ONE. Last Sunday, some of us girls in the family had our annual Christmas “bakeathon.” My mom and I always get together with a few of my cousins and make some treats for Christmas Eve. Every year we make Oreo truffles, chocolate cracker toffee, plus a couple of new things each year to try out. Our extras this year were rice crispy Christmas trees and ugly sweater cut out cookies. My favorites are ALWAYS the Oreo truffles and the cracker toffee… mmm! Good thing we only have them once a year.
TWO. Christmas Eve started bright and early for Jerry and I as we headed to my doctor’s office for an 8:30 AM mini birthing class… more on this in my next bumpdate! After, we decided to go to breakfast, followed by wrapping gifts at home. I NEVER wait until the last minute like that, but for obvious reasons, I was not feeling it. Something about trying to bend over with this huge belly? Then, we had our annual family party at my mom’s house. Lots of fun and tasty treats, though I was glad my pregnant sister-in-law was with me since there were a few things I couldn’t eat and neither could she. We both had a few bites of buffalo chicken wing dip before we realized there was blue cheese in it and promptly handed our plates off. My cousin, Jenny, had me for our Secret Santa and got me a beautiful Alex and Ani bracelet with a January birthstone since Caleb SHOULD be a January baby. It’s also mine and Jerry’s birthstone too.
THREE. Christmas day was busy as always. We had our annual brunch at my parent’s house then opened gifts. I’m going to list my gifts simply because I want to remember what I got: Jerry is currently saving up money for my blog re-design. He did a lot of overtime this month, and we should have enough saved up for it by the end of January. In the meantime, he got me a new scented wax warmer which was very pretty. I got a Target gift card from my brother and sister-in-law, which is always fun! They also got us some bibs, burp cloths, and sleep gowns for Caleb. From my parents, I got two primitive looking frames I picked out, a decorative wooden primitive box / wall hanging, a primitive candle nightlight, and two primitive dolls. I LOVE decor for my house and the family definitely knows my style! I also received from my parents a “mother” bracelet, a fuzzy robe (I requested this for the hospital), three pairs of comfy, baggy sweatpants (again, for the hospital and after birth), new glass pans, and a hot dog and bun griller (haha! I love hot dogs… clearly). My aunt was also kind enough to get me a pair of sock monkey slippers and some cute socks for the baby… love them. Grandma sent us a check which Jerry and I decided to spend on fun things, rather than bills for once! I got some really great things this year from everyone and am very thankful. I ended up getting Jerry “Beats” headphones that he wanted, and a “Best Dad Ever” mug.
FOUR. I always love watching Christmas movies and reading Christmas books during the holiday season, though I didn’t get to do as much of either as I wanted to this year! I watched two Hallmark movies: The Christmas Ornament which was cute but not my favorite, and The Nine Lives of Christmas which I actually really enjoyed. I read the book by Sheila Roberts that it was based off of a few years ago and enjoyed that as well. I also re-watched Elf with a couple of girlfriends. That’s a classic, of course. I read Saranormal: Spirits of the Season by Phoebe Rivers. It was a cute addition to a middle grade series I’ve been reading. I also read Richard Paul Evans’ latest Christmas offering, The Mistletoe Promise, and loved it. My book club Secret Santa gifted me with a copy of this, which I happily added to my small collection of RPE books (I’d like to get them all, eventually). Speaking of Secret Santa gift exchanges… I love them. I always participate in as many online bookish ones as possible. I already talked all about my “Broke and the Bookish” gift exchange, and I also participated in a horror book swap that I’ve been doing for a few years as well. This one is from a horror group I’m a member of on Goodreads. I recieved two books from my horror wishlist: The Troop by Nick Cutter and Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge. I’m very, very thrilled!
FIVE. Jerry is very lucky to have nine days off in a row for the holidays! I was not quite as lucky and am going back to work on Saturday, but I am really glad that my hubby will be home. As you know, he works the night shift, so we hardly get to see each other during the work week since I work days. It will be nice to come home and have my husband be there for once. We’ll be able to enjoy the little things like watching movies and having dinner together. I know a lot of people get to do this all the time and perhaps take it for granted, but it’s a treat for Jerry and I. I made a little meal plan for the week since we’ll be able to cook and eat together for once and I’m looking forward to it! Tomorrow we will take down the Christmas decorations and clean up the post-Christmas mess which includes putting our awesome new gifts away. I am in full-on nesting mode and looking forward to getting my house back to normal and baby-ready!
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!
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