December is the one month of the year that I really wanted to spend with Tony. We started dating this month 8 years ago and we have so many special memories we've built together. It is our favorite month – we are both spiritual people and love being able to see families, friends and even strangers come together during this time of year.
Some of our favorite family traditions we love doing each year is volunteering in our community weeks before Christmas to help others in need giving out warm food, clothes and supplies. Traveling around to different neighborhoods to see beautiful Christmas lights and decorations while singing Christmas music off key on the radio. Taking our holiday pictures for memories and making Christmas cards to send off to close family, friends and organizations we volunteer for. The blessings of gifts and wrapping them together playing Santa. Attending Christmas Eve service or watching our kids open their gifts. Building sandman's at the beach during Christmas afternoon, all of the holiday parties, and last but not least celebrating on New Year's Eve and bring in the New Year with a special kiss, and prayer.
I know this holiday is going to be very hard for both of us to be apart for all of that. Luckily this month was really busy for us, so it was seemingly the shortest month of the entire year. Time has crawled by since Tony left, but it has certainly picked up speed now that we’re closer to the halfway mark.
I started feeling overwhelmed at times with the twins and all of the tantrums, big emotions times TWO which is expected. Mesias has his moments, but he is pretty calm and chill. There are random "Can We Pick Up Daddy Now?" moments and I guess the good thing is that we are building a relationship in which we are becoming comfortable sharing and dealing with these things together. I think this year alone together will help us bond in a way we may not have otherwise.
Our command had a holiday bowling party for all of the kids. Mesias and I had a blast bowling while the twins watched and slept most of the time. I also enjoy talking to the spouses I don’t see often enough.
We had the opportunity to see Santa 5 times this month and I knew getting a good photo would be a challenge, especially if I had to stand in line for more than 1 hour with 16 month old twins. Luckily seeing Santa 5 times spread out during the month of December made it much easier for the kids and I. We only stood in the lines for no more than 15 minutes, If you are looking for some funny epic fail photos with Santa here they are. Hope you enjoy. Bella and Baron do not enjoy seeing Santa's face at all.
Mesias had his first winter break and we spent majority of it attending holiday events, and hanging out at our favorite beach's.
We went to church on Christmas Eve and then watched a movie before going to bed in our new Christmas jammies. Mesias left a plate out for Santa that included a few cookies and an orange along with a bottle of water. He said he “needs something healthy since he has milk and cookies everywhere else.”
We spent all of Christmas Day at our house, playing with new toys, watching movies, and video chatting with family. Tony was able to video chat with us the week before Christmas which was a wonderful gift to us. We decided to open up some gifts for him to see instead on on Christmas Eve and Day. It was such a nice, peaceful day.
Right after we spoke to Tony and was able to see him one last time after opening the gifts I started immediately taking down all the decorations outside and inside the house, because I was pretty much over the holidays. It's just not the same without him, but regardless of how down I am feeling I am so proud of myself for how smooth everything has gone for us since Tony left. This month has truly been a blessing for our family and I am so grateful to have military organizations, church family and friends make it just a little bit easy to get through this time of our lives with love and support.
Mesias was very excited for Christmas this year! His two gift requests was the new Mario Party for the Nintendo Switch and to see Daddy. He defiantly received well over what he asked for. The kids have toys for days and that brings me into another topic I can't wait to talk about as far as changing up our family traditions when it comes to materialistic things vs time and experience. I think as our family continues to grow, I believe the gift of giving, time and experience will play a even more bigger part for our family in the years to come.
I had a great time cooking our Christmas meal. It was entirely dairy free and included organic lemon pepper chicken wings in my beloved air fryer, garlic mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, gouda mac and cheese, cherry pie cupcakes and three types of cookies. We had leftovers for days.
We are still on the school sleep schedule and we are always in bed no latter than 8 pm. I can't for the life of me stay up past 8 pm besides waking up nursing at times. So I have a feeling for New Years Eve, the kids will be asleep. I plan on sending a message to Tony at midnight so he can be the special first person I speak to bringing in the new year.
Lately, I've been deep cleaning the house, and setting up my new planner so that I can start the new year fresh and organized. I’m one of those people who loves the New Year. I love the idea of a fresh start, and I love the feeling of new possibilities.
This new year, 2019, is going to be wonderful… I can feel it.
Month 2 Events:
Baron and Bella turned 16 months old.
Put up our REAL tree, outside. Ha!
Spent lunch with Santa.
Volunteered at our local veterans home and had a Christmas dinner meal.
We bid farewell and so long to 2018 – Happy New Year!
Month 2 Accomplishments:
Spent the entire day at Sea World and saw a special show of the story birth of Jesus.
We completed our journey through the year 2018!
“I release the past and bless this past year with love. I am grateful for all I have experienced and learned. This new year begins a new adventure, and I look forward to it eagerly!” ~Louise Hay
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