As most of you know this is Avery's first Christmas and oh what a Christmas it has been. It started off with presents that Grandma and Grandpa Bullock sent. Since we were traveling to New York we decided not to bring our presents up for lack of space in the car. (My mom usually goes a little crazy with presents.) So, we also opened presents from each other and let Avery play with her new toys too. She got a musical choo choo train, a toy gumball machine (not real) and lots of new clothes since she is growing out of her clothes so fast nowadays. But most importantly she got her new best friend Bun-Bun. I have yet to take a picture, but I think this might be her favorite lovey, she has to have her for naps now.
Anyway, back to our trip. Originally we were going to drive the 11 hour trip to Upstate New York on the Saturday before Christmas, however as I was rocking Avery for a nap I thought, "Why don't we go up tonight?" Joel and I discussed and after much thinking, and even though neither of us were quite ready with sleep and packing, we decided that we would go Friday night. That way Avery could sleep most of the way and we'd have even a tad more time with the family. So we packed and got in the car, driving through West Virginia and Pennsylvania. The weather was good, no snow or even rain. Joel drove most of the way, but when he got tired I finished up the trip and boy were we tired!!!

After napping a little we got to spend some great time with mom and Hayley. It had been about 4 months since they'd last seen her so this was a treat for everyone. Avery loved laughing at Nana and didn't even grab her glasses and Hayley, well I think Hayley has a new best friend. Hayley was pretty much by Avery's side the whole time we were with them. I'm really glad that we had the chance to stay there. My mom even smoked outside just for us, I can't tell you how much of a big deal that is for me. It was pretty cold out too. Thanks mom. I'm still praying for you to be ready to quit smoking but I promise I won't nag you too much.

Christmas Eve we met up with Rushel and Cori at one of my hometown favorite restaurants Texas Hot. It was nice to see them and catch up. They even got to hold Avery. Speaking of nagging we've been nagging these girls to come visit us here in North Carolina too. Maybe one day they'll come stay in the Pink room :) We also stopped by the Carls' really quick that day too to introduce them to Avery.

Every Christmas Eve night the "kids" open presents. So that means that Nick, Royal, Hayley, Joel, Avery and I had our little gift opening ritual. It was really nice to see everyone and even nicer to get along. My brother and I usually end up arguing about something every time we see each other, but fortunately this was a first in a while. Avery got her first WebKinz, I got some cute boots and Joel got the newest Harry Potter flick. (We got other stuff too but I've only listed a few.)

That night I helped Mom wrap presents. We had a blast. I know this sounds weird but it was really fun just joking with my mom and spending some time with her being silly. We don't get to do that too often just the two of us, I really miss that! Maybe someday Hayley will agree to move down to North Carolina...

Christmas Day came, Joel drove to get my brother and Royal and we all sat around the Christmas tree as mom passed out presents, we joked and laughed and I think everyone had a good time too. Joel, Avery and I got some great things from Santa and Nana. My mom also made a great ham lunch/dinner, tasty as usual. That night my sister also got the Nintendo Wii, guess how much fun we had playing that?!?!

The day after Christmas we played some games with Hayley and tried to organize all the presents and figure out how we were going to fit everything in the car. Mom kept trying to convince us to leave Avery with her permanently. Maybe when she comes down to NC to visit we'll give her a few hours.

We spent that night as Christmas with the Carl's, the Carl's being my dad and his family. Avery was a little nervous around the doggies but luckily they stayed on the other side of the room while we opened presents and had dinner. This was Avery's first real time meeting them. Luckily she's a really happy baby and usually warms up to people after a pretty short time. Avery's bedtime snuck up on us so we left to put her to bed.

The next day we got to see my brother's kids open presents. We also had another meal with them, too much food at Christmas time!! It had been quite a while since we had seen Gavin and Jaime. Gavin was talking up a storm and Jaime was no longer a baby. I had such a great time with these two!! Gavin loved every single gift and would open presents saying, "Ready, Set, Go!" It was hilarious. Jaime didn't quite care about opening gifts but she couldn't figure out why she had all of these toys that she couldn't play with because they were all still in the package. Later that day Joel also got to meet my grandma and Aunt Shelia for the first time ever. It was nice that they could come visit and also meet Avery too. Joel and I have been dating since 2002 and married since 2005 so it was overdue.

Soooooo much stuff was packed into this trip. While we were out I also saw a bunch of people I haven't seen in forever that were also visiting or still lived in Wellsville. We were going to leave Friday morning but we were convinced to stay a little longer and left Friday night. After saying our goodbyes Joel packed the car and used his Tetris-like skills to fit it all and we were off. This time it was very very windy and rainy but Joel did a great job getting us home safely. He drove the entire 11 hours!!! I love my hubby. I got a little bit of rest in the back with Avery, but she was fussy and I wanted to make sure Joel was doing okay too.

It really seemed weird to come back home, but we're glad to be back. Avery has yet to get back into a routine, but hopefully it won't take too long. She slept so well at my mom's. Anyway, we still have to meet up with Joel's brother and soon to be sister-in-law this coming weekend for more gifts. Thus the Never-Ending Christmas continues!

Happy Holidays All!