A few weeks ago Lauren sent me an email with a list of all the Christmas goings-on in NC. One of the items was Nana's Christmas Party. I called Lauren and we decided that Lauren would be able to beat Mom's surprise if the girls and I came up for Nana's Christmas Party. So we made our plans, I packed my bags, and we left for NC last Thursday. The day Georgia flooded. At least we got out of the state before the hail and tornadoes began.
The drive up wasn't all that bad considering I couldn't see 10 feet in front of me for most of the trip. Libby watched Dora and covered herself, her carseat, and the back of my seat with stickers. Jaina ate every hour, which made me so glad I had decided to bring bottles. I listened to music and somehow avoided hydroplaning to NC. 7 hours and 2 rest stop visits later (try going to bathroom holding a 7-month and telling your two year old "Don't touch ANYTHING"), we made it to Lauren's house, just in time for dinner.
Sarah was already at the house when I arrived, and said to Lauren as I pulled up "Some lady in a white car just pulled up..." The kids were surprised to see us, and after a moment of shock much yelling and hugging ensued with Libby going straight to Angelina and saying "Aneena! Fwend! Is Wibby! Fwend!" Then Gregory walked up to the door just as I ran out to send a text to John. Dad, who knew about the surprise called when he was just down the street so we could get into position. Lauren stuck Jaina and I on the couch and sat down next to me with Libby on her lap. Heather and her kids came in first, then Mom came around the corner, looked at me and said "Oh! How did you get here? Are you here for Christmas?" She was very, very surprised. And that's how Lauren won the contest.
Friday Lauren and I made lots of caramel corn (sooo good!) and I cuddled and loved on Baby Nikolas for hours. Jaina tried to eat his face. Friday night the kids got all dressed up in their Christmas best (or Libby got dressed in Angelina's second-best and Jaina got dressed up in one of the only dresses Lauren saved, which just happened to be a Christmas dress) and we went to the Apex Stake Creche display, where I stuck to Libby like glue so she wouldn't break anything. My mom's neighbor, Vickie, was there, so I spent most of the evening catching up with her. Her son was playing with his high-school orchestra, and during the performance Libby ran up to the stage and stood on tip-toes to see the music. Periodically she would turn to the audience and laugh and point and say "Soosic!" I was a little embarrassed and debating going up and removing her, and then I saw about 6 people taking about their cameras and zooming in on Libby and taking pictures. The rest were pointing at her and chuckling. When the performance was over, she clapped and cheered, then cried when she realized the "soosic" was over. One man came up to me and said "She just made the performance". Vickie wondered if Colin realized that the little girl in front of the stage was Libby.
Afterwards, we all made our way to Mom's house for Nana's Christmas Party. One word: Chaos. Here's a taste:
During dinner, Libby refused the macaroni and cheese and salad and ate cookies and m&ms instead. The kids were given their new Christmas pjs from Nana, and Libby went back to the m&ms:
Then we rounded up all the kids and headed back to Lauren's house. After getting the kids in bed we played games with Gregory's girlfriend and her sister, ate junk food, and watched "The Princess Bride".
Saturday was the Christmas Parade, and since I was having visions of losing Libby in the crowd, I stayed home and cleaned while everyone else went. 4 hours later, both Dad and Lauren said "be glad you didn't go". Apparently it was cold and long and not that great. I accidentally ate 3-week-old chicken taco casserole for lunch and somehow didn't get sick. The afternoon was spent at the house with girls that didn't nap. That evening Libby started climbing the outside of the stairs again and made it up to the second floor twice. She was wired and Jaina was refusing to sleep, so at 8pm I told Lauren I was going to go ahead and leave instead of waiting until morning. She had been telling me that she liked to travel at night because her kids would sleep. So she helped me get packed at 15 minutes later we were on the road.
For the next 7 hours the girls took turns crying and sleeping, and Libby was sobbing hysterically the last hour, which actually helped keep me awake. We stopped for gas once, McDonald's once, and for the bathroom once ("Libby, don't touch ANYTHING!"). As I came down the Buford Highway and saw Atlanta's skyline lit up in the night, I thought "Oh my beautiful city, am I glad to see you!" We got home just before 3 am, and I vowed to never, ever do that again.
Libby asked for some warm milk and sat in her beanbag chair looking at the Christmas tree lights (she cried when we got home and they weren't lit), then went to bed. Jaina nursed and went right to sleep. I left all the bags in the car and slept until 10 am. John took Libby to church because she cried when he tried to leave without her. It took a few days for us to recover, but it was worth it. We had a great time and I was so happy to meet Baby Nikolas. Libby played and played with Angelina, and Lauren loved on Jaina all weekend.
We didn't get to see my parents much, but that's OK because they are coming down for a week after Christmas. We are really, really looking forward to that visit!
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