Merry Christmas!
We did it.
We’ve finished all of the lists. The magic has been created, we’ve attended events, seen Santa, decorated the whole house and yard, made the treats, ate the treats, bought and wrapped presents, and we’re here. The main event. It certainly feels like a marathon, but it’s all worth it.
I don’t even know how to describe life right now. Some moments are calm and I’m so content my eyes well up with happy tears looking at my big beautiful family. Some are so chaotic that I can’t catch my breath and I’m constantly running and I don’t know if my kids are fine or if I’m failing them. And some days I feel like everything I’m doing is wrong and I’m definitely failing them. So I guess if I give you an answer one day and you don’t like the answer, just ask again a few minutes later?
There was so much prep work for this trip. So much. It had been two years since we’d really gone on a trip like this, plus this was our first trip as a family of five, and had so many unknowns, so I think we went a bit overboard. Our motto was better to be prepared than surprised, but I think it worked.
Aside from packing suitcases, flights and having a place to stay, there were other details. Leading up to the trip we rented baby gear and coordinated it getting dropped off at the rental house. We put in Amazon and Target orders of snacks and toys and diapers and anything we could possibly think of needing while we were there. There were things like masks to think about and any other Covid related extras to plan for. We rented a car, asked someone to check on the cats, and figured out the car seats.
December and 2021 are officially over, and I think I’m still processing how I feel about that. I started the year convinced the pandemic would finally be behind us, especially since we’d all be able to get vaccines. I also started the year pregnant, which seems so far away considering the energetic baby we have now. But before I try to process the year some more, or look forward to the next one, here’s one final Christmas post summary, mostly for my memory.
Big or small, here are the things we did to celebrate Christmas this year:
You’d think that sleeping less would mean you’d have more hours in the day to, well.. do more? And maybe it’s true, but all those things you want to do, you need to figure out a way to do them without your hands. Occasionally it works - I read an entire book the other day. But most of the time I’m struggling to accomplish one thing that needs to get done that day.
Because we’re apparently experts now, we managaed our second outing as a family of five (I’m not tired of saying that yet) in our first month. It’s officially fall here, so we went apple picking!
Apple picking isn’t something I did growing up, and to be honest isn’t my first choice in activity now. If I want apples, I’m fine getting them from the grocery store. However, it’s not all about the apples.
We can’t drive anywhere without a constant commentary from the backseats - “GIANT excavator! Skid steer! ‘Ment mixer!” I’m certain I never knew how many different types of trucks and construction equipment existed before these two came along. It’s incredibly impressive how many of them they can identify, and how quickly they can spot them as we drive down a street.
So it’s not an understatement to say that “Touch-a-Truck” events are literal dreams come true around here. Unfortunately the last time the big one near us happened was in 2018. At the time, we had gone to church with no idea it was happening. As we were heading home afterwards, we stumbled on a field full of every kind of truck you could imagine. It was too good to pass up, so we went even though we were past nap time and without sunscreen or snacks. It was so much fun that we couldn’t wait until the next year when we planned to take full advantage of it. Except there wasn’t one that year, and then the pandemic ensured there wasn’t one the year after that either.
To complete our little section of the alphabet, please welcome baby F! She arrived just in time to ensure our children will be spaced out every 2 years in school, and thoughtfully saving us a year of daycare expenses.
We’re home trying to figure out how to be a family of 5, so while I will definitely write up our birth story, it may be a few days.
For now, we’re super happy, tired, and embracing the chaos.