Christmas 2016

Another Christmas has come and gone already! I hope you all had a very merry holiday with all of your loved ones.  Our Christmas Eve and Christmas day festivities have changed a bit since starting residency in Massachusetts as we no longer have family near to us at all.  On top of that, this year, Josh had to work the entire holiday weekend which left the girls and I to make the most of the holiday on our own.  I was fairly bummed when I found out Josh's schedule early in the month, but I was also determined not to let it get me down.  We are a medical family and the reality is that this type of situation will happen again in the future so I'd better learn to live with it!

The girls and I woke up on Christmas Eve to a light snowfall.  It turned to rain fairly quickly but since this was my first "white" Christmas Eve experience, I decided to take the girls out to the yard in our pj's to play in it for all of the twenty minutes that snow actually fell.  We had done a ton of baking the day before and delivered mason jars full of cookies to our neighbors, watched Home Alone, baked and decorated our annual birthday cake for Jesus, sprinkled reindeer food (a mixture of oatmeal and glitter) in the front yard, and waited for Dad to get home in the late evening so that we could open Christmas pjs and put cookies and milk out for Santa.

On Christmas day, the girls woke up at their usual time, 6am, and we headed down to see if Santa Claus had made an appearance at the Scurlock house.  Ryan was SO excited that Santa had eaten the cookies she put out and also couldn't believe all the presents that he left for her and that he took her "list".  I was disappointed that Josh couldn't watch all of her excitement but I made sure to take lots of video.  After a couple of hours spent opening gifts, going through stockings and putting together toys, the girls and I got ready for church.  I was especially thankful to have Christmas fall on a Sunday this year so that the girls and I had reason to get ready for the day and get out the door to celebrate Jesus Christ's birth.  After church, we headed over to UMass to visit Josh during his shift.  While it is hard to have him working on holidays, I'm glad that we've made visiting him an important part of our day.  Being together is what's most important to me, even if it's only for a few minutes.  Plus, we even had a good friend here who sliced his hand opening one of his children's gifts and Josh ended up stitching him up in the ER.  I guess it pays to have friends working at the hospital on Christmas day!

Traditionally, I make a big Christmas breakfast of cinnamon rolls, eggs, bacon and more but since Josh was not going to be around for breakfast on Christmas morning, I opted to break from tradition and have the same meal but for dinner instead.  Josh was able to make it home for breakfast for dinner immediately followed by singing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus and blowing out a candle, twice.

We had such a good Christmas holiday weekend and I couldn't feel more thankful for all of the things that I've been blessed with, especially this little family of mine.  I hope your Christmas was just as memorable and that you were able to spend it with all the ones you love the most.

Hot Cocoa/Cookie/Christmas PJ Playdate

I have nothing to say about the fact that I haven't posted in months.  So I'm just not going to say anything about it.  Ha!

Here we are, closing in on Christmas 2016 and as usual, I really can't believe that it's already the week of Christmas.  These months just fly by around here.  I can't seem to keep up.  We've been busy with life and Lord knows what else, but I did manage to throw my 3rd annual Christmas party for all of the girl's little friends last week.  It was the biggest turnout for the party with 22 Moms and babes, plus one in utero. ;) It's hard to believe how outnumbered us Moms have become compared to these kids.

We had such a great morning.  More sugar was consumed than I should probably admit and I'm pretty sure every single toy that the girls own was pulled out of the playroom.  I didn't even deal with the mess that was the playroom until the next day which was a bit of a mistake considering I found about 8 half eaten cookies and hot cocoa splashed on the wall in it.  But everyone had a fun time and my house felt so festive and cozy.  This is such an easy party idea to throw together.  I literally just have a hot cocoa bar with all the necessary fixings and provide homemade sugar cookies.  Everyone is invited to wear festive pjs and bring a treat to share.  I look forward to it all year long and I think all of our friends do too!

Pajamas

Wall Shutter Decor

Bar Cart // 2 tiered wooden stand // Galvanized Metal Tiered Stand (Pottery Barn sold out) Similar Here // Invitations

Ryan had an especially great time with all of her little friends.  She really is at such a great age for experiencing all the joys of the Christmas season.  I couldn't feel more thankful to have so many great Mom friends in the area to celebrate the holiday season with!

Christmas 2015's A Wrap

Another Christmas come and gone.  So much preparation and work for one special day, but I tell ya, it's worth it.  And it's oh so magical when you have Littles around to enjoy it.  Our Christmas Eve's and Christmas Days have changed a lot in the last couple of years.  No longer do we get all dressed up to gather with extended families and sit around a big table enjoying an overabundance of food.  No longer do we rush around trying to see everyone that we hold dear.  Instead, we say prayers of thankfulness that Dad is home and not working on Christmas Day.   We enjoy the holiday within the confines of our little 1400 square foot home.  We FaceTime with our California families in an attempt to catch glimpses of each other's day and feel love from each other, as much as a tiny iPhone screen can pass along.  And we try with all our might to create positive memories that our children will hold close to their hearts for the rest of their lives.

It is, without a doubt, a challenging time for me.  Josh had to work on Christmas Eve and was not able to make it home until minutes before the girls went to bed.  I attempted to make Ryan a festive breakfast of candy cane pancakes, but I was struggling throughout the day to feel cheery and was so happy that my friend Cami and her daughter Bella were up for coming over mid-day to eat my traditional birthday cake for Jesus, drink some wine, and help keep me from being Mrs. Scrooge.

The girls and I finished Christmas Eve opening our traditional Christmas Eve gift of new pajamas.  I tried my best to get a few good pictures in their matching pi's, but they were sure trying their best to make that impossible!  I mean is it really to much to ask to have ONE picture of both kids looking at the camera, not crying, and not having their finger in their belly button?!?!  Apparently it is.  However, the stockings did get hung and the cookies did get put out for Santa.  We read The Night Before Christmas and the Story of Christmas at least three times each and the kids went to bed.

Santa made his her appearance while the girls slept and it was just in time, because around 11pm, Josh got called back in to work for a liver transplant.  If I hadn't been so tired, I would likely have been in tears.  Liver transplants can take up to 10 hours to complete and we were not sure if he would be back in time for Christmas morning.  I knew I should count my blessings, someone was in surgery on Christmas and I was sad because my husband had to be there.  They definitely had it worse off than me, but it is hard.  Sometimes, being the wife of a physician seems very sacrificial in terms of family time.  This is undoubtedly something I/we just have to get used to as I'm sure it won't be the last time Dr. Dad has to work on Christmas.  I wouldn't have been opposed to pushing back Christmas a day, but I had prepped Ryan the night before and knew I had no option but to follow through with Christmas morning and Santa's appearance.

Thankfully, Josh found someone to relieve him in surgery around 5am.  He made it back in time for Ryan's 6am wake up.  Although, he had been up all night and was extremely exhausted so he slept through most of presents which was understandable but disappointing none the less, mostly for me.  Ryan was so excited about all of her presents that she didn't care that she was showing a sleeping Daddy her presents from Santa.

One of the best parts about this age is that after every present was opened, she wanted to play with it first before moving on to something else.  It made opening gifts take a couple of hours and we were really able to enjoy the morning.  Of course, there was a MASSIVE mess to clean up afterwards.  So the rest of the morning was spent playing and cleaning and playing some more.

Josh had gone back to bed during the playing and cleaning portion of the morning but got up mid-day to eat a big Christmas breakfast and take a family picture in our pjs.  We ended the day with homemade chili and cornbread, much like Grandma Scurlock makes every year at home in California.  It filled our bellies and made us think of all our loved ones at home.

Sure, Christmas looks a lot different these days, but ultimately, it's all about Jesus's birth and because of that, we have many reasons to celebrate.  I hope everyone of our friends and family both near and far enjoyed the day and gave praise to our Lord, the ultimate reason for the season.