The holidays last year were an interesting experience. We had 2 week old (Thanksgiving) and a 6 week old (Christmas), we were lacking on sleep and family. We spent both holidays with the Kearns - which I must say, I wish I was doing again this year :( I am going to miss seeing Joe and Brenda and their children a LOT.
So I can't say walking around in a sleep deprived haze was my favorite way to spend the holidays - notwithstanding our excellent friends.
This year, having moved across the country, we are still short on family, but I am skipping out on the sleep deprivation and trading it for the 'very active toddler' phase. I don't have to get through the holidays to know which one I prefer.
We will be spending Thanksgiving with my friend Jenna and her husband and in-laws. A new experience to be sure, but I am going to try to make it as good as can be. It will be great to be with Jenna and Kevin.
Christmas, I encouraged anyone to come to Georgia that could, which most people treated as a "haha, very funny" invitation. I wasn't joking, but I wasn't expecting much either. Considering the economy, my dad being in school, my in-laws having a new grandchild in Washington (hard choice eh? Not that anyone bothered to drive the two hours to Cheney for Christmas when we had our daughter but I'm not bitter. REALLY.). Recently we found out my mother-in-law has bone cancer. She is having surgery in December and will be layed up for months to see if the bone graft takes. So we really won't be seeing them. We'll just be hoping for as little pain and as little cancer left as possible.
I'm not sure what exactly happened to our holidays, but it's getting time to make our own traditions take shape I think. Funny how 2300 miles does that to you. We'll really miss seeing all of our friends and family for the holidays . . .in case you were getting the other idea here.
You know? sometimes spending time with your little family is not as bad or as sad as it may seem because we're used to something different. Believe me, I'm half a world away from my family and the traditions I grew up with...
ReplyDeleteOur first Christmas in the US we spent it alone in Cheney. Clara was a newborn and it was snowing really bad, and we had an old car with no heat, so there was no way we'd cross the pass to spend some time with family! And that was a great Christmas! We created our own Lavine-Marquez family traditions, mixing a little bit from Ryan's experiences and a little bit from mine and my culture. It was awesome. And somehow, I look forward to our next Christmas alone one day, so we relive all those good experiences and share them with our children (Clara for now).
It's going to be a great experience for you too! Happy holidays!