Texas Christmas!

We decided that since our new house wouldn't be ready in time for the holiday's, that we would head back to Texas to be with family.  We spent 9 days back in Dallas and tried to make the best use of our time to see family and good friends. 

I tried to pack a few days before we left, and it was nearly impossible...I was in the other room and it was quiet...really quiet, so when I went to check on them, this is what I found!  A clogged toilet and my little ones tucked away in our suitcase, ha!

I love this little man so much, but boy oh boy, he wears me out!  This is what our floor looks like after every meal.  Whew!

Our flight in was stressful to say the least.  It was on time, but for an hour out of the 2.5 hour flight, Grayson screamed....loudly.  Then we landed, and had to taxi for what seemed like eternity.  Then we waited forever to get our luggage, rode the bus to the rental car place, rented a car and sat in this traffic...for EVER.  Ugh, we were so glad to finally get to my parents!

My 5am work out buddies missed me, I guess?!!  I got this picture text messaged to me "where is breck?"  Haha!

While we were back in Dallas, we took the opportunity to visit our old pediatrician, Dr. Fernandez.  Grayson is healthy and right on target.  He weighs 23lbs, and had grown 2 inches since his last appointment in August.  Dr. Fernandez commented on how active he was!

We had many goals while we were in Texas, one of them was to eat lots and lots of GOOD Mexican food.  The Mexican food up in Ohio is crap!  Very bland!  We must of had it 3-4 times!

One of the first few nights at my parents, I got to sub-in for my step mom's bunko group!

We took the kids to the Galleria to see the "big tree" and take Jocelyn ice skating.

Jocelyn loved it and was so brave!  Derek was tired!

This little guy didn't get to ice skate, but thoroughly enjoyed slobbering all over the glass around the rink. 

My sister, Derek and I took the kids to Santa's Village which is the cute little "town" set up for kids to enjoy as if they are at the North Pole.  We all use to go there when we were kids. 

Each little house had a theme "hospital, firehouse, bank, etc".  Very cute!

Jocelyn got to go on a special date with her Gramma to watch the Nutcracker.  She loved it and sat very still enjoying the whole thing.  She even got an "autograph" of one of the ballerinas afterwards. 

One day we took a trip down memory lane and drove by our very first house we bought as a married couple.  A lot still looked the same, with exception of the excessive amounts of Christmas decorations in the back yard.  It is crazy to think we lived there over 7 years ago!  A lot has changed since then.

We got a night out without the kids with some of our very dear friends.  It is always a fun time with the Ritzel's.  It was nice to catch up kid free!

Jocelyn had no shortage of Christmas activities.  She and Grandaddy made a very creative gingerbread house. 

Jocelyn got to see her best friend, Ava for a little gift exchange.  They love each other so much and picked up right where they left off.  They crack us up when they are together, they are 4 going on 21....no joke!

Christmas Eve service with Derek's family was nice, Jocelyn and Grayson even made friends with the people sitting in the pew behind us....

Jocelyn and Gramma putting out reindeer food for Santa

Jocelyn got to pick out the cookies for Santa

I am a girl of tradition....so, just like in my childhood, we needed to read Twas the Night Before Christmas for our kiddos...but it didn't really go as planned.  I made the mistake of telling Jocelyn that if she didn't sit still, Santa may not come...BAD idea.  I learned my lesson.

Grayson wasn't really into it either.

A video capturing the "Santa drama", I am sure this is a foreshadowing to her teenage years...help me lord!

 

After about 20 minutes of a real struggle, we got it all figured out AND got a picture. 

Good news...Santa DID come after all!

I wish I could predict which toy would be the most played with, then I wouldn't spend so much time or money on other gifts....amazing how that works.

Jocelyn, cousin Ashton (4 days apart) and Jocelyn enjoying Christmas brunch.

Obligatory family Christmas photo in front of the fireplace.

There was no shortage of gifts at Poppy and Lynna's house, we will be shipping everything back to Ohio.

This was the cutest thing...Grayson and Ashton enjoyed co-unwrapping their gifts.  They had no clue what gift belonged to who, they just had fun working together.

Jocelyn modeling her super cute bath rope and bunny slippers.

We had a wonderful trip to Texas for Christmas, we miss all of our family and friends dearly.  Although we are not coming back to our new house just yet, it will be nice to have a few days left during the holiday's to relax and get back into routine.  We came home to a TON of Christmas cards too, which I love!  Now, I will sit down with a cup of coffee and check out all of our cards from friends and family.

The Santa's of Ohio....

We had such a fun time in Indiana over Thanksgiving, when we got back we jumped right into Christmas.  We decided that we would buy a "real" tree this year because everything is in storage, and see how that worked.  Since we didn't have any ornaments, my little sidekick Jocelyn helped make construction paper ornaments with glitter. 

It is a cute little tree.  Jocelyn just had to have a star on top.

Thank goodness for timers, so we can have a family photo.

Soooo, here is our 2014 Santa picture....both kids willingly went to him, but what is up with his face?  He looks very confused? Haha!

After we had to ride the train in the mall.  As you can tell by Jocelyn's smitten grin, she loved it

Last Sunday, I took the kids on the Polar Express train ride to the North Pole.

They loved looking out the window and trying to find "reindeer"

She loves him so much, it is so cute!

Seriously....what is up with the Santa's in Ohio....this guy isn't much better than the one in the mall.  I know he is probably somebody's grandpa...but in my opinion, he is kinda scary??  Let's just say the polar express people could have done better...

Our train conductor!  Yes, I know we have no shoes on...I picked my battle on this one.

Since we will be in Texas on Christmas, we decided to let the kids open their gifts early. 

Grayson was not amused.

More princess nightgowns...as if she doesn't have enough :)

When he opened up these little cars, he made the cutest noise.  He got so excited and it makes me want to go buy him 100 more of these little cars.  Little boys are awesome.

Exactly what you should do, climb into the box the toy came in...right?

Aunt Blaire and Uncle Steven sent the kids some awesome sleds to use when the snow comes.  They took turns pulling each other around inside the apartment for hours.

I thought a floor piano would be fun. 

Little G practicing his basketball moves!

A little house update...we made some good progress this week, the siding went up, we got insulation and as we speak they are doing the drywall.  They have said that as soon as they complete drywall, they will give us a close date.  We cannot wait to get into this house.  This process has been very stressful and slightly annoying.  I will save my dramatic storytelling of the woes of homebuilding for another time, but I know it will all be worth it.  Fingers crossed we will be in mid January!