In a nutshell, Christmas 2009 was laid back, full of family and some toys, ended with a little sickness and followed up Chinese takeout.  Something like that.

Christmas Eve was relaxing.  My mom came over.  We only had one item to assemble.  (The kids got a little table from Ikea and it was delightfully easy to put together).  There was hot chocolate with Baileys and some sandwiches from HoneyBaked Ham.  So nice in comparison to last year’s mad rush to assemble an exersaucer and a million little doll accessories.  I am sure we won’t get off so easy every year, but definitely didn’t take it for granted.

We were all up bright and early on Christmas morning.  We put on the kids’ new Christmas fleece outfits, gave them breakfast and then headed to packages.  I was sort of expecting they would enjoy unwrapping a little more this year and had painstakingly wrapped even the items for the stockings.  I also ended up being the unwrapper of those items.  {Sigh}  Maybe next year the enthusiasm will last longer than a few presents.  The kids got a little table, an Elmo, a digger truck and doll, etc.  But the hit of the morning?  The counting bears.  They are the little bears in 5 colors that you can sort into 5 cups and use for learning to count, etc.  The “educational” toy.  Clearly, there is just no predicting the fickle nature of my kids.

As we were finishing up with the gifts under the tree, my brother and sister-in-law arrived for brunch and round two of gifts for the munchkins.  There were play tunnels, superhero capes, ballerina tutus and new books…not to mention joyous children.

We had brunch and the kids had nice, long naps.  It was a wonderful way to spend the holiday.

Unfortunately, the evening was not so fun.  Kailey came down with a cold and awoke with tears and hacking.  She and I spent Christmas night with her moaning and groaning fitfully on a beanbag (which seemed like the best way to keep her head more elevated) and me curled on the floor beside her.  Poor bug.  The following day was no better (or actually worse because we had no sleep at all).  My brother was a really good sport and brought us food home from the birthday lunch we were supposed to attend in his honor.  Luckily, Chinese food is perfect for takeout.  And we still had cake and ice cream to celebrate at our house as planned.

Today, two days post Christmas, we were just starting to make it past the cold (or at least until one of the rest of us finally succumbs to Kailey’s germs) and enjoy the lull before we ring in the new year.  I am still not sure where this “old” year went, but it was certainly a fine year, with lots of happiness and laughter.  A year, like our holiday, which will be fondly remembered.