How We Spent Our Christmas Holidays!

Typically every time I take a holiday or a break away from work it always tends to be chaotic for some reason! Either someone gets sick or there’s some sort of drama that unfolds and I always have some sort of a crazy story to tell the girls when I get back! LOL! However, when it came to our Christmas holidays this year … things were the exact OPPOSITE!

It was jam-packed and we were travelling here, there, and everywhere, but it was SO GOOD! We started off by loading the truck up with both kids, Nacho, our luggage, and Christmas gifts and hit the road to Calgary! Leo was just getting over his cold so I thought it was going to be a bit of a rough go (6 hours on the road with a toddler … GULP!!) but thankfully things worked out in our favour! Leo was great, Annie was awesome and Nacho even held it together!

Our first stop was Justin’s parent’s house, we spent an entire week here and stayed in our pajamas 99% of the time which we ALL loved (and needed!). We drank coffee, sipped wine, visited with friends and family … and Justin’s mom even pulled out some of Justin’s old toys for Leo to play with!

Christmas morning was super relaxing! We sat around the Christmas tree and watched as Leo eagerly opened his gifts!! We didn’t go overboard with Leo’s gifts this year, we, of course, filled his stocking with bath bombs (he loves these! lol!) and books! When it came to the larger gifts we got him a baby grand piano, junior golf clubs, and his Nana and Nono got him a Leapfrog!

Now, I did learn something this Christmas … we were so jacked about Leo opening up his gifts on Christmas morning that we let him open ALL of his gifts first while we watched him. Well, as you can imagine, that was a mistake because once he had opened all of his gifts we took turns opening ours and he was so confused!! He kept turning to me and asking where his gifts were! LOL! OOPS!! I think next year we will have to do things differently … maybe us adults will open our gifts on Christmas eve?? Or alternate turns on Christmas morning?? What do you guys do with your kids??

We didn’t really get much for Annie, I got her a Munch Mitt and a few baby’s first Christmas ornaments but that’s pretty much it! Justin got me a ring and a pair of the cutest earrings from Minichiello’s, they are the initials A & L! He also got me an Almond Milk Maker (which I’m SO EXCITED to try!) and the CUTEST pair of red heels from Anthropologie! Plus a pair of golf shoes and golf balls!

Justin’s parents got me a Jo Malone candle, an outfit from Kit & Ace, and a Tiffany bracelet with a pink heart in it for Annie! All of the gifts that I got this year are so amazing because they will last me a lifetime which I absolutely LOVE!!

On Boxing Day Justin’s family always hosts their annual Boxing Day party! We danced, sang, and drank until the wee hours of the morning, it was such a nice way to wrap up Christmas!

On the 28th Annie and I took a trip to my hometown, Peace River! My Aunt Viv and Uncle Norman picked me up, it was such a great time to connect with them and the perfect opportunity for them to meet Annie for the first time! I was only in Peace River for a quick 48 hours but it was amazing to be able to meet up with some of my best friends, Karissa and Shannon!

During our Christmas holidays, Leo made the decision that he didn’t want to go to bed when we put him down (even though he agreed to it every night!) … he learned how to crawl out of his travel crib and was determined to hang out with us! At first, we tried to fight it, we were texting our sleep coach back and forth, limiting screen time and sweets desperately trying to keep him on his routine but then we just said forget it and went with the flow.

Leo stayed up and watched Paw Patrol … he ate caramel corn … danced … basically, we let the wheels fall completely off! LOL! We were so worried he would be so messed up when we got home but as soon as we were back in Kelowna, he happily stuck to his regular routine!! PHEWWW!!!! ALSO … over the holidays, Leo has been talking WAY more AND he FULLY POTTY TRAINED HIMSELF!! I can’t believe it … no more diapers to bed for that one! We’re so proud of him!

Once we made our way back to Calgary from Peace River, Annie and I took off on a plane to meet up with Justin and Leo in Arizona to spend New Years with my parents! Not only did we get to catch up with my mom and dad but we also went to TopGolf one night and we all LOVED it! If you haven’t been to Topgolf, I would HIGHLY recommend it!! We also exchanged a few gifts here as well, my mom and dad got us gift cards to Starbucks, Canadian Tire and Golf Town, plus they got us Monopoly … I’m a sucker for game night!!

Papa and Grandma also surprised Leo with a big play tent (it’s blue, yellow, and red … thanks Dad … LOL!!), a Hot Wheels track, and a Moonlite Reader!

We took off on a day trip to Sedona which was awesome! It was fun to roam around and explore with no schedule and we even snuck in a bit of shopping! We found an amazing restaurant in Arizona (thanks to the help from all of my followers!!), it’s called Flower Child and it’s loaded with incredible vegan options! Mom and dad loved it so much they asked to go back the next day, so obviously I took advantage of that!! LOL!

Once our Arizona trip was all wrapped up, we flew back to Calgary just long enough to rest our heads and then hopped in the truck and made our way back to Kelowna (this road trip went shockingly well too, LOL)! When we got back to Kelowna, I unpacked, showered, repacked, and then Annie and I were off to Vancouver on Sunday! LOL!! Talk about whirlwind, right?!

Well, as crazy as our travel schedule was, it went really smooth, there was no drama or issues which was amazing! In fact, I feel so grateful as we really had the opportunity to let go and slow down. It was an amazing end to 2018 and 2019 is already off to a great start! I’m so excited to see what the year ahead will bring! We are taking off to Hawaii soon and then I’m taking my mom on the Oprah Cruise … lots of adventures ahead!

xo

Jilly