Christmas Craziness

To say that the holidays were hectic would be a massive understatement.

Christmas was a whirlwind of wrapping, unwrapping, cooking and eating. By the end of third celebration in three days Addie was in a gift coma. She was given an abundant amount of gifts: a CD player, dolls, tool boxes, cleaning sets (more on that later), clothes, movies and on and on.

It's hard to complain about people loving your child and wanting to give her everything under the sun, but it's also difficult to stomach a two year old who says "moooore" after each gift and cries when the next gift is not for her. Addie was grateful for everything she got, but had a hard time grasping that it all wasn't just for her.


Unlike last year, she solidly understood the concept of opening presents and proved to be a pro at it. If she thought you were taking a bit too long with your opening she generously helped out. Also, unlike last year, she now has a phenomenal memory and knows exactly what she got - making spreading out the wealth a bit harder. Last year we were able to put some gifts up in the closet and not introduce them until months later (she got her last Christmas gift of 2008 in November of 2009). That should prove to be a bit more challenging this year.

Even with the chaos and the endless piles of gifts, we had a good holiday. I was reminded how lucky I am to have the family that I do. That with chaos comes silliness and joy.

Addie was blessed with having her Grammy Kathy fly into to be with her and thrilled to have her Daddy home from work for two weeks.

Cookies were baked, games were played, and laughter filled our house.

Addie was awestruck by what each new package brought and couldn't believe that Santa had eaten all the cookies she had left out.

She twirled in her Christmas Eve dress, snuggled with her GG, played her new games, shared with Rylan and hugged her mom and dad again and again.

When the holiday was over and nothing was put away, we hit the road to Destin for some sunny relaxation -it was the coldest Floridian vacation I've ever been on.