Our Christmas festivities were intense and long, but I am happy to report that everyone in my little crew were happy and healthy Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Lainey gave us a scare Sunday and Monday with a nasty cold, but she woke up virtually snot free Christmas Eve morning...a lovely Christmas miracle. Nick is back on the sick train with a horrible cold, but we just returned from the doctor and he is ear infection free...for now. Maybe New Year miracle for him tomorrow?
We celebrated in Moline this year and Lainey and Nick got lots of quality time with their cousins. Lainey still adores her cousin Amelia (I think she said her name about a million times over three days) and is now old enough that she and Oliver can pal around and play. Nick and Eleanor got along quite well, too!
We took the kids to get the obligatory Santa picture...I think this may be a Moline holiday tradition, because it's so fast and easy at the mall there. Who wants to wait in a long line for a picture that's probably not going to be that great? There were no tears this year, but Lainey was still leary of the big guy. Nick rolled with it for the most part, but getting them both to look at the camera and smile was impossible. You can check out the result below. Good enough, I say.
The kids enjoyed an overflow of presents Christmas Eve night from the family and Christmas Day from Santa (Lainey finally decided to be on the "nice" list - whew!). Mid-morning we bundled up and headed over to Uncle Tim and Aunt Rebecca's for some sledding fun. Lainey LOVED it! We couldn't get her inside. It was back to Grandma and Grandpa's for nap time and then back to Tim and Rebecca's for dinner and lots of play for the kids. Lainey enjoyed watching her big cousins Jacob and Ben play guitar hero and checking out Ben's new drum set. She also played her first games of hide-and-seek, sticking close to Amelia (and kinda' ruining Amelia's hiding as a result). It was awesome watching all of them hang out and interact. As we were leaving to head back to for bedtime, Lainey said, "Daddy, I had so much FUN!" Aaawwww...
After a quick birthday celebration for Amelia and Oliver Thursday morning, it was time to head back to Chicago where Dad and Sharon were waiting for us. We rushed through another huge stack of gifts (my kids are nothing if not spoiled), while skyping with Uncle Chris. It was a whirlwind! But, Lainey got her most prized possession of Christmas, a pink acoustic guitar from Grandpa! Stay tuned for some video of her strumming and singing "Oh my darlin', Clementine." Spoiler alert...it's adorable!!!
Dad and Sharon stayed through the weekend and headed back yesterday. So, things have been all over the place for the past week or so, but it's all been worth it for the kids to have some great quality time with our loved ones. Now on to 2014...hoping for good health and cheer!!!
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| Eleanor and Nick Having Some Fun |
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| Elaine is keeping her distance... |
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| Enjoying her first candy cane with her idol, Amelia |
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| Guitar from Grandpa...our little folk singer |
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