One..Two..I mean Four Christmases

Christmas, or any holiday in general, is about being with those who you love.  It is a time to feel a spirit of joy and peace.  It is a time to connect, a day to feel close and thankful for family.  A chance to see relatives who you may only see once a year.  The freedom to enjoy a delicious meal and drink too many glasses of wine.  Wait, wait back up, rewind...a time to feel peace?  The holidays are supposed to be enjoyable?

Well shit, not in this neck of the woods. Our holiday season last year was chaotic, stressful, and it ended with my head over the toilet. No lie. More on that later, and no it wasn't due to the vino. It was due to bouncing around from house to house, trying to please my family and his.  The hubs and I are high school sweethearts and therefore are from the same town, duh. Our parents literally live 8 minutes away from each other. My grandparents live in the same town, as well as his grandparents, aunts, and uncles.  So everyone wanted to see us...more like everyone wanted to see Saige.  Let's be honest.  It was more about passing the baby around, she looked so damn cute in her red velour onesie.

   
Now if I had gotten 4x the amount of presents, that would have been just fine with me. But I didn't..and we were just stuck going from relative to relative. And somehow in the meantime, I caught a nasty stomach bug and found myself hugging the porcelain bowl from midnight to 7 am. You know that feeling when you are so thirsty but everything you drink comes right back up? Yeah. That was my Christmas night. So here's hoping for a less stressful holiday season.  A holiday season where I can relax and be surrounded by my loved ones. For more than 3 hours at a time please.