Christmas in California!

Where do I even begin? Christmas has come and gone...kinda. We had a great visit with Grandma Hutchinson and Uncle Scott. It seemed to fly by so fast. I guess that is my true welcome to parenthood at Christmas time. Christmas started with a church service on Christmas Eve followed by a nice dinner with the whole crew. We stayed up way too late on Christmas Eve and got up way to early (5:15 am was when Ryan awoke) on Christmas morning. You would have thought Santa had come and he knew it! :) We opened presents with all the Grandparents and Uncle Scott and for a year that we really didn't "exchange" gifts, there sure were a lot of presents under our tree! After working most of the week and going non-stop, we packed up our bags and headed to California to visit Uncle Brad and Aunt Heather for a week. I had A LOT of anxiety about this plane ride and rightfully so. The almost 5 hours we were on the plane were not my childrens' finest moments. Riley cried hysterically from before we took off until well after we were in the air. I won't even begin to guess how high my blood pressure rose during that time. Ryan wasn't so great either. I don't blame them because I myself get bored on a flight that long, but I truly felt so bad for the people around us (not to mention us). It was really not a fun time. Thank goodness Gramma and Grandaddy were with us. I really don't know what we would have done had they not been with us. It took all 4 of us full time to keep them entertained to some degree. We were all TOTALLY wiped out by the time we got to Heather & Brad's house. Oh yeah - forgot to mention that Riley and Ryan each only slept about 15 minutes on the plane. We took off about 11:00am so I was hoping for at least a short nap since the flight time fell during nap time, but not my children! I am just going to enjoy this week and worry about next Saturday for the flight home that day. We'll take it one hour at a time. Let's just say I feel very sorry for their teachers at school once they return next week. They are totally off schedule and have been surrounded by lots of family for almost 2 weeks (by the time they go back). Last night Riley and Ryan went to bed about 6pm here, which is 9pm at home - much later than their usual bedtime, but Ryan got up at 5:oo this morning and really didn't take a nap today. He's been wired since before we left Atlanta. I think he's afraid if he sleeps he might miss something. He's blossomed so much in the last week with his walking (assisted by one of us) and talking (almost non-stop today). It's been so much fun to see him come alive. Riley went to the farmer's market and Trader Joe's with Kevin, Aunt Heather and me this morning. She walked on her own at the market and had to wave to everyone she saw. There are no strangers in Riley's life. She is officially now a walker. She could walk as long and as far as she wants. She rarely even stumbles and navigates well around bumps and corners. We had brunch at the Mission Inn today and Ryan ate and ate and ate and ate. We started talking about all he ate during lunch and were totally amazed at the amount of food he gobbled up. Riley held her own and ate well, but I think Ryan ate more than I did. Today Ryan ate skirt steak, prime rib, TONS of fruit-especially blueberries, waffles, mashed potatoes, hash browns, tortellini, sausage, turkey, cheese, french fries - it makes me sick to think of all of this resting in his belly (as well as the diapers we will soon see). They had fun walking around after lunch and seeing all of the beautiful decorations. When we got home everyone crashed for a nap...except Ryan. He cried and cried when I put him down, so I let him play while everyone else napped (except Uncle Brad and me). He wanted to make sure he was up and ready to play! They are finally asleep and we are hoping for a later wake up time in the morning. This 3 hour adjustment is hard on all of us - especially them. I don't want them to totally adjust to Pacific time, but there is just something wrong about waking up at 5am every morning of "vacation" (I think that's what we call this?!?!?). Tomorrow the guys are going skiing and the girls and babies are going to Mount Baldy to see some snow! We didn't think they were quite ready for the slopes.

Web Albums Added:
Videos of Christmas Morning: http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20081225Christmas2008Videos#
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20081225Christmas2008#
http://picasaweb.google.com/hutchinson.heidi/20081227CaliforniaDays12#