An O'Hare Christmas

  

I know I have said this before but I love reliving my childhood through my own children.  I love starting traditions and remembering the old ones. My mom's house is complete chaos Christmas morning. My sister and her family come over, and one person hands out presents. In about 10 minutes everyone is happy and hyper with large stacks of unopened or opened gifts in front of them. It makes me smile thinking of how happy this must have made my mom feel every year having so many children in her home every year. After the mad chaos of unwrapping all the gifts we would have homemade cinnamon rolls, sausage and orange juice then a BIG dinner again that night with everyone usually with ham or turkey. Kevin's house is completely different than what mine was. Less chaotic and the present opening is usually done in the late afternoon and it is usually very peaceful. I'm sure when Kevin was a child it was a little bit more like the chaos in my own house, but as adults this is what its like. I love that everyone has a different way they like to do things, and that is why for me I want to take a little bit of my family and a little bit of Kevin's family and make our very own.

The days leading up till Christmas were almost unbearable for me. I kept asking Kevin if the kids could open up one present, and his answer the same every time....no, no, no. He is such a scrooge. We spent Christmas Eve getting ready for dinner and for Christmas Day so we wouldn't have to do anything but play with the kids. After Jack woke up from his nap we opened 2 presents from Mom and Dad. Brecken got a Little Tykes mailbox and Jackson 6 cars from the Cars 2 movie and the DVD. We watched the movie, fed Santa's reindeer, and set out milk and cookies. It wasn't exactly as magical as I dreamed up in my head, but I'm sure the subsequent years will have a little bit more excitement. After the kids were asleep and dreaming of sugar plums I'm sure, Kevin and I ate the most amazing meal I have ever had. Prime rib, balsamic and bacon glazed asparagus, potatoes Au gratin and trifle for dessert. It was all from scratch and the best part about it was it took less then 30 minutes to prepare and make. Okay the trifle took a little bit longer, and poor Kevin sat over a stove for about 45 minutes stirring the custard that morning!!  We opened a bottle of wine that we purchased in Italy a few years ago.  It was the FIRST time I had ever tasted wine that we bought from there because as some may remember I was 7 months pregnant when we went. We had a pleasant night being "Sansa" (as Jack calls him) and remembering what it was like for me as a child on Christmas Eve. 

Christmas morning was sweet. Jack woke up around 7:30AM and the first things out of his mouth were Santa eat cookies and milk? Buddy bye byes?  (Buddy is our elf and he went back to the North Pole until next Christmas). We went downstairs and when he saw the 60 inch bear sitting in front of the Christmas tree he immediately got down and sat on him but then got right back up because he wanted his snack and milk. But once we got him opening presents we were finished in about 1 1/2 hours. It was not overwhelming as I thought it was going to be for Jackson, however Brecken was INTO everything. I'm afraid we have another paper eater on our hands. My favorite memory of the morning was Kevin singing into Jackson's stand up microphone Blue Christmas by Elvis and Jackson laying on the bear with his hands under his chin watching Kevin lovingly. Kevin and I were laughing so hard we were crying and before I could get the camera Jack got up and started running in circles and falling. But Kevin and I both will remember that look forever. I'm so happy to have made such great memories such as that one. He was so in love and in awe with Kevin singing. It was the best CHRISTMAS ever.

We ended our beautiful day with our friends Michelle and Brian who were sweet enough to have us over for a feast (I had two helpings of EVERYTHING) and the best cocktail that has ever laid on my lips. Cherry mojitos!!! Yum yum!

All in all we had such an amazing day but I will say there is something to be said about your extended family. We so missed our families. It would have been really nice to share our day with the ones we love the most but we made the best of what we had in front of us as we always do.



Jackson singing lollipop lollipop on his new microphone.
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Boxing day came, and I went shopping for some more Christmas decorations (like I need more)... It was SO MUCH FUN and I found amazing deals. I'm so excited to decorate for next Christmas. When I finally returned home I put all the new stuff in boxes and well one thing lead to another and my whole house was packed up. Kevin was annoyed that I put everything away so quickly. Jackson cried when he saw that the tree was gone, and he just kept pointed to where it had been and crying "back mama, back".  I guess I know what NOT to do next year. So now my house is naked and I am feeling refreshed as we enjoy the last few days of 2011. What a year it has been and I can't wait to reach my goals for the next year. As always I know that this year will be better than the year before.

Jackson playing with Brecken's new toy and singing his ABC's!!



                Brecken needs corrective lenses so we decided to try out couple different styles.....