Merry Christmas everyone! We are en route from Hillsborough back to Cville after visiting with my family for two days. (Literally, I am blogging from the back seat!) We drove down on Sunday morning and were so lucky that Birch slept the whole 3.5 hour trip (with a little awake time for a pumped bottle.)
This was our first visit to Hillsborough with my parents totally moved into their new house. Finally! Note my giant furry cousins are all very comfortable in the new house.
The children’s room is all set up with real beds this time 🙂
My parents spent the second half of this year sprucing the old house up for sale and actually got an offer on it the day it went on the market! They are set to close in January if all goes smoothly. The buyers love the historic details and charm and can’t wait to call it home.
You wouldn’t recognize the house because every surface has been cleaned and painted. Here’s my room! Wallpaper no more.
My parents lived there for 34 years, and I’ve called it home since I was two, so it was bittersweet to say goodbye. We all walked down together to see the improvements and walk through one last time.
We’ve taken family photos out on this porch for three decades:
One last picture!
The first night we arrived we had a cocktail party at the new house with a handful of my high school friends and neighbors. Gotta get that party hair ready!
Birch slept pretty well for an 8 week old in the pack and play. He had been doing only one wake-up a night at home, and he woke up 2-3 times on our trip. (Plus Mazen woke up at least once and came in each night.) So I was a bit tired the next morning. We had no plans for Christmas Eve and the whole day to relax though.
After a nice breakfast, I set out on my first outdoor run in ages. It felt amazing, and I think the treadmill running prepared me well. I did about 2.5 miles to an Aaptiv workout coached by John. It was all Brittney Spears songs and so fun!
The kiddos played so well together. This was a cash register shopping game that went on for a few hours.
I had chili and Christmas cookies for lunch before we set out on a long family walk to the playground.
We walked to my elementary school and played on the swings, the Gaga court, and walked the track for two hours. It was great adventure, and by the time we got home I was at 7.5 miles for the day! Birchie slept the whole time in his stroller. He loves it!
Mazen did some painting with Grammie during Emerson’s naptime, and mommy and Thomas took naps too.
We had a Southern Christmas Eve dinner with brisket, Brunswick stew, cole slaw, beans, collards, and more.
And Candace made a delicious pumpkin cheesecake!
Mazen wrote a letter to Santa and got tucked into his bed.
With his Christmas moose. He reports that he saw Rudolph in the middle of the night when he got a glass of water!!
The adults stayed up for our annual Elfster gift exchange. I got an Instant Pot from Matt Allen’s dad! I can’t wait to test it out. Please share your favorite Instapot recipes : )
Christmas morning was so exciting I didn’t take ANY photos! Our family had to hit the road by 10am, and so after watching the littles open their gifts from Santa we frantically packed 1,000 things into our Highlander and enjoyed some breakfast casserole, apple cake, and fruit before hitting the road.
Merry Christmas from our family to yours <3
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog says
Merry Christmas, Kath! I loved this post, seems like you really enjoyed a cosy Christmas Eve with the family. Also, your giant soft toys are adorable! 🙂
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Barbara Younger says
The frog and the duck say THANK YOU!
Pat says
Instant Pot – the Facebook page InstantPot Recipes by Amy + Jacky is great. Specifically for new users. Lots of rcipes and advice.
KathEats says
Thanks!
Barbara Younger says
Thanks for the prompt recap! Love the photos!
Ellie says
It’s so fun to see Hillsborough in the blog post. We live just up the road and I feel like out town is a celebrity right now 🙂
KathEats says
Haha yay! It’s come along way since I moved away to college in 2001!
Cori says
MerryChristmas! We love our Instatpot, what a great gift to get! Here is my favorite whole chicken recipe and at the bottom of the recipe page is a link to make bone broth with the carcass, we make them both all the time!!
http://www.raisinggenerationnourished.com/2016/01/instant-pot-whole-chicken/
KathEats says
Awesome thank you! Thomas can’t WAIT to do a whole chicken : )
Leslie says
What’s a Gaga court? Beautiful last photo by the way!
KathEats says
It’s a game the kids play these days. Check it out here: https://www.gagacenter.com/nyc/about/what-is-gaga/
We played Gaga (which Mazen learned at summer camp) and then we also played soccer in it!
Emily says
When did you first give baby B a bottle? And do you just add in a pumping session in addition to feeding? Merry Christmas to your beautiful family!
KathEats says
We started bottle and pumping at one month. I pump in the mornings about 30-60 minutes after his first feeding of the day for only about 5 minutes per side. I get 2-3 ounces. Because I’m not going back to an office, I don’t need a huge stash, but I have about 5 bags of frozen milk at this point from doing this for a month.
Peter Gale teacher says
Wishing you smiles, laughter, and whole lot of fun this Christmas season x
Tonya says
Idk who this cheesecake making Cadiace is, but if she’s looking for a best friend….
KathEats says
Haha!! Matt Allen’s mom! It was so good.
Kofi Danso says
Awesome post once again!
Cathy says
I also got an IP . pioneer Woman. Pretty but intimidating. I found recipes and Instant Pot don’ts on six sisters on you tube. Maybe I will keep it. Happy New Year…? btw I love my Dyson V10.