So we’re home after a weekend of celebrating winter holidays. It was a really nice weekend, but I’m not going to lie, it is also really nice to be home.

On Friday we went to my in-laws and had a lovely Chanukah dinner. It was really good food (latkes!), overall nice conversation and it was great fun to watch our nieces open their presents. Granted, it made us feel like absolute crap that my SIL’s best friend came and brought each niece at least 10 presents while we only bought them 1 a piece. At least the girls were happy. We were extremely fortunate that in addition to wonderful gifts, we received a huge Rubbermaid container of toys and books my SIL is handing down to us.

Saturday we drove to my hometown where we had Christmas Eve dinner with my dad’s side of the family. We did something a little different this year and it mimics what we do at my mom’s family. Instead of buying everyone a present, which is difficult when you don’t see these family members more than 2 or 3 times a year, we did a name draw, so you only buy one present (and then we all bought one for my grandma) for your assigned person.

The fine print of the name draw is that the presents have a 50 dollar limit so that everyone gets relatively equal presents, though occasionally people spend a little more when it’s something special. It was largely successful save for the part where everyone got 50 dollar presents except my sister’s husband who received a 25 dollar gift card. He’s a good sport and is grateful for the gift, but apparently we need to be clearer with our instructions next year.

Christmas day was back and forth between sides of families, culminating in a very calm drama-free dinner with my mom’s family. It can’t tell you the last time we had a purely drama free Christmas, and it was just SO nice.

The only not so nice part of the weekend was when the baby decided to not move at all. He has been really consistent the past week+ with when he’s active and what gets him moving. So it was REALLY stressful when he went a full 24 hours without making his presence known. Not a single kick or noticeable movement. I tried orange juice, Lemonheads, I laid down, I stood up, I sat, I relaxed, I poked him. You name it, I did it. And he did. not. move.

On a scale from 0 to 10, this ranked about a 40 on the terrifying scale. Thankfully at around 5 on Christmas evening he started kicking again and as I type he’s thumping away at my insides. He’s totally already messing with me. Clearly he’s related to his father. There are just no words to describe the relief we’re feeling today.

Today we went and looked at strollers and carriers and sheets and all thing baby at a Babies R Us before heading out of town. We are starting to narrow some things down and nearing the point where we can actually register, but strollers remain a challenge. I drove one around today that handled really well, was totally reasonably priced, has great reviews, and has the absolute worst basket. You can’t get into it, it’s small and shallow. It’s very possibly a deal breaker. The other strollers I’m interested in are not available at BRU, so I’m going to go look at another local store later this week.

There are just too many different strollers to choose from.

And now we’re just unpacking and doing some tidying. Tomorrow will be a big clean up day because we’re having friends over for dinner on Wednesday and our apartment could not possibly be more of a mess if it had to be. I’m sure it’ll be worth it for fun company, but ugh. And then it’s gift card shopping time. Because I think I have approximately 6 shirts that cover all my girth. Pregnancy and a long torso are not the easiest combination to dress, just FYI.

In all, we had a lovely weekend. We are so very blessed with wonderful families and friends and we are grateful for the time we got to spend with them this weekend. I hope you all had nice holidays and are relaxing and gradually coming out of your food and present comas.

Happy holidays again, friends.

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