Christmas

We left for Atlanta on Christmas Eve. Everything went so smoothly at the airport. Well, not everything. We tried to check in at curbside, but for some reason, couldn't. So, we went inside to a kiosk and had the same problem. The computer said "see an agent". So, we waited for several minutes until one of the people behind the kiosks decided to help us. It turns out....that my husband is on the watch list. Weird. He has to just wait it out until they decide that he doesn't need to be on the watch list. Ugh.

Anyway, we got boarding passes and headed for the security line...or lack of line...and breezed right through. Lacey decided at that point that she had to be a real traveler and pull her Dora suitcase behind her. Too cute. Wish I had taken a picture, but Butch had taken the batteries out of the camera!!! (Why?) Thankfully, the airport was pretty empty and she wasn't in anyone's way. She was an angel while we waited for the flight to board. I really thought we'd be chasing her around, but she stayed close. She fell asleep as soon as we sat down on the plane and woke up about 45 minutes later crying. I think her ears were hurting.

We got to Steve & Marilee's house around 3:00ish, I think. We had a fabulous lasagna that night. After the girls went to bed, we opened gifts and had cheesecake for Butch's birthday. Marilee also had these great chocolate covered strawberries that she had received from a client or someone at work. Yum-o. Waayyyy too much to eat, but so good.

Steve & Mar got Nancy a cool gift. It's a framed print of the record of arrival for Nancy's ancestors. It's a copy of the actual page -- so cool. We'll have to look into this site for my side of the family, too.

Christmas morning, Lacey woke up around 6:50. And, Sam slept until 9:00! ;-) (Samantha is sick and sleeping well/a lot. I don't know how she does it since I can never sleep well when I'm sick.) So, once everyone was up, we had a breakfast bake, then helped the girls open all of their (too many) gifts. (All the gifts you see under the tree were for the girls.)

Later that day, we had ham, stuffed ham, green bean casserole, potatoes, bread, etc. Followed, of course, by dessert.

The day after Christmas Nancy, Marilee & I snuck out for lunch while all the men stayed home with the little ones. It was nice to get out and be able to talk without wondering what they were doing. We went to a cute little shop while we were out, too.

Lacey & Samantha's interaction was "interesting" and a little stressful for me. Toddlers normally like "parrellel play" at this age and that is what Lacey preferred, but Samantha wanted to play with her a little more. Even though I had read that toddlers don't "get" sharing until they are older, it was still embarrassing! After I got home, I had to do some reading on sharing again....to make sure that I wasn't raising an out of control kid. Luckily for me, she's not. It's not until age 3-4 that they really get it. It's best just to practice sharing with them and not to expect too much when they are around other toddlers. I also checked with Miss Lisa (daycare) about how Lacey is there and she said she is very good for her age. She especially plays well with the older kids. Mary Kate (who is 4 months younger than Lacey) and Lacey don't play well together b/c they both want the same toys. And, apparently, Mary Kate is a "taker". Miss Lisa thinks Lacey has just learned to be very defensive and fight for what she wants to avoid losing things.

Anyway....we left for the airport on Wednesday morning and arrived about 2 hours before the flight. It's a good thing that we did. By the time we made it through all the lines and went to the bathroom, we only had time to grab something for lunch (to eat on the plane) and board. Insane. I can't believe it took so much time. Lacey was cranky, but after she ate a piece of pizza and had a cup of milk, she was happy. And delerious. The girl stayed awake the entire flight. Decided she'd fall asleep after we'd landed, so she slept for about 10 minutes. She even stayed awake for the drive home.

It was great to see everyone in Atlanta, but it was good to be in our own bed again (with Lacey in a separate room so she could be restless and noisy by herself).

We've already taken the Christmas decorations down. They are so pretty, but it is always good to get the clutter away.

Today, Butch is taking lots of cardboard and our tree to the recycling spot. And, we are planning on a lot of NOTHING for the weekend. The neighbors are having a New Year's Eve party, but it's "no kids" this year, which is unusual for them. I think we'll just have a nice dinner and enjoy a movie.