Christmas 4

The whole family Christmas party on Sean's side took place on New Year's Eve day. The family gathered for lunch (Kaelyn and I missed that part due to her VERY necessary nap, we joined the fun by 3) and continued the rest of the day. Once Kaelyn and I arrived, the started doing presents. Sean's grandma is so sweet and gets presents for all of her great grandchildren and grandchildren. There are a LOT. She got Kaelyn a Catch me Kitty and a Thomas the Train book, both of which she loved. She got Sean and I kohls gift cards, which we love!

The name exchange presents were next. That's where everyone in the family gets one other person's name for a gift. Sean's aunt Denise had Kaelyn. She got her a little plastic Minnie doll/birthday set. Minnie has five different dresses, bows, shows and accessories that snap on and off. Kaelyn LOVES it. She calls her Minnie when she has a bow on and Mickey when its off. She has changed that thing thousands of times already. Sean got golf stuff and I got lotion stuff.

The idea was for it to turn into a New Year's Eve party, but Sean's dad just had surgery a couple of weeks ago so he was really tired. Around supper they started to clear out. Kaelyn and I stayed and ate because I had decided I couldn't take another bad night like the one before. I was going to drive her home. I was sad that I had to spend New Year's Eve alone, but I felt like I needed to do what was best for her and that was get her (and me) a good night of sleep.

So after we got done eating she and I drove the hour home. We got home and got cozied in and she said "I'm so lucky," to me. She's right, she is! I drove her a whole hour just so she could sleep! And sleep she did. For 12 hours without much of a peep. The next morning, we got up and I threw some clothes on her and headed back to Sean's parents house to continue the fun. Sean and his sister-in-law have birthdays early in January so we had to celebrate those.

Kaelyn got to watch the guys run their remote control cars around for awhile, then we had lunch
and ice cream cake. Most of the family cleared out and she napped and Sean and me and his parents played more cards. When she got up after sleeping over 2 hours (in the real crib again) she was having fun playing so we stayed until just after supper. Then we headed home and unloaded. We had Monday together to unpack and decompress after a whirlwind Christmas #3 and 4.

The holidays are so great. They spoil us. Not just because of the gifts but because of the time we get to spend together. It always goes too fast, but Kaelyn gets used to having her daddy around and getting all that attention and having all of those new things to do! The good news is, this year, it's still 60 in January. So here we come zoo! :)

Happy new year!

Christmas 3

Christmas 3 took place New Year's weekend. Sean had Friday off so once we got Kaelyn up and ready, we headed over to his parent's house, stopping for lunch at Wendy's along the way. No one else was going to get there till later in the afternoon and evening so Kaelyn had plenty of time to play on the horse saddle, rocking horse, with the pool table, pinball machine, and other assorted goodies.

Since there was another baby coming to the gathering, Sean's parents rigged a bed for Kaelyn on the floor of a closet. She napped there pretty well on Friday. This trend did not last, as you will later read. We were able to play some cards while she slept and just enjoy the quiet time.

When she got up, others were starting to arrive. Sean's brother and his wife and two kids were there. This made Kaelyn shy so she and I played in a back bedroom for quite some time. Once she emerged, she had a tea party upstairs and continued to explore the rest of the house. Sean's other brother got there by supper time and we ate and then began the present opening.

Sean's parents had recently been to Disney World and I'm still not sure how they did it, but they brought a ton of stuff back. One thing they brought was a Minnie Mouse doll for the granddaughters. Kaelyn opened her bag and said "Oo, Minnie! Do it again?!" So we put Minnie back into the bag and she reopened it and had the same reaction. Approximately a dozen times. She had a blast with that one!

She also got a Thomas the train shake n go train, which has had a lot of train races with her other trains once we got home. A swimming duck for her baths, which she loves. An Elmo book which she won't let me open, but LOVES to push the buttons on the front. And a bean bag, which she runs clear across the kitchen into the family room to throw herself into. :) She made off pretty well.

Everything went really well and was really fun till bed time. It was a little chaotic at the end because presents didn't start until 715 and went really quickly, ending right about at 8. I took Kaelyn off to bed but everyone was still chattering in the room right next to where she was supposed to sleep. That and the excitement and the different house and different bed added up, I guess. She didn't want me to turn the light off in the room so I didn't. She then proceeded to sing, chatter, and cry for TWO hours. I went in once. Sean went in once. She just kept saying she wanted to get up and play. She eventually went to sleep, but that only lasted about 4 hours. I had to go in once and cover her up and that worked for another 30 minutes. The next time she started in, I knew we had problems. She just wanted to get up and was asking for her milk. It was like 3am.
I ended up climbing into bed with her, hoping I could calm her down and get her to relax. That also didn't work. There was a baby next door who had been having trouble sleeping too and the last thing I wanted to do was wake her up. I also didn't want Kaelyn to get up for the day or her playing would wake EVERYONE up. Plus, it was SO early! By 430 I knew I had to do something so I grabbed the keys, packed her into the car and drove. We ended up driving until 7. She fell asleep at 530 and slept till I got back to Sean's parents house. I was so tired I was shaking. She was startled from waking up in the car and obviously still tired too.

The morning went back and forth from somewhat okay/pleasant to downright ugly. Kaelyn wanted to eat lunch starting at 10. I finally let her at 1045. She got so upset around noon she even wet herself. Luckily, Sean's family was heading to the full family party by then so I cleaned her up and got her napping in the real crib, which had been vacated. She slept for an hour and a half and then lost a duck (the horror!). She felt better, though.

The next post will continue with the Christmas 4, which is the whole big family party! Christmas 3 was mostly fun except the sleeping issue! Though I do have to say, it really went by too quickly. Except the sleeping issue, again. :)