'Tis The Season

Its Christmastime.  I have always enjoyed this time of year--its even more fun now that we have children.  We take them to look at Christmas lights, watch Christmas shows and movies with them, make Christmas cookies, make crafts, and the boys sing the carols they learn at school to us.  There is always something magical about Christmas.

This Christmas we have decided not to travel.  Yes, I heard all the gasping--just hear me out.  Traveling is hard enough with two kids.  You drive two hours in the cold and hope you don't have car issues or a flat along the way.  You spend night after night in a place that isn't your home--in a bed that isn't your bed. You spend day after day going from place to place for scheduled Christmas gatherings.  Its always great to see people and we always enjoy ourselves, but this year we are tired.  We are up with Kaitlyn 3 or 4 times a night and I can't imagine doing that in some place other than home. I remember when Logan was 8 months old and we traveled for Christmas--it was horrible.  He screamed the entire way because he hated being in his car seat--Kaitlyn is the same way. I can't imagine driving with a one month old screaming the entire way. I can't imagine getting up with her several times throughout the night and then getting ready for another Christmas gathering the next day after being up with her all night. Alex and Kaitlyn both have runny noses and are congested and I don't want to travel in the cold with two snotty children. Kaitlyn's pediatrician even encouraged us not to travel too far because we need to stay close to Childrens in case something happens--this statement has our attention now that Kaitlyn has a runny nose. She said that since Kaitlyn's immune system is still building, something as small as a runny nose can quickly turn into something more serious.  I am reminded of one Christmas that Logan (as a baby/toddler) got sick and we were far away from home, far away from his pediatrician, and we had to drive the 2 hours back home with a screaming child who didn't feel well.

We have offered to have people come here for Christmas which has led to people getting upset that we're not going to THEIR place, people telling us that it will be crowded (which is code for "you need a bigger place"--don't even get me started on that one), and people getting their feelings hurt.
We want to be with our families for Christmas--we do--We don't want to hurt anyone's feelings or make anyone upset or be difficult, but no one seems to take into consideration all it entails on our end just to get where we're going with everything we need, etc.  We have done it every year in an attempt to be with our families for Christmas.

So, this Christmas, we have decided not to travel.  We know people are disappointed, some are upset, but we hope everyone understands. We love our families and want to be with them on Christmas, but just for this year we are choosing not to travel.  We apologize and hope you understand!

And, as always, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas!! ;)