Preparing for Christmas

Whew, it's been a whirlwind month for me and I'm just now trying to get back in the swing of things. After returning from Kentucky on the 14th of December, the Allen household was hit hard by a TERRIBLE stomach virus. My poor baby girl threw up from Sunday night until Friday afternoon. It was such a hard week for me as a parent attending to one sick child and one needy infant. Poor Tristan had to get used to being abruptly set down while a ran for the trash can for Maura. To complicate matters, Brent was at work long past the kids bedtimes on two separate nights. I was so glad to see my little girl recovering, only to have Brent come down with a similar illness. I wouldn't wish this illness on anyone. I've never been so glad to get everyone recovered and on our way to celebrate our Christmas holiday. We left on Sunday, the 21st to make our way to Tennessee. Here are the first pictures from the beginning of our vacation.

Maura was so excited about Santa this year. We watched Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer at least fifty times since Thanksgiving, and Maura was so into Santa. She wrote him a Christmas letter, and he wrote her back! She was thrilled with her Santa letter. It came in the mail for her while she was sick, and she got to open it right after her nap. She's got some awful nap hair in this video, but it was too cute not to include it!

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Maura wouldn't part with her Santa card, even in the car.
We heard a lot of "Holly Jolly Christmas" all week long. It's amazing that something so simple can really make an impression on a child. I had to throw in a few pictures of our decorated Georgia house. It's not quite like I would have decorated in Kentucky. Since we were home for less than one week in December, we scaled it down quite a bit. We decorated this little artificial tree, but as you can see, I tried to fit as many ornaments on it as I possibly could!
Our mantle. I finally sewed some stockings for the kids. It only took me three years!!
On Sunday, we were finally somewhat recovered and ready to head to Tennessee for Christmas. We changed Tristan to his big boy seat in the car so he'd be more comfortable, but I put him in his infant seat one last time to get some pictures. He's so tall and so heavy that the infant seat was just no longer an option! What a difference seven months makes!! Here's his first photo in his carseat!We're on our way!! Maura travels in style these days with her own personal entertainment system. We bought her a milkshake to encourage hydration and get some calories back in this child!!
We were so excited to make it to Tennessee for Christmas and to visit with Nan, Poppa, Uncle Matt and Aunt Brenda. Uncle Matt was so glad to see the kids. He especially liked hanging out with his little nephew. We had some fun with the poor sweet baby! He looks like a Tristan tree with all those blocks stacked around him.
Tristan and Uncle Matt. On Monday the 22nd, Aunt Lisa had a Christmas party at her house. Grandmother loved visiting with her first great grandson.
Grandmother, Tristan and Nan. Nan bought a DVD player to keep Maura occupied in non-childproofed environments. Maura loved getting to watch Rudolf yet again. Tristan loved trying to touch Maura's hair, one of his favorite occupations. Nan loved getting to snuggle with both grandkids at the same time.
Bambi, the chiuaua, all dressed up for the occasion. Brenda and Matt brought their three chiuauas with them from Vegas, so it was quite a busy household with six adults, two children and three chiuauas. The Allen family, Brent, Julie, Brenda, Matt, Maura, Sherran, Tristan and Chuck. It was so much fun to be together and enjoy this time of year as a family. We missed Amy, Matt and Ava, but they were enjoying Christmas in Dallas.
Later in the evening, Maura got treated to a viewing of Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer on the biggest TV screen she's ever seen! I think the face says it all! The chocolate covered face, that is!

So cute! I don't know if we'll ever have another Christmas as magical as this one, because it was just pure enjoyment for her.This year was the first annual Chambers family auction. Aunt Lisa had a great idea to have an auction before Christmas and she called us all in with a bell to participate. Maura loved ringing that bell. Maura giving Great Grandmother some lovin.
Aunt Lisa did a great job organizing the auction to include some really cool things for the family to enjoy. Maura won a big box of dress up clothes.
Maura loved trying on the tiara and the "high shoes" as she calls high heels.
Tristan loved playing pass the baby, our family's favorite game. Aunt Lisa Chambers enjoyed some baby time. Tristan is clapping in most of the photos taken of him over Christmas. It's his new favorite skill and he loved practicing it in all the commotion surrounding the holidays. ***Just a note...I took a ton of photos over Christmas and I'll be posting a lot of them. I look at this blog as a photo album and history of my family, so if you go into photo overload, I apologize. Feel free to skim through!