Our Mini Winnie: Christmas 2014

Owen just celebrated his first Christmas and Laney celebrated her second! She still doesn't really get the concept yet, but both she and Owen really enjoyed the Christmas tree, lights, music, and of course the new toys. This year, we were planning on staying in Virginia Beach since Brad didn't have much time off, but he has an injury and can't play, so he was given 10 days off around Christmas. We decided to fly back to Madison and surprise his family!

All of Laney and Owen's gifts from their grandparents and aunts and uncles were sent to Virginia, since no one was expecting us to come home. We decided to open all of them before flying home so we could show everyone pictures of their reactions to the toys. It looked like a toy explosion! These lucky babies had a very good Christmas!

Testing out her new kitchen set

Busy at her picnic table, playing with her dollhouse pieces

Ready to feed her baby in her nursery set

We flew back on Sunday, Dec 21st and the trip was quite eventful. Leaving Norfolk at 7:40am, the plane was overbooked and overweight. The gate agent said that since there were no volunteers to take a later flight, they would have to randomly bump passengers from this flight. The kids had been up since 4:30am and Laney was having a difficult morning (screaming, crying, nose running and tears streaming down her face) when the gate agent said over the loud speaker, "The following passengers, do not board this flight: Winchester, party of 2." Uh oh. There's no way we were going to take a later flight! We went right up to the agent and pointed out the two babies, and I said "We aren't Winchester Party of 2, we're Winchester Party of 4! We cannot take a later flight. I don't have enough formula for my 5-month-old to take a later flight!" (I actually did, but she didn't need to know that.) Brad held screaming Laney into the air and said "You wanna bump THIS?!" (Every time I think about that moment, it makes me laugh.) The agent revised the bump list and didn't repeat our names, so we boarded as quickly as we could in case she changed her mind. It must have taken awhile to kick some passengers off the flight, because we were really late leaving Norfolk. We were crossing our fingers that we'd make up time in the air, because our layover at O'Hare was only 40 minutes long.

About to check in at the Norfolk airport.

Catching up on rest while they can

Pretty excited to be playing with the iPad and watching cartoons

By the time the plane arrived at the gate in Chicago, it was 9:28…our flight to Madison was on time and scheduled to depart at 9:45. We pulled up to gate B22 and needed to run to gate E3 (across the airport! of course!). We ran. Brad was carrying Laney, and I had Owen strapped into a front pack and our big diaper bag slung over my shoulder. We ran past an empty gate and asked the gate agent to call ahead to let our flight know we were running as fast as we could and would be there as soon as possible. She had an attitude and said she'd call, but said "there are other flights leaving for Madison later today so don't kill yourselves trying to get there."What?! Did she see what a circus we were - out of breath, sweating profusely, running with two babies? We finally got to our gate at 9:43 and it was empty. The plane was there, but the jetway was pulled away from the plane and the gate door was closed. Brad ran up to her to see what he could do, and she said "I'm sorry this flight is closed. You'll have to go to customer service and get on a later flight. The next flight at 11:55 is full but you can get on the standby list." I was so angry! I said "But the plane is right there! An agent called ahead for us to let you know we were coming!" She said she never received a phone call…this made me even more unhappy and I started swearing…"This is f$@ing bull$%*^ ! We can't take a later flight! I don't have enough formula for our baby to wait around on standby lists all day!" (The formula excuse worked in Norfolk, so I gave it another shot in Chicago.) There was a restaurant across from our gate full of people watching us, and I felt bad for swearing so loudly in front of children. But we HAD to get on this flight! Then a miracle happened. The gate agent called the pilots, and they pulled the plane back up to the gate. They extended the jetway, opened the gate door, and told us we could get on! People in the restaurant started cheering for us! I shouted to them that I was sorry for swearing, but they didn't care. They were smiling and clapping, and the four of us ran onto the plane. We were sweaty messes and people on the plane looked very annoyed with us, but who cared! We made it!

On our way to Madison

We arrived in Madison, got our bags, and hopped into a cab. We pulled up on the side Brad's parents' house and left our bags outside so we could quickly sneak around to the front door. We crouched down and Brad rang the doorbell. Gary came to the door, saw Brad, and it took a few seconds to register before his jaw dropped open and he opened the door. He was shocked! We went inside and found Elizabeth, Danny and James in the kitchen. They were shocked! Elizabeth teared up, covered her mouth, and kept saying "Whaaat?! Whaaat?!" There were a lot of hugs, and we were wondering where Kristi was. She had just left to go check on Nona and Bumpa's house, so Gary called her to have her come home. All he said on the phone was "We need you back here." She came in through the garage door, saw Laney, and just kept saying (in shock) "No….no….no….oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" Kristi started tearing up as well and then there were more huge hugs! It was the best surprise, and we pulled it off! It was such an exciting day!

The next day at our house, Brad got a Christmas tree, put up Christmas decorations, and hung up Christmas lights outside. He wasted no time getting us into the spirit of Christmas! We spent as much time as possible with the Winchesters and Westermans, and Grandma and Grandpa Dean came to visit on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day, Noni prepared a big brunch and the kids played together all day. Seeing James and Laney play together was adorable! James loves Laney so much - he kept tackling her with bear hugs. They spent a lot of time running around the house and playing and dancing (especially to "The Walker" by Fitz and the Tantrums) in the basement. James also loved sitting down next to Owen and rubbing Owen's bald head, saying "Nice Owen." Elizabeth was 22 weeks pregnant with Baby Boy Westerman, and her little baby bump is as adorable as ever. One of the days we were home, Brad found out we could take the kids ice skating at the LaBahn arena at the Kohl Center. Laney and James had a blast! Laney loved it when Brad held her and skated around the rink as quickly as possible, and James loved it when Brad and Grandpa Gary helped him hit hockey pucks into the net. We made the absolute best of our long vacation at home. It was a wonderful trip and one we'll always remember.

Excited to see each other! This was right after we arrived.