Three Days of Christmas

We have had a ton of Christmas! Of course, everything started with Christmas Eve at the Uribes II. We spent the night at Nana's house. Eddie and the Twinsies were in bed early, but Nana and I were up late helping Santa put together toys that he had left for the Twinsies and watching Meet Me in St. Louis. Nana pointed out that the trolley song is supposed to be sung during the summer, but everyone on the trolley is dressed for winter, in St. Louis. This ruined the scene for me. I don't think I'll ever be able to watch that movie again without thinking of Nana's observation!

On Christmas Day, Gracie and Luke woke up about 7 am. We played with them in bed for as long as week could, but they are used to eating breakfast early. So I got them up and brought them out for some bananas and Cheerios. They walked right past the Christmas tree and did not seem to notice anything out of the ordinary. They ate their breakfasts and then we went into the living room to watch Sesame Street (well, really we just watch Elmo). That's when Gracie caught sight of her new shopping cart and Lukie caught sight of his new hauler/scooter ride. They immediately commandeered them and took off for the kitchen where the walked around and around. "Oh, Wowwww!" was heard multiple times from Lukie (it's really cute - I highly recommend hanging out with him to hear it).

Around 8 am or so, the Arteagas showed up and we opened presents with Nana. Lukie and Gracie got new hoodie towels (yay!), Elmo Live!, a spinny ball game, a talking tool kit, and new pjs. The scene was chaos, but lots of fun. After we were done opening presents, Aunt Bec made Lil' Smokies and eggs. The Twinsies had a second breakfast (surprise!) and we discovered they adore Lil' Smokies. Afterward, the Arteagas headed home to get ready for the Christmas dinner invasion and we rested a bit. When the time came, I dressed Gracie up in her red Christmas dress that Nana bought her and Lukie in his new sweater vest, dress shirt, tie, and black slacks combo. Since I was never able to find him dress shoes I could afford, he wore his red, black and white tennies.

We had dinner at Aunt Bec's house. Before we could even get started with dinner, Gracie and Lukie discovered the hors d'oeuvres table. They both managed to reach cookies and chips. It's a wonder they even wanted dinner later. Everyone thought it was hysterical that they both loved the cookies so much. I, on the other hand, was waiting for the Parent Police to show up and put me in Parent Prison for allowing them to eat that junk. When dinner time came, Gracie pounded down green beans, chicken and roast. Lukie loved the tamales, potatoes, and roast. Gracie managed to eat her entire meal while sitting on my lap and holding a cookie.

We opened presents again and Lukie got a school bus with baby legos and Gracie got a Handy Manny tool set and baby crayons. Before you wonder what was up with the Handy Manny tool set, just know that Gracie is totally happy with it, just like Cousin Nate is totally happy with his shopping cart and all the fake food. (Secretly, I am happy Nate got all of the fake food. When we visited him tonight, Gracie tried to eat the boxes. I'm so glad that she won't get to take it home!)

After a late night on Christmas, we slept in until 6:46 am today and played with Cousin Bianca who spent the night at Nana's last night. We went to lunch at a local Mexican restaurant and played at a park for an hour. Lukie thought it would be fun to go down the big kids' slide head first! I've since resumed breathing normally, but am hoping that doesn't happen again any time soon.

Tonight, we headed to Auntie Ten-Ten's house (after we invited ourselves) and watched Fred Claus, ate more Lil' Smokies, cream puffs, taquitos, Goldfish crackers, pasta, and more. We all need Alka Seltzer right now. We danced to 80s music with the Aunties and stole toys from cousins, had toys stolen from babies, cried, laughed, and generally had a blast! Lukie and Gracie passed out before we even made it one mile from Auntie Ten-Ten's house. It must be hard to be almost 16 months old!

Our 3 days of Christmas have been a blast and we can't wait until New Year's Eve. We don't know what our plans are yet, but we are sure to be the life of the party!