Merry Christmas! For unto us a child is born!

I love Christmas, in case you didn't know that.  Unfortunately with a six month old it is exhausting.  We had a great time but we were all beat by the 26th.  We began by heading down to my folks to spend the 23rd and 24th with mom, dad, sis, Cliff and some friends.  On the 23rd us ladies headed out to a Cookie Exchange put on by Ericka and Laura, such fun but a bit too much champagne.  Lizzy was a champ but had about enough by 8pm. 

The 24th we did a bit of last minute Christmas shopping, grabbed Sushi Town for lunch and came home and rested a bit (by the way it was the perfect time to shop at Target, it was empty!).  That evening we made our way to church at 4pm and oops ... the time was incorrect on their website ... so we headed to another church ... we got to church about 4:10pm and ended up having to sit in the narthex.  The service was fine, what I heard of it, but I was irritated.  Not exactly what I had in mind for Lizzy's first Christmas Eve service.  I appreciated mom and Megan finding a service that wasn't at our normal 7pm time so that Lizzy would be awake for most of the Christmas festivities.  However heading to a mega church and fighting a thousand people for a parking spot wasn't quite what I had in mind.  Still, the message was good and it was wonderful to see so many people in church. 

We made it home by 5:30pm and enjoyed our typical appetizers and drinks for opening gifts on Christmas Eve.  It was fantastic, Lizzy was a champ and stayed up the entire time!  She was thrilled with her gift from Cliff and Megan ... a Bright Start Activity Table!  Too much fun ... although when Megan told me it was supposed to help her learn to walk, my first comment was great and when she starts walking I'm sending her to your house!  Haha!  We just started sitting up so I have a feeling we are a little bit away from walking, phewww. 

After opening up stockings at my parents house on Christmas Day we made our way to the Swerk's.  We enjoyed our typical Christmas breakfast with coffee cake and reese grins grit (not sure if that is how it is spelled but phonetically that is how it sounds!).  It was delicious!  We then opened stockings and on to presents.  After a short break, Jennie went to pick up Grandma Gerd and Lizzy and I took a bit of a rest!  That evening we enjoyed opening gifts with the Kosco's and Grandma Gerd and had a fabulous prime rib dinner.  Delicious! 

We did make it up and to church on the 26th but boy oh boy were we exhausted.  I definitely will be sticking to my 'stay home for Christmas' mentality next year.  Although I love our memories growing up and visiting the grandparents I do wish we could have woken up at our own home and hung out most of the day in pajamas playing with our new toys.  I look forward to being able to do that with Elizabeth next year and in the years to come.  It is wonderful that both families are so close and both are able to visit our house with just a short drive! 

Merry Christmas everyone! 

Phewww is it Christmas yet?

I love Christmas! Anyone who knows me knows this.  Alright anyone who knows any member of my immediate family (dad, mom, sister or I) knows the Muldary clan loves Christmas.  Any person who is willing to decorate each room of a 3000+ square foot house with its own theme, six foot or taller Christmas tree included, loves Christmas.  Get the picture? 
Here is the catch ... I'm exhausted!  Whether it is the travel this time of year with my job or having a six month old daughter, I'm beat.  Pooped.  Stick a fork in me I'm done.  Okay maybe it is both work and family and having to figure out gifts for loads of people with no time to shop.  But we'll manage, we always do. 

This weekend was filled with fun.  I was in San Francisco and Dallas for the majority of the week so we did end up doing some 'crash' Christmas shopping on Friday but Saturday was spent celebrating the season with our annual Foisy, Karp, Swerk bash.  It was wonderful to see everyone and Lizzy was a trooper.  Up until about 9:30pm and no major meltdowns.  She loved the wrapping paper, boxes, etc ... as well as being fully entertained by two of our favorite munchkins Robbie and Cameron! 

Sunday was spent celebrating Tobey Christmas minus three and a half Tobey's (we missed you Allyn, Merryam, Ellie and soon to meet you baby Tobey!).  It was wonderful to have brunch and see the kiddos just dive into all the fun.  Highlight of today would have to be Audrie playing endless amounts of peek-a-boo with Lizzy and Lizzy just smiling away!  Merry Christmas everyone ... just a few short days left! 

Ugly Sweaters Unite ...

Once again a great time was had by all at our eighth annual holiday party.  Hard to believe it has been eight years of wholesome goodness but it has.  This year we swung things a bit different, kids were invited.  Okay maybe kids have always been invited but generally speaking this is not a kid appropriate party.  We did have a few little ones stop by for an hour or two which was a blast.  Our little one made a brief appearance before heading to Grandma & Grandpa Swerk's for the evening.  Our first official night sans Elizabeth. 

It was a bit difficult as I missed her terribly and I wanted to go and grab her from the grandparents but I can say we both appreciated not having our normal 5am wake up call and the ability to sleep in until 8am.  It was fantastic!  Overall it was a wonderful weekend ... all I can say though is next year ... you all need to eat more!  Way too many leftovers ... and I scaled it back from last year!

Oh Christmas Tree ... Oh Christmas Tree

What a beautiful weekend! 

The sun was shining and brrrr it was cold, winter is definitely here.  Time to get a Christmas tree.  Ben and I have talked for years about heading up to his moms cousin's tree farm in Stanwood. Well we decided with Elizabeth now was the year to actually finally do it.  It took a little bit of searching for the perfect tree ... and when we got it home it was a little big ... but it looks fantastic!  Thanks Scott & Sue for such a fun experience and a great family picture!