Usually I’m pretty hardcore about Christmas time. I cram as much Christmas themed fun into the month of December as possible. I was so sad that Kye and I got so sick. I’m telling yall the flu mixed with first trimester pregnancy is THE WORST thing ever! I was sick for a total of 10 or so days. Seriously. I was sick for so long that I literally forgot what it felt like to be normal and I’d wake up every day so upset that I was still not feeling okay.
I’m SO thankful we met Santa prior to the sickness attack! I rested as much as I possibly could when I got sick but then the weekend before Christmas snuck up on me and we had to cram everything we possibly could into a couple day period. And I still didn’t feel all that great, BUT at least Kye was back to 100% so he had fun!
We went one night to look at Christmas lights. I’m SO glad we were able to go see them but really wanted to be able to go multiple nights throughout the month since both kids are old enough to be able to really enjoy it and next year we’ll have a little one to worry about! Our favorite house didn’t do their light show this year but we didn’t let it stop us and we found another awesome light show house in town 🙂
On the Saturday before Christmas we had to get out of the house and get things done! We still had so much to do (and btw I didn’t even KNOW I had flu at this point!) and had to push through the sickness and get it done!
Every year we take the kids to pick out a present for each other and for Mommy and Daddy. We divide up: Zach takes both kids to hunt for a gift for me, I take both kids to hunt for a gift for him, then we each take one kid to pick out a gift for each other. I’m not sure how we’ll do this with a third kid? Maybe just let each child receive a gift from all their siblings combined 🙂
Thankfully Kye and I had already been discussing for weeks what we wanted to get for Daddy so it was easy when we got there 🙂
Every year we also go to the dollar store. We, again, divide up. Zach and Kye picked out four presents for me and four for Britt while Britt and I picked out four presents for Daddy and four for Kye. Then Kye and I did the same thing, 4 for Daddy and 4 for Britt. While Zach and Britt did as well, 4 for me and 4 for Kye! We each end up getting 8 little gifts in our stockings. Since we go to Mrs. Charlotte’s house for Christmas morning and open all of our presents there, I like to have our stockings to open at our house so we still have a little opening under our tree at home just our little family 🙂 And it’s extra fun b/c the kids are involved in the whole process!
After our fun we went to McAlister’s. Being sick I thought soup was a good choice and I LOVE how kids eat free every day. We don’t eat out very often but when we do we always eat at McAlister’s. I am SO SAD that this ended up being our last time there 🙁 They closed down! Boo!
That same day I had to go ahead and make the cookie dough for our Christmas cookies. I use the same recipe my mom used for us growing up and it’s pretty intense haha. First you make the dough, then you have to refrigerate it, then roll it out and cut out the shapes, then freeze those for a little bit so they will keep the shape, then bake them, and then (right before you decorate) you have to make the frosting! I def understand why Mom would complain about them a lot but it’s truly my favorite Christmas tradition so I had a happy heart about it! Usually I PIG OUT on cookie dough and eat the cookies for weeks but I ended up not eating any dough or any cookies. I actually threw a ton of them out at New Year’s. So sad!!! I plan to make some heart ones for Valentine’s Day so I can actually enjoy them this time haha!
As a kid (who am I kidding…even as an ADULT!) my favorite part about the cookie process was that my mom would set aside some dough for me to eat. It is THE BEST cookie dough ever! I wanted to start doing that for my kids too and they LOVED it 🙂 PS: Ignore Kye’s attire hahahaha
That night we went to Mema’s for her Christmas. Between the shopping that morning, cookie making, and preparing for that night (I made different cookies for that) I was DONE. I felt horrible and had hardcore over done it. I also had an intense coughing fit going on. It was super embarrassing. Looking back I feel HORRIBLE that I attended this. I didn’t know I had the DANG FLU and that EVERYONE there was exposed to it because of me. Colt, Payton, Mr. Rusty, Austin, and Morgan allllll ended up with the flu on Christmas day. Talk about guilt. I still feel so bad.
I tried my best to avoid being around everyone and we didn’t stay very long. I honestly don’t remember much of this evening. Britt LOVED her new binoculars though from Mema 🙂
I was SO excited about the hats we got for Mema and Little Mama this year! They are SO beautiful and have their initials on them! Mema loved it!
On Sunday it was another push-through type day b/c it was the only day we could decorate the cookies!!! Last year Britt just watched, but she was into it this year 🙂 She reminded me of my little brother and how he would decorate. He would eat WAY more toppings than he put on the cookies and he’d end up being a total mess every time!
Kye, on the other hand, is like me…takes his time and takes it seriously and makes very little mess 😉
I splurged and bought the kids special sprinkles this year that are completely unrelated to Christmas haha. Kye got Cars ones and Britt had princess ones 🙂
Zach takes it the most seriously for sure
Gettin those sugary sticky kisses…
Finished!!!
Ignore my DISASTER home!!!
She was a mess but she LOVED it!
We always eat one when we’re done and can pick any one we want. Compliments to Zach b/c BOTH kids chose to eat one of his cookies! I ended up only decorating one I think? I spent my time helping get them iced for the kids and such. I ended up not eating any 🙁
This is another one of those things I am fuzzy on due to sickness and everything going on…but Mr. Rusty bought a new golf cart recently and decided to sell his old one. He and Zach worked out a deal (it involved trading some golf club Zach had won from Aflac and paying his Dad too) and we ended up buying the golf cart. It needed a new battery, which wasn’t cheap, but Zach had some bonus money and I agreed it was a GREAT deal. We always knew we wanted a golf cart “someday” and with the price we paid, it made sense to go ahead and get it now. The day we got it back from getting the battery it was COLD and RAINY but the kids had to take a first ride 🙂
For now Zach is having to park in the driveway b/c we only have a two car garage. After we get all the rooms and such done inside, the next thing on the “to do” list is add an overhang on the storage shed in the back yard to park the golf cart as well as the kids Power Wheels vehicles!
I went Monday and found out I had the flu. I CRIED SO HARD. Like I couldn’t talk through my sobs. I was so, so upset about it. Christmas was on Wednesday. We do most of our traditions with the family on the 24th (Tuesday) and even have an annual Parker Family Dinner on the 23rd every year. Obviously I was too sick to go which I HATED. Zach took the kids without me and I was so bummed. BUT if I had to miss something, I’d rather miss that than miss Christmas Eve festivities or, worse, Christmas morning with my babies! It’s held at our church every year and I heard the kids behaved well and that everyone thought they were really cute, so that’s always good 🙂 Casey sent me a couple of pictures! Zach was pretty overwhelmed with two kids, dinner food, and a MILLION people who wanted to talk to him so he didn’t take any pictures 😉
While being sick at the holidays was awful (esp since NO ONE knew I was pregnant so I didn’t get a whole lot of sympathy haha) I’m so thankful we were still able to do many of our Christmas traditions. I’m also SO thankful for Zach and Casey. Zach stepped up big time and really let me rest and took amazing care of me and the kids. He even stayed up late the night of the 23rd to finish all my Christmas wrapping for me! Thank the LORD Casey knew I was pregnant b/c I don’t know how we would have gotten through without her! She came and got the kids for me the morning of the 23rd when I broke down and went to the dr (I was there for over two hours so it was a HUGE blessing that they didn’t have to stay the whole time). I truly am blessed to be surrounded by so much support when I need it!
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