Christmas Part 2: A White Christmas

I left off with our return home from Houston.  The next day was Christmas Eve and Guy's first day home in nearly 2 full weeks.  The poor guy has been traveling non-stop, pretty much the entire month of December.  It's been hard on everyone, so we were THRILLED to have a day to spend together at home! 

Of course a perfect day at home means a trip to see our favorite neighbors... the horses and Sir Loin (the neighborhood Long Horn).  Beckett couldn't wait to go...

This time we brought apples and celery.  B kept signing to give them more.

Christmas Day was actually pretty low key at our house.  As I said before, we stayed home this year which was really nice.  I do have to admit that is was kinda strange - with it just being the three of us, it didn't necessarily feel like such a different day.  I think in the coming years it will, as B gets older and understands Christmas and Santa more.  

Santa added quite a few presents to our tree, so it ended up being an ALL day event to open presents.  There was really no need to rush so we just opened a few presents at a time and let B enjoy and play with each one for awhile. 

Of course we started off with stockings.  Guy scored with a bottle of his favorite red wine - Round Pond.  B's favorites were a toss up between his Thomas the Train spinning toothbrush (the kid loves to suck off the toothpaste brush his teeth) and a train whistle.

The best part of opening presents super early in the morning is have a sleepy, snuggly baby to hold!

We took a break to enjoy breakfast casserole and a little nap.  Opening presents is hard work!

Beckett scored and got lots of presents from Santa, Momma, and Dada.  His favorites though are the wood desk and chair that Dada built, a Thomas the Train play tent, new bath toys, and a Chuggington flashlight.   

Guy's favorite gift was a touch screen media remote and mine is a new craft table.

But the highlight of the day was a gorgeous snowfall.  Is there anything better than a white Christmas?  Beckett went down for a nap right before it started and woke up (FOUR hours later!) towards the end.   I was bummed he missed getting to see some of the huge snowflakes that fell.  I had a good time tromping through to get a few pictures.

Finally he woke up.  At first he just wasn't too sure about what was happening.  I kept trying to get him to taste it, but that was a no go.  He did think it was fun to kick and shuffle his feet in it.

In fact he soon was all smiles!

When we told him it was time to go in, it did NOT go so well.  I think he would have happily become a baby popsicle to stay outside and play.

It was a great day and a very special first Christmas in our home.  We look forward to many more Christmas memories!

Christmas Part 1: Houston and Ladner Family Shenanigans

This year Christmas was WAY out of the normal for us.  Typically we pack up and head north to Oklahoma for family festivities, but this year we were home for Christmas.  It was my very first Christmas away from family on Christmas Day, but also a year to start new Mayo family traditions.  So, definitely bittersweet!

Of course, that didn't stop our families from coming to us before and after the holiday :).

A few days before Christmas my family (2 parents, 3 siblings, 1 nanny, plus the 3 of us = a crazy caravan) drove in and we all headed south for Houston.  My cousin (who is just a couple of months younger than me) was getting married on the 22nd!  Now to give you some background, this is my dad's side of the family.  I cannot tell you how many  CRAZY stories I have heard over the years about the trouble he and his cousins got in to as kids.  So, if you put them all together and add a huge celebration (Matt's wedding), we knew we were in for a pretty epic weekend.  We had lots of fun activities all weekend.

Pictures from the rehearsal dinner...

Nanny with her brother, Paul, and his wife, Betsy.

B was on good behavior!  He had bypassed a good nap and was up past 9:00, but thankfully he was all smiles.  I was REALLY holding my breath during the speeches though.

The next morning we went to Uncle Paul and Aunt Betsy's house for a wedding day brunch.  They have a gorgeous front yard, so I used the opportunity wisely and got some great pictures.

I think this is the best photo we have of all of us.

Grant, the infamous Cousin John (his son is the groom), and Mom

That afternoon we hung out at the hotel for the rest of the day.  Guy had work in Houston to do, so I was kind of tied to trying to get B to take a nap, eat some decent meals, and not scream so much that the hotel manager was going to make a courtesy call on us (fun, ha!).  Traveling with a baby is kind of exhausting! But, thankfully he has great grandparents and aunts and uncles to help keep him entertained.

He loves to have phone "conversations" right now - he says "whoa (hello)" and "bye bye" and always with the phone backwards.  Always.

Saturday night was the wedding.  The hotel we stayed in also hosted the reception which was awesome.  They had a beautiful tree set up in the lobby that was just calling my name for a photo op...

The wedding was perfect.  I am so happy for Stacy and Matt.  Sadly, I have zero pictures of the new bride and groom.  

Unfortunately, B was so exhausted that the reception with him didn't last long.  Guy and I did a couple of shifts trying to get him to go to sleep back in our room, but he just absolutely wouldn't do it.   So, we did a couple of shifts and in the end Guy ended up spending the evening in the hotel room with B. 

Steph was my dance partner. 

Cousin Paul, Cousin Hughie, and my dad

This photo is priceless.  Nanny just looks confused.  

We made it back to Dallas safely and did a quick Christmas celebration before my family finished the drive back to Norman.  By the end of the weekend, Beckett had finally warmed up to everyone and wasn't quite so overwhelmed with the sudden attention of so many people.

We opened presents.  Favorites include a playhouse, stuffed snake, and horse collection for Beckett, a kindle fire for Missy, and a home theater power console for Guy.

My dad is known for his crazy gag gifts, but the sweet mullet wig was no so popular with Beckett.  Poor kid was scared!

We wrapped up with a yummy Christmas dinner - our first dinner to host in our new home!  Cooking for a crowd was seriously SO easy in my new kitchen.  

Merry Christmas to my fun and crazy family.  Christmas part 2 is coming soon.