December 19-25

This week was all about Christmas. Due to Todd and myself liking January babies, this was the 2nd time I had to miss the family Christmas in Raleigh. Being 180 miles from the hospital is not such a good idea when you are 38-weeks pregnant, so I sent Todd and Aubrey on their way while I stayed home. I decided to take the quiet time in my house and work. Yeah, probably not the best idea I've ever had, but we could use the extra money with me going on maternity leave in a few weeks so it seemed like a good idea when I first told my boss about it. I did enjoy the the peace in my house and it was nice to have a break from the constant go, go, go of an almost 3-year old. I did get a little teary eyed when the left and it made me sad knowing that Aubrey was opening presents with her cousins and I couldn't see them, but she was well taken care of and had a blast and that's what was important. Todd kept me up-to-date by texting me play-by-play and took a lot of pictures while he was there so I still got to feel like I was a part of things.

Evidently, she decided she still wasn't too fond of Santa and wanted nothing to do with him when he came to visit. This was as close as she would get to him and the only way he could give her a gift.

She loved the roasted marshmallows.

On Christmas Eve, my mom's sister held Christmas dinner for the family at her house in Kernersville. Todd and Aubrey met me there and I was so happy to see my little family again. Aubrey enjoyed playing with my cousin's girlfriend's son and the abundance of toys that were opened as presents.

Of course Aubrey had to help everyone open their presents. Here she is helping my mom open her gift while my sister watched.

Feeding her Baby Alive, a gift from my Aunt Katherine.

We drove home Christmas Eve night just in time to get Aubrey in the bed before Santa came. When we woke her up Christmas morning, she didn't seem to excited to come down and see her gifts. Todd basically had to drag her in the playroom to open presents, which amazed us both. The girl really just doesn't like Santa, a trait I hope goes away next year. Once we got her started looking at her loot and opening our gift, she warmed up and got into the spirit.

Her Santa loot.

Opening her gift from us. She calls it her iPad. 

After checking out Santa's gifts, we drove to Mooresville to eat breakfast and do gifts with Todd's family. She started to love the gift idea by this point and unwrapped her presents with reckless abandon this time around. I got so caught up in her excitement, I forgot to grab my camera but it was so cute to watch.

After presents, Todd, his sister, her boyfriend TJ, and Aubrey were all sitting on the couch playing with their iPads. Its sad how much our family loves gadgets.

After breakfast, we watched most of A Christmas Story before driving home to start getting ready for dinner at our house. My parents, sister, and her boyfriend came over before dinner for round 3 of presents for the day before Todd's parents came to join us for dinner. After dinner, we hung out and watched the football game while Aubrey provided live entertainment. She loved having so many people at the house to show off for and play with.

I handed the camera over to grab a quick Christmas family picture. 

Being silly with Lacey and Jeffrey.

Posing with my mom and dad.

So all in all it was a great Christmas. We ate way too much food, were thoroughly spoiled by family and friends, and spent a lot of quality time with people we don't see too often. I am so excited that next year we will get to introduce Mason to the craziness that is the holidays.