Jam Packed Christmas!

We're back from our busy weekend at home for Christmas! I think by the time we were all said and done, we attended five different Christmas'. Again, the reason I said busy weekend!

Friday night my parent's hosted Christmas Eve, Saturday morning we went straight over to Alex's mom's house for breakfast and to open presents. Later that day we went back to my parent's house to do presents with them and Christmas lunch/ dinner= linner. That night we went to Alex's uncle's house for the George family Christmas. Then Sunday morning we met up with Alex's dad and had breakfast with him and exchanged presents. Wow..... holidays when you are married are quite busy! But, we were able to manage and were really happy that all of our traveling back and forth totaled about 1 mile on 231. Yay! Below are some pictures from the weekend.

This is how we keep Josie occupied while we open presents... she gets her own present! Dingo bones, her absolute favorite!!

The game off we had with Alex's family to determine who would choose giftcards in our gift exchange first. We played 4 rounds of games: Uno, Candy Land, Sorry, and Trouble. It was really fun and everyone got in to it! Alex's mom even made it to the finals.... Jenga!

The board we used to keep track of the points.

The giftcard poster. I scored a giftcard to The Cheesecake Factory and Al got one to Best Buy. Major props to his cousin Whitney for planning out everything! It was really fun!

OMG what a surprise!! When we got back to my parent's house Saturday night after his family's Christmas we were greeted by a lovely 3 year old screaming at the top of her lungs..... Ryan, Shannon, Hunter, and Kirsten made a surprise visit!! This is Kirsty showing off her presents from Santa.

Rock Star Hunter showing off his guitar game he got from Santa. That kid has some moves!

Pops trying to be as cool as Hunter, with Kirsty and mom dancing!

The wine cooler Alex's mom got us for X-mas... along with the 6 bottles she bought us too! :) We're thinking about hosting a wine tasting party now.

New towels for our bathroom that mom and dad got us from our wedding registry.

New shower curtain.

Before we headed back on Sunday we spent some time at my cousin Chad's house and we were able to see a lot of my family on my mom's side. It was so great getting to chat and catch up with everyone. Chad and his wife Alisha are expecting their first baby (a girl) anytime now. She's technically due on Jan. 14, but we all think she's going to be here early. I know 5 babies that are expected by the end of June.... WOW!! So exciting and I can't wait to meet them all.

Thursday we are off to Connecticut and NYC. Our friend Miles, who flew out yesterday had some major issues with his flight, so I am hoping all of those things are taken care of by the time we leave. It makes me a little nervous! We're super excited to see Mere (we haven't seen her since Sept) and all of the sights of New York. Once we get back from that.... its back to school time. Its been a great break, unfortunately they always go by soooo fast!

Its Beginning to Look A lot Like Christmas...

I am officially on Winter Break!! WAHOO! Two weeks of vacation that was desperately needed!

We had a busy weekend getting ready for Christmas and traveling to LaPorte to do Christmas with Ryan, Shan, Hunter, and Kirsten.

Saturday we went to Schaumburg to basically start and finish our Christmas shopping. Of course we had to make a stop at our favorite store IKEA. I think Alex is starting to love this store even more than me. He was insisting we get a new chair. We've had a desk chair in our living room since we moved here and he was tired of it, so we got a new chair as well.

Sunday, we went to LaPorte for our early Christmas with Ryan, Shan, and the kiddos. We had a good time chatting and catching up.

This week I plan on crossing off some things on my to do list such as: cleaning, doing a few things for school, wrapping the rest of the presents, making banana bread, and watching the first season of Glee! haha A lot of people I work with watch it and are always talking about it, so I am intrigued. We've watched a few of the latest episodes, but because I don't know their back stories, I feel slightly lost. I also plan on starting the 4th and final book of the Twilight series. I still haven't seen Eclipse, so hopefully that will make it off of my list as well.

Currently, I am watching Oprah's Favorite Things show.... and definitely wishing I was in that audience. Coach purses, Ugg boots, iPads..... yes please!

Anyways, we are heading back home on Thursday for Christmas, but we have to come back to the city on Sunday since Alex works again on Monday. We leave for the east coast next Thursday and are really looking forward to getting away for a few days with some good friends. Then its back to the grind! Hopefully this break goes by slowly so I can enjoy my break because there won't be another long one until the end of April.

I really love having a kid in my class who's parents own a bakery!! :) YUMMO!

The new chair. This would make a great chair for a nursery, just a little tip for all my friends who are mamas to be. (It comes in many different colors. )

Winter Wonderland created by Hunter and Kirsten.

Mr. Hunter opening up his gifts. Go Boilers!

Dad and his new Calvin Johnson jersey.

Kirsten opening up her Disney princess dolls from Alex and I. (I think this pose means she liked them.)

Josie Girl hanging out with her favorite guy!

The awesome snowman Shan got for us. She orders it from a ceramic store, then she goes in and paints it! She made one last year for my parents and I loved it, this year we got one!

All lit up!

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!!

"Oh Christmas Tree"

For those of you who have seen our apartment know that we don't have a whole lot of storage, just the necessities that we need throughout the year. We would love to have a Christmas tree, but again because of lack of storage.... not possible, and trying to get a real tree and everything for that in the city... yikes! Not something I really want to venture out to do! So, Alex's mom went out and got us the perfect little Christmas tree for our little apt. This is our official "first Christmas tree" together and our very first ornament as a married couple. It looks great and we love it! Definitely something we will bring out for every Christmas to come. It reminds me of the Charlie Brown tree, which we love and is very fitting for a newlywed couple with student loans! haha

A little hard to read in this picture, but it says "Our First Christmas 2010"... and its even in red!

The first snowfall of the year. It seems a little earlier than most years. I'm just glad it happened on a day that I don't have to go out and scrape it off at 6:15 am. :)

Happy first snowfall to everyone in the midwest. There's no point in hating it.... that's something that is just out of our control! Now don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of snow, but its something I am working on accepting. :)

We're off to CostCo and the grocery store!

Oh, the joys of adulthood!!