Christmas 2014

I haven't really known where to start, it's been so long since my last post.  The holidays were busy for us, and quite honestly, all a blur.  December seemed to blow past like a speeding tractor trailer and I'm still lamenting that Christmas is over...and that I didn't quite get to enjoy it's peacefulness like I wanted. (Don't we say that every year?!?!?)

Nonetheless, we managed to spend some great time together as a family, and despite the stress of travelling and having a sick toddler, we were grateful for the memories made.

The weekend before Christmas, we took Emma out to look at lights.  She also enjoyed her first chocolate milk.

We also made a gingerbread house from the kit I had bought at Trader Joe's.  Emma had a blast, and loved looking at it throughout the holidays.

Monday night, when Brent got home from work, we set out on our drive to Pennsylvania.  We left at 7pm and stopped just on the north side of DC in Maryland.  Emma slept most of the way there, and then it didn't take her long to fall asleep in the hotel once we got there around midnight.  We bought her one of these to sleep in (since she isn't in a big girl bed yet and the pack n play is too small).  She loved it and slept great in it..I highly recommend it!

The next morning, we hit up Starbuck's for some fuel before the rest of the drive - only 2 1/2 hours.  Breaking it up made it super easy.

The hotel was gorgeous, and always is decorated beautifully for Christmas.  It really isn't like staying at a hotel...it's not informal or sterile, and the best part...no cooking or cleaning!!

I tried very hard to get a good tree pic...but Emma was just not having it at all.

We walked to dinner at this cute cafe, where you bring your own bottle of wine.  It was delicious, and Emma did really well.  It was a fun dinner with my family!

Emma was so cute copying Brent here....

Somewhere between NC and DC, Emma developed a nasty bug.  She feel asleep in NC, and then woke up HACKING in DC.  It was the most awful cough you've ever heard.  We shrugged it off, until Tuesday night when she coughed all night and developed a fever.  Needless to say, we got no sleep (because she coughed all night and we were worried about her) the whole trip.  We worried it was the flu, but meds seemed to help and reduce her fever.  We also worried it might be croup.  It was nerve-wracking because we didn't want to take her to Urgent Care (germs), but we also needed to know if she had something that needed attention.  In the end, we decided to ride it out and wait until the day after Christmas.  She ended up being fine, but it made Christmas eve and Christmas day more challenging.  We were all tired, and she was cranky most of it.

We took Emma to the Children's Lovefeast service, where she did pretty well.  Then we took a drive with her so she could nap (Emma doesn't really nap well right now anyway, and certainly wasn't about to in a strange place).

BAH HUMBUG family church selfie:)

Again, trying for a good photo...not sure how people get them with multiple kids...they must take like 400 to get one semi-good one to post on social media:)

We also took her to the Candlelight service that evening, and she did better there than at the earlier service.  I was really proud of her:)

Before heading up to the room, we stopped at the bar to get some drinks (because who doesn't do that with their toddler?!?)  It was a lot of fun, and everyone thought Emma was so cute (So cute that one gentlemen bought all our drinks...).  Everyone down there was in such a great mood....it really was Christmas cheer all around.

We ordered room service and then went to bed.  It was heavenly...laying around in our pj's, watching Christmas on TV, and eating fatty pasta.

The next morning, Emma was a bit cranky...probably from all the meds we were pumping in her.  She opened 2 presents and was over it.  

We did have a visit from Santa at breakfast...and she was super happy about that!

We packed up around noon, and headed out.  I captured this as we drove out of the hotel....a view of our church.  It was so sad to leave and even more depressing that the sun was finally out the day we were leaving.  It had rained the ENTIRE time - from the day we left, all the way up, to the last night.  And quite frankly, I was more than over it and a little peeved that it ruined any chance of being outside in such a beautiful place.  Either way, the beauty that Christmas day brought was just a reminder of it's real meaning.  Those days leading up to Jesus' birth were scary, tumultuous, and dreary.  Then with His presence, the sky cleared and it was a new day...