Christmas Festivities

This year was Gavin's first Christmas....he was 10 months old. I can't believe how time has flown. Since Shawn and I have been together, for Christmas, we have always gone to St. Louis to visit his family and then we have Christmas with my family a few days before. Well this year, I wanted to stay at home for Christmas and spend it with Gavin. It was his first Christmas and he was old enough to know what was going on. So Shawn went to St. Louis and I stayed home. Mom, Beth, Tommy, Gavin, and their dogs came over Christmas Eve and spend the night. We made a Christmas breakfast for supper and opened presents that evening since Beth had to work on Christmas Day. We ate a yummy meal of biscuts with sausage gravy, sausage patties, fried potatoes, scrambled eggs, and OJ. It was yummy. After eating, we decided to open presents. It was so fun watching Gavin open his presents and play with his toys.  Shawn and I bought Gavin ALL kinds of stuff for Christmas.  I think we ended up getting him two pair of jeans, two shirts, four pair of jammies, some big boy bibs, a sippy cup with his name on it, a Build-A-Bear puppy with babies first Christmas bib and diaper, a monkey backpack, a jungle musical toy, a toy organizer with 12 bins for toys in it, some snackies in his stocking, and I think that was it. 

We bought the monkey backpack earlier in the fall when Shawn and I took him to the Evansville Mesker Park Zoo.  Every since Gavin was born (well not so much anymore, but I think I am going to start back up), I've called him my little monkey, so I was always buying him monkey stuff.  I had seen these backpacks online before, and had always wanted to get him one.  I just think it's so cute to see little boys carrying their backpacks with their toys and things in it.  Of course it's too big for him now, but in a few months when he starts walking, he can wear it.  I love the expression on his face in this picture when he opened it.  I put it on him and stood him up and then I started putting some stuff in it.  Well I guess I overloaded it cause when he sat down to start crawling, the backpack took him over and he couldn't get up. Every time he would try to get up to crawl, it took him back down again. It was so funny and every time I look at these pictures, it just cracks me up.

Here is my sad little Christmas tree this year.  Actually it's better looking than last year.  I actually put some ornaments on it this year.  About two years ago, right after Christmas, I went to Target and bought all new ornaments and lights cause I wanted to have a themed-tree.  Well that next year, we got Hershey and that puppy was into everything so I didn't put a big tree up and put up the little tree.  Then this year, we got Reese and same scenerio, so I put up the little tree again this year.  But next year for sure, I'm putting up the big tree.  And if I have to put some baby gates around it so the dogs, and tiny Gavin fingers, don't get into the tree and presents, then I will. 

Everyone was sick this Christmas too!  The weekend before Christmas Beth and Tommy were moving, so mom and I kept Gavin and their dogs here at the house.  Well I got an awful stomach bug that was going around and was sick all that weekend.  I must of passed it on to Gavin cause he had it throughout the week.  Then the next weekend was Christmas and while everyone was at my house, his mom and dad both got a touch of it.  They weren't as bad as me, but they both didn't feel good.  Actually Tommy has some stomach problems, so I think his was more of that with a touch of the yuckies that I had.  But everyone seems to be doing better now. 

The Sunday after Christmas, I rode to Shawn's parent's with his brother and his wife to do Christmas with them.  His parents got us a $25 Red Lobster gift card, a $25 Bath and Body Works gift card, a wall clock, and $600 cash.  So we split the money and each get to use our half on whatever we want.  Usually I already have something big in mind that I want to buy, but this year I didn't.  I've got a couple little things in mind.  And then we were in Big Lots the other day and there is this really fun black 12 cubbie shelf that they had that I would love.  It was only $99 so I'm contemplating getting it.  The only thing is that it's bigger than the area where I would want to put it in the scrapbook room, so I would have to do some rearranging and I'm not sure how the other stuff would look then.  So I'm going to keep my eye on it.  I could use it in the living room and then move that big black bench somewhere else, I'm not sure.  I might just go ahead and buy it and then figure out later where to put it.  The only bad thing about that black furniture is that it gets dusty so fast!