Working Through the Anxiety of the Holiday Season

The holidays are upon us...which means family get togethers, crowded shopping places, freezing weather, breaks from school, and so many other things.
While so many families look forward to this time, I don't exactly dread it, but I do have so much more to consider now. While pregnant with Brycen, I yearned to be able to show him off to extended family which is what we did those first couple years (of course when possible around our work schedules and moving a few hours away). I was proud of my adorable little boy...and of course I am still proud, but I know that "showing" him off is different now.
We have so much to consider with him over these couple months. He gets very overwhelmed with too many people, therefore we will probably never be able to go to my extended family get togethers again and I have to be careful about what stores and when I take him there because of the crowds and time to wait in line that occurs this time of year.
It's also a transition to get him to start wearing warmer clothes and because he is so active and sweats profusely, we can't dress him in sweaters and sweatshirts. He can't tell us when he is too cold, so we need to watch for other signs. This time of year is so common for illness and unfortunately he can't inform us when he doesn't feel well until it actually happens. I'm not even sure if he feels the same uncomfortable sick feelings we do.
The long breaks from school can really throw him off. Even just having the one extra day on a long weekend means he usually puts up a fight to get ready for school on the following Monday. His whole routine is interrupted with the holidays...more traveling, more people around him, different food, eating at different places, away from his toys and familiar environment. We have to take much of this into consideration when deciding whether to stay overnight at family homes anymore. Now that we only live an hour from our parent's homes, that makes this so much easier to just come home to stay the night.
Too many people and too much to do in one day can overwhelm him so much...therefore, we also do not want to plan family Christmas' on the same day. We need to them to be separated so that he can have a break from the pressure of all of it. To us, we love to eat a variety of good food, listen to holiday music, visit with family we don't see very often, open presents and see what each other gave and received...but to him, that is sensory overload.
I have attached a link to the Autism Speaks page that gives tips on how to prepare and get through the holidays.
http://www.autismspeaks.org/inthenews/holiday_tips.php
I don't ever want anyone to think that our lack of participation is because we don't want to be there, but these things are not worth the stress put on him. I do not let his Autism dictate many things such as what food is put in front of him or other things that I just can't think of right now. He is not on a special diet, therefore I expect him to eat the same food we do and what is put in front of him...and hope that someday he will understand to be grateful for that blessing of food.
But I do need to let the Autism dictate the above things because the repercussions that can come from the sensory overload is far too great to even want to imagine. We choose our battles with our children and this is one battle that I choose to try to prevent as much as possible...just hope all will understand the reasons behind our decisions.