Thursday, December 15, 2011

Looking Back on Christmas

Christmas is a magical time when you are little. Although Ethan is not old enough yet to grasp the whole Christmas concept, he does grasp that something exciting is happening. This year I set out with high hopes that we would make some family memories together. Start traditions. Basically I wanted to cram anything and everything that embodies Christmas into this whirlwind of a month. 


At this point you can probably already tell where we are headed with this. Plans....high hopes....those usually spell disaster right?


Anyways...


This past weekend I had a full day of Christmas fun planned. As much as I love our extended family, sometimes I want to make memories with just the three of us and it just so happened that Sunday was our only day that it would just be us so I wanted to make it special. So we all got bundled up and headed out to the town parade. I just knew Ethan would looove all the people and the hoopla.



We got to the square just as the policemen arrived on their horses. I made sure to point them out to Ethan at which point Michael proceeds to tell Ethan something funny..."Hey Ethan, you know why they put the horses at the end of the parade don't you?" 

Wait. 

What? Are you for serious Michael? 

"Oh yeah, you didn't know that Laura? They always put the horses at the end because of the poop." 

***insert exasperated sigh here and if we are being honest probably an eye roll***

We missed it. We missed the parade. Major mom fail. 

It was okay though. 

Plan number two would be great. 

We were headed to Nashville to see the lights at Opryland. 

30 minutes later we arrive and I'm trying to not be grumpy about the whole situation. We drive around and around...the parking lots seem to be a huge maze and we can't find a way in. Finally we ask someone where to go and turns out parking is $20. Obviously I'm not paying $20 for parking just to walk around a hotel. So we park off the beaten path. I get Ethan out of the car seat only to find that he is soaked. Like soaked up to his chest. I thought it was pee, later we found out it was juice that had spilled out of his cup, anyways his outfit was done for. 

Did I mention I had dressed him up all cute in hopes we would get the classic Santa photo? Yeah.

We changed him into the spare outfit I miraculously had in the car and were on our way.

This place was a maze. A maze of stairs! We of course had a stroller and were less than thrilled with all the hassle of everything.


You know what though?

Ethan had a fabulous time. As soon as we walked in the door his face lit up and all we heard was "Woah!" and "Wow!" and "Ho,ho,ho." It was worth all the frustration of the day. The long waits for the elevator, the $10 burgers, the washing of the car seat when we got home. Every single bit. It was worth it.

I promise he had fun even if this picture doesn't show it...I gave up trying to take pictures eventually haha!

On our way home I reflected on my memories of Christmas and found that most of them involved some kind of mishap.....

Like last year when I had Ethan dressed up in his special Christmas outfit and he had the biggest, nastiest poop explosion I think he's ever had to date. I didn't think that Janie and Jack white gingerbread onesie would ever be white again!

2010

Or almost having a tree fly off our car roof a couple years ago while we were driving down the interstate due to a bad rope purchase.

2008
Or our very first tree as a couple that ended up in our bedroom due to strange apartment rules. We had radiator heating and ended up sleeping in sweatshirts, hats and gloves that whole month because we were too scared the tree might catch on fire if we turned our radiators on.

2006
I realized that night that Christmas memories aren't always made of the perfect days. Sometimes the best Christmas memories are the ones you look back on and laugh about later. 

When we look back on this year, we will most certainly remember that it was the year that Ethan almost got to see his first parade. 






15 comments :

  1. love all the pictures! I love the fact that Ethan is so in the spirit and says "ho ho ho!." I have been practicing with Elli with no such luck.

    And that horse story? Kind of made me giggle. Hehe

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  2. We so missed our parade too...it was like the first week of December....say what? Glad you made it to Opryland even after the parking fiasco. Christmas is always full of fun memories! Glad you and the family are enjoying it!

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  3. Oh my gosh laura, I can't believe you missed the parade! I feel like I would've done the same thing. haha We haven't even had the chance to do any Christmas fun just the three of us! Hopefully soon!

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  4. This is so true! Does anyone really remember those "perfect" holidays?? Nope...because while they may have been perfect at the time there wasn't anything special or out of the ordinary that happened. It's the funny mishaps that make the best memories. The kind that last a lifetime!

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  5. You are SO right...the best memories are those that you can laugh about:) I'm a traditions person too and feel like I need to get all of these thnigs done so they can truly be traditions;)

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  6. i loved this whole post! and hearing all the mishaps at Christmas! so cute! and sleeping in all that gear, ha! that sounds like us!

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  7. Oh gosh, it seems like one crazy thing after another. At least you will always remember this Christmas though. Hope you guys have a great Christmas with your sweet babe.

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  8. i LOVE those kinds of memories- you know, the ones you can look back on and laugh about! those are my favorite kind :) no one needs those textbook parties and soirees and dinners and perfect matchy-matchy-ness.. where's the fun in that, right? ha! i love this post- thanks so much for sharing!! :)

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  9. Oh I SERIOUSLY LOVE the pictures of y'all in bed with winter garb on and the rope picture! So great! Seriously awesome memories of your life together!

    When we lived in Nashville, parking always made me crazy for the Opryland Hotel too, but the lights inside are so pretty and worth it! Glad Ethan loved it too!

    xoxox

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  10. I recently found your blog and love your post. The things that drive us crazy in the moment tend to make for some great memories down the line. For the record, our Christmas tree DID fall off the roof of our car while on the highway this year. Definitely a year to remember!

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  11. These are the best memories for sure! I've learned to except my plans to fall apart and then just go with the flow... and everyone around me expects it too haha.

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  12. Awww, what a cute little kid :)
    Merry christmas,

    love K

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  13. Sleeping in the cold since you didn't want to light the tree on fire?? Cutest story ever!!

    www.mommymandymusings.com

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  14. I LOVE this post. And I am such a fan of these kinds of memories. I also think it's awesome that you have photos of all of this!

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