Before I get on with my post, I am supposed to write that Samantha will make a picture-filled post later. It falls to me to talk about Christmas, to the best of my memory. Let's hope that it doesn't fail me.
As you may very well know, Samantha, Jayson, and I have been spending our Christmas vacation up in Salt Lake with my in-laws. This past week has been amazing: between finally graduating from college to realizing that big boy apartments don't come with hardly anything, it has been nice to realize that we are growing up. I ask myself when it will hit me that my life has forever changed, and that all the things I have been looking forward to are now coming up. One month? Two? Will it ever hit me? But I digress.
My first awareness on December 25th was realizing that I was only 2/3 done with the hat I was making for Samantha's nephew, Nicholas, and praying that Jayson would stay asleep long enough for me to finish it. It must have been a Christmas miracle though, because I finished the hat around 1:15, and das I was getting ready to head upstairs for bed, I heard Jayson start to stir, so I made a bottle, fed him for a few minutes, and then the two of us went to bed. He didn't get up again until around 6, so I got a good chance to sleep for a few hours. He's been doing a lot better about that recently. Up until a couple days ago, he has only really gotten up once during the night. Of course that means that when he wakes up between 6 and 6:15 every day he needs to stay awake for a few hours before he takes a nap, which means that I have to stay awake for a few hours before he takes a nap, but it has nonetheless been getting better. You know, I really have to stop these digressions before I find myself writing this post by torchlight and with pitchforks prodding my...you know.
Christmas, yes. Jayson and I, Samantha too as a matter of fact, all got up around 6, probably closer to 5:45. He had soiled himself and his outfit in one fell swoop, and needed a bath desperately. Luckily, so did I. While we showered , the other adults were getting ready for the kids to come down and open their stockings. It was so much fun to see how much they loved their presents; I get excited for when Jayson is old enough to really get into opening presents. There I go again, but this time I caught myself before I went too far. (This is going to end up a really long post if I don't start focusing.)
After the kids opened their stockings, we adjourned to the kitchen for some exquisite cinnamon rolls courtesy of Autumn. Tastiness could not have found a better home. Following breakfast was a flurry of cleaning, showering, and dressing while everyone got ready. Church was rather nice. There wasn't a choir, so all the musical numbers were sung by the congregation. I really like congregational singing because it helps me feel more like a group. The organist was quite good: she varied her stops, used the pedal, and generally provided a good base for the congregation to sing off of. But the best part of church was that Jayson was a really good boy. He was a little bored at the beginning, and we looked through the diaper bag but found no toys except one: the little blue bow that came with the diaper bag. :-( oh well. If it keeps him quiet. And it did! And when the bow didn't keep him quiet, his bottle and sleep did. I was a little afraid all the singing might wake him up, but apparently Christmas hymns are like lullabies (I think so at least).
Church was only an hour, so we left for home in our freezing car. Once there, we all changed, and Jayson got his lunch and went down for what I thought would be a hour or two long nap. This was around 10:20. Boy, was I mistaken. He stayed asleep through all the screaming and present opening and playing until we woke him up at 3:30 because we wanted him to sleep that night. But really, I was shocked that the noise from opening presents didn't get him up or keep him awake.
Speaking of presents, there were loads of them. I kept wondering if the pile would ever go down, but eventually I couldn't reach any more. The side of the room by the kids on the other hand, was piled high with gifts, toys, and clothes. It's amazing that we found room to walk or even breathe. I was given some wonderful presents myself: the complete fairy tales of the Grimm Brothers, an electric kettle (one of my favorites), a set of 4 ramekins, a winter jacket from Samantha (love it, but it's just a little short in the sleeves), a couple hammers, a level, and a few more gifts. Jayson got some cute clothes, come burp clothes, a couple blankets, and some diapers. Samantha got some amazing earrings, some really cute scrubs, some fleece pullovers, a sexy winter coat, a day journal/planner, and some other stuff that I can't remember. I'm sure that in her next post Samantha will correct the list of things that I left out. I love her for her ability to do that.
After presents were opened and the living room was cleaned up somewhat we finished getting lunch ready. I know the tradition is for a large Christmas feast, but that is inevitably associated with a large Christmas stress. Autumn had a great idea of how to counter the stress: don't have the feast. Don't get me wrong, we had a really good meal, but it was the lowest stress meal possible. Early that morning she and Mary Kay set up two roasts in crock-pots and turned them on. Eight hours later, and lunch is served. The roasts were so tender it was hard to scoop the meat on the plates, and the vegetables that were with it were perfect. A light dessert followed. All in all, it was a really pleasant meal because no one had had to stress over it.
The rest of the day was mostly cleaning up after presents and relaxing. It was a great day, and I think that everyone had an awesome time. There weren't any big meltdowns, which really was a miracle because meltdowns are almost as much a part of Christmas as the tree or the presents.
I really like Christmas. It's a fun holiday, and I appreciate the reminder to remember the life of the Savior. There has been many a year which hadn't gone how I had envisioned, and I think that is what made this one so good: pretty much everything went according to plan. I really enjoyed spending so much time with family and friends. I'm looking forward to the year when Samantha and I have our own Christmas, and our own tree to hide presents under.
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