We can't complain though. We have such great families, and we are extremely blessed to have so many people that care about us.
Our first stop was at Dennis' grandparents house. To sum it up??? Madness! Fun, but madness! Kids, kids, everywhere!It was so much fun though. The kids are still at the age where they aren't old enough to say "he just hit me!", or "she just stole my toy!" I'm sure those days are ahead, but it's fun just to sit back and watch them all run around. I don't think Sadie even knew what was happening, because there was so much going on around her. I even think she got a bit scared at times! We all gave Grandma and Grandad a huge picture of all of the grandkids and great-grandkids. They were so surprised, and it was such a special moment.
The next stop was Christmas w/ my dad at our house. It was very laid back. Chance and Emma played w/ Sadie. She loves them to pieces! There were tons of presents. Sadie didn't know what to do. It was a lot of fun.
Next was the trip to Tullahoma to visit Dennis' dad. It was a lot of fun, despite the fact that half of us were sick. PawPaw was sick w/ a cold; Rachel was sick w/ a cold; Sadie was sick w/ a cough and cold; I was sick w/ pregnancy nausea (more about that later). But, besides that, we had a great time. Sadie got lots of goodies!
I was so bummed because PawPaw and Gimmy have the best coffee in the world, and I didn't ever feel up to drinking any. But, Gimmy gave us a pound to bring home, so that when I do get that craving, it's there for the takin'! Both PawPaw and Gimmy AND Daren and Rachel have miniature wiener dogs, and Sadie laughed and laughed at them running around together. They are the cutest little doggies in the world.
The next stop was Christmas Eve at my mom's house. It was great. Memaw and Pepaw came too. We all ate a yummy dinner and opened presents. Once again, Sadie got lots of fun new toys. But, we had to get home so that Santa Claus could come. I got to bring home a few slices of my mom's famous chocolate pie. Yum!!!! What a great way to end Christmas Eve.
The next stop was our house! Yippee!!! Dennis was so precious. He stayed up late all by himself being "Santa Clause" (I felt like I was going to barf, so I had to bail and go to bed) and putting all of Sadie's new toys together. He fell asleep on the couch, so when I came downstairs to get him in the middle of the night, it literally took my breath away. He had moved furniture and set all of the toys up all over the den, and I promise, even I believed Santa Clause had been there! It was beautiful. The Christmas tree lights were the only lights on, and there were toys scattered everywhere. It was magical. Even though Sadie is only 9 months old, I can tell that Dennis will make sure that Christmas for her (and our other kids to come) is always so special. That means the world to me. Christmas morning was about as eventful as we could expect from a 9 month old. We set her on the stairs and wouldn't let her "come down" until we were ready to film/take pictures, etc. She was very patient.Then, we brought her down and let her see and play with all of her new toys. She seemed pretty interested and excited, despite the fact that she still felt horrible and had a bad runny nose, ear infection and cough. Merry Christmas! Our final stop on our "12 Days of Christmas" adventure was Grammy's house. It was so much fun. We ate...again! Then, Grammy Clause and Captain Clause went upstairs and brought down handfuls of toys, toys, and more toys for McHaney and Sadie. It was awesome! They went way overboard. The girls had so much fun playing with everything.So, thanks to everyone for making Sadie's 1st Christmas so special and so memorable. It was another fun year of madness! And, next year, we'll have a 4 month old to bring along, so that should make the adventure even more fun!!!
Stay tuned for the "Pregnancy Blog" to begin!!!