Christmas post on January 19th? Yep. We’re still catching up from the holidays. Thank you notes will go by next weekend, promise!
Christmas was lovely, as always. We drove to Indiana on a Friday night. We left at 7pm and the kids (mostly) slept the whole way. We stopped and changed diapers as needed. But overall, it was pretty painless. My whole family was together for Saturday and Sunday morning. We all went to church, had an awesome family dinner and our annual catch phrase competition (that is usually reserved for Christmas Eve – but hey, at least we got it in!). Phil, Maggie, Andrew and Jessie took off Sunday – and Woznation still had a few days with the Harrisons. It was so great watching all the cousins hang out. Evie and Elise are 8 months apart and will be in the same grade growing up. Obviously, right now, 8 months in a big difference though! Elise is walking all around and pushing Evie in the standing toys. Luke and Wil are starting to play better together (Luke has always played nice, Wil is just starting to get the hang of it). We were also able to spend a night out with friends in b-town. Cels was down for a night and we got to see Brian and Kelly at Lennies!
We spent the rest of the week hanging out with Busia and Dzia Dzia. Wil looooves the fisher price little people that they have at their house and kept calling them his ‘guys’. Lets play with ‘the guys’! He also had a blast playing with flash lights in and out of closets at their house. Jessie and Andrew were back for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We also got to hang out with Uncle Nick — and Great Uncle John from Hammond! The whole crew went to Christmas Eve mass (All 16 of us from both families!). Then Phil and I went to the Wozniaks for the traditional ‘wigilia’ polish christmas eve dinner. The next day, we started the morning at the Watkins. Wil didnt really have anticipation of Christmas morning, but it was so cute watching Luke wake up. Wil got ‘eyes’ (binoculars) that he loved! and Evie got 18-24 month clothes – thats shes already fitting in!
After we destroyed the presents at Mimi and Pop Pops – we went for more at the Wozniaks! We were able to open presents via Skype with Aunt Em and Uncle Sam. Wil got a beautiful letter choo-choo that spelled his name – and a Choo-choo shirt that he promptly thew over his shoulder – just like you see in the movies. CLOTHES?! Ha! Where are the presents? Evie loved the cellophane wrapping most of all! (Phil and I got Wil a few Octonaut figurines. Its a newer disney show that hes obsessed with. And Evie a pop-up toy…that we forgot in Bloomington).
During our Indiana trip, Phil and I were insanely fortunate to have the opportunity to spend a few nights away while all the grandparents took turns watching the kids. Originally when we were planning this mini-vacation, I started my search in Peru, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Miami… — we ended up staying 3 nights in French Lick, Indiana. 1.5 hours away from Bloomington. When it came down to it, we really just needed a few nights of pure sleep and no one needing us for >48 hours. So we didnt want to spend our whole time traveling or all our costs going to a location where we would spend half the time indoors. While we were away – Evie didnt sleep through the night and Wil got a horrible upper respiratory virus — But our parents took it in stride. I cant even describe how thankful I am for those few days away. Especially under the circumstances. It had been a very tough few weeks in Baltimore with my work, Phil traveling, and Evie (STILL) not sleeping through the night. As many of you know (I reached out to A LOT of you), I was starting to lose it a little bit. Wil’s sickness might have been the straw on the camel’s back. But when we got back – Wil was feeling better and we were refreshed.
It almost makes up for all the money we lost in the french lick casinos. 😉 Thanks Moms and Dads, siblings, and friends for a great christmas break – we REALLY needed it.
Woznation 
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