If you try to make everyone happy...

nobody will be happy! That was the huge lesson learned on Elias' first Christmas. It was technically supposed to be a "Begnaud" Christmas which originally was going to be in Houston. Things changed last Spring and it was moved to Lafayette. "Cool!", I thought. Now I can be with my family too on Elias' first Christmas. I hadn't thought about it much until Thanksgiving. Usually Lafayette is the neutral city where we share holiday time. But since it was supposed to be a Begnaud Christmas, it was a little confusing. So, for Christmas Eve, at about noon, we headed over to Ma-Ma's house where Dallas grandmother, Dallas' parents, sister, brother-in-law, and 6 month old niece were. We had our bags packed to spend the night in the 1 bathroom house. That was okay because it is quite fun squeezing into a house for the sake of Christmas cheer. We spent the entire evening and night with the Begnaud fam. In the middle of the night, it was clear it was just way too cold for Elias to be sleeping on the floor, so I moved him on the sleeper sofa mattress with us. Dallas started having acid reflux and ended up the rest of the night on the recliner. Each time I touched Elias' hands, they were like ice cubes. In the morning, we woke up knowing we had to start opening gifts by 8. We finished around 9:45 and quickly bundled up and headed to my parents house where children and adult alike were waiting to open presents. We finished there around 11:45. Crap. We had to be at the next Begnaud event, i.e., lunch, at noon. I quickly got in the shower and we manage to make it there at 1. At this point, Elias' cold had returned, we are guessing from his freezing night before. We eat lunch with Dallas' family. I look at the clock and it is 2:50. My family's get together starts at 3. We head out and eat and hang out with my family until around 6. At this point we head back over to Ma-Ma's to hang out with his family. We decide NOT to spend the night there for Elias' sake. We head back to the Langford's around 8:30, where we put Elias to bed and nearly crash right behind him. And that was how we spent Elias' first Christmas. Not really celebrating or enjoying either family, but in the car most of the day, exhausted. We learned a valuable lesson. When it is one family's turn for the holiday, we spend the entire time with that family. I just wanted Elias' Christmas to be special and it totally sucked. Hopefully, he won't remember it. I hope everyone else had a happy Christmas that was truly enjoyable.