A Christmas to Remember

This was QUITE a Christmas to remember! Between finally closing on our house after nearly 5 months of pursuing it, to having a lovely time with family opening presents, to Ben and 7 1/2 months pregnant me coming down with the stomach flu on Christmas evening, it was certainly a memorable Christmas...

Thankfully, we felt well on Christmas Eve morning, which is when we decided to open some presents in our apartment prior to departing for my mother-in-law's house (which is about a 2 hour drive).

I love this picture of Leo opening his first present...

The boys exploring their package of Play-Doh...

Julius trying to open Leo's wooden sandwich making set (thanks Aunt Laurie and Uncle Steve!)

Jules is still a little too young to understand the concept of opening presents, so we allowed Leo to open Jules' presents for him and then give them to him. Thankfully Leo IS old enough to understand the concept of sharing, right? ;-)

Thanks Aunt Laurie and Uncle Steve! As you can see, both the wooden food groups and the wooden sandwich making set were HUGE hits! Leo was having a blast naming all of the different foods.

Later that day (Christmas Eve), we set out to my mother-in-law's house, (a.k.a. "Nana"), who lives about 2 hours away. Ben's sister Josie came with us, and it was such a treat having her help hauling luggage and entertaining the children. It's always a treat to see her!

Nana opening a gift...

Ben holding up the wooden donuts that were a gift for Leo...

Ben opening the nice pipe tobacco his sister Josie gave him (Ben smokes an occasional pipe socially).

Leo handing a present to Uncle Mike (Ben's brother) who also celebrated Christmas with us...

Auntie Josie and Jules...

On Christmas morning, we attended a Latin Tridentine Mass at one of our favorite chapels. Shortly into the Mass, I began feeling very faint. Ben was watching Leo, and I handed Jules off to my mother-in-law (what a blessing to have her there!) and I went to look for a bathroom only to find that all of them were LOCKED! Feeling increasingly faint, I stepped outside for some fresh air. I must have looked pretty pale at that point, because a police officer came up to me and asked me if I was okay. I thanked him for his concern, and told him that I was pregnant and was most likely experiencing morning sickness (which at this point I thought it was). Ben came out to check on me, and suggested that I go lay down in the car. I kept getting really hot and then really cold. Again, I have a history of getting such bad morning sickness in pregnancy, that it was actually difficult for me to distinguish flu symptoms from morning sickness symptoms! I figured that once we got back to my mother-in-law's house, I'd try to eat something, and then I'd feel better. WRONG. We'll just say that it became apparent that I had come down with a terrible stomach flu. I was thankful to have been a part of Ben's family for years now, because had this been the first time I had ever visited them, I probably wouldn't have ever felt comfortable showing my face again! I kept apologizing for feeling/being so sick, and they couldn't have been nicer. They watched the boys for me, allowed me to rest, and insisted that I do whatever I needed to in order to get better (despite the fact that I was exposing all of them to these awful germs). We ended up leaving that afternoon as planned. Ben's brother Mike and his sister Josie came in our van back to Ben's dad's house. Let's just say that the van ride was a difficult one for me, requiring many stops along the way. Again, good thing we're all family! Ben was so good to me, and insisted that I go directly to bed when we arrived home. I did just that. Josie unloaded the car for me, and Ben watched the kids and ended up putting them to bed himself. And then that night, CHRISTMAS, my poor husband came down with the stomach flu! The next day we were both so sick, and kept looking at each other every time a diaper needed to be changed or a child needed to be fed wondering how on earth we were going to manage. The good news is that we feel entirely better now, and the kids have yet to show any symptoms! It would be a Christmas miracle if they didn't catch this awful virus!

Despite our illness, it was a happy Christmas, and I was grateful to have come down with this flu when I was surrounded by helping hands! This was also a special Christmas for us since it was the first time Ben and I got a Christmas tree, and it was the first year Leo was old enough to really begin to understand the true meaning of Christmas which is "Baby Jesus' birthday" (as Leo would say) :-) Merry Christmas!