A Very Special Christmas!

This Christmas was so chaotic, fun, and special in so many ways! First of all, everyone was healthy, and that is such a blessing this time of year. Also this was our first Christmas as a family of three in our own house! Last year was still great, but I was 6 months pregnant with JJ, I had a terrible UTI, and I spent the night at my boyfriend’s mom’s house so we could be together all of Christmas. Let’s just say this Christmas was so much better!

The fun started at 12:30pm on Christmas Eve at my grandma’s for my dad’s side of the family! We had turkey, ham, stuffing, tons of desserts, etc. Even JJ tried some turkey! Also we started a new tradition at my grandma’s house! Instead of everyone bringing gifts for everyone, we played games! We had so much fun playing games that everyone had thought of! We spent the longest time playing “Never Have I Ever!” Even though we didn’t really do gifts this year, my grandparents still made us all candy buckets, and some family members gave JJ some gifts. It was a great gathering!

After that, Javier and I went back home because it was my turn to be the hostess for Javier’s family! There was a little pressure because Javier’s mom cooks very well, but I think I have a little cooking skills too. I had done a lot of the preparation the day before with one of my cousins (thank you Courtney!), and I made 2 coconut pies and 17 enchiladas! I made the enchilada filling and pies ahead of time so all I had to do was put the filling into the enchiladas and bake them!

They got to our house around 6:00pm, and it was perfect because the food had just came out of the oven! His mom also brought flan, rice with shrimp, buffalo wings, and agua de pepino (cucumber water/juice)! It was a feast! We ate, and then we played cards! Our favorite game is 21! You get dealt one card, and you say “hit me” until your cards equal 21. You can stop before 21 too because if you go over, you lose automatically. We betted with poker chips too! Haha. Then we opened presents! We gave the girls scarves and we bought the boys things from 5 And Below (they have something for everyone)! They also got JJ some things to open too. They gave him some clothes, and jacket and shoes to grow into!

Javier’s family left around 10:00pm, and I was able to put JJ to sleep around 10:30pm. It was nice and quiet in the house, and the only lights on were the Christmas lights. Javier and I cuddled and watched a Christmas movie. It was the perfect way to end the day. In that moment, I was so happy and grateful for such a special Christmas Eve. I had such a warm feeling in my heart.

Christmas was also a wonderful day. We relaxed at home in the morning which was nice. Then we got invited by his family to go see his godparents that live about 45 minutes from us. We decided to go since it has been a long time since we have seen them. We hung out there from around 2:00pm until 5:00pm. There were just about to be done with the food when we were leaving, but we had to be at my aunt’s house at 6:00pm a whole hour from where we were, and we had to still drop back by our house to pick up the gifts. We didn’t want to leave, but we were definitely not going to miss out on our other family gathering. It was one of those time when you wished you could be two places at the same time!

We were late getting to my aunt’s house, but they were still making food so it was fine. We had spaghetti, garlic bread, and salad to change it up! It was good. My uncle even found some old home videos from a Christmas 10 years ago! It was a little cringe-worthy for me because I was 11 and pretty weird, but it was sweet to see. We also have a gift tradition on my mom’s side of the family. Whoever wants to can buy gifts for the kids, but all of the adults pull a name out of the hat on Thanksgiving for a secret Santa with a $20 spending limit! I got my mom and my sister had my name! I got my mom some new tennis shoes and a nice insulated mug for her daily coffee, and my sister got me a nice set of pots and pans! We also have a $10 Dirty Santa game that we brought $10 worth of quarters in a box, and we won some nice pottery!

The day after Christmas, we went to my parents’ to open gifts for my immediate family (my parents, my sister, her husband, and our little family). We had cheeseburgers, opened gifts, and then we all watched the movie Scrooged. It was fun!

That night when I got home, the cleaning began! Putting presents away, doing dishes, laundry, and switching out JJ’s older toys for some new ones.

Well I’m so happy that I got to share our Christmas with you. It was so amazing, but I’m honestly glad that things are getting back to normal. I hope to go back to at least blogging once a week now so stay tuned! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! ❤️