Christmas

This year for Christmas we drove up to my parents' house in Wichita to spend the holiday with them.  We thought we had learned our lesson about driving with Isaac awake, so we left Friday night just before Isaac's bedtime.  This turned out to be both the greatest idea ever and the worst idea ever.  The good part is that Isaac slept 90% of the drive which was a nice change from him being fussy/upset for the whole drive.  The bad part is that when we arrived at my parents house shortly before 1 a.m. he woke up due to the lights/diaper changing...and it then took us an hour and a half to get him back to sleep.  Needless to say, we were EXHAUSTED! 

The next morning though, Isaac woke up around 8 and I took him upstairs to play quietly so Andy could sleep since he had driven the whole way up and then sat/slept with Isaac.  We were in the living room looking at the Christmas tree and when my dad came down to say hello and let Ginny out of her kennel, Ginny leaped over the baby gate that was keeping her out of the living room so she could investigate the new humans.  My dad ended up going outside with Isaac and Ginny in his pajamas to help Ginny work off some of her excitement.

A lot of this Christmas revolved around food (as always).  One night my parents took us all to a yummy Mediterranean restaurant on the east side of town.  We started out with stuffed grape leaves and hummus with pita bread.  I had chicken kebabs with baba gnoush.  Others got beef kebabs, chicken gyros, and other things.  The conversation piece of the dinner though, revolved around the complimentary biscuits.  The table was split... everyone but my mom loved them.  They were a cornmeal biscuit with some sort of glaze baked on top because although they weren't sticky, they had this amazing crust to them.  Allie and I are now scouting for the perfect cornmeal biscuit copy cat recipe... and a good hummus recipe.  If you have either please send it to me!

We went to Sam's Club with my parents and found the most AMAZING pillow!  No joke, it was memory foam with a cool gel side.  I have never put my head on something so comfortable! 

While we were there Isaac also decided to show off his superhuman strength.  No joke, this kid is strong!

My mom got a new swing for this summer when Isaac's bigger.  Since it was too cold to take him outside and play with it, we had to swing him inside.  He LOVED it!

Isaac and my Mom tortured my dad a little.  As a side note, Isaac wasn't a fan of the flash.  He kept closing his eyes when a picture was taken.

Enjoying a fudgsicle with Grandma.

On Christmas Eve we made a big batch of tamales and I gave Isaac some of the masa for them.  Surprisingly, he liked it!

The Christmas table.  The reason I get up on Christmas morning.  Every year my parents buy all the things we love that we usually don't get during the rest of the year.  Chips, soda, sweets, fancy cheeses, etc.  Oh it's glorious!

Us at the top of the stairs!

Isaac opening up presents.

More present opening.

Isaac playing with the stereo.  He LOVES my mom's stereo!

Back to present opening.

My sister Steph got matching owls for all of us sisters.

Isaac blinking because of the flash.

Watching one of the paintball episodes of Community.

Isaac wanted in on the fun.

Talking on the phone.

Finally trying the Boston cream... he loved it.

All in all it was a pretty awesome Christmas!  We ate way too much, played way too much, and had way too much fun.  Our trip home ended up being delayed a day due to snow in Dallas of all places.  Isaac was so sleep-deprived by this point that he slept for 2 hours on the way home.

We got all sorts of fun things for Isaac: books, a Noah's ark set, a soccer ball, and various other things.  His favorite toys though are the toothbrush we got him and the bath toy set we got him at the last minute.  He will play in the bathtub for an hour or more if we let him!  I would post a picture of him playing with his new bath toys...but it needs some editing to make it PG.