The Christmas Shuffle

We made a conscious decision this year to let Santa come directly to our house to deliver his gifts. Luckily, we're extremely fortunate that though we're living in a different state than most of our family, we're still close enough to spend Christmas morning at home and then drive up 95 to PA to begin the Christmas shuffle.

But before we pack up half the house, two kids, bailey and a partridge in a pear tree...I present you with some photos from our first Christmas at home (and Lindsey's first Christmas ever!). Quick caveat: though we've done a great job of not slighting Lindsey too much with regard to "second baby syndrome," I'll readily admit there are definitely not as many photos of her and her first Christmas as there was of Ryan and his first Christmas. To our credit, though, we had video rolling the whole time (which Ryan didn't get). So there.

We had a yummy (and even slightly healthy!) breakfast of scrambled eggs with spinach, hashbrown casserole and Canadian bacon while we played with new toys and watched some classic Christmas cartoons on TV. Ryan loves his new train table and accessories and Lindsey was absolutely smitten with a talking telephone (indicative of her future teen years?). Before long, though, we were taking showers, frantically packing suitcases (next year - we pack the night before) and corralling everyone into the CR-V. Greatest part of driving north on Christmas morning? No traffic - it's a Christmas Miracle!

We spent the afternoon at Nana and Pop Pop's house, with both kids getting even more cool gifts and using their stealthy kid tactics to score nibbles of food from pretty much every person in the house. Then, onward north to Great Uncle Dennis' house, where Lindsey showed off her ever-expanding walking skills (wood floor + black baby tights and no falls! Go LP!) and Ryan passed his latest initiation test by Dennis himself.

The day after Christmas was fairly low-key, spending time in PJs and opening more gifts at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Bonus - a snowstorm! Finally, the Christmas Shuffle ended on my birthday (bring on 28!) with a visit at Uncle TJ and Aunt Eileen's house, which included Poppy, Gram, Aunts Laura and Rachel, Uncle Ben and, of course, Grace and Evelyn!

The second Christmas Miracle of the season? I just fit 72 hours worth of family visits into two paragraphs. You're welcome. And now, some photos to prove it all happened.