Christmas, New Years, Mommy Night Out, Oh my!

        Wow. Was Christmas really almost a month ago??? I had really intended on getting this post up sooner but mommy duties always take first priority :) This Christmas was Elijah's very first Christmas and Carlos and I's first Christmas as parents. It was by far, the best Christmas either one of us has ever had. We stayed at Carlos' mom's house for a couple nights. On CHristmas Eve Eve we visited our close friends and introduced Elijah to some of their family for the first time. It still amazes me how absolutely loved he is by everyone in our lives. It is all a parent could ask for....for people to love him and surround him with joy. THen we celebrated Christmas Eve by starting off with Christmas Eve mass. Of course it was PACKED and Eli was tired but I walked him around and realized just how much of a flirt he really is! He has the brightest blue eyes and anytime anyone smiles at him or says hi, he gives them a HUGE smile and flashes those lady-killer eyes. He is quite the charmer :) Carlos said it was funny because I had this "yep, this is my son. I am his mom. I am proud" kind of smile on my face and I showed him off. I say there is nothing wrong with that...he is my pride and joy! Then we went home, ate pizza, and sat around the Christmas tree and tried to watch old Christmas movies. One being called the "Christmas Toy" I think...it was the creepiest movie I have ever seen! Of course we watched the classics over the course of a few days: Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation, and Love Actually. Elijah was so into Christmas Story...he is his mama's boy :) Elijah got to open one gift (a tradition) on Christmas Eve and it was a ball drop thingy from Grandma Bernard. He was WAY more into the wrapping paper so we let him try to eat that for a bit before he decided that pulling ornaments off the tree would be much more fun :) We got him into his Christmas PJ's (reindeer on the butt and all!) and off to bed he went to wait for Santa. Carlos and I enjoyed just watching movies on the couch for a bit and I think in that moment I realized how lucky we were to be celebrating Jesus' birthday as a family. That God had blessed us with a perfect son and with a strong, healthy marriage to raise him around.

      The next morning we woke up, ate breakfast, and opened gifts. Elijah was a little overwhelmed. He received way more than any 5 month old actually needs but we were so grateful so many people wanted to make his first Christmas all that more special.  Again, the wrapping b=apper was a hit. Some of the gifts he received were: savings bonds, fisher price piano, vtech ball, vtech sit and walk, Toms, clothes, several different learning toys from Vtech and fisher price, and some soft, squishy cars (every year we plan to buy Eli a car. While he is young they will be squishy cars, a remote control car, etc. When he is older we plan on buying him collectible ones). It is funny because usually at Christmas I would be reveling in everything I had received but this year, although thankful, it wasn't important. What was important was being with family celebrating the reason for the season and seeing the joy in my precious son's eyes as he got to experience Christmas for the very first time. Enjoy some pictures that we took to document this special time for out little family:

 In his first pair of Christmas PJ's!

Daddy and Eli looking at the tree, getting excited for Santa!

Touching the tree and all the ornaments!

Reindeer butt!

Mommy and Eli touching and pulling off ornaments :)

First gift of Christmas on Christmas Eve. Thanks Nana!

Sometimes I can't help myself and I "kissy attack" my baby. He is gonna have to learn how to deal quite frankly

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Daddy and Eli watching Christmas Story!

Too many gifts!

Getting started Christmas morning!

I love this picture of us on Christmas Day. I will always cherish it!

Sometimes we just have too much fun! :)

      Of course, the New Year shortly follows Christmas time and this year we knew it was going to be different than most years. We had the option of going out with friends to drink and ring in 2012 but we chose to stay home. We wanted to be with Eli and to focus on what this last year had brought us and how amazing this next year is going to be. We had a home-cooked meal and played with Eli until his bedtime. But before his bedtime he definitely shared a New Years kiss with his mommy.  After Eli went to bed, Carlos and I laid in bed talking and watched how other countries rang in the New Year. We made it to midnight, kissed, and fell asleep immediately! I got two kisses from the two men in my life...what an extraordinary blessing!!! And the crazy thing is I wanted to spend the night no other way. In my T-shirt and flannel pants, messy hair, and my two miracles beside me. It was absolute perfection. The year 2012 has many great things in store for our family I know, and many more adventures are coming but my New Years Resolution was not to look at weeks or months or years but to enjoy the day to day. The small things. The moments. Each and every instance of feeling closer to God through my son. The complete blissfulness I feel when I see my husband walk through the door every night. Those are the moments that truly count and one of my New Years resolutions is to savor those moments more fully than I have before. To honestly enjoy them but to also realistically understand that there will be bad moments too and its ok to not savor those ones :) I read an amazing article on FB the other day. It was so true and so beautifully written. Here is the link and to all the mommies (and daddies) out there: I hope you read it. It is comforting and real. Just read it...you will be glad you did!

Don't Carpe Diem

(that is the link above...in case you were confused :) )

 Trying to get a kiss from a little boy who was too distracted by the cat behind mommy.

And then comes the hilarious hair pulling incident...

But finally a kiss from my son...perfect.

And at midnight (we actually made it!) a kiss from my soulmate. A night full of happiness and love...what better way to start off the New Year?

       And last but not least we come to what I like to call "Mommy Night Out". This wouldn't be a very honest blog if I didn't indulge in telling about the times I get to let "loose". Let's be real...every mommy needs to do this every once in awhile. It is good for your heart, mind, and soul. Ok maybe not mind....but it is almost therapeutic in a way. It reminds you that you can still get dressed up, hit the town, and not smell like spit up 12 hours of the day. I say get crazy every once in awhile (for me its like once in a blue moon but hey...at least it happens)! Have fun! Overdo it if you want! It will make you a better mommy, a more patient mommy. It reminds you that you are more than just a mom...and you SHOULD be. It is hard to believe at times, but all of us mamas were our very own person before baby came along. So revel in the fact you can be that woman again for a night every once in awhile. I can say I think it is very well worth it!

Anyways, it was a celebration for a good friend's birthday and the plans were to go to a local dinner spot in downtown Austin and then hit 6th street. We went to Max's Wine Dive (awesome by the way for all you Austinites and those who may visit) and then when to a few bars. I won't go into details but let's just say by the time dinner was over, we were already having a WHOLE 'lotta fun! We went to the bars and we had the shadiest bottle service in an underground club (yikes) and danced until these girls that were half naked started dancing on stage and we were like "Where the hell are we?" I also remember thinking at one point in the night that I was this great photographer that night but apparently I was completely wrong. All my photos were blurry, off center, of peoples feet, etc. I think it was an indication of what a great night it was, honestly :) To make a long story short, I had a blast! I haven't done that in a long time and it was refreshing. I did pay for it the next day though and with a baby, a hangover is like nothing you will ever know unless you have experienced it. It was no bueno. Do I regret it? Absolutely freakin' not. I partied like it was 2005 (haha) and it was AWESOME :) I would post the pictures of that night buuut  some things need to remain a secret. Ok, ok...really it is just downright embarrassing.