Life As We Know It: Merry Christmas!

It's so hard to believe that Christmas has come and gone and that all the preparation and planning is no longer necessary as it's already happened! This year I was more of a procrastinator than usual so I was much more stressed and frantic leading up to Christmas. It didn't help that I had a busy work schedule to balance with all the caretaking, shopping, cooking, and cleaning that needed to happen. My mom and Jamey were both huge helps and happy to do whatever they could to lighten my load so to speak but I was still a frenzied mess up until Christmas Eve. I worked a partial shift the 23rd night and was thrilled to wake up happy and rested and have the whole day to spend and enjoy with my precious family. The day passed quickly with Santa cookie-making, last minute shopping, and a lunchdate at Nunu and Pop's so before I knew it it was time for church. It wasn't until we were in the sanctuary with Cooper in between my mom and I (Jamey, my dad, and Carter were ushers and Hudson was in the nursery) standing up to sing the processional hymn Oh Come All Ye Faithful that it really hit me that it was Christmas. I could barely sing I was so overcome with emotion! I was so happy and proud to be there with my family on such a holy night, yet sad that other special people in our lives we love and have lost couldn't be with us. I missed my grandmother so much in that moment - she loved music and would've so enjoyed being with us and listening to the unbelievably great musicians filling the church with awesome music. I thought about Jamey and his sister Ashley and Sarah, my sister-in-law because they've all lost their dad this past year. It's times like Christmas that have to be so difficult for them because it's a holiday you want to share with those you love. I was so sad to come to the realization that I'd been so caught up in planning and making sure everything was just right that I hadn't really reflected on and enjoyed such a sacred and special time with everyone I love. Having said this, everyone who reads this please make me sit down, shut up, and remember to enjoy you and the reason for the season next year!

This was probably the most magical Christmas to date in the Bass household. The boys were bursting with happiness, excitement, and wonder and really loved every part of it, from decorating the tree, to searching for our elf each morning, to seeing Christmas lights, to learning about the true reason we celebrate Christmas. I love that they haven't really gotten to the age where they are skeptical about it all and instead just seem to embrace every bit of it. Christmas Eve they had a great time outside sprinkling their reindeer dust and were very deliberate in their placement of it to make sure it led to the chimney! We came inside and they read a few Christmas books and set out their cookies and milk for Santa before heading to bed. Wake up time was a hot topic so we compromised on setting their alarm for 7:30am and then all going down together to see what Santa had brought. I went downstairs at about 6:45am and I could hear Carter saying, "Cooper, for the millionth time, yes it's morning but it isn't time to wake up yet so please stop asking me!" I had to smile at their cuteness and I was also proud that they had actually listened and weren't trying to sneak downstairs for an early morning peek!

They were about the explode with excitement when the time actually came to go downstairs. Each thing they noticed or unwrapped elicited a happy squeal and announcement of what it was and how it was just what they wanted. The racked up with an obscene amount of stuff and spent the day smiling from ear to ear playing with every little thing. My parents came over Christmas morning to watch the madness and then Jamey's mom and stepdad came for more Christmas fun around lunchtime. They didn't stay too long because Chuck wasn't feeling very good but the boys enjoyed seeing them and were thankfully very sweet and gracious about all their new things. After afternoon naps we headed over to Nunu and Pop's for an awesome Christmas dinner and Ashley and Andrew came there to be with us and celebrate some more. We had such a great, memorable day with everyone and can't wait to have more fun with Brian and Sarah in a few days. Merry Christmas everyone! I wish I could bottle up the sweetness, innocence, excitement, and wonder I saw in Carter and Cooper this year because I don't ever want it to go away! I guess I have Hudson's experience of it all to look forward to in a few years though!

Thanks to a dear friend for the "reinbeer" suggestion! My dad loved them.

Making Santa some sugar cookies.

Their cookie decorating definitely fits their personalities as you can see!

Reindeer dust time!

Sweet Hudson has had a fever for the past few days so he's been a little more chill than usual but did come outside to see the action.

My handsome 6 year old, looking an awful lot like his Daddy.

Love these happy faces!

Playing with Nunu's new Christmas toy.

Storytime

What Mrs. Claus in the Bass family looks like at 1:44am heading to bed after distributing the goods and I definitely did not consume that enormously full glass of wine before bed! I think I was fast asleep probably 1 minute after this was taken!

Can we go down yet?!

Love this precious profile, especially his wispy little hair over his ear.

Hudson's PJ's should've been the ones that said I ate Santa's cookies, not Carter's!

Coop's very own Polar Express train was quite a hit!

The bow and arrow that was at the top of the wish list. I tried to tell Cooper a couple weeks ago that he probably wouldn't get one because they were made for bigger kids and he said, "Mommy, come on! Santa is magic and he will make one for me!"