Hopefully everyone is somewhat recovered from the holidays. I still have things to put away and toys to sort through (and old toys to donate etc). The tree and decor are down so I consider myself ahead of the game at this point :) We had the BEST Christmas weekend. It was so nice to have my brother and his family here for the entirety of it. We got a lot of catching up done, the kids played like crazy, and we were also able to relax instead of rush around like chickens with our heads cut off. It was Paxton's first Christmas so that added an extra sparkle to the season as well.
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| Papa and Paxton |
Christmas Eve we went to my parents house for the afternoon. All my French cousins decided this worked better than the traditional Christmas day shenanigans. My cousin Carrie and her family from Colorado came in (first time in over 7 years) so that was HUGE for all of us. Carrie brings a special aura with her, similar to that of my Aunt Cindy...we always feel the absence of Cindy even heavier on Christmas so it was nice to have Carrie there this year. The kids literally ran around like crazy. There were 10 kids all under the age of 7 (and one in the womb still so technically 10.5). Surprisingly nothing was broken and no one was bleeding or crying when the event was over. My parents redid their basement for events like this. One side is all for the kids, so they were able to watch tv, run, play, and destroy the room completely....which they did with flying colors. It was so nice to be able to have all my cousins meet and snuggle on sweet Paxton. They had all been doing research and learning about PWS. They had questions to ask and I was more than happy to answer them. I seriously felt my heart swell with pride at the fact that these people cared so much about him and me that they wanted to learn everything they could...and of course make sure I was handling everything and didn't need anything. So blessed!
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| Uncle Dick playing with the kids instead of hanging with the adults....per usual :) |
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| Cousin Carrie with her baby Lucy and my baby Pax |
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| some of the French 2nd cousins (5 are actually missing from this pic) |
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| Mila and Pax |
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| Nana watching cartoons with the littles |
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| Grayson and Benny...two peas in a pod |
Benny and Grayson are hilarious together. Since they are so close to age they are both in the stage where sharing is not their favorite thing to do. It was so funny watching them painfully give up a toy bc us mean moms and dads were forcing them to share. It was also equally as fun watching them grab things from the other and run away as fast as they could. There truly is nothing as heart warming or special as watching your siblings children play with your own children. I love their babies so very much so being able to spend so much time with them meant the world to me. Unfortunately Easton didn't feel well that day so he stayed upstairs in my parents room. He just wanted to lay down. About halfway through the afternoon I took his temp and it was 103.5. Brian took him in to urgent care and of course he was diagnosed with croup....He didn't want to tell us he felt as bad as he really did because he "did want to miss Christmas" He really is our tender hearted sweet child. I also know that he knows how much we worry about Paxton or Paxton catching something so he didn't want me to worry. He still brings up things from when Paxton was in the hospital "remember that time you were crying mommy?" His soul is so much older than his years. He colored me a picture while in the doctors office :)
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| saddest face ever! |
After spending an amazing time catching up with my French cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. and taking Easton to the doctor we had to get ready for the annual Kalasek Christmas Eve gathering. I always so look forward to a night of comfy clothes, great food, and a relaxed environment just enjoying family. Unfortunately since Easton came down with croup we thought that it would be best for Easton and I to stay home. Both E and I were heart broken. So I spent about 45 minutes doing household chores, Easton ate some soup, and we both got into jammies. Then Brian called and he said that it didn't feel right with us not there so luckily since my in-laws live right around the corner he came and got us. Easton spent the evening in their bedroom and we just brought his gifts to him when it was time to open presents. I am so glad that they were wanting us there regardless of germs. It just didn't feel right missing out on some good quality Kalasek Christmas time.
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| the one thing that made him smile that night |
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| Christmas Eve with the Kalaseks....crazy as usual |
The next morning was Christmas Day! The boys leaped out of bed and couldn't wait to see what Santa had brought them. They didn't understand Paxtons lack of enthusiasm and had to pile all his stocking goodies on top of him :) They needed to open everything and try everything out right away. We got them both I-Pad Minis so they were over joyed (and we were too...no more fighting over ONE samsung tablet). Even though preparing for Christmas morning is a lot of work its so worth it for the look of awe, magic, and joy on these little face.
After all the Santa commotion at our house we headed over to my parents. We had breakfast and let the kids run wild in their jammies for a bit. Once we realized they were trying to sneak open half the gifts we decided it was probably time to open present.....and my husband wasn't helping either. He is obsessed with my parents stockings which always contain a lot of scratch off lottery tickets for us all. Its always a huge competition who wins the most money from theirs. I think Brian went back to the gas station 3 or 4 times just that morning bc we kept winning money or another free card. lol.
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| Aunt Halley reading to the babies |
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| playing with Papa and his injured foot....Graysons new signature pose for me when i try to take a pic |
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| this kid! |
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| Grayson again with his signature pose.... |
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| Love them all so so much....look how they are all holding hands :) |
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| this is how he decided to "smile" for me |
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| aftermath |
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| best Christmas present |
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| all my boys got some good naps in too! |
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| Benny and Mila chatting away |
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| double fisting babies.....love these two squishy people :) |
Its was so nice to not anyone else coming over so we could all just lay back, relax, and enjoy being under the same roof. When you don't get to see each other as often as you'd like (and adding babies makes it even harder) we try to really soak it all up when we do get together. There were a lot of laughs, lots of food, lots of drinks, and so much LOVE! All the boys love playing together and Easton and Ben were so sad the next couple days that we couldn't just go see Grayson. The older I get or maybe the more life happens the more I realize just how lucky and blessed I am to be a part of the family that I am. These are my people! Paxton has no idea how lucky he is to be surrounded by so much love and support from both sides of his family. Just going back through pictures and writing this blog makes me so sad that Christmas is over.
The day after Christmas all the Gremm family got together (well most of us). The boys were in another 2nd cousins photo :) I love to watch our families grow and keep growing. Its so fun (and rare) that both Brian and I are so close to our aunts, uncles, and cousins...and now our cousins kids. It was fun to see some of Brians cousins that we don't get to on the regular as well. They are younger so its neat to watch their lives just beginning...engagements, weddings, pregnancies, first babies etc.
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