Christmas

I don't know that I'll ever have all of our Christmas pictures organized like I usually would, so these are what I have from my phone.  Travis has some on his camera, too, so (maybe) I will get to those.

I was so tired on Christmas Eve.  I was trying to do all of our traditions, and at one point, I was thinking, "I think I'm just doing too much."  But we just had to do it all.  Make Jesus a birthday cake.  Leave piece out for Santa,  Pack up the elves.  (I was really relieved to see them go this year.  Tired mommy here.)  Oh, find Mickey's snowcase.  That took a good 30 minutes.  Give baths.  Feed the reindeer.  Read the Christmas story.  Read the night before Christmas.  Travis' friend, Steve, was out of town, so Travis had to feed his dog for him.  He lives on the other side of town from us, so I was getting them in bed and reading the night before Christmas without him. Wrap a few more presents.  Add nursing either in between or during all/most of those things.  It was a LOT.  But...I wouldn't change it.  I have a Santa tracker on my phone, and we were watching all the cities all over the world change by the second as Santa got closer and closer to us.  See, it's already Christmas in Japan on Christmas Eve for us.  So that was really fun to see.  Sage was SO excited.  Jaggar kept saying, "Is Santa going to bring me too many presents?"

Elves ready to be picked up by Santa to go home.

 In case you wondered, Jaggar did come around in his hate for his elf.  I will tell you that one morning they brought a Rudolph ice skating rink where Rudolph, Hermey, Yukon and the Monster go around in a circle.  He loved them after that. 

 

 Costner stayed in the family room trying to catch a peek at Santa.

 

 As I said, when Sage moved downstairs, her only concern was Christmas and being in that room with the fireplace.  She was afraid that Santa would not come if she was still awake.  So we just solved that problem by her sleeping in the floor of Costner's room since he isn't in there at night anyway.  She was excited to possibly hear Santa.  Jaggar was terrified to hear him and wanted nothing to do with anyone coming in our house at night.  Leave the toys and go, as far as he was concerned.

 But Santa slipped in and out unnoticed as always, and the kids were not disappointed.  I've got lots of video that I may or may not link to here, but here is their initial entrance.  I love how Costner had a tiny pile of things in the center, and that's what Jaggar runs to.  Unfortunately, for Costner, it was Rudolph, which automatically goes to Jaggar.  Fortunately, for Jaggar, Costner is way too little to care.

 The dogs always get gifts, but I have no clue why.  Yes, that is a Rudolph monster dog toy in there.  I will say that Chanel carries that Santa out every morning and brings it inside with her every night.  She hasn't lost it or left it since Christmas.  Pretty funny.

 Costner blends right in with all of those toys.  He was so impressed wth Christmas.  Oh, notice the line of Rudolph toys.  This may or may not be on video (I'll have to look), but when Sage opened a present, she'd go right to the next thing, burying presents and pieces in paper.  But Jaggar would carry each toy and line them up before he'd open another one.  It was SO funny...and SO how they are in real life.  I really have to stay on Sage to keep things neat and organized.  Pick up your clothes.  Put your towel in the hamper...etc etc.  Jaggar is my neat one.  I'll be like, "Where are you going?"  before a bath, and he'll say, "I have to put these clothes in my hamper."  Thank you, God, for at least one that cares.

 Santa did leave footprints on the fireplace where he stepped out of it again this year.  He also tracked some snow across the room.  The kids loved it.

 He looks like a doll.

 Notice his rattle.  It says, "My 1st Rudolph."

 A Christmas Where's Waldo type picture.  Gotta love it.

 This is the 2 week postpartum wrapping special right here.  I had a few things left for Travis that I needed to wrap on Christmas Eve.  That night, I was so exhausted, so I found this box that was a cute gift box.  Unfortunately, the cologne was too big to fit in there.  So, I literally taped....a paper towel over what it wouldn't cover.  lol...I'm not even ashamed at how ghetto that is.

 If I ever send Christmas cards, this one would be perfect. 

 Sage and Caroline and Mckenna's bed.  Caroline is what she wanted most from Santa.  Also before bed on Christmas Eve, Sage was frantically trying to make a list for Santa.  She said, "I have to make my list!"  I said, "Um Sage, he's on the way.  You've done that."  I think she felt like she needed to leave it as almost a checklist for him to make sure nothing was left out.  I don't think she was disappointed.  The bed here is awesome.  I love all of the accessories that come with it.  Caroline is beautiful too. She may be my favorite of Sage's.  Her or Julie, of course.

 I love this picture so much.  I have it in a 5x7 in his room.  Travis got so mad or frustrated, I should say, with me because I would not tell him anything I wanted.  He said that I was the hardest person to shop for because I like nothing under hundreds of dollars.  Honestly, I didn't want anything!  I had it right here.  He was what I wanted most, and I had him. 

 The more children we add, the harder it is to take a picture.

 So I'll probably start putting them in collages so you can see someone looking in each one.

 Jaggar loved his Frosty.  We officially have toys from every Christmas movie that exists.

 MY gift.  This was the only thing that I really wanted.  A shed.  Call it nesting or just my personality, but I was selling everything I could find on Craigslist before Costner was born.  I made some pretty good money and got rid of things that I wasn't willing to accept a quarter for at a yard sale.  But now I no longer have bikes, scooters, paint sprayers and pressure washers, and that huge car in my foyer and all over my house.  I've been meaning to take a picture of my empty foyer.  Thanks, Mom and Dad!  And Thanks to my father in law and that HANDSOME Nick for helping Travis build it.

 Costner in Sage's doll stroller.

Poor Costner Bleu-Jack.  Right before Christmas, I showed the doctor how he had a rash.  She just said something about poor sensitive newborn skin, so I didn't think much about it.  I did put creams on it, but it worsened, and on Christmas, it looked like this.  Worst rash ever, right?  Looks like a burn.  He never acted like it bothered him, but I texted her a picture of it the day after Christmas and she told me to switch diapers, nix the wipes for water, and called in some creams.  This moment is when it is just now normal again.  I will say that it looked amazingly better the next DAY after the creams, but it wasn't completely healed until now.  Costner has to wear name brand already.

I will try to get Travis' pictures up here too, but we did have a nice Christmas.  Sage said that it was the best one ever, and I hope she feels that way every year.  For the next week, the kids and I literally went from one pair of pj's to the next each day.  We never got dressed or left the house, and it was wonderful.  And also really hard to go back to the norm when that came all too soon.  Sage got a large lego set from Santa that I thought would be a project for her and Travis, but the day after Christmas, I found myself doing it.  695 pieces and 6 1/2 hours later, I finished it.  I actually enjoyed it too.

 And true to each year, Clark burned all of the trash.  This year, it was in the rain.