Christmas Wrap-Up

Paprika's second Christmas was a huge success. We left for Indiana on December 21, 2007 and arrived back in Los Angeles on December 31st. We stayed with my mom, Eric, and Robbie at their house. We had a great time, and it was so nice seeing family and friends. Our only difficulty was that Paprika refused to sleep much while we were there. We made every accomodation for her: my mom and Eric bought her a beautiful crib, we brought all her bedding with us from California, and the room where we all slept could not have been more ideal. Paprika wanted none of it, and spent most of the vacation awake. When she did go to sleep, it was very late (3 am) and after much cajoling by Mr. Mustard and me.

The first two nights Paprika refused to sleep in the crib at all, and ended up in between Mr. Mustard and me in bed, fighting sleep before finally passing out. I now understand why so many parents love to co-sleep. There is nothing more cuddly than snuggling up next to your baby in bed. Up until now, Paprika has refused to sleep with us- when she gets on our bed, all she wants to do is crawl off it or jump up and down, squealing in delight. But in Indiana, she was so exhausted after almost 24 hours without sleep, that she finally decided it would be okay to fall asleep between the two of us.

Not to mention that in the hustle and bustle of all of our activity, all three of us got sick. Paprika was the first one to get sick, followed by me and then Mr. Mustard. We are all still stuffed up, but Paprika is mostly better now, I'm halfway there, and Mr. Mustard is still in the midst of it. He goes back to work tonight, so he's not in for a good time the next few days.

We had a very active and exciting trip back to Indiana. Here are the highlights:

Friday, December 21
Flew into Indianapolis. Spent the evening hanging out with mom, Eric, and Robbie. Finally got Paprika to sleep at 3am.

Saturday, December 22
Met up with dad. He took Mr. Mustard, Robbie, Paprika and me to Don Pablo's for lunch. Yum!
Then we went to the Christmas Tree lot with Eric and Robbie and picked out our Christmas tree.
Then, I had a "date night" with my mom and we did last minute Christmas shopping up at Castleton.

Sunday, December 23
Went with mom and Paprika to see Robbie play in the church band while Mr. Mustard and Eric went to the Colts game (the Colts won!).
Paprika and I spent the afternoon with her great grandpa and great grandma (my grandparents).
Then, Mr. Mustard, Paprika and I had dinner with Laura, Kevin, Caroline, and Stephanie at their house in Fishers.

Monday, December 24
Mr. Mustard, Paprika and I did last minute Christmas shopping with my dad, Nancy, and Robbie. Then we all took Paprika to see Santa and my dad treated us to a big lunch at Applebee's.
Spent evening wrapping Christmas presents and decorating Christmas tree.
Eric, Robbie and I went to Midnight Mass at Christ the King Church.

Tuesday, December 25
Woke up and opened Christmas presents under the tree at my mom's house.
Then we went over for Christmas day festivities at Grandma/Grandpa’s house (Paprika slept through this, so Mr. Mustard and my mom took turns going back to my mom's house to be there while Paprika napped). Over at their house, we opened more presents and had a wonderful Christmas dinner.
That night my mom and Eric babysat while Mr. Mustard, Robbie, and I went to see the movie "National Treasure."

Wednesday, December 26
Mom took me to her art studio downtown while Mr. Mustard, Paprika and Robbie visited with my grandparents.
That afternoon we went to my aunt Jane's condo to have the Ashmore Family Christmas celebration. All the Ashmores were there- it was great seeing everyone and catching up! My Aunt Jane made a great Christmas dinner and Paprika got lots of presents. We had a wonderful time talking to everyone and hearing about all my cousins' college plans.
Mom and I went out shopping that night at Keystone at the Crossing to take advantage of the after Christmas sales.

Thursday, December 27
Mr. Mustard, Paprika, Robbie and I spent the day with my dad and Aunt Jane at the Indianapolis Children's Museum. It was packed! Paprika had a lot of fun and especially loved the dinosaur exhibit.
That night my mom and Eric babysat Paprika while Mr. Mustard, Robbie and I went to see "I Am Legend."

Friday, December 28
We spent the day relaxing. My mom, Robbie, and Eric left for Florida in the afternoon. Ann came down that night, and we had a girl's night out at Bazbeaux's and Borders.

Saturday, December 29
Had lunch at my grandma and grandpa's house with my dad, Mr. Mustard, and Paprika. My grandma made lasagne (yum!). We had a great time hanging out and spending time together.
That night, Ann came down from Lafayette again and we had another girls' night out- this time dinner at Union Jack's and shopping at Keystone at the Crossing.

Sunday, December 30
My dad and his fiancee, Nancy, came over for a visit in the afternoon and we got to see Nancy's new engagement ring.
That night we had a wonderful dinner at Laura and Kevin's house. It was great spending time with them and getting to see Caroline and Stephanie one last time before we left.

Monday, December 31st
Left for the airport at 4:30am after getting Paprika to sleep at 2:45 am. We had to wake her up, and she was not happy! Two flights and one lay-over later, we landed back in Los Angeles. All things considered, Paprika is an excellent traveller. Even with no sleep, she was wonderful on the plane. We got home, threw down our bags, and all laid down for a 5 hour nap in our own beds. What a treat!

Despite Paprika not sleeping much on our vacation, we had a wonderful time. It was so great seeing everyone and getting to spend Christmas with the Becker, Spinks, Ashmore, Kohls, and McPherson families!