Happy birthday Jesus and Andrew

It's my favorite holiday, Christmas. But this year is making me rethink that. I mean, it's the time of year when we spend a crazy amount of money on gifts. It's the only time of year that I have to drag boxes and boxes of decor, lights and a tree from the attic to get those unboxed and setup, then reverse that process when everything is over. It's a pain. The house is a mess after the carnage of opening multiple gifts which the kids may or may not have deserved. As a kid, this is hands down the greatest holiday ever. But as a parent, it kind of sucks.

We were talking with Jacob regarding Christmas and here's a little excerpt of our conversation:

What is Christmas? What is Christmas about?
Presents.
Okay, anything else?
Lights.
Is it someone's birthday?
Yeah, Andrew's.
No, his is the day after Christmas. Who's birthday is on Christmas?
Chúa! (God)

I was not about to let a fat, bearded overweight man in a red velour suit take credit for their gifts.

How did the presents get there (under the tree)?
I don't know.
Santa?
No...
Magic?
Yeah, magic.
No. We got you those presents for being good.

I'm not sure if this is bad parenting but I was not about to let a fat, bearded overweight man in a red velour suit take credit for their gifts.

Our overloaded gingerbread house.

Our Christmas tradition usually starts with mass on Christmas eve followed by going to my in-laws for the night. We didn't attend mass since Andrew was running a fever of 102F. I loaded him with medication and let him rest up for the pending chaos at his great grandma's house. The boys, as usual, were showered with gifts. The adults played White Elephant and we came away with a Macy's gift card. Not bad at all.

Baby Ty in his chair Christmas morning.

Christmas morning the boys opened more gifts and we (the parents) got to open ours. Our house is now filled with Hot Wheels tracks, anything Cars 2 and Angry Birds. And keeping with our tradition, we went out to eat with my parents to an Asian restaurant (Kim Son this year) since it's the only thing open during Christmas day. Damn Asian slave drivers. Our meal was delicious but the MSG-ladened food made me feel lethargic and shitty for the rest of the day. Kim Son (along with Luby's and Taco Cabana) is now going on my ban list.

Made exactly how he wanted: a chocolate cake with blue frosting that's Cars 2.

The day after Christmas was Andrew's birthday. Days before we had let him decide on where he wanted to go and he chose the Houston Museum of Natural Science at Sugarland. He's been there before knowing that it had more dinosaurs and its own frog exhibit. He was still feverish and a little out of it but was still having fun. By the time we got home, the little man crashed. Our intention was to maybe go eat dinner and/or do Chuck E Cheese but Andrew was in no shape to do either. He had very little energy or appetite and his birthday sadly ended. First baby Ty was sick, then it was Jacob and now it's Andrew. If it's not one kid it's the other.

How he spent most of his birthday.