Christmas 2011 - Part Two

We returned home from our Nebraska Christmas celebration Monday night. Exhausted, but we had a blast. Click play on the video to see all the fun we had with my family.



Since we're only "home" on Christmas every other year, I really try to soak it all in. Here are some of my favorite memories this year:

• Tory slept through the entire Christmas Eve church service! I was so thankful so I didn't have to take her out and was able to sing all my favorite Christmas church songs. One of my favorite parts of the holiday for sure.
• The sound of my relatives laughing and talking. As I was nursing Tory in an upstairs bedroom on Christmas Eve, I had goosebumps as I listened to everyone I love downstairs celebrating together. It instantly transported me back to my grandparent's house where we celebrated so many Christmases when I was a little girl.
• Santa came! My uncle Norm dressed up as Santa this year and stopped by for a visit on Christmas Eve. The little kids were so surprised! Brookie (4 1/2 years) was at a loss for words at first; Lauren (1 year) was scared to death and Tory (3 1/2 months) could have cared less. After Santa left, Brooke figured out the big secret and kept saying "It was Norm!" We had to keep reminding her Norm got called into work, remember? I laugh every time I watch that part in the video.
• Tory took a 4 hour nap on Christmas Day! She was so beat from Christmas Eve (when she stayed up until 11pm - she didn't want to miss a minute), she slept right through our celebration with my dad's side of the family on Christmas Day. Longest nap ever for that little girl.
• It was 50 degrees in Nebraska! Of course it was excellent travel weather since we decided to skip the seven-hour drive and fly instead. But, so is life! We enjoyed being able to take a quick flight to and from Lincoln and even saw the Nebraska Cornhuskers at the airport (they were in route to the Capitol One Bowl taking place later this week).
• The way Tory Bean laughed and laughed when my mom made silly faces at her. It was her first true belly laugh ... and so dang cute.
• Staying up until 3am Christmas Eve night to open gifts. We started opening them up after our Christmas Eve celebration a few years ago since there were no little kids around and none of us wanted to get up early in the morning. Except now Brookie's 4 years old and the poor thing didn't know what end was up - she was opening gifts half-asleep. I was exhausted too from traveling and getting up with Tory Bean a few times a night. So, we decided next year we're going to go back to opening gifts during the daytime.
• I found this adorable hand-sewn Christmas Advent Calendar on Etsy and received one from Andi's parents this year. I am so in love with it - it's one of my favorite gifts I received this year. Each date on the calendar has a little pocket and I plan to place a Christmastime activity in each one next year for Tory, Andi and I to complete together. Obviously it'll be even more fun as she grows and the activities change as she does. I was so excited about it, I also bought my sister one for Christmas. I hope she enjoys it too.
• I bought the girls (Brooke, Lauren and Tory) matching pajamas for Christmas Eve and they were so cute!
• Brookie is very into musical instruments right now (I guess it's because of one of her favorite shows, Fresh Beat Band). Anyway, she received a Cinderella guitar from my parents and it was a big hit with everyone ... almost more fun for the adults than Brooke! She also received a Disney vanity with a built-in keyboard from Santa and on Monday, my entire family was singing and playing kiddie musical instruments in her room. It was one of the those moments where I looked around and wondered what the heck we were all doing. Good thing the video camera wasn't out for that moment! 
• Andi and I exchanged gifts when we got back to town on Monday night. He gave me a beautiful August birthstone necklace (Tory's) with a silver T heart on it. I wanted to get him snowshoes as I thought this would be something fun to do together at the cabin this winter but I opted for an Apple Trackpad instead. He seemed happier ... and let's face it, we aren't really the exercise type so it was probably a good choice. We gave Tory a Tiffany's charm bracelet (just the chain for now) for Christmas. I'm excited to collect charms for her throughout the years. I think she'll really enjoy wearing it someday too.

Hard to believe Tory will be Lauren's age next year at Christmas. I can't wait to see her running around and opening presents. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!