Twas the Night Before Christmas” to the kids before bed. We tucked them in, visions of sugar plums danced in their heads as we ate some of Santa’s cookies with wine and hung up their stockings in anticipation of Christmas morning.  It was magical. Every part of our Christmas Eve was just as wonderful as I had always dreamed Christmas with my kids would be. If I could relive one day for the rest of my life, I would pick that day. Again and again.

Christmas morning didn’t let us down either. The kids were thrilled with their stocking stuffers and letter from Santa complete with a picture of him bringing even MORE presents to our house. (For those of you playing along at home, we’re at 4 days of presents with one more yet to come. You can start praying that they don’t turn into spoiled brats right about now.)

The rest of our Florida trip was spent with Grandpa Tom & Grandma LaNea and later with Autie Katie and Uncle Ryan. It was busy and fun but we were all missing our naps and regular bedtimes by the end of the trip. Perhaps that’s why the plane ride home wasn’t as blissful as the one there. I am happy to report, however, that we are still married.

We arrived home to open yet one more set of presents from Santa.  Actually, we weren’t even in the door yet and I could hear Tyson  yelling, “Mommy, Mila got a rocking horse and there’s a desk for me and a whhhooollleee bunch of other presents here! Mommy! We open, now? Mommy! Mommy!”

Lo and behold, Tyson got a dart board and a helicopter that flies. He was thrilled.

Mila got a rocking horse which she likes to ride and wave to us on. I guess that’s what Cowgirls do.

Luckily for my sanity, Christmas is FINALLY over. FINALLY. We're left with loads of garbage, two happy kids and plenty of fun memories. I'll have to start planning for Christmas next year in about two weeks. Until then, we're busy flying helicopters and riding horsies.