Christmas Stream of Consciousness

I hate when I feel like enough time has passed that I don't want to think through an organized catch-up post. So this will be rather random.  Hang with me if you want. :)

• We drove to TN on Dec. 23.  NO carsickness!  No total meltdowns!  No tummy bug blow-outs!  We did however discover that Dramamine makes Asa super, super, SUPER grumpy.  Oh my goodness.  I have never seen him so grumpy!  It would be a bit funny if it weren't SO out of character for him and therefore kind of sad to see him so out of sorts.
• Per our strategy since AR's baptism road trip, Asa is expected to entertain himself with books, toys, looking out the window, etc. until the halfway point of the trip/lunch.  After lunch we let him watch  movies.  He RARELY naps on road trips, and if he does it's *just* long enough to keep him going, not a real nap.  During lunch, Matt told Asa he could watch a movie when we got back in the van, and Asa got very excited!  He told Matt he wanted to watch "the doggy movie" (Lady & the Tramp... that and Cars are the only movies he's seen) and then described the scene where Tramp tries to scare away the rat by making growling, barking noises and scrunching up his face.  Maybe you had to be there, but it was hilarious. :)
• The night we got to TN, my parents put a few random things in Asa's stocking because he was SOO excited about stockings.  He was thrilled to open it and then amazed it was filled up again on Christmas morning!  And then he had ANOTHER stocking at Nana and Poppy's!  So when we got back home to OH, he asked me if his stocking was filling up again. :)
• We got to attend the Christmas Eve service at CS and then have dinner with my parents and grandmother.
• Christmas morning we had breakfast with Brad & Joy and their kids.  I am SOOO excited to have egg souffle next year.  This year I had (still yummy but not the same) dairy free waffles.  Woo hoo. ;)  Then the kids opened stockings before Brad & Joy headed out for church.  We did not want to share Asa's tummy bug or risk him picking something else up while his immune system was already hard at work, so we stayed put.  After church, Brad & Joy came back and we all opened gifts.  It was cute to see Asa so excited.  He would open a gift, play with it, and be quite disinterested in the next gift because he wanted to keep playing. :)
• The rest of the day was pretty low key with the kids taking naps before everyone came back over for Christmas dinner. :)
• Over the next 2 days we fit in visits with Ruthie & Penelope, Kerry & Nelly (2 friends and 2 baby girls we had yet to meet until now!), Jess & Melissa (teacher friends), and Lois & Bob.  Matt got to see Ben also and spent one evening playing games with Brad & Joy.
• Before we knew it, we were packing up to head on to South Carolina!  I hate how fast visits pass. :(
• In South Carolina, we got to have dinner with Matt's parents and his mom's best friend who's been waiting patiently to meet Anna Reaghan. :)
• The next evening we had our SC Christmas with Matt's parents and his sister and her family.  It was sweet to see Asa and Izzy playing together.  At one point she made a "bed" for him on the floor out of blankets and told him it was time to go to sleep.  I heard him say, "I need Blanket and McQueen" in response (guys he sleeps with), so I retrieved them from his room and then he settled in on the floor and played along with what Izzy wanted. :)
• While in South Carolina, we also got to visit a children's museum with Nana, Aunt Lakey, and Izzy.  He looooooooved the train table.  Loved.  He is still talking about trains and playing with his little Chuggingtons now that we're home. :)  At the museum, he made long trains and walked them around the tracks singing, "Chuuuuuggington.  Chugga chugga chugga.  Chugga chugga chugga.  Chuuuuuggington."  Too.Cute.
• We tried a little switcheroo and had Asa sleep in our room in the pack and play and Anna Reaghan in the third bedroom (we had her in with us over Thanksgiving and it was ABYSMAL).  It WORKED!!!  PRAISE the LORD!  The first night he never moved a muscle when we came to bed or when I got up to feed AR through the night.  The next couple nights he would partly rouse but fall right back to sleep.  Yea yea yea!

Now we are back home!  We came home on Saturday the 31st, so we'd have Sunday AND Monday to settle back in as a family.  Asa LOOVED having Matt home and was totally attached to him at the hip.  It was sweet to see him wanting to follow Matt *everywhere.*  Asa is currently filling his days back home begging to walk around in the snow and playing his an airplane playset he received for Christmas. :)  Anna Reaghan is working on some new things of her own, but that's for its own post!