Even though I am DYING to complain to y’all about what a total shitshow (pun intended) 2017 has been thus far, as we’ve all been battling a nasty stomach bug, I figured that my holiday blogging should probably conclude with, you know, the holidays.
Where did we leave off? Oh, right.
That brings us to Christmas Eve. It is, as has been well documented, my favorite day of the year. I’m an anticipation kind of gal. You know–the one who likes planning the vacation as much as the vacation. Decorating as much as the holiday. Christmas Eve as much–if not more–than Christmas Day.
We started the morning by letting Finn open one stocking. (He got one from us and one from Mimi and Pops.)
All in all, I’d say the stockings were a hit. And, truth be told, I think he plays more with the little stuff he got in those than the big gifts he got under the tree.
Christmas Eve, we went to our annual dinner at Lawry’s Prime Rib. If you want a traditional English dinner, complete with carolers, this is your place! I can’t even handle all of the kitsch. Spinning salads? A silver cart wheeled right to your table? 19th century gaudiness? I’m in!
We were pretty worried about how Finn would do, this year. He’s been a little difficult, lately, as I’ve mentioned before, and we’ve withdrawn from restaurants for the past couple of months as a result.
But Sona and I had already cancelled our holiday tea the day before because we had to take Finn to the doctor, instead. Thank goodness we did; he was diagnosed with an ear infection, which has probably been the culprit for some of his naughty behavior, along with teething. Nonetheless, holiday tea cancelled–damn, kids.
So, we were determined to make our Lawry’s dinner work. Lo and behold, the Christmas gods must have been shining down on us (and the antibiotics must have been kicking in) because Finn was a TOTAL angel.
Hello, cutest child I’ve ever seen.
He earned a chocolate sundae.
After we got home, we opened more stockings.
And we lit the Hanukkah candles like good little Jews. (While wear our Christmas jammies.)
Then, after Finn went to bed, Santa worked his magic. Man, Christmas Eve with kids is NO JOKE! (I won’t go into how we started to put together his play kitchen, which was Finn’s big gift from us, only to find that a couple parts were broken. Momma may have had a major Christmas meltdown.)
Still, it was all worth it to see his little face on Christmas morning.
Despite everything, I’d still say this was our favorite Christmas, yet. Like pretty much all of life’s best moments (except fancy teas, of course), it is SO much better to celebrate the holidays with Finn in the picture.