Giant Christmas 2015 Recap: A St Louis Visit

Yeah, yeah, I'm a little late on this post.  But better late than never, right?  And as I said many times before (broken record much?), this blog is more so for me than anyone else.  I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm an over-sharer by nature so I obviously blog for others AND myself.  But these recap posts?  I know 85% of my followers could give a rat's crap about them and click that "mark as read" button.  I do them for myself.  I love looking back and seeing how I spent each holiday.  And seeing as this was the last one as a family of four (yes, I consider the dogs a part of our family), I wanted to make sure I wrote a post about it.

So here we go!  Christmas 2014 Recap:

Like every Christmas, we had plans to head back to St. Louis and spend the holiday with our families.  Since we're overpackers, Nick and I don't bring our gifts to each other with us.  We normally open them upon our return to Florida.  This year, Nick and I decided to open gifts before we headed home.  Really, Nick decided this because he knew he was getting a new NorthFace fleece jacket and he wanted to take it with him.

So Friday when I got home from work, we had our own Very Merry Obie Christmas and opened our gifts.

I am not really a coffee drinker.  Don't get me wrong, I love coffee but I try not to consume too much caffeine and don't want to be addicted like I was in college.  But I'm told I will rely on coffee once this little boy makes his debut, so I decided I was going to hop on the Keurig bandwagon and asked for one.  (I didn't want the new 2.0.  Read up on it and decided I wanted this one).
And a ROOMBA!!!  Can I tell you how much I love this thing?  Our dogs don't really shed, but what little they do, it picks it right up.  My husband is a little excessive though and has the thing scheduled to run everyday.  I think it's a bit much so I need to read how to change the schedule to make 2 or 3 times a week.  But for all who asked to tell me how I like it:  LOVE it!!!  It picked up all the Christmas poop; you know, the glitter, garland shedding, tinsel, etc that falls off your decorations.  Every single bit of it.  It gets up all my hair from every area of the bathroom, picks up the dogs hair, crumbs in the kitchen, and your normal dirt.  It has zero issues going from our tile to our rugs and back onto the tile.  Best purchase every!  It's definitely going to make life as a mama with a newborn much easier!

Your eyes are not deceiving you.  Nick is holding a box of Converse shoes.  I am Converse obsessed (if the three new pairs didn't give it away) and I was soooo happy when Nick finally agreed to get a pair.  He's holding a black pair but he also got a navy blue pair.  And he looks so adorable in them :)  As for mine, love them.  Now, I'm only one the hunt for two more pairs and I'll be set (for a while).

This was my favorite gift I got Nick.  And it's probably the only gift that he had no idea he was getting.  He's so bad about guessing his gifts (or he picks them out when we're together)

It's a challenge coin holder, in the shape of MH-60 Seahawk, which is the helicopter he flies.  (What are challenge coins?  They're coins, usually about the size of an old school silver dollar, and have various things on them.  Nick has one for each command he's been at, each squadron, different ships, he's been given some by superiors, he has one for every rank he's held, etc.)  Nick has so many of them from enlistment, through the Academy and the various trainings he encountered there, plus all of the ones he's received since commissioning and being in the aviation community.  They're just tucked away in bags and boxes, hidden away.  I wanted a way for him to display them and when I saw this, I knew it was perfect!  And he loved it!


Then it was in the car and on our way to St. Louis.  The drive wasn't too bad.  We only stopped once for a two hour nap around midnight  (and a few more just for pee breaks and gas) and after almost 17 hours of driving, we arrived at my parents house at 9:30am. These pups were happy to get out of the car and run off some energy, that's for sure!!!

The majority of the trip was spent resting, per doctor's orders.  Which was nice because trips home are usually so stressful with running all over, trying to see everyone and fit everything in.  But this time, we didn't have much of that, aside from the holidays.  I was able to spend a lot of time with my family, in my jammies, with no bra.  It was glorious!  And my family was happy to see this ever growing bump :)

And lots of cuddling was had.  With humans and dogs.

Oh but what's a trip home without a trip to the vet?  Of course, it was the Weim.  But more on that later.  It was nothing major, so don't worry.  (Because I know you totally were).

(Can you tell how excited these two are to be at the vet???)

So what else happened while at home?

My sister bought her husband a 10 pound apple pie, the "Mile High Apple Pie" from the Blue Owl in Kimmswick, Missouri (it was featured on Oprah's Favorite Things).  He's an apple-loving guy so he definitely loved this!
This was also officially our cheapest trip home with gas being so cheap!!!  I was amazing!
And of course, we couldn't forget Jack in the Box.  It's one of our favorites and we don't have it in the south so we make sure to eat it a few times while we're home.  (We also had Imo's pizza a few times but I was too busy stuffing my face with that amazing pizza to take a picture of it.  #bloggerfail)

What else?

My brother had to sleep on the couch (With only two spare rooms, the one who stays the shortest gets the shaft, so that was my brother and his fiance Randy.)  Kyle and I decided to make Ben into a burrito so he'd be nice and warm while he slept on the couch.
I bought my first pair of maternity pants.  I was dreading having to buy them but you guys!  Maternity pants are the most comfortable things ever!!!!!!!!!!  Now if only I could find some maternity jeans to fit me because the belly band does NOT hold my pants up.
We went to a family friend holiday party and not only did I feel large, but I looked large.  Not just pregnant large but I looked like I put on weight all over, especially that face.  Barf!


Us humans weren't the only ones to have fun.  The pups love coming to their grandparents house because they're allowed on the furniture.  You've never seen Yadi so mellow as when she is allowed on the couch.  This dog just slept and relaxed the entire week (and if you know Yadi, you know that's rare).

Then it was time for all the Christmas festivities.  Christmas Eve was spent with Nick's family and it was so great to spend time with them, especially our little niece!  She's growing up so fast is the most adorable little girl!!!

Christmas Day was spent with my mother's side of the family at my Grandma's house.  As always, it was a great time because this family, boy are they loud and fun and loving!!!

Grandma's tree, complete with her village has so many memories.  I miss Grandpa's train, but I understand why Grandma doesn't get it out anymore.  Probably for the best.  I don't think I could handle it being under the tree.

Speaking of Grandpa, Grandma handed each of us grandkids a bag.  I pulled out this box and just lost it. Inside the box from "Grandpa Santa", we each received some of his old silver dollars.  I don't know what I'm going to do with them just yet, but I want to find a unique way to display them.  I definitely don't want them tucked away in a box in a closet somewhere.  

And as usual, Teeny and I did our "acrobatics".  And then more present opening, because duh, it's Christmas.

That's my entire family!  Our large, crazy bunch!!!

Baby Obie also had a great Christmas!!!  I picked up this outfit below for less than $10 and I truly hope he fits into it next Christmas season!  Or in the fall when we take our Christmas card photos!  

That adorable outfit was a gift from family.

And I found this Mizzou football, turned Truman!  Baby's first Truman the Tiger!!! I saw it for $25 at Rally House and passed it by.  Then I saw it at TJ Maxx for $7.99.  Definitely wasn't passing that deal by!!

My family also celebrated Christmas morning and as always, we all wore our Santa hats (below Mom had taken hers off already since I snapped this after the present opening)

My awesome husband got me these giant Mizzou tiger paw slippers and I looooove them!!!

And somewhere in the mess we had pups!

Christmas was great!  Not for the gifts, but for the love and laughs with my family.  Words cannot express how much I love them all.  Being so away from the sucks!

Sadly, it was time to make the drive back to Florida just a few days after Christmas.  Drives home suck.  Badly.  I absolutely hate leaving home and wish I could say we're moving back sometime soon.  But nope, not for a very long time :(  At least it makes me appreciate my family and my limited time with them every more!!!!!!!!  And now here's to starting the next countdown until I see them again!!!

Are any of you this behind on Christmas updates?
Do any of you travel long distances each Christmas to spend it with the holidays?
If you live far from "home", do you find trips home just as stressful as fun??