Christmas Eve 2011

Per usual, my family had dinner at GW Fin’s on Christmas Eve night. It was a smaller group this year since none of my out-of-town family were with us. We still had a good time, although I love when we’re a big group taking up multiple tables. That will be next year!

Nola made the reservation for 5pm, right when they opened, so Riley’s schedule wouldn’t be too thrown off. He was a totally different kid in that restaurant this year as compared to last. I don’t think Kenny or I stopped to breathe once, but QP and Nopsi did take the boy off for “distract walks” a few times, which helped lots.

Another long table was set up next to ours, and the people sitting there just happened to have a little girl in their party. The two highchairs were back-to-back and the kiddos kept turning around to check each other out. I tried to tell Riley she was an older woman, but he apparently didn’t care and kept throwing his spoons at her. Good times.

We also discovered early on that Riley-bean loves the GW Fin’s biscuits just as much as his mama does…..

Whatcha got there, Daddy?

I’d love some of it, please. Thanks!

Hold on while I get all of the crumbs off of my face and into my mouth. That stuff sure is yummy!

Time out while I make a "phone call.”

Thanks for carrying me over to this end of the table, QP. Surely there are more biscuits down here….look, I think I see one!

Mmmmm, delicious bite, Nopsi. Much appreciated.

Riley did much better the previous day at lunch (which I attributed to the difference in time), but he ultimately was very well-behaved during dinner. He made his way around the table and spent some time with just about everyone; however, he got really squirmy and fussy once it was past his normal bedtime. So I let him have his paci and he did really well the rest of the night.

 

   

Once we were back home, we gave the boy a super fast bath and then it was into bed for him so Santa could come. The elves sure were busy downstairs once he was asleep, preparing things for Christmas morning. Oh, and watching A Christmas Story, of course.

We finished up fairly quickly and then settled down ourselves in preparation for the big day. I remember getting SO excited for Christmas morning as a kid, and I’m so glad to have a reason to be excited again. Seeing Riley’s reaction the next morning, even though he really doesn’t know what the day is all about yet, was just so much fun.

Christmas Day recap coming up tomorrow!