Christmas Pictures!

Well, we made it through Christmas, and are now back to the hum-drum schedule of normal life. Except I'm still on holidays. But the kid? Back at daycare - oh, all the things I will get DONE today!

So as you know, our house came down with the plague sometime around the 21st-22nd. It messed with our anniversary plans, and boy did it mess with my laundry pile! By the 24th we were feeling well enough for Steve's parents to come over, having delayed their arrival by a day. We had a SUPERB dinner that night, and all toddled off to bed early, knowing that the next day would be an early one.

Griffin woke up at 5:45!! 5:45!! He NEVER wakes up that early, and I'm pretty sure that even though it was Christmas, he still had NO idea what to expect and thus I can not explain the early wakeup....except for maybe the fact that his Dad was an early Christmas waker his ENTIRE life.

We sat down to open presents (Grandma and Grandpa were awake WAY before Griffin!) and we're through every single one before 7am. The kitchen was a hit! And I managed to finish up my little project on Christmas Eve as well. May I present "Little Dude" as he has been christened. (Or "Widdle Dude" if you're a 2 year old):
(The pieces for this doll came in a kit, from Dancing Rain Dolls, and if you've ever had a hankering to make a Waldorf doll, I'd highly recommend these kits - they're dead easy to make!)

Griffin is terribly uninterested in him, but has taken quite a shine to the 2$ stroller that I snagged on Cheapcycle, and has started giving rides to EVERY. SINGLE. ONE of his toys. Except for Widdle Dude. Oh well.

Around 10am we packed up the car with presents and dogs and toddlers and headed to my brothers house, 2 1/2 hours away, for presents round 2. The roads were surprisingly good and we had a delightful drive, despite the occasional screaming from the over-tired 2 year old in the back seat (who perked up the minute we arrived!)And of course, visits with my trio of nieces and nephews! Nephew 1 (I think the only time he stood still all day was for this shot!):
Nephew 2 (this kid is a TANK!):Niece 1:

We stayed at my brothers all day, spending most of the day chilling. (Or trying to keep our eyes open...) Boxing day we packed the car again, headed home to drop off the dog, and then to my uncles, another 90 minutes away. We had a FANTASTIC visit with my Mom's side of the family, Griffin was a doll - the smartest thing we did was pack our own dinner for the kid, and feed it to him at 5pm, BEFORE he ended up going feral, like last year.

My cousins have Rock Band, and we could NOT get that mic out of Griffin's hand! And then he discovered the piano:

Music is a great HOBBY, kid! We're chalk full up of starving artists in this family, Mommy needs you to go to LAW SCHOOL!!

We hauled home that evening again, and have avoided the car pretty much all together since then! We spent the weekend lounging (and chasing after play equipment) and are now looking forward to cleaning up the Christmas carnage, and removing the big dead tree fire hazard in our living room.

Hope your christmas was as merry as can be!

(P.S. 5 minutes for Mom is hosting a Christmas Roundup, if you want to see what the rest of the planet got up to these holidays!)