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Christmas time is always pretty hectic, and definitely not one of my favorite time of year. Call me Grinch, but I really don’t care for holiday music much, and hate all the stress associate with it, the rushing, the crowds, the 4 months holiday decorations in the stores…having a little boy at home, though, definitely made it better. This year however, it has been a very stressful time, because we had to deal with lots of house issues, challenges and financial hurdles all the way till the end (we signed mortgage docs on the 22nd, and everything was finalized on the 30th).

To make things more fun, it rained the whole week before Christmas. This year, which was supposed to be a very dry, la niña year, has been one of the wettest year in history. It even rained three days in a row, non stop. So, all the fun Christmas activities I planned to do with Keegan had to be postponed. No matter, we were still able to have a fun Christmas time.

The season actually started early, right after his birthday party. The next day, to be exact. One of his buddies from school, Van, was hosting a fund-raising party at his house. And what a party it was: there was real snow in the front lawn, lots of wonderful raffle prizes (and guess, what, I did not win any of them. Surprise, surprise), craft stations, cookie decorating stations, lots of food and music, and even Santa Claus, sitting in a pool house. Keegan loved the snow: even if he was a little perplexed at first, he soon joined  in a snow ball fight: the kids against the inflatable penguins.

The weather was beautiful and warm, so we just played in the sun. We ate lots of cookies, did some crafts…

…and got our picture with Santa. As always, for as much as Keegan likes Santa, he is shy when it comes to sit on his lap. A quick round of high-fives and a candy cane helped.

It was a great party, that led to an epic nap. After the nap we went to buy the Christmas tree, a table top again, and the Christmas holidays season and countdown was upon us. This year we also got sucked into the Elf On a Shelf craze. Keegan was  really misbehaving right after his birthday — probably he got too much attention then — so we thought we needed an extra incentive to calm him down. Enters the Elf. This is a book about a little elf sent by Santa to report back on his assigned child’s behavior. The book actually comes with the elf in question, that you get to name. The elf itself it is a little creepy looking — Matt compared it to Chuckie— and the illustrations not that great, but whatever works. Keegan loved it, and it was a nice incentive to behave better.

This year Keegan could hardly wait for Christmas time, and he was constantly mentioning toys he wanted…mainly everything he saw in the millions catalogs that arrive at our house. To stop the greed wave, we really tried to talk to him about Christmas as a time for giving not just getting. We made an effort to donate foods or toiletry in grocery stores bin when we were shopping together and we even donated some toys to the Toys For Tots organization.

We also made it to the parade Of Lights Event this year, in a rare and unseasonably warm Sunday in the middle of December. It is a very nice San Diego tradition: every year many boats decked out with lights and decorations will slowly parade in the San Diego Bay. Many of them also have loud speakers playing holiday music, so it is a very festive event. We got to see the show from the beach, so Keegan got a chance of play with the sand when he got bored. The festivities started with fireworks, and Keegan loved them. It was his first firework show (usually they are too late for him) and he had a blast (no pun intended).

The Christmas, or should I say Holiday party (they sang a Hanukkah song, even if Hanukkah was over by then) at his school was on December 23. This year they had an afternoon party at his own school, and it worked out a lot better. When we arrived the kids were signing holiday songs, the same same songs Keegan has been singing non-stop at home for the past month, at the top of his lung. And now that is showtime…he is barely opening his mouth, but at least he is vigorously shaking his bell. After the performance, Santa Claus AND Mrs. Claus showed up. They were great, especially compared to the pitiful Santa in cheap polyester suit and obviously fake beard that showed up last year. It must have been true what I have read on the paper: many high-end Santas were jobless this year, and slashing their prices.

They sang songs, joked and posed for pictures.

Keegan looked more perplexed than anything else, but I thought they were great.

In fact when it was time for pictures, he grudgingly posed for a group photo, but then he went on to play with his friends and did not want to sit on Santa’s lap. Good thing we had a nice shot from Van’s party.

I like this little Santa girl more…

The party was on the last school day, and it kicked off our long holiday. Both of us had the whole week off, so no real vacation for me. (-:  Fortunately Matt took some time off (in part for nursing a bad cold) so we had many fun times together.

On Christmas Eve we headed over Krista, Eric and Torin’s house for an impromptu evening celebration. Two other children were there and Keegan and Torin were their usual, wild selves.

I love this picture: it is hard to tell if they look angelic or if this is the expression of someone who has been up to no good and tries to fake innocence. What do you think?

They played well together, which meant lots of adult time for us. We munched on delicious food, drank even better cocktails and opened gifts. Keegan loved that part.

Since it was Christmas Eve, we did move his bedtime a little later, but before leaving, we made sure he was all ready for bed. Wearing his PJ he settled with Torin for a little playful bonding time and then it was time for goodbyes.

Once again, we spent the rest of Christmas Eve wrapping and setting everything under the tree. As always it looked magical when we were done.

Christmas morning started well. Keegan slept till 6.30!!! Merry Christmas to us! To be honest, he had been sleeping “late” for a few day before that; it may have been the cold weather, the rain, or a growth spur…whatever it is we savor it, as we already know it will not last. Of course he got up almost right away, after his milk, and run to see if Santa has come. And then he immediately tore into the presents.

He could not wait for the evening for his stocking: he dove right in.

While we did try to keep the number low, we still ended up with a huge mound of wrapping paper, ribbons, cardboard boxes and assorted toys. As always, it looked like a tornado ripped through our living room.

Right afterwards, we called my parents and did a festive Skype session. My sister and her family was also there so we had the chance of wishing everyone Buon Natale. Keegan was a little shy (too many people) but it was nice to see everyone.

Then it was time for my last gift: nap time! A glorious two hours nap. Keegan also had a very nice, long rest, along with Matt. Once we were all awake, we headed out to watch the Light Displays in Clairemont. Because of the rain, we were unable to check them out earlier, but even if some lights were out, most of the street was still lit up and pretty great. We had a good time strolling around.

We put Keegan to sleep with some difficulties: he was way too excited. Once he finally crashed we had a nice, romantic dinner for us, and spent some quality times together.

Once again, Christmas was over in what felt like an instant, but we had a great time indeed. Even if we are little sad to be away from family during the holidays, we are very fortunate to spend our Christmas with friends and our wonderful little guy.

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