We drove down to Alabama on the 28th and immediately began celebrating all
over again!
My dad got MY Cozy Coupe down from the
attic for Claire to play with. She LOVED it!
After the girls’ naps once we arrived in Alabama (because our
children do not sleep in the car, and that is SAD), we did family Christmas and
had a blast. Mom, Dad, and Amiee were so very generous and thoughtful with
their gifts for the girls and us. Some of our favorites included our Costco
membership renewal (WE LOVE COSTCO), our museum membership renewal (THIS IS THE
BEST), piano music for Brad, Lauren Graham’s new book for me, Boston-themed
candles, protein shakes, a massage (for Brad…he’s a runner, you know), and Vera
Bradley goodies (for me) among other fun things. The girls also got some Vera
Bradley luggage, wonderful book collections, the collection of the Madeline cartoons, a Noah’s ark (for Lily), and Superbook figures and collector’s cards for Claire,
again, among other fun treats. They both had such a blast opening their gifts
and enjoying them.
Christmas Baby
Madeline!
Superbook collector's cards!
Watching her new Madeline cartoons,
wrapped in her new blanket.
Brad took this picture. It was supposed to
be of Claire getting waaay up in my face to tell me something, scaring me a
bit...but it actually makes me look all Crazy Eyes.
The next day, I had an appointment in Florence that only Mom and I
were planning to go to, but everyone decided they wanted to tag along. So, we
loaded everyone into the van and took off together. After the appointment, we
went to the Rosie’s in downtown Florence for lunch and thoroughly enjoyed
ourselves. That evening, we celebrated Christmas (and Auntie Val’s birthday)
with the Brassart side of my family, which is always fun. We now have 6 littles
among us, and they had the best time playing with one another (and by playing,
I mostly mean running laps around the house, while Claire led them in “running
through the airport like Kevin’s family.” We may have let her watch Home Alone with us one too many times…). They
rest of us had lively conversation and a lot of laughs. We very much missed
Grammy being in the middle of the fun, so it was great that we could all enjoy
each other’s company.
Mom, being a great Nana while we waited on
our table at Rosie's.
Believe it or not, this is one of the two
pictures we took with the McPhersons. I guess we were having too much fun. This
is Lily and Cheyenne, who were born 3 weeks apart! Lily was born in April and
Cheyenne in May. They are the sweetest babies.
We had breakfast at Blue Plate Café (a Huntsville FAVE) the next
morning and had a restful day of hanging out…until Brad and I went on another
date! It’s so nice to be around family that is more than happy to watch your
children so you can go to dinner with your husband. I chose Shaggy’s for dinner
(!), and then we ran a couple of errands (not romantic but much more convenient
without littles in tow) before wandering around Bridgestreet. Any time spent
with Brad is good for my spirits. (#toocheesy #butstilltrue)
Next up was New Year’s Eve partying! And by “party-ing,” I mean,
eating food we like and going to bed early. It was awesome.
New Year’s Day was
spent with my mom’s side of the family who drove up from Pell City. We did
barbecue chicken along with our black-eyed peas, greens, and hushpuppies (it
counted as our cornbread). Is it a Southern thing to eat this or does everyone
do it? I love black-eyed peas, so eating those for luck was awesome, but I
really REALLY don't like greens, so eating those for our finances was
less-than-awesome. I ate it anyway.
We opened even more lovely gifts, and Claire had the best time! Auntie and Uncle Paul gave her a brand new princess dress and tiara, and she has barely taken the dress off since. They brought her an Anna and Elsa princess nightgown back in May, and that kicked off her devotion to "princess dresses." Auntie made her life by adding a new one to her collection.
Elphie (Amiee's cat) got up in the window
to watch the world, so Claire joined her, of course.
Hanging out with Rosemary!
Elphie got in this bag to play for a
while, and the next thing we knew, she'd fallen asleep! In a bag, in the middle
of a room full of people. And she stayed that way until we were done.
Modeling her new dress. She could NOT have
been happier.
By the time Monday rolled around, we'd been gone from home for 13 days and needed to start the journey home. Mom and Dad had asked if Claire could stay with them for a solo visit, so only Brad, Lily, and I headed off to Johnson City. I'm so glad that Claire is old enough to enjoy solo visits, but we do miss her when she's not with us. More about her visit later.
Our visit home to Alabama was so wonderful. Thank you to all of our Alabama family for such a home-y visit and a lovely Christmas celebration!
Shenanigans with Bo. Buckets (bags?) of
fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment