Happy Holidays!

Yes, I realize that I am posting about Christmas almost a month after the fact. So, sue me! We had a lovely holiday season this year. Let me tell you a little about it!


Above: This is Christmas Eve morning and Peter is snuggling his new stuffed animal (It's a pillow...it's a pet...it's a Pillow Pet! You moms out there will now have that jingle stuck in your head). I'm continuing a tradition that my mom created for us. Until this year, I had no idea how this tradition had come to be. But while I was out shopping for this particular stuffed animal, I was also talking on my cell phone to my mom. She shared the story with me.

It seems that when she was in the hospital with my sister, Emily (whose birthday is December 12th), we coerced our sweet babysitter (now aunt) into buying us McDonald's Happy Meals just so we could have the stuffed animal toy that came with them. When my mom heard about this, she made Denise put them away because we had gained them by unlawful means. My mom was going to give them to us on Christmas Day, but instead decided to surprise us on Christmas Eve. We all found them on our pillows when we woke up that morning. We were so excited about it and played with the stuffed animals all day long. She thought we were so darned cute with our stuffed animals that as a result, she decided to make it a yearly tradition for us. I have to admit, that was always one of the most magical things about Christmas to me. Going to sleep the night before and knowing that there was going to be a cool new stuffed animal waiting for me in the morning. And what would it be? It was always a surprise.

Some years, all of us had a stuffed animal theme that tied all of our animals together and some years, our stuffed animal was completely unique to us. My brother, Clayton, loved monkeys/apes and he got those in the form of stuffed animals for years. My brother, Sean, loved mom and baby combos when he was really little and got many stuffed animal mothers with sons. One year, my sister Laurie and I got unicorns. Those were so cool. Another year, we all got beanie babies. I still have most of my stuffed animals...and I have passed them on to my son, Peter. I even gave one to my cousin's daughter, Emma, because she loved piggies so much and I had the cutest stuffed pig from one Christmas long ago. Thanks for adding that little touch of magic to our Christmas Eves, Mom!


Above: We spent Christmas Eve with the Washburn side of the family. It was fun, but I've got to admit that it was also a little out of control. There are now six grandchildren on the Washburn side and five of them are 3 and under. The oldest 3 year old is also a little rambunctious and aggressive and it creates many adventures for children and adults alike! The wild atmosphere became a little too much for Peter, and I had to take him downstairs (remember, we're living in the basement of my in-laws) about an hour before everyone left. Debra (my mother-in-law) made it a lot more kid friendly this year and she set out a nativity for the kids to play with and then she talked about the story of Jesus' birth. Then, we sang primary and hymn Christmas songs while I played. Peter didn't like me being at the piano too much, so I had to relinquish my position to my sister-in-law, Angie. But he still didn't enjoy the music too much. You can see his reaction to our singing above. This doesn't bode well for me considering I am a singer. He reacts this way most of the time when people sing the Happy Birthday song too. So, I'm not sure how he'll like us singing to him for his birthday next week!


Above: This is Christmas morning and Peter is happily enjoying his new train set. He is also wearing a brand new set of pajamas. My mom always got us new pajamas on Christmas Eve and I remember being so excited to wear a new pair of pajamas every year (though, I'm afraid that as a moody teenager, I gave her a hard and/or tearful time at least one year because I thought the pajamas she chose for me didn't fit right. Sorry, Mom!). Honestly though, when I got older, that was the only time I ever got new pajamas. I still wear some of my Christmas Eve pajamas too!


Above: Playing and playing with the new train. In fact, we had a really hard time getting him to open any other presents because we couldn't drag him away from this train set.


Above: Ooooh! A stocking too? Peter's breakfast that morning consisted mostly of stocking candy. I couldn't get him to eat anything else!


Above: We went over to my Dad's house on Christmas morning after opening our gifts. Here, Peter is hugging a Buzz Lightyear figurine. He loves that little spaceship and loves to pack his Toy Story figurines in there too.


Above: We opened present with Mimi and Papa Washburn in the afternoon. Due to a leaky diaper and an approaching nap time, Peter became clothing optional for the afternoon. It's hard to tell, but he is actually wearing a diaper in this picture. "No one sleeps naked in this house!"--Raising Arizona. Due to the excitement of the day, we had an almost impossible time getting Peter to go down for a nap. He cried as if his heart was breaking when I put him in his crib. He continued to cry and I knew he wouldn't go to sleep. So, I brought him to our bed and cuddled him there. He eventually fell asleep and the three of us took a nap for about an hour and a half.


Above: My brother, Clayton, got a "Puffy Shirt" of Seinfeld fame. Here he is posing in his shirt with his beautiful wife, Kim. "But I don't want to be a pirate!" Apparently, it's a pretty uncomfortable shirt, so it doesn't make for everyday wear, but it will make for a great Halloween costume next year! My brother, Nephi, got one too. When he put it on, his three year old little girl said "Daddy, why do you look like a pirate?"


Above: This picture was taken the week after Christmas. We went over and visited my Dad and Peter was nothing but sweet to him. His cousin, Ethan, was there too and the three of them played and played and played! Smiles all around!


Above: New Year's Eve was so nice and mellow. Here, Peter and Daddy just hang out together in the morning.


Above: New Year's Eve was pretty snowy and Peter is showing what a big boy he is by helping Daddy shovel the driveway.

Above: We went sledding on an old garbage can lid in the back yard on New Year's Eve after Peter's nap. It was dark and cold, and our breath obscured all of the pictures, but Peter was as happy as happy could be! We broke the garbage can lid in our adventures and bought a sledding disc the following week.


Above: After sledding, we got Peter inside for a warm bath and then he had some valuable down time with Elmo.


Above: New Year's Day was a little on the rocky side. Everyone seemed to be cranky...which made ME cranky! We went over to my Mom's house to celebrate the New Year by having a Chinese food dinner (another tradition) and Jeremiah and I fought the whole way. Pregnancy hormones were involved, but weren't completely to blame (I have to say that in my defense!).

But when we got to my mom's house, everyone had cheered up considerably and by the end of the evening, everyone was being downright silly! Peter had a great time playing in Mom's toy room and my brothers, sister, and sister-in-law played Tabloid Teasers (one of our favorite board games. You fill in the blank to a tabloid headline and try to guess what the real headline is). My family gets ridiculous when they play this. Basically, Clayton and Sean use code headlines so that the other knows which headline is his and then they just vote for each other. The headlines get sillier and sillier as the game goes on. I won't go into details, but dolphins and playful dolphin videos seemed to be the theme of the game that night and it was absolutely hilarious.

Plus, if I'm not too much mistaken, that was the same night that Clayton decided to create an Elmo voice which Peter found to be super hilarious and we all laughed until our cheeks hurt.

So, the New Year was off to a bumpy start in the morning, but by the evening, everything was right with the world. I sure love my sweet, silly family! Peter was tuckered out by the end of the holidays though. But look at how sweet he is all passed out in his car seat!