This year is a different sort of Christmas since my grandmother passed away in June. We typically do the Italian seven fish on Christmas Eve, but it is far too emotional right now, so instead, we are hosting a mishmash of fish and other fare at our house… in seven hours.
Life is busy. My husband works a lot and I have been working part time while taking care of the kids and finishing the Christmas shopping. While I have accomplished a decent amount in the past few weeks, we are so not ready for tonight’s dinner. So I thought I would post a little timeline of my day for the enjoyment of all you stressed out readers who are most likely in the same boat. And for those of you who are all ready and relaxing on the couch today? I hate you.
9:00- After spending some quality family time all piled in our bed, I drag myself downstairs to feed the cat, and the baby (Banana!) while my husband does Little Miss’s morning routine.
9:09- Open last Lego Advent calendar door. Santa!
9:12- Make ball jar centerpieces
9:30- Coffee
9:34- Make reindeer food for the Christmas Eve box. Should have done this weeks ago, but it only took a few seconds so no harm done.
9:42- Breastfeeding break
10:01- Reheat coffee, clean off counter
10:12- Naptime for Mr. Man
10:32- Reheat coffee
10:35- Clean up spilled box of Legos that conveniently fell into the spilled bin of crayons Mr. Man poured all over the floor
10:45- Clean dining room
10:47- Little Miss wakes up Mr. Man. I want to be mad that she cut his nap short at only a half an hour, but it is Christmas Eve and she’s excited. I have to remember how it felt to be a kid and cut her some slack.
10:50- Did I eat breakfast? I shove a cookie in my mouth.
10:54- My husband needs help cleaning upstairs so we all move up there. He recently installed a gate at the top of our stairs so we clean while Little Miss watches The Curse of Princess Ivy and Mr. Man crawls from room to room.
11:15- Help Little Miss wrap the peculiar assortment of items she selected for her family.
11:45- Feed Mr. Man while making a second batch of cranberry sandies for my mom. I am almost out, I still need to give cookies to my neighbors and these are my mom’s favorites.
12:46- Lunch courtesy of McDonalds. Little Miss keeps seeing these commercials for fairy toys so she had to have one. Why not? At least it was one less meal to cook.
12:47- Push dinner back an hour since we are eating such a late lunch
1:15- Empty dishwasher
1:22- Breastfeeding and naptime for Mr. Man
1:40- Shower, finally
2:10- Sweep. So many crumbs
2:20- Wrap Christmas Eve box now that the reindeer food is done. Wrap last gifts as well.
2:24- My brother arrives, two and a half hours early, since he came straight from work. To that I say, free babysitting!
2:37- Make oatmeal cookies. They were from a ball jar gift from a friend. I kept moving it from counter to counter so I baked them to get rid of the jar. Yum!
2:55- Burn hand. Just what I needed
2:56- Clean counter… again
3:00- Throw the laundry my husband did into the dryer. Who knows when that will get folded
3:12- Instagram break
3:14- Set dining room table
3:26- Breastfeed (do you see why I want to be done with this?)
3:40- Vacuum family room, after putting away a ton of toys. Give Mr. Man crackers so in minutes the carpet looks the same as it did before
4:00- Peel sweet potatoes and make more coffee
4:21- Get dressed and get the mail. Only one Christmas card, bringing our total for the year to 19. So, so sad.
4:25- Let the cooking begin!
4:26- Mr. Man starts screaming (Note: He didn’t stop until our guests arrived)
5:00- They are here!
We did it. I never got a chance to put on make up and my husband had to squeeze his shower in during the appetizers, but everything was delicious and it turned out to be a great time. Hope your Christmas Eve was equally fantastic.
Merry Christmas Everyone!
Life is busy. My husband works a lot and I have been working part time while taking care of the kids and finishing the Christmas shopping. While I have accomplished a decent amount in the past few weeks, we are so not ready for tonight’s dinner. So I thought I would post a little timeline of my day for the enjoyment of all you stressed out readers who are most likely in the same boat. And for those of you who are all ready and relaxing on the couch today? I hate you.
9:00- After spending some quality family time all piled in our bed, I drag myself downstairs to feed the cat, and the baby (Banana!) while my husband does Little Miss’s morning routine.
9:09- Open last Lego Advent calendar door. Santa!
9:12- Make ball jar centerpieces
9:30- Coffee
9:34- Make reindeer food for the Christmas Eve box. Should have done this weeks ago, but it only took a few seconds so no harm done.
9:42- Breastfeeding break
10:01- Reheat coffee, clean off counter
10:12- Naptime for Mr. Man
10:32- Reheat coffee
10:35- Clean up spilled box of Legos that conveniently fell into the spilled bin of crayons Mr. Man poured all over the floor
10:45- Clean dining room
10:47- Little Miss wakes up Mr. Man. I want to be mad that she cut his nap short at only a half an hour, but it is Christmas Eve and she’s excited. I have to remember how it felt to be a kid and cut her some slack.
10:50- Did I eat breakfast? I shove a cookie in my mouth.
10:54- My husband needs help cleaning upstairs so we all move up there. He recently installed a gate at the top of our stairs so we clean while Little Miss watches The Curse of Princess Ivy and Mr. Man crawls from room to room.
11:15- Help Little Miss wrap the peculiar assortment of items she selected for her family.
11:45- Feed Mr. Man while making a second batch of cranberry sandies for my mom. I am almost out, I still need to give cookies to my neighbors and these are my mom’s favorites.
12:46- Lunch courtesy of McDonalds. Little Miss keeps seeing these commercials for fairy toys so she had to have one. Why not? At least it was one less meal to cook.
12:47- Push dinner back an hour since we are eating such a late lunch
1:15- Empty dishwasher
1:22- Breastfeeding and naptime for Mr. Man
1:40- Shower, finally
2:10- Sweep. So many crumbs
2:20- Wrap Christmas Eve box now that the reindeer food is done. Wrap last gifts as well.
2:24- My brother arrives, two and a half hours early, since he came straight from work. To that I say, free babysitting!
2:37- Make oatmeal cookies. They were from a ball jar gift from a friend. I kept moving it from counter to counter so I baked them to get rid of the jar. Yum!
2:55- Burn hand. Just what I needed
2:56- Clean counter… again
3:00- Throw the laundry my husband did into the dryer. Who knows when that will get folded
3:12- Instagram break
3:14- Set dining room table
3:26- Breastfeed (do you see why I want to be done with this?)
3:40- Vacuum family room, after putting away a ton of toys. Give Mr. Man crackers so in minutes the carpet looks the same as it did before
4:00- Peel sweet potatoes and make more coffee
4:21- Get dressed and get the mail. Only one Christmas card, bringing our total for the year to 19. So, so sad.
4:25- Let the cooking begin!
4:26- Mr. Man starts screaming (Note: He didn’t stop until our guests arrived)
5:00- They are here!
We did it. I never got a chance to put on make up and my husband had to squeeze his shower in during the appetizers, but everything was delicious and it turned out to be a great time. Hope your Christmas Eve was equally fantastic.
Merry Christmas Everyone!