24th & 25th and more!

More backtracking to the end of last year!!! 

It's still hard to believe we are 4 months into the new year...  I'll let the pictures do most of the talking this time as I relive Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  We all deeply missed being with my Too-daddy and Mary Catherine for our Christmas Eve tradition , and were grateful to still be able to get together with so many of our DE family at my Uncle Tom and Aunt Viv's home.  My parents and brother and I were able to spend a few moments with TD & MC at the hospital beforehand, and like I mentioned in my last post, having 5 sweet kiddos running around taking in the excitement of the season, sure helped in getting us more into our Christmas Eve festivities given the circumstance.

Despite having had his surgery just days earlier to correct his droopy eye, Ollie didn't slow down one bit and absolutely LOVED playing with his cousins, eating LOTS of food, and playing with ALL THE TOYS!  It was so much fun to watch him just enjoy himself.  Maelee read 'Twas the Night before Christmas beautifully and as always reacts to each gift as if it's the most amazing thing she's ever seen.  (We love that about her. :) Lilee played hard and loved well and was tickled over just about everything.

The kiddos always love the rides on the Gator!

So excited for their matching Christmas pjs before our ride home!

And that's a wrap on Christmas Eve!

CLICK for more pics from Christmas Eve!

Christmas Day was filled with everything it should be - lots of yummy food, sweet time with family, and too many presents. :)  

A lion charm for Lilee and an elephant charm for Maelee!

Reindeer hot dogs for lunch!

Tickled over the new trampoline!

CLICK for more pics from Christmas morning!

After checking out all their new toys and having a little bit of down time, we were off to my folks for Christmas dinner and more gift exchanging! It was so sweet seeing Ollie, in particular, interacting with his Uncle Dan and he remembers each gift he gave him!

  

Gotta get everyone in there!

CLICK for more pics from Christmas at Nana & Pop-Pop's!

We had a delicious dinner and a wonderfully sweet time celebrating the rest of our Christmas day with Nana & Pop-Pop and my brother.  Our bellies, hearts, and arms from carrying all the loot (!) were quite full.

And finally, we had one last hurrah of the Christmas season when Steve's parents, Mee-Maw & Grandpa came up the last weekend of December.  We loved introducing them to Ollie and we had another fun gift exchange where the kiddos got tickled once again.  We also had a great afternoon at the National Harbor where Ollie was in heaven on the little train ride.  It was a fun ending to our holiday activities and fun to ring in the new year together, as well!

CLICK for more pics from our visit with Mee-Maw & Grandpa!

Christmas-ing

It's hard to even know how to begin these Christmas posts, over three months after the Christmas season and already about to celebrate Easter, with so many events that happened in between...

While time has certainly been getting away from me lately, a big part of me just hasn't wanted to start the Christmas blog-posting given the reality that I've lost one of the most special people to me in my holiday memories... And with my sweet Too-Daddy in the hospital for a lot of December, I was definitely feeling a lot less merry & bright this year, so being able to introduce Ollie to all of our Christmas festivities and traditions brought some much needed jolly and joy!

We loved being able to share so many of our favorite holiday activities with our sweet boy, and one of the best parts was having my brother back for almost 2 weeks to join in!

So without further ado, here's a slew of pictures from some of our pre-Christmas holiday fun!

Starting with the Shirlington Tree Lighting!

We enjoyed hot cocoa and a horse and carriage ride with friends, and even got to see Santa!

Lilee asked for some "ice skaters" for her doll, Camille; Ollie asked for a digger (thus his digger- themed birthday celebration!); and Maelee asked for a pet dog for her dolls. :)

Decorating the tree!

My little goofballs:)

Another favorite holiday tradition:

Zoo Lights!

And even better this year spent with our closest pals!

Ollie especially loved the carousel and train ride!

 Advent candle!

Finishing up a delicious malva pudding dessert with our supper club for our South African themed dinner!

Snowman pancakes for the snowy day!

Somebody liked the snow flurries:)

Adorable Christmas sing-along at Lilee's preschool!

Fun day that contained cookie baking, gingerbread house making, and watching a real house decked out in lights set to music!

Uncle Dan's back!!!

So fun introducing him to Ollie.

The girls wasted no time getting silly with him.

After Ollie's eye surgery, he was very ready for the playground!

Since Maelee and I weren't able to make our live Nutcracker performance this year, we found a beautiful production to watch in our pjs while Ollie was in surgery.

On Daniel's birthday, we enjoyed one of our favorite holiday traditions of lunch at Old Ebbitt Grill in DC, followed by a stroll around the National Tree. Ollie was absolutely memorized by the trains and villages surrounding the tree, and Maelee even landed a coin in one of the moving trains! It was a pretty special day.

And that pretty much sums up some of our activities leading up to Christmas Day! I'll have another post up soon with all of our Christmas celebrations. Despite the heartaches this year, there was also lots of sweetness and merriment. It was a season where we were especially grateful for what Advent represents and the HOPE in Jesus!