firsts

 little c's first christmas could not have been more incredible. sleeping on the ride up to my grandparents' house, he was wide awake and happy upon arrival. we no more than stepped through the door before he was swept away by his great aunts and cousins, not to come back to my arms for two hours! he received many sweet and thoughtful gifts, and greeted everyone who held him with smiles and coos. only after deciding he was hungry did he begin his squirming dance and i took him into the bedroom to steal a quiet moment and feed him. once fed and happy, back in the arms of my family he went. i could not have been more impressed with how mellow he was and how easily he moved from arms to arms without a peep. after being spoiled at his great grammy and great grampy's, we packed are huge haul into the back of the truck and jetted up the road to his grammy and grampy's for more presents and fun. again, he happily sat with my mom and dad without more than a few coos and squeaks before leaving grampy with a lap-full of poopy diaper. e took him in the bedroom to change him and behold! a major blowout! i had originally had him in a sweet striped sweater one piece with an elfie-style hood.. which was discarded and swapped for our back-up pj's. my nana & grampy jim arrived a little later and the present opening began again. by this point, both e & c were christmas'd out, dozing quietly in the corner chair of my parents' warm living room. once the gifts were exchanged and gushed over (yes, much gushing was to happen the whole day through), we all gathered around the dinner table to enjoy prime rib, mashed potatoes, rolls, corn and peas with a desert of gingerbread. once we ate our fill, we bid adieu to my family and made the drowsy trip home where e entertained friends and i fell fast asleep.

the next morning we traveled a shorter distance to e's parents' house where we met up with his sister j, brother-in-law a, and niece little bits. this would be the first time they (other than auntie j, who was at the hospital for c's birth) would be meeting! little bits was meeting her cousin 'kay-bet' for the first time and i could not have grinned more at her excitement over the baby. it was so wonderful to see them, and we gathered around pop in the living room while he handed out many goodies to spoil us all yet again. after i fed little c, and little bits took a spin in her sled in the winter snow, we got a great brunch time treat of breakfast sandwiches that anyone would be jealous over. with a winter blizzard brewing, we had to sadly say our goodbyes to auntie j, uncle a, and cousin little bits as they made the long journey home to beat the snow. shortly after, we, too, trekked the short drive home where we finally unloaded all of our christmas loot and i began the task of sorting it and putting it in proper places.

today we woke to the promised blizzard and the wall of snow in our driveway. e's work did not open until late, so he woke me with a delicious breakfast that we enjoyed in bed with our wee wren dozing between us. now it's back to business as usual as i sort through the laundry, new baby clothes, new towels and bedding, and decide where the remainder of our christmas lovelies will live. when i look at all we came home with, i cannot help but send out waves of great thanks for our loving families and friends. we were not able to treat everyone to as much as we would have liked to this year, but next year we are going to try to make up for a tight 2010.