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I've never seen such dark circles under Sawyer's eyes until tonight. Both kids need about two days of really good sleep to recover.

The lack of sleep is a sure sign we were having good fun. Our gift this Christmas was a visit to DC. We got to spend nearly a week with my parents and my Aunt Bobby. The kids settled right in to their old routines. Sawyer watched Polar Express on the tv in "his room" about 14 times. I'm pretty sure that was the highlight of the entire vacation. Arden ate her way through the house. We played T-ball on the tennis courts across the street from the house. We shoveled two feet of snow out of the street, no wait, THE STREET! I never realized that the state doesn't plow my parents' street and we had to make room for cars to park for the 35th annual Armstrong Christmas Eve.

We seemed to spend a lot of time fighting traffic and going to the mall. Don't laugh, but IT WAS COLD! I took the kids sledding once across the street but we never made it to see friends or sightsee. Scott and I went to see a movie together, (2012. Avatar was sold out). But for the most part we just hunkered down and enjoyed some quiet time together with family. My mother spent the entire week doing dishes. Next year, I'm proposing she take a break and that they come visit us for a change.

The thing about traveling—it's hard to stop the fun for nap time. Trying to cram as much time in as possible, the kids stay up way past their bedtimes and sleep at odd hours during the day. One thing I discovered about myself after becoming a mother is that I believe in rigid sleep schedules. I've read only three parenting books: Healthiest Baby on the Block for dealing with newborns, 123 Magic for discipline and Heathy Sleep Habit Happy Child, which is basically my Bible for all things sleep. I'm pretty lax when it comes to everything else — food in the hair, kids balancing on tall objects, toys everywhere — but I'm a stickler about sleep. Theirs, not mine. I stay up WAY past my bedtime every night.

Traveling for Christmas when you have kids is hard in other ways too. Santa this year had to be very conservative in what he gave because it all had to be shipped twice. I look at pictures of other families with kids who have presents up to their ears, and I feel like we shorted our kids of the wide eyed thrill of abundance this year. But, fortunately they are young and the bar is low. There are many Christmases to come. I'm looking forward to spending next Christmas here with family from both coasts.

Looking forward to New Years with Sarah and Dara.