Taking the Scenic Route

My folks, and most likely our immediate family, are going to delay Christmas until after the New Year this year.  Between this unpredictable pregnancy and the load on my SIL, brother and mom from their shop, everybody would spend the day tired and stressed.  We all would enjoy it a lot more in January.  Plus, that way nobody is doing frantic re-arranging if I go into labor or suddenly end up in the hospital over the actual holiday.  It isn’t the first year, or the first generation that has done that in my family.  My mom’s sister and BIL ran a sporting shoe business and lived out of state, and her brother worked for the airlines, also out of state.  Both are not conducive to a Dec 25 celebration.  From the late 80s until I had Zane, I never had a Christmas/Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve/Day off work because “I didn’t have a family”    So, the ‘actual’ day is not all that sacred to us around here…the season is, but not the specific day.  Having it later has been a common way of making it more enjoyable for the family as a whole and seems to be a good solution for us this year under the circumstances.  It was kind of a relief to decide that.  I didn’t even have to suggest it, so it is especially nice not to feel like like I am screwing up the holiday because of my pregnancy. 

If we wait until January there is more chance I will actually be able to shop for Zane too.  Now he only has one Christmas gift. 

We aren’t going to move Zane’s birthday celebration, even if we end up celebrating it in the hospital.  We just need to remember to pack the gift in our suitcase and mom said she would pick up some cupcakes and balloons at Dillons to celebrate.  I am guessing the nurses won’t mind us leaving them some cupcakes at the nurse’s station.  It will help demonstrate to Zane that he is just as important, even with a new baby.  Plus, a kid’s birthday should be celebrated on the day.  Even if he isn’t aware of the date, when he looks back and realizes his sister’s birthday is the day before (if it is) and he didn’t celebrate his for a while, he is going to know we moved it.  I don’t want that to happen.