The Holidays 2012!

This year Christmas was a little different for the Byrd family, but we had a great time! Previous years we have been at my parents' house for several days, but this year we opted to wake up on Christmas day in our own home! 

So, on Christmas Eve we celebrated with Mom, Dad, and Daniel here in Wake Forest. I was really excited about being able to cook our dinner, and several friends were also able to come for lunch. We opened gifts before lunch, though, while it was just family here. Charlie definitely understood about opening presents and had a great time opening his and helping others out too!

Charlie donned this precious button up shirt and sweater vest and Henry wore a handsome vest and bowtie!

Jimmy asked for a computer repair kit.

Daniel with his "Christmas Vacation" ornament...

Charlie checking out one of his new books.

This humongous bag has served as my stocking from my parents for the past several years, and of course Jimmy and Daniel get one too! While we all have normal sized stockings, these big bags hold various surprises such as big packs of toilet paper and paper towels! Woohoo! Charlie had fun fishing out my gifts at the bottom of the bag. It was hilarious to watch since the bag was pretty much as tall as he was! He would go in head first and just about get lost in there looking for a gift.

*I must add that I was totally psyched to get my Swiffer!!!! Yes, I did request this. And it is amazing.

Friends started arriving shortly after we opened gifts. Here are Logan and Aubrey from small group and Justin from work. Also, I wanted to have a picture of the "Christmas Corner." The top of the entertainment center served as Christmas central this year. On our little tree this year we had colored lights, bells, and a star ornament at the top.

Dad and Henry hanging out.

Megan and Sarah Grace came from next door, so the kids ate in these chairs on the floor! Pardon the blurry picture, but they are constantly in motion.

Finally still... watching the Christmas Boz DVD while the adults ate!

The menu:

Cheese and crackers, cheese straws and mixed nuts for appetizers

Ham

Scalloped Potatoes

Broccoli Casserole

Peas and Carrots

Corn

Cranberry and Pineapple Salad

Deviled Eggs

Rolls

Chocolate Truffle Pie

Bread Pudding with Maple Sauce

 Needless to say, I had a great time making the menu and cooking!

Mom took this picture of all of us! I love it!

I forgot to take a picture of the table decorations before the meal, but as you can tell they were really simple. Two Christmas bowls of pine cones, red paper products, and a petit-four at each place setting. (Which Charlie LOVED and thought he should eat them all....)

We visited with people for a while after our late lunch and were napping by 4ish. We got up in time to go to our church's Christmas Eve service, which I kind of heard since we were holding our kids throughout the service (no childcare, and perfectly understandable for this special night).

Upon arriving home, we put the boys in their matching pjs and then read our board book Christmas story to them before bed.

Charlie played with his Little People nativity all throughout the Christmas season and loved it. He was especially fond of the donkey, camel, cow, and sheep. Slowly he learned the names of the other members of the nativity, though he would sometimes get them mixed up. He played with them a lot, even having various members of the nativity drive his tractor at times. Today the angel even drove his bulldozer. Ha!! Anyway, I read him his Christmas story again tonight (he loves to read it!!), and he can pretty much name the different people in it and continues to be ESPECIALLY fond of the donkey. And now, since he knows about donkeys, it's like he has donkey radar. We were sitting in Chubby's Tacos a few weeks ago and he randomly said, "Donkey!!" I thought he was just being enthusiastic about said member of the nativity, but he did actually see a donkey, sitting high on a shelf over the door!

But back to Christmas Eve night....

This was the first time we really had to put together some things in preparation for Christmas morning!

Jimmy putting together Charlie's tool bench

Putting together Charlie's car tower

I put together Henry's musical walker since it was the easiest to do.

The finished gift spread:

Henry's

Charlie's

Next to his stocking is a step stool for the bathroom so he could wash his hands and brush his teeth more easily, a book about going to the potty, and Mickey Mouse hand soap!

Ours- a bag for Jimmy for work and a purse for me!

On Christmas morning, once the boys got up we told Charlie that we had some presents for him and Henry downstairs. After opening gifts on Christmas Eve, he definitely understood what this meant and was excited to go down there! Jimmy and Henry went down before us so he could be ready to take pictures, and I walked down with Charlie. When he saw everything he giggled and said, "Ohhh..." and then went straight for Henry's gifts! He made it to his gifts before long, though, and they both enjoyed playing with their new toys and looking in their stockings.

Trying to eat the wheel!

After gifts, Jimmy put together an organizational shelf Mom and Dad had given us the day before. Charlie was ready to help with his new tools!

After our full morning we had leftovers for lunch and sang "Happy Birthday to Jesus." Charlie had colored the people from the nativity below before lunch, so afterwards I cut them out and he glued them on. 

Then the boys napped while we got ready to go to Eden. I was a little nervous about what our first big holiday would be like without Kacoo there, and while it was of course different than ever before, it was a great night nevertheless. Since Thanksgiving had been cancelled due to the stomach bug, we all just brought a $10 gift card from somewhere and played the Dirty Santa game (instead of drawing names and exchanging "serious" gifts). It was hilarious fun!! I haven't laughed that much during gifts in a long time! Unfortunately we forgot our camera so there are no pictures, but Jane cooked a delicious meal as always and it was wonderful to see everyone. We left out kind of late from Eden and got home around 11:30. 

Rhonda gave Charlie and Henry matching Braves windsuits, and here is Charlie sporting his:

(Today he wore the windsuit again and learned how to say "Go Braves!" We're still working on the Tomahawk Chop...)

And of course the next day it was back to normal.... Boo. I think it will be awesome when Jimmy and I are able to have a longer Christmas vacation at some point. Up till now, we only ever had a couple or three days (which is nice- don't get me wrong!!), but it would be great to have a few extra days to relax. One of the things I always enjoy about this time of year, though, is that usually the nights are slower. Evening activities stop for a week or two and we have more time together at home. Jimmy had off three nights from computer school and small group took a two week hiatus, so we enjoyed more family time that way. 

Charlie discovered the Swiffer and decided it was fun.

On Saturday we headed to VA to celebrate Christmas with Grandma and Gene, Sallie and Dennis, and Mom, Dad, and Daniel.

Opening the Boz gift from Grandma which Charlie loved!!

Each boy got a Boz!!

Isn't he precious?!

Our Christmas was such a nice one. Busy as always, and different with staying at home and hosting Christmas Eve dinner, but lovely and memorable at the same time.

New Year's Eve passed without much happening... I went to work, made some money, then went by Lowe's on the way home to get us sodas and Pay Days to ring in the new year. Not sure why I chose that dessert, but oh well. We ate our snacks, watched the ball drop, commented on how the after-show was horrible, turned off the TV, had a nice discussion about 2012 and the upcoming 2013, and then went to bed. 

New Year's Day was very restful (we may have all taken approximately three naps?!!? and still went to sleep at our normal time that night...), and we ended it by having a very nice family dinner at Olive Garden. Jimmy and I watched a holiday movie after that and then went to bed.