The Holidays (part one)

As much as I had been a bit of a bah-humbug this year as far as decorating, getting into Christmas music and all that jazz, I was extremely excited for the holidays and our whirlwind trip to visit our families! I absolutely adore every minute I get to spend with the hubby, my little man and our loved ones....even when it's just chilling around the house, drinking some wine and catching up.

Fortunately we have a system that has worked very well since Nick and I began "seriously" dating a while back. We start by heading up to his mom's in Laurel on the 23rd to spend time with her, Duane, Marc & Brittany. Then drive to Emerson to be with my immediate family and finally end up in Omaha on Christmas day with Nick's dad and step mom, Janice, and the rest of that crew. Obviously we would love to be able to spend more time with all of them, but as far as amicable Christmas visits go - we are very lucky.

On Sunday morning, I got up really early to finish some last minute Christmas wrapping and packing - which of course I had left until the absolute last minute. After getting all of us ready to go - we left for Laurel around 9am. It was planned perfectly that Cruz fell asleep as we were driving out of Omaha and didn't wake up until we hit the Laurel city (hubs, who are you kidding - it's a village!) limit.  I continue to thank my lucky stars that he is a good traveler.

We got to Grandma C's and immediately started in on the bloody Mary's and vino (my kind of holiday!) and eating all the snacks Carol had prepared - hamballs, meatballs, cheese dip and veggies. Then, Cruz opened up a present - his walker/scooter from gma - and I was told that I needed to choose one of two ottomans that she had gotten for me. I had decided we needed a storage ottoman in our living room since getting rid of our dangerous coffee table once little man became mobile. We decided on one I had picked out from Target that would lighten up our living room a bit with all of the black leather furniture we currently have in there.

Common theme this weekend: WINE!

Fun with boxes...why didn't I just wrap these bad boys up??

More box fun on mommy's new ottoman!
Grandma Carol spoiled me with a couple choices for our living room ottoman

Loved the lights on the Christmas tree...maybe he will get one of those next year :)

Later the ladies got started in the kitchen on dinner. We whipped up filets, Paula Deen's shrimp & mushroom pasta,  green bean casserole and rolls. Everything was delish and I love that Carol involves Britt and I in the cooking so we can learn different ways to prepare meals our hubbies love. It's also helped me venture into cooking things a bit more sophisticated...compared to the sandwiches and soups I usually made him eat.

After dinner we dug into presents. Cruz had a ton - he got a couple books, some clothes, a small drum set/noisemaker, a couple Rockabye Baby CDs, a pair of cute laceless gray shoes, a basketball hoop/ball and some bath toys. Nick got a scale from Cruz (not saying ANYTHING, he has been watching his weight and our scale was crap!), some clothes from his mom, a Hy-Vee gift card and some cash. I got a ton too - a bag of styling goodies: new hair dryer, liters of Pureology shampoo/conditioner, hairspray, Jennifer Anniston perfume (I know, I'm such a dork, but it smells so good...let's be honest, I LOVE her), the ottoman and a Simple Human stainless trash can.  Can you say spoiled?

So much fun opening gifts this year -
he actually knew how to tear the paper after opening the many gifts from his birthday

Britt & Mook - girlfriend was downing the wine! It was great to have some competition this year :)

Loves reading his books - we added a ton to his library after this weekend.

Boxes can be used as chairs too

Opening more presents with grandma C

Throwing with daddy

Marc & Britt had to leave early Monday morning, so we ushered them out around 4:30am so they could make it back to Omaha for work and I snapped this picture of my sleeping buddy. 

Passed out after all of the Christmas fun -
I may have passed out next to him while I "tried to get him to sleep" and never woke back up!
Man, I was boring this Christmas!

After we all woke up, Carol and Duane stayed with little man so the hubs and I could hit up the gym...of course Nick had to show me where he was king at Laurel-Concord High School! Then we made breakfast - Carol & I tag-teamed an omelet for Nick and he raved about it all day. After packing up the car, we headed off to Emerson for part two of our Christmas vacation.

We had such a great day/night in Laurel and were looking forward to the fun that the rest of our trip would bring as well!