Merry Christmas!

We have been busy around here....

We FINALLY moved into our home on the 22nd of December!  It is so good to be in a home again, and Henry officially declared, "I really like living in New Jersey now"- I guess our transition was wearing on all of us.  Anyway, we had the best group of guys unloading our stuff.  They were so patient with the boys running around, as well as the big fat lady on the couch telling them where everything went, and then changing her mind a few times!  We all laughed about that crazy lady, and we assured them that that big fat lady was extremely hormonal and frustrated by her lack of physical mobility, and she was barely sane after living in hotels for almost five months- they really were great!  Josh and I decided that it would be in the best interest of all of us, for him to NOT attempt carrying me "over the threshold" into our new home.  We joked about him borrowing a dolly from the movers and getting a picture of him "wheeling me over the threshold," but unfortunately with the chaos, we forgot to capture that special moment.  I am sure it would have been a pathetically funny photo, just use your imagination....

Overwhelmed with boxes, we did our best to get as settled as we could before it was time to take a break and celebrate the birth of Our Lord.  Our celebration lacked some of the "bells and whistles" of previous years, but had the basics and really tried to focus our attention on the true meaning of Christmas.  We did  get a tree and decorated it (it was Sean's year to do the star), we had our traditional meals, and we were spoiled with presents.  It was wonderful, and what a way to start the new memories in our new home!
Aside from a few wall hangings and a couple of curtains, we are pretty much settled!  Along with unpacking boxes, we had to go through clothes bins for the boys (and me) to find bigger, and more weather appropriate clothing.  Henry and Sean were excited about their "new clothes" however, William is increasingly showing signs that he doesn't care for change much, but he is warming up to the idea of (or forced into) wearing something other than the two outfits he had been wearing the past few months.
Now that the majority of our belongings are in their place, it is time to prepare for the twins! The first step was getting our van detailed.  Josh and I treated ourselves to this luxury after we realized that the sand and mess in that poor car was more than we could handle.  It is beautiful and it smells great!  After we had a clean van, Josh successfully figured out how to fit three car seats across the back seats (we had to buy some smaller ones) to make room for the babies in the middle row.  I will definitely post a picture when we are all loaded up....five car seats in all!  Next on the list: cribs, clothes, diapers, diapers, diapers!
Here we are with the last load of belongings, leaving the hotel (the photo is blurry, and appropriately so, we have all compartmentalized that time of our life, and now it is just a blurry memory)

Oh, another tradition that we were able to uphold this year: Josh driving home hanging on to our Christmas tree through the sun roof.  He is faking a nice smile, as he HATES that this is actually a yearly occurrence, but I thoroughly enjoy it.

Some pictures of our Christmas celebration:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I have a few more updates to come, but I had to add that we are officially ready for babies, although we hope that they don't arrive any time in very near future.  We owe a huge thanks to my sister, Chrissy, who, along with two of her children, drove 11hrs each way to help us accomplish this.  We shopped, ran errands, washed clothes, and she made & froze meals for us, sewed, cleaned the house and did some baby sitting.  I am so grateful for everything she did, and it was so fun having girl time- we talked and laughed our way through each and every task.  Sisters are the best.  I love you Chrissy, cccccooooommmme bbbaaaaaaacccckkkkkkk!