A Merry Little Christmas

I know, I know...it's two and a half weeks past Christmas and I'm just now getting around to finishing this Christmas post. We've been very busy the past two weeks trying to get everything back in order after the holidays and trying to get back into somewhat of a routine. I've been busy trying to figure out how to get my children to sleep, as none of us have been getting very much rest lately. ...just lots of different things on my mind lately to distract me from blogging...

Now, on to Christmas 2010...what a wonderful holiday season we had this year! Christmas was extra special this year because it was our first time to celebrate Christmas at the lake house. This year Jeb and I decided to have Christmas with his dad's side of the family at our house. I cooked a ham and a turkey (well, they were pre-cooked but I still had to prepare them), my famous baked potato casserole (Mary Bryan's recipe), and a cheesecake brownie dessert. Jeb wanted Red Lobster biscuits and an apple pie from Van's so we had that too. I'm not a big fan of cooking, even though I LOVE watching Food Network, so I order sides of green beans and corn from Cracker Barrel. I will admit I was so stressed out getting everything ready! With a little help with the kids and getting my house in order from my mom and my Granny Carol, dinner was delicious and a huge success! Jeff, Robin, Tessa, Josh, Lacee, Jett, & Josslynn came and we ate, opened presents, then played a dirty santa exchange. Papa Jeff and Nana Robin got the cutest white rocking horse for LilliAnn and Reid got Cabela's Dangerous Hunt for the Wii and a V-Tech V-Reader. After everyone left, we finished packing for a week at the lake and loaded all the Christmas presents into the car and headed to Wewoka. We even had to load up all of Santa's gifts! It was a lot of work to remember everything the four of us needed to spend Christmas at the lake, but so worth it once we got there and got everything organized. 

About 5 a.m. on Thursday morning, LilliAnn threw up all in our bed at the lake and was running a low-grade fever. She seemed better a couple of hours later, so I left her and Reid with my mom and went on to work. My mom called me mid-morning and told me LilliAnn was still running fever and that she had vomited every hour and had terrible diarrhea. Great...sick on her first Christmas! She still wasn't much better when I got home from work, so she stayed with Nana Karen while Jeb, Reid, and I headed to Melvin & Missy's house for Christmas with Jeb's mom. Melvin's son, Chris, and his wife and kids were there as well as Josh, Lacee, Jett, & Josslynn. Missy cooked a delicious meal...pork loin, fried okra, beans, and chocolate cookies! I was upset that LilliAnn couldn't be there, but I knew I couldn't bring her around other kids with her having fever. Reid and Jett's Spiderman bicycles, bicycle helmets, and horns from Gam-Ma Missy were a HUGE hit! They wanted to race, but neither one of them could pedal! We had a great time, but left early to get back to the lake to check on Lil. 

Friday consisted of Pedialyte, chicken noodle soup broth, gingerbread house making, and lots of cuddling. LilliAnn still had fever and was still throwing up AND having diarrhea. She looked so pale and just felt horrible! There were times that she would feel a little better and would play with Reid for a while. 

.....

.....

That afternoon we had Christmas with my mom, dad, and brother. LilliAnn and Reid looked so cute in the shirts that I had made for them! You can see how bad LilliAnn felt by the look in her eyes, but occasionally I would catch a little smile.

....

.....

He's so silly!

.....

This year she was way more into the paper and bows than the presents inside, of course!

.....

The best picture I could get of the two of them together in their shirts!

.....

Reid LOVES to rake, mow, clean, vaccum, and weed-eat so Nana got him an outdoor tool/appliance kit with a chain saw, weed-eater, leaf blower, and lawn mower so he could help Papa.

.....

What a great brother...I got a Keurig!

.....

Kassidy got Reid and LilliAnn their very first North Face jackets - Reid's is blue and LilliAnn's is pink!

.....

LOVE LOVE LOVE my new purse and wallet! Thanks Mom & Dad!!!

.....

Nana got Lil some adorable outfits!

.....

And a cute little ride-on horse and baby stroller walker!

.....

Santa's Cuties!

.....

After we opened presents we made a gingerbread house. Kassidy and Reid started it and then I finished it. I was the queen of making the icing look cute! Kass, however, wasn't as good at piping!

.....

He kept eating all the candy! Check out that sneaky look on his face!

.....

Later that night we headed up the hill to Grandma Lucy and Papa Glenn's cabin to have Christmas with my dad's family. Grandma Lucy has done stockings for us every year since I was born and now she does stockings for all six of the great-grandkids. We ate brisket sandwiches and then the kids were anxious to start opening presents!

.....

LilliAnn wasn't throwing up as bad and the diarrhea had improved a little so we decided that she'd be alright to enjoy the Christmas festivities! After all, Santa was coming to Grandma Lucy's!

.....

My cousin William's wife, Karen, made all the kids superhero capes & masks!

.....

Look who showed up! We were really nervous that Reid would freak out because he couldn't get him to sit in Santa's lap this year. Instead, he LOVED Santa. He walked right up to him and got his present and then kept asking to give Santa a hug. Maybe because he kind of knew that it was his Uncle Josh :)

.....

.....

I LOVE this picture! All of us were so in shock when we saw how much Reid liked "Santa!"

.....

My little Candy Cane Cutie!

.....

.....

Reid got a Power Wheels Thomas the Train! Him and Jett had such a fun time riding around Grandma's kitchen!

.....

Twas the night before Christmas...

The night before Christmas we put the kids in their matching pajamas, read the story of Baby Jesus's birthday, baked cookies for Santa, did a little dancing, then got ready for bed.

.....

Snuggle time with dada

.....

I absolutely LOVE being at the lake with all my family! We have SO much fun together!

.....

.....

Just hangin' around waiting on Santa...

.....

Next we turned on "All I Want for Christmas is You" and did my old high school dance that we used to do in the Seminole Christmas Parade. Reid joined in too!

.....

Milk and cookies for Santa (P.S. Our Santa likes slice and bake better than homemade!)

.....

He was trying so hard to stay up, but eventually crashed in daddy's arms.

.....

Christmas morning! Looks like Santa came! We had to wake Reid up because LilliAnn woke up and we wanted them to see their presents at the same time.

.....

....

Reid wanted a train table, tools, and a Thomas the Train tent. We have spent tons of money on all the Thomas the Train wooden railway pieces for my mom's house and we have the Thomas the Train trackmaster set at our house, so we wanted just a train table without the train set. We ended up getting a table for my parents' house and a table for our house too!

sz

.....

Daddy all decked out in his Christmas pjs!

.....

"Look mama! I got some soap in my stocking!" Lol!

.....

Sis was really checking out the stocking stuffers!

.....

Thomas the Train tent

.....

And a new drum!

.....

My precious family of four!

.....

In front of the tree at the lake...it was the most beautiful real Christmas tree you've ever seen! We only put lights on it because we all didn't get over to the lake house until a few days before Christmas. We'll get more organized next year and get some decorations on the tree!

.....

Love this man!

.....

Love this little boy!

.....

Look who's feeling better on Christmas morning!

.....

.....

The best picture I could get of the two of them in their Christmas pjs.

.....

On Christmas day we always go over to my Uncle Doyle and Aunt Patsy's house in Wewoka for a big Christmas lunch. All of our extended family comes and it's kind of like a Cook Family Reunion ever year. We always have so much fun! This year everyone played Just Dance on the Wii and things got pretty interesting! We usually take a family pictures in front of the fireplace, but as we were getting everyone together for the picture LilliAnn had explosive diarrhea all over one of our extended cousins!!! She is about 19 and has no children so she didn't quite know what to think about it! It was yellow, smelled terrible, and I felt HORRIBLE!!! Luckily, she had a change of clothes in the car. Consequently, we didn't get our Christmas day family picture.

.....

Looking all cute in her Matilda Jane

.....

.....

My handsome boy

.....

Santa brought him tons of toys and when everyone asked what he got for Christmas all he remembered was, "BUBBLES!"

.....

.....

His tie matched sissy's Christmas dress.

.....

Isaiah 9:6-7
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

.....

We thank God for sending us his only Son, a Savior, who came to us in the form of a tiny baby...the true reason for the season. Thank you, Lord, for our blessings and for such a merry little Christmas!