Hi everyone,
I know you've heard this story before, but I've been super busy so unable to write. So much has happened since I last wrote. For example, I started working again and it's been great. I live an work in NJ so the commute is a breeze and the best part is that work is a 3 minute drive to/from daycare so I'm always close to my little James. I haven't met too many people at work yet besides by immediate team and those sitting near me. However I am optimistic that it'll change since I am not a shy person. :P During my second week the company had their Christmas parties, one in NJ and the other in Manhattan. I attended both, the first one was in NJ and a very corporate affair. They even had amazing prizes and some people won tickets to shows, days off, and even an expense paid trip to Aruba! Unfortunately this wasn't me. The party is NY was what I was most looking forward too as I'd see friends and former coworkers from 5 years ago when I used to work there. This party was awesome, it felt so good seeing familiar faces and catching up with everyone! I had an amazing time and it was a great way to end my second week at work. Starting during the holidays is the way to go as everyone is so happy, there is always food around, and they have casual dress. The only downside is that I couldn't take any time off so no Boxing Day shopping for me.
I've been so busy juggling home and work life that there wasn't much time for Christmas shopping. Thankfully I signed Adit up for Amazon Mom which lets you get free 2-day shipping which is the best. And before you start calling Adit a mom, moms or dads are eligible to sign up for this. The only problem with using Adit's account was that he got an email every time I ordered something so there was no chance of surprising him. My other favorite places to shop for kids gifts were Costco and Marshall's. Costco does extensive research on each toy that they sell for the particular age group so you can almost guarantee that they have the best toys. Marshall's is the best for books and toys too as they are usually marked down 20-50% off retail. Ok, enough about shopping, I'll get to Christmas fun.
It was Christmas weekend and we still didn't take James to see Santa. I've been searching for a decent Santa and felt that I'd have to settle for one at a local mall. I shared my dismay with Adit and we agreed that we should go see Santa at Macy's! We drove to my mom's place in Manhattan on Friday night. We left at James's bedtime so he slept during the whole drive and even during the transfer from car to bed. Since my mom was there to babysit Adit and I decided to take a walk and check out a trendy dessert place. It was nice holding hands again and walking down the street knowing that James was happily asleep with Grandma. This was our first outing, just the two of us since we moved here. After enjoying an amazing dessert we walking around the city and headed home. We passed by so many places that we wanted to check out and thought of more things that we could do with James on future weekends. Then we went to sleep because we had an early morning.
We woke up a little late on Saturday, and by late I mean 7:00am as opposed to 6:00am and we had breakfast and trained it over to Macy's. I heard that the lines at Macy's were insane and that most people waited an average of 90 minutes to see Santa. I knew that this wouldn't work for James as he wouldn't stand inline for that long. This is why we planned to be there at 9am to coincide with the opening. So the strategy was that Adit would make his way up with James while I ran up to the 8th and waited in line. Once I got to the 8th there was barely a line. I waited in it and had to let people go in front of me until he and James got there. We walked though Santaland and James was in awe of all the little Christmas decorations and displays. His favorite were the trains and they even had train tracks circling around a huge tree. When we got to Santa, James was aprehensive about sitting with Santa so Adit held him and in the end I jumped in for a family photo. All in all I think it was a success and the start of a new family tradition for our family.
Before we knew it, it was Christmas eve. We had a turkey dinner with our family and my brother's in laws. It was nice meeting up and sharing some good times. As James had a million presents so we opened some before he went to bed. Moush's parents got him a bouncy horse. James was a little afraid to sit on it at first, then he really warmed up to it and learned to bounce all by himself. He got some serious air! Next he opened Daniel and Moush's gift which was a ride on Thomas the Tank engine train. As he opened it and saw the train on the box he started to get excited and said "choo-choo train". Daniel actually pre-assembled and charged it before wrapping it so it was ready to go! James sat on it and after a short time was moving around the house. The next gift was from my mom, it was a tunnel and tent. We assembled 2/3rds of it and placed it in the dining room. There are little windows on the sides so he enjoyed "hiding" in there as we "looked" for him. Needless to say James was a tired boy, but didn't want to sleep with all those fun toys. Miraculously we got him to sleep, then quickly got ready for Christmas Eve service at the local church. When we stepped outside it was snowing and looked so beautiful out, everything was covered by the time we got home, however the snow didn't last for James to play in.
Now for Christmas morning. James woke up at 6:30 as usual and I entertained him as Adit was still asleep. We came down and woke up Grandma, then Auntie Moush was up, long after was Daniel and Adit. We had some fresh bagels as they were one of the only stores open and began opening gifts. James was a pro unwrapper at this point and opened most of his. What's funny was that after each gift he didn't want to open more, but play with the one he just opened. James got so many toys and we thank everyone who gave him presents, he loved them all. Then around noon we left NJ and headed to my Aunt's home in Queens to exchange gifts there. It was fun watching all the kids open their gifts and watch the excitement in their eyes. After lunch we headed home since I had work the next day.
Hope you all had a great Christmas and enjoyed time with your family!
Here are some pics from that weekend! My brother Daniel took most of the pics, but here are a few that I had.
Happy reading!
Rachel
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