Christmas

Christmas at the McClanahan house was absolutely crazy this year - December was a complete blur. In between Blair getting sick with multiple ear infections and pneumonia, we had every member of my family come to visit in a span of a few weeks!

Deck the Halls
I absolutely LOVE decorating for Christmas. I decorate as soon as we get home from our annual Thanksgiving weekend trip and the decorations usually stay up until around January 8th. This year we shopped for a tree at our local Home Depot, but the selection was terrible and I talked Mike into upping the tree budget and buying from a small lot of fresh North Carolina firs. This was probably my favorite tree ever, it was just perfect! And they tied it to the car for us, so there was no annual argument or trees flying off the roof on the highway. Ahhh, family memories!

Capitol Tree by my office!

Our little Tree shopper

I love all of our old-school ceramic trees. And pennant banners for every.single.holiday.

I pulled out all the Christmas/Winter books for Blair's toy shelf

Excuse the disaster - our living room is overrun with toys.

Blair's class had a little Christmas party and I got out of work a little early to go watch her and her friends get hopped up on sugary treats. Despite several sick days during the month, she really started to fall into a groove at school by the end of the month, thanks largely to her amazing teachers. Their classroom was even decorated with a fake fireplace and little stockings for each kiddo! I can't say enough wonderful things about her school, I'm so happy we found a loving, creative, learning environment for her.

We also made an appearance at the Library's annual Tree Lighting ceremony in Kingston Springs. There was live music (duh, Nashville!), hot chocolate and cookies. School kids sang Christmas carols and Blair cheered when the tree lit up. I'm sure it will become a new annual tradition for us!

Full house, full hearts
Megan and Scott were our first visitors, flying in for a weekend of quality outdoor playtime and amazing weather. We broke out some bubbles and Scott showed off his Master Bubble Blower skills, and then we let Blair sneak into a Christmas present from her GiGi a little early to take advantage of the beautiful weather. Aunt Meggie pushed her around on the new tricycle for hours and Uncle Scott taught her how to push the pedals. Then we put it back in the box and hoped she'd forget about it until Christmas haha.

Blurry bubbles with Uncle Scott!

Blair and Aunt Meggie ~~decorated~~ ate some gingerbread houses.

Dad, Karagh, and Lady were next, making the epic road trip down from PA for a few days of craziness. Blair had so much fun with them, breaking in her new Cozy Coupe, chasing Lady around the house, and being silly. I failed miserably at taking pictures.

"Dog!"

Big fan of her gift from Poppie Claus

Cozy Coupe Craziness with Aunt Karagh!

A nighttime stroll to see the neighbor's Christmas decorations

Mom flew in right after Christmas and kept the party going. Blair was so excited to see her (despite being sick again) and got to spend an extra day at home with MeeMaw because she was barred from school for having a fever. Mom and I spent THREE HOURS putting together the play kitchen she got for Blair, and it was worth every minute. Blair was so excited to play with it and spent the rest of the holiday handing out food, doing dishes in the sink, and hanging up the cordless phone with attitude - "No. Bye!"

Mom and I laughed so hard trying to put this damn kitchen together.
HOPE YOU LIKE IT, BLAIR.

MeeMaw Claus spoiled us rotten. Blair went CRAZY for the kitchen!

It's Christmastime!
Christmas Eve was super exciting, in that Blair and I spent an hour of the evening snuggled in the bathtub waiting out a storm cell that touched down as a tornado near our old hometown of Clifton. How do you keep a toddler in a dry bathtub for an hour? Strap her to your body in the Lillebaby and turn Mickey Mouse on the iPad!

Christmas morning was so relaxing. Blair, exhausted from all the excitement of visitors and waiting for "Ho Ho," slept in until after 9am. Santa brought her a little table, some play food, a new mermaid friend that was quickly dubbed "Mo-Mo" after a beloved red-haired teacher at school, and even a box of CheezIts! Aunt Megan and Uncle Scott sent a little high-chair for her dollies and she had the best time feeding them the play food and telling them to "eat."