Christmas 2013

This year we had a nice, low key Christmas at home. We celebrated with both sets of grandparents which was great for the kids. Talk about getting spoiled. Bobby and Pa hosted dinner and a gift exchange at their house on Monday night. Tuesday evening we went to mass with grandma and Papa. After the kids went to bed, all of us adults were like elves running around the house wrapping gifts and putting toys together. As usual I could hardly sleep that night due to the anticipation of the next morning. I was up before everyone else and eagerly waited for Jackson to wake up so we could go downstairs to get the party started. He woke up and went the bathroom as normal but then went back and laid down in his bed. I could hardly believe it. I finally started making noise on purpose and then I finally heard him call my name. The very best part of the entire holiday is seeing the look on his face when he sees the presents under the tree. We took our time opening gifts and just lounged around the house watching Christmas movies. Toby and his mom prepared a delicious prime rib dinner. This meal has sort of become a Christmas tradition for us. The rest of the evening we laid around and enjoyed a cozy fire. It was such a fun and truly relaxing few days spent with loved ones. I like to think that we are making beautiful memories for our children.

Opening some presents at Bobby and Pa's house...

Ready for Christmas Mass...

Time for bed so Santa can come

Picking out cookies for Santa...



Elves hard at work...

Ready for Christmas morning

Jackson got the "shooter gun" that he asked for

 

 





Emily was eating the cookie crumbs that Santa had left behind

Tis the Season...

Christmas time is so much fun, especially with little ones. I tried to soak it all in and partake in as many festive activities as possible. Some of the yearly traditions include a trip to the mall to visit Santa and baking Christmas cookies. As well thought out as going to see Santa was, it certainly did not go as planned. We timed it right after Emily's long morning nap, got the kids dressed up, and headed to the mall. Jackson and I had been talking about going to see Santa for several days beforehand. On the way to the mall, he talked about it excitedly with Bobby and Pa. We arrived and were surprised to find that the line was very short. It was finally our turn. Toby was carrying Emily towards Santa while I was getting the camera cued up. I thought Jackson was right behind me. I turned around to find him standing stubbornly, holding on to the railing at the front of the line. He refused to come see Santa. We finally got him to come sit with us when Santa hid behind the chair. We then decided to tell Santa to come out thinking Jackson would be over whatever was bothering him. We were certainly wrong. He refused to talk to him and as we were walking away he threw a huge tantrum. As a side note, Emily was pretty much crying the whole time too. It was all a huge disaster! Needless to say, I did not get my Santa picture this year. Oh well! That was the only low point we experienced. One extremely high point was watching Jackson in his Christmas program at his preschool. Jackson and his classmates sang several songs. He did such an excellent job. We had been practicing and singing them around the house for weeks before. They also spent a lot of time rehearsing at school. We were oh so proud of him and his performance. Another fun memory was going with Jackson and some of his preschool buddies (from his class last year) and their moms to buy gifts for a few children off the angel tree. It is nice to be able to start teaching Jackson the real meaning of Christmas! I'm not sure if he really understood what we were doing but it doesn't hurt to start teaching him anyway. Here are a few of the highlights...

In line waiting to see Santa....

Goofing off with Pa!

Rolling out the cookies

Cutting them out

Putting them on the cookie sheet

Before his Christmas program

Jackson performing with his class

Our little angel

Jackson with Pa after the show

Our best attempt at a photo of Bobby and Pa with the grandchildren

 

 

 

One year check up!

Yesterday morning Emily had her one year old well visit. Conveniently her eye started acting up again on Saturday, so the MD was able to see what it has looked like lately. As we were expecting, we got a referral to the eye doctor to have this clogged tear duct issue evaluated. Most likely she will have a procedure to dialate the tear ducts. Our appointment with the eye doctor is next Tuesday so we will have more details then. Other than that the doctor says she looks great. She has definitely become increasingly difficult to take the doctor, as she now hates being examined and reacts more to the shots. She received three yesterday, one in each arm and one in the leg. Poor baby :( We now have Emily on full whole milk feedings morning, afternoon, and before bed. We are working on cutting out the bottle completely. She still prefers the milk from a bottle.

Her stats were as follows:

Weight: 19 lb 4.5 o z (42%)
Height: 29 inches (44%)
Head: 17.9 inches (64%)

Emily's first birthday party

We celebrated Emily turning one with a party here at the house. We ended up having about 24 people, not counting our family of 4. It was pretty much our close circle of friends and their kids along with Uncle Bob and the Gladdens. So basically all of the kids that attended the party were Jackson's friends! I was a bit worried about Emily getting overwhelmed like Jackson did at his first birthday party, but she didn't at all! She just crawled around the house the whole time watching the chaos around her. And chaos, it most certainly was! Out of the 24 guests, 11 were young kids. It was cold out so we were confined to the indoors. You can just imagine what that was like. It all went really well and a good time was had by all. We served up hearty appetizers and drinks. Amber made Emily the most adorable smash cake that was in the shape of a HUGE cupcake. Emily didn't dig into it like I thought she would. She was vey dainty about the whole thing. In fact, she made much more of a mess out of her tiny one bite cupcake that we gave her on her actual birthday. Some pics to enjoy....

Cousin Hug

Party décor...

This banner has a photo of Emily from each month of her first year

 

Crawling around the house, during the party, in her tutu that we made for her

 

Party chaos...

 

 

Ready for cake...

 

 

 

Some of the kids eating their cupcakes

Opening a gift, the next day, from the Gladdens

All the kids decided to help