The Muppets Christmas Spectacular

I am sitting amidst the mountains of wrapping-paper wreckage in the living room. The laughter has finally died down. This has been a holiday for the history books – new chapters and new memories.

The muppets woke up at 8 a.m. and I was all too eager to scoop them up. SANTA CAME! Merry Christmas!!! And with two smiling little ones and a belly laugh spurred by Dad, the holiday was off and running.

Aunt Ivy and her parents arrived for a Christmas morning breakfast. Grammy and Poppy’s grandchildren are older, and they live in Texas and Florida. So they were eager to come over and borrow Ivy’s nephews this morning. With the muppets secured in their big boy high chairs, we enjoyed an amazing breakfast feast.

In the excitement, there was no morning nap. And the celebration was just getting started.

GrammaJ and GramaTavo arrived shortly thereafter. They pulled up alongside our house in the pouring rain. (There is no white Christmas here in these parts, but Mother Nature was darn sure it was going to be a wet one…) They unloaded the car; our Christmas tree threw up. My parents have fully embraced the role of grandparent…

When the muppets woke up from their afternoon nap, we were ready to see what Santa (and grandparents) had brought. Search sported his “Baby’s First Christmas” shirt and later his fuzzy gingerbread man outfit. Destroy was chilling in a onesie proclaiming, “All Mommy wants for Christmas is a Silent Night.”

Search and Destroy were blissfully snuggled up with GrammaJ and GrampaTavo as Jon and I looked in vain for the floor of our living room. Last Christmas, we gave GrammaJ the book, “Chicken Soup for the Grandmother’s Soul.” Surprise, we’re having a baby! This Christmas, we’ve come full circle and they weren’t about to let go of their “cutie pies.”

What a year.

The muppets were actually far more interested in the unwrapping activities than I had anticipated. Search even helped open several of the presents, grapping at the wrapping and tearing it away. Granted, he was likely thinking he wanted something new to gnaw on, but I like my version better. Two hours later we had made a respectable dent in the piles of glittering generosity. The muppets were still content in their grandparents’ arms, but with a noticeable fog surrounding their rosy-cheeked, chubby, cherubic faces. They were seriously zoned out – the excitement and stimulation completely overwhelmed and exhausted them.

We are now the proud owners of all toys made for children six months old. Every. Single. One.

Then the muppets passed out.

This morning we once again awoke with a clatter. Christmas Part II! Today, Aunt Steph and Uncle Paul arrived. And Aunt Ivy, Uncle Jeffrey and Grampa Gary and Celia visited in the afternoon for a big fancy Christmas dinner. I was over-the-moon; I got to use our wedding china. Christmas celebrations are my “thing.” (And I want my traditions.)

Major muppet meltdown.

Apparently, the boys love this season as much as I do. The change in routine, all the attention and the empty lull you feel when the main event is through caught up with Search. He wouldn’t sleep; he wouldn’t cuddle. He just screamed. And screamed. And screamed.

Dinner, otherwise, went off without a hitch. (The china looked great.) Search finally calmed down. (He pooped. That helped.) And now he’s out cold. Destroy, on the other hand, is screaming.

Tomorrow, I’m looking forward to the return to our nice, dull daily routine. I have a feeling this isn’t the last we’ll see of holiday meltdowns caused by over-exertion (by any one of our family of four…) After all, we do have two twin boys.

Greatest. Christmas. Ever.