Christmas Recap {2014}

Christmas 2014

This Christmas was both extra special and extra tiring. Christmas 2014 marks Ava's 1st Christmas and our 1st Christmas as a family of four. Although, Ava surprised us by being 3 weeks early (which is even earlier then I had anticipated) we were all set for a memorable Christmas. The house was decorated and presents we all bought and wrapped. Thank goodness for being prepared.

Miss Ava's 1st Christmas

Christmas Eve was spent at my parents. In the morning we "helped" prep for 30 plus people and our traditional fish celebration. Even Mason got his hands dirty this year by helping Papa ans Daddy open up clams.

Mason learning our Christmas traditions

Very focused on the task at hand

Christmas morning Matt and I opened up gifts from each other and tried to get Mason into opening his Santa gifts. He received this cash register and it caused all opening of presents to come to a halt. Once we realized none of his other presents were going to be opened we headed back to my parents; where we opened presents and enjoyed leftovers. As we all took turns opening up gifts Mason started to catch on. He finally dove into his pile of presents and was truly excited about Christmas. 

We were all exhausted by this point so a nap was in order before heading to uncle Neal and Aunt Rose's for dinner. It took some motivation to get both kids out the door but it was so worth it. Mason played with his older cousins and had the best time. It is heartwarming to see him interact with them and give them hugs (this is unusual for Mase, seeing he isn't big on hugs and kisses). 

This Christmas is one to remember! I also took an important lesson away from this season of craziness: Christmas is just as exhausting for the adults as it is for the kids. All the prep work is well worth it but by the end of the day Mason was exhausted. It was just a little too much. 

We are so blessed to have such a wonderful little family of four, that Ava is healthy (she just needs to gain some weight), that Matt has some time off work and that Mason is happy & healthy too. We still have adjusting to do with our new addition but we are slowly creating our new norm. 

We hope you had a very Merry Christmas! Till next year. 

Love the Murrays


What a difference a year makes, check out last year's Christmas post.

Baby's First Christmas!

 Christmas is always something I look forward to each year; great food and lots of family time!  This year was extra special because of Mason.  Every year we celebrate Christmas Eve Italian style at my parent's house; lots of fish and lots of eating. Who can resist a spread consisting of fish salad, baked clams, stuffed artichokes, fried calamari, pizza bread, crab and much much more (believe it or not)!?!?! Per usual everything was delicious and my parents did an amazing job making the night a success (no surprise though). Mason was the hit of the holiday and was passed around like a hot potato while meeting his cousins, aunts and uncles!

Christmas Eve Dinner

Mason received so much love from ALL his older cousins!

Aunt Rose finally got the little man to sleep (I need her to come over and work her magic  when I'm trying to get stuff done around the house)!

 Christmas morning is always fun for us; we open presents from Santa and then each other!  We usually spend the night at Mom & Dad's but this year we woke up in our own home Christmas morning (no need to sleep in my bed from high school when I live 10 mins away).  We packed Mason up Christmas morning and headed over there in our pj's to celebrate our usual Christmas Day traditions.  Presents are always something I look forward to; it is always fun to see what others decided to get you (and their reactions to what you gave them)!  However, another tradition that makes Christmas morning fun for us is heating up all the leftovers from the night before and  pigging out.  The food always tastes better the next morning and it is always nice to gather at the table and reminisce about the night before.

Christmas night we head over to Uncle Neal and Aunt Rose's house and see the rest of my moms family (we weren't sure we were going to actually make it due to getting lost, haha)!  Mason met more of his cousins but was a bit exhausted after two days of so much excitement.

Gathering with the all the family over the holidays and spending Mason's first Christmas in our new home was just another reminder of how furniture we truly are! We hope you had a very Merry Christmas.

Love ~ The Murray's and Baldo's