A Very Merry Christmas

Par for the course, our Christmas was CRAZY as usual!  Before having kids, Kirby and I both said once we had kids we wouldn't be running all over the place for Christmas.  Then when I was 7 months pregnant with Charlie, we swore it would be the last Christmas of the rat race.  The following year rolled around as well as talks of us moving to Vegas, so we agreed to do the run around again.  But this year as Christmas rounded the corner we embraced the crazy.  We were thrilled to soak in every second of the run around and the opportunity to see family.

On December 21st the holiday festivities began.  We celebrated Christmas with Kirby's mom side of the family. This included Kirby's grandmother as well as his Aunt Donna and Uncle Gary.

After a great dinner and some present opening, we capped off the night (or so we thought) by playing cards.  In the middle of the game Charlie woke up a few times and was crying.  When I went upstairs to check on him, it was quite a scene.  My poor little munchkin got sick.  And it continued all night long and when I say all night I mean ALL night.  Uncle John was kind enough to set up an air mattress so Kirby and I could take shifts.  We had anticipated a long night ahead of us because Jocelyn had been having some sleep issues, but this was more than we expected.  The last time our little love got sick it was 7am. Both Kirby and I managed to get 2-3 hours of sleep and all I can say is What a Night!

Ding Ding Ding Round 2!

Even Rascal liked the Elmo slippers

In the morning we opened presents with Kirby's immediate family. And once the kiddos went down for a morning nap (not Charlie's usual but he was recovering) we did our Elfster exchange.
Then in the afternoon/evening we celebrated with Kirby's Dad's side of the family.  And this would be a whole slew of people!

I know Kirby was very greatful to see everyone.  Late that night we returned to my parents house and on the car ride back Kirby was reminising about the regular gatherings his extended family would have at his grandmothers house.  He was also very thankful for a great gift from his cousin Todd, which was a picture of all the Miller boys at Kendra and John's wedding.  

We arrived back at my parents house, transferred the kids to bed and within moments my Dad returned with my brother from the airport.  We all chatted for a while but I could hardly keep my eyes open.  

Sunday the 23rd was a down day, which we desperately needed.  By the late afternoon Jill and Mike made there way over to my parents house and we all planned on camping out there until the 26th.

In true Heck tradition we had Christmas Eve dinner then took a family photo before heading off to Christmas Eve mass.  In my opinion this is one of our best family photos in quite some time.

And I managed to get a great photograph of Jocelyn with her Uncle Matt that night too!

Before heading off to bed, Charlie left cookies and milk out for Santa Claus.

Once you have kids of your own Christmas morning takes on a whole new meaning.  We knew of course that Jocelyn would have no interest in gifts, but we expected something completely different from Charlie.  Well, we were in a for a bit of a surprise.  Charlie would have been thrilled with just two or three presents.  Once he opened his first toy it was like pulling teeth to get him to open any other.

Matching pajamas bought on Etsy!

Once Jocelyn went down for her morning nap we did our Elfster exchange with my immediate family.  Elfster is essentially a Secret Santa website.  My family and I have been doing Elfster for seven years now.  One of the highlights was Jill getting these granny pantys from my Dad.

Early Christmas afternoon my Dad's side of the family came over.  Which like Kirby's Dad's side is a whole slew of people.  And in this case was a total of 28 people for Christmas dinner.

Do most sisters at 30 and 26 still try to dress alike?

Or better still do these same sisters buy their husbands matching shirts and make them sport the shirts at the big Christmas gathering. Hahaha!!!

 It was a crazy busy Christmas and our two little loves were spoiled rotten.  Even with Charlie getting sick, we enjoyed every minute we go to spend with family.  We were blessed to be surrounded by all those we love.