christmas 2014/dad update

happy monday! my favorite holiday of the year has come and gone. i'm sure you'll be reading more than a few of these recaps today. it's funny to think back to last christmas. it was such a blur for me. while i was overjoyed to have a new baby in our family, i was super hormonal, sleep-deprived, and spent 90% of it nursing ashford. what a difference a year makes - this year was much more fun :) it actually felt like ashford's 1st christmas because he was able to enjoy it. here's my recap: 

christmas eve

for the last 5+ years, i've had a tradition of meeting up with my best girl friends from high school (two of them actually go back to middle school!) for coffee on christmas eve morning. i see two of them fairly often because they live in town, but katie (second from left) lives in st. louis and i hadn't seen her for a year and a half, so it was fun to catch up and a great way to kick off the day. 

while i was gone, thatcher and azalea kept busy making cookies for santa and ashford took a nap: 

my mom, azalea, and i attended the 4pm service at our church. i stole this picture from my church's facebook page because it shows azalea and i sitting up in front for the children's sermon. the 4pm service is especially kid-focused. they even handed out little instruments for all the kids to play, which was cute/brilliant. 

in the evening, we headed to thatchers' parents' for dinner, dessert, and gifts. thatcher's sister and our nephew came too, but our brother in law was sick at home. our nephew actually wasn't feeling great either. it seems like so many people were sick during christmas this year. :(  we had a fun night celebrating with them. azalea and ashford both did great with all the festivities!

my handsome boy before we left

my in-law's beautiful tree

 the best of probably 10 sibling shots taken in front of the tree. it also took lots of negotiating to convince azalea to wear the dress i bought for her. 

the boy cousins

 tissue paper is clearly the best part of christmas when you are 1.

this picture is blurry, but makes me laugh. azalea was all about opening gifts this year. didn't matter who's they were, she wanted to "help". she's at such a fun age for christmas!

 some one was excited about her giant elsa doll. she also got a jingle bell princess outfit, a snow princess dress, a wooden birthday cake set, and a few other fun things. 

when we got home, we put out cookies and milk for santa, then tucked in the kids. a short while later, santa made a stop at our house while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads.

christmas day

checking out their gifts from santa...

(with awesome bed head)...

later in the morning, we hosted brunch for my parents and my brother and also exchanged gifts with them. we made an egg bake, sausage, and toast, and my mom brought potatoes and fruit. 

azalea got another (smaller) frozen doll, a frozen shirt, frozen undies, (seeing a pattern at all?), some clothes, some stuffed cupcakes, a book, etc. 

this was a birthday gift, but this guy received a dump truck that plays sounds/music, some clothes, 2 maracas, and a few other goodies. 

in the evening, we headed to my aunt and uncle's house to celebrate with our extended family. we had delicious appetizers, dinner, dessert, and did a gift exchange. the adults draw names for gifts and we also do a 'white elephant' game every year. azalea loved helping every one roll the dice. 

a little musical entertainment. also, please note azalea's frozen shirt attire. i pleaded with her to wear the cute dress i bought her again, but i decided it wasn't worth the fight. ;) 

the rest of the week was spent lounging/playing at home in jammies, sledding in the freshly fallen snow (that missed christmas by a few days), date night at hola arepa, and having ashford's 1 year (plus family) pictures taken! 

finally, i just wanted to give an update on my dad because he had a scan the week before christmas and i'm so happy to report it was good news again. some shrinkage of his lung and back tumors, no spreading. this current chemo drug continues to be his hero, although not without lots of pesky side effects like constant watery eyes, runny nose, and plenty of days where no food tastes good to him :( he actually recently started some chinese herbs to help with the sinus issues and it seems to be helping so that's great! i was so thankful for another christmas with him. it's truly a miracle. 

whew! anyone still reading? if so, hope you had a great christmas too!