Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I knew it!  I found my camera cord this week in my diaper bag!  Soooo, I can finally post about our unusual Christmas and New Year!
We ended up driving to Tuscaloosa on Christmas Eve (2 days later than we planned) in an attempt to keep from passing on the virus that struck Harrison and I.  We were feeling on the mend, so we headed to town that morning.  Lance, Davis and I skipped Christmas Eve church service because I just felt drained, but Harrison wanted to go to see his cousins, so he went with my parents.  When we met at my sisters' house afterward, I was shocked to find out that Harrison sat (quietly!) with the adults for the entire hour!  He has never done that before, but its nice to know that he can.  I felt terrible missing it, but it was nice to just rest at my mom's house for a little bit of quiet.  The boys were also excited to see their cousin Isabela again and I think she was excited to see them!

I didn't get any pictures at my sister's house, but we had jumbalaya and leftovers from their holiday parties throughout the week.  It was low key and the boys ran around and had fun, so it was a nice evening.
The next morning, the boys woke up bright and early.  We got up with them and the boys went crazy when they saw all of the presents.  Harrison had fun looking through them, trying to find some with his name.  Growing up, we were always allowed to open stockings before our parents woke up, so we let the boys dig into their stockings before my parents woke up.

 I made Lightning McQueen snuggies for the boys because they love the Alabama one that we have and I was surprised at what a hit they were!  They still sleep with them every night.

Davis loved his new trains

And Harrison was beyond excited when he opened his "racetrack with 150 loops"

Dream Lights were on both boys' lists and so they were pumped when they opened them.  What's funny is that Davis likes to keep his in his bed, but he doesn't want the lights on anymore.  I'm not sure if it scared him somehow or what.

The other big gift that they opened was the marble track.  Lance, very patiently, spent all morning assembling it with 2 anxious boys hanging on him trying to help, so he got big points for that!

My sister and her family came over for breakfast after they opened their presents and the boys had a fun day playing with all their new toys (and watching a few of their new movies).

Isabela had a wonderful Christmas morning as well and was my little buddy!

 About halfway through opening presents, I started to feel a little on the nauceaous side so I took a zophran which seemed to help.  I thought I was several days past the virus I had, so I was a little surprised.  After we ate breakfast, my dad got right to work on cooking a Christmas dinner.  About midway through the day, I walked into the kitchen and noticed that my dad wasn't looking so good.  He said he felt pretty sick, but he wanted to make sure we all had a Christmas dinner.  I felt so bad for him, and made Lance come in and finish the gravy.  I figured he was a southern boy and knows how good gravy is supposed to taste.  My poor dad, just went down hill from there.
After dinner, my sister and I pulled my mom aside to let her know that she needed to pack a bag for the next day because we were kidnapping her for a girls day to celebrate her 60th birthday.  She was so caught off-guard and didn't know what to expect.  We got up early the next morning, made sure the guys were all set with the kids and we headed up to Birmingham to Ross Bridge for massages and a relaxing morning in the spa.  We felt bad leaving the guys with the kids since my dad was so sick, but we couldn't cancel the reservation, and he insisted that we go.  The husbands and my Aunt Mary came up to meet us for dinner and then they headed back to Tuscaloosa and we spent the night at the resort.  It was a nice evening, but my sister woke up the next morning and caught the stomach virus.  We called home to let them know we would be there a little late and found out that my nephew Jack and my brother in law got sick all night too.  It was not quite the Christmas week that we expected, and I still feel terrible that we were the ones who brought this virus to everyone, but overall, we had a nice time spending time together.  Amidst everyone not feeling great, we somehow forgot to get a picture with my mom on her birthday celebration!
It was pretty chilly all week, but we were able to get out a little bit for some fresh air!

We also got out of the house to grab lunch one day...

And I think one of the highlights of the week was getting to sit at the counter at Waffle House!

Grandmommy in heaven with all of her grandbabies around...

After a fun week, we headed back to Atlanta for New Years Eve.  Its always hard saying goodbye, but I have to admit, that it is much easier now knowing that my parents are just a short drive away!  Lance was excited that Alabama sells fireworks, so we stopped on our way home to pick some up. 
We had a low key New Years and just stayed at home and invited Lance's parents to come over.  They had just flown in from CO, so they came straight to our house from the airport.   We grilled some steaks, then shot off some fireworks and ended with an early champagne toast.  Harrison had a lot of fun with the fireworks, but Davis was not a fan.  Davis has done sparklers before and liked them in the past, but he was not wanting anything to do with it this time.  Lance bought quite a variety and we had a fun little fireworks show (with quite a few remaining!).  We ended up letting Davis watch the show from the window by our staircase and he was happy getting to watch them without being so close. 
Cheers to a happy new year!!

 

(I feel the need to mention that the boys are toasting with sparkling grape juice!)