Adventures of the Patrick family!: Boy, is it Christmas!

Phew! Is Christmas season here or what?? It is exhausting being a mom at Christmastime! (as I'm sure it is really just exhausting in general for everyone!) We have been so busy lately and I feel like this is the first minute I've had to sit down in quite a few days. There have been parties and activities galore, and on top of it all, Ryan came down with the stomach bug that has been going around Ali's school (and that she has gotten twice, kind of!) - ahhh!! He is finally feeling better, thank goodness, b/c I realize what a HUGE help he is when he is not able to help out with the girls. For someone that I barely saw sick for years - he has been sick/bedridden twice in the past two weeks! Somehow Rhodes and I have managed to steer clear of the bug (knock on wood) and I think it is one of the bonuses of nursing - and I am grateful! Anyway, this past weekend we had a party to go to on Friday night and I was so excited on Saturday to wake up on Saturday without plans for the day - the first Saturday like that in what feels like forever! Things quickly changed though as we met my family at Bugaboo Creek to celebrate Sig's birthday for lunch! (Happy 25th Sig!!) Ali loved seeing all of the talking animals again!

Then, Sig and Frances have been asking us for weeks at least if they could take Ali to the Pink Pig and we decided to just go for it after lunch. I just didn't know when we'd have another chance with things being so busy - but it probably wasn't the best idea! After fighting traffic (and Ali fighting sleep) the whole way there, Ali finally gave in and fell asleep about 5 minutes before we pulled into our spot. And, since it was already almost 3:00 (way past her naptime!) she was long gone and wouldn't even flinch when we yelled her name to wake up! Ha! We met Uncle Sig, Frances, and Uncle Ty there (although Ty did not care to stay in line and ride the Pink Pig - and I don't blame him) and stood in a pretty long line to ride the Pink Pig. Ali was a little afraid of it, but kept talking about it the rest of the day! I think that she loved the Chick-fil-A Santa Cow outside the Pink Pig tent the most! I am so glad we went and Ali loved having Sig, Frances, and Ty there! I hope it is a tradition that we can do every year and I'm glad to have pictures to show Ali down the road! Thank you Sig and Frances for riding with Ali and for wanting to go with her! That night, we were all exhausted when we got home and crashed pretty early!

Today, Ryan and I gave Ali an early Christmas present - tickets to Playhouse Disney Live! at Philips Arena! We finally got all 4 Patricks dressed and out the door by 11 a.m. and it wasn't until we were halfway there that Ryan remembered there was also a Falcons game at 1! (Playhouse Disney started at 12 nextdoor!) Ugh! Traffic was no fun and it didn't help that we didn't have cash nor could we find any atms so that we could pay to park - but we finally made it and sat down, took deep breaths and enjoyed the show! Ali LOVED it! Although a little weary of the dark room at first (we are going through an afraid of most things stage!) - she quickly livened up to the sight of Tigger & Pooh, the Little Einsteins, Handy Manny, and of course, Mickey Mouse and the gang! What a fun little show! Her favorite part was patting her legs with the Little Einsteins! It was fun seeing her so excited all day - she has been in the best mood since. She crashed in the car and woke up to go to another party to go see Santa. Ryan and I decided to stay here and skip that one b/c we are completely exhausted (and he is still recovering!) and let Mimi and Big Papa take her - can't wait to see pictures! :) I am now exhausted just by typing what all we did thsi weekend - but I want to be able to look back down the road at what we were up to! We have a busy week ahead of us - we have something almost every night! Phew! We were supposed to go to Callaway Gardens next Sunday to finish off the busy week, but, we just talked and decided that it'd probably be best to stay around here and enjoy some nights at home with our girls before Christmas is here!! Here are a few pictures from our weekend!

Ali looking cool in her glasses on the way to Sig's birthday lunch!

Checking out exactly what this Pink Pig is that we had been talking about!

The whole gang that rode the Pink Pig (Ryan and Rhodes waited in the gift shop, once we finally made it through the line!) The dark, tired circles are really starting to show up under my eyes - despite the loads of concealer I apply! Gotta love the Tumlin circles! :)

Not so sure about this thing!

Uncle Sig behind us on Priscilla

Family picture (minus sweet Rhodes who was asleep in the stroller - she is such a good baby to put up with us!)

High fiving the Christmas Cow!

(p.s. Thanks Sig and Frances for the pictures!)

So excited! As you can see here, Ali started the morning with two pigtails and the only way I talked her into letting me do it was by telling her they were like Mickey Mouse ears. We were watching Playhouse Disney Live on youtube to get her excited about the show and she would go, "I have hair like you, Mickey Mouse!". It was cute! By the time we finally made it in alive to Philips, Ali was on my lap and I noticed there was only one pigtail left! Dang! So, we had to change her 'do to a ponytail - but here is a shot of her with one pigtail, enjoying the show!