Merry Christmas!!

The original plan for celebrating Christmas this year had been that my family would come up (all 14 of them) on the 23rd or 24th to celebrate at our house, and then we'd celebrate with Paul's family on the 25th at his parents' house. Since Ian came prior to Christmas, my family switched to celebrating at my parents' house. It was really hard for me to know my whole family was together, and we weren't able to be with them, especially because it could be years before we're all together again. Also, they represent 2/3 of my Christmas shopping, and for me a big part of the joy of buying gifts for others is watching them open their presents. So I was also bummed to miss out on that. My mother had taken down most of our gifts last week, and when they come up to meet Ian they'll take the rest back.

The plans changed even more because of the weather forecast. My parents and brother were going to come up today, and Paul's family was going to come up yesterday. Due to a forecast of freezing rain for Christmas Day, it seemed better for Paul's family to come up today and my parents to come up Sunday or Monday. Yesterday Paul, Nadia, and I had exchanged gifts around 6:30am before we knew that the plans were changing. I got a ruby ring, Nadia got a dollhouse, and Paul got a NY Giants beach towel, picture frame, piggy bank (for Ian), and three NY Giants hats (one for him, a toddler sized one for Nadia, and an infant sized one for Ian). I was wishing I had the ingredients to make cookies or brownies or something. It didn't really seem like Christmas yesterday. I made pancakes for Nadia & I for lunch and baked swiss chicken & pierogies for Paul & I for dinner. It was the first cooking I had done in 2 weeks. Gradually I am getting back to resuming all my usual household duties.

Today DID feel like Christmas. After I fed Ian and Paul put Nadia down for her morning nap, I went to Walmart for a few items for myself and Ian. I was nervous that it would be really crowded, but it wasn't too bad (of course I wasn't anywhere near the Christmas section of the store). I got Ian some preemie size diapers and clothes and a sleep positioner. Unfortunately he's not keen on the positioner so that will be going back to Walmart. I've been letting him sleep in the Boppy in his crib, but I know that's not intended for sleeping. I bought him 2 articles of clothing that were newborn size (since they didn't have them in preemie size) - a Christmas sleeper ($3.50) and a Christmas onesie ($1.50). That was one advantage of celebrating Christmas a day late - I got them on sale!

When I got home, Paul's parents and our nephew, Shawn, were here. Paul, Shawn, and Pop Pop were working on assembling Nadia's new kitchen. She loves it! She can't reach the things on the top half of it, so it will be something that will continually seem "new" as she grows taller. Millie, Al, and Paul's grandmother came a couple of hours later. Paul's mom had prepared a delicious meal and brought it with her. We had ham (my favorite meat). YUM! After dinner we had our gift exchange. Nadia & Ian made out like bandits! Ian received a cradle swing and some preemie and newborn size clothing. In addition to the kitchen, Nadia got a beanbag chair (looks like a baseball) and many toys and stuffed animals. It was so much fun to watch her face light up. I wish I had captured some of those moments on camera. I am hoping Uncle Al did and that he can share a few photos with me. For example, she squealed and had a look of sheer delight on her face when she opened up a package that contained a guinea pig (stuffed animal). It was priceless. Last year she was too young to enjoy opening presents, but she definitely had a blast this year! After eating dessert and playing with Shawn's Wii, Paul and his dad assembled Ian's swing. Everyone had cleaned up the kitchen. Dinner may have been served at my house, but I didn't do a lick of work in preparing, serving, or cleaning up afterward. It was so kind of everyone!! Even though I didn't help with the meal, I was utterly exhausted by the end of the day because I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before and didn't get any naps.

Yesterday I was feeling rather "blue" over the fact that we missed out on my family's Christmas celebration and that I missed out on the special services at church - our cantata on the 20th, the Christmas Eve service, etc. I am sure that the hormonal shifts going on in my body contributed to my emotional state yesterday. I kept trying to remind myself #1 of what the real meaning of Christmas is (it isn't getting together with family, watching people open their presents, or eating certain foods) and #2 that this was a very special Christmas because it's our first as a family of four! I remember how hard Christmas was for so many years when we were childless. I am so grateful that God has blessed us with two beautiful children. What more could I ask for?

The four photos above were taken today with Ian wearing his new Christmas sleeper (it says "Santa's Favorite" on it). The first two are with his only Great Grandparent (Paul's dad's mom), the next is with Grandma Kennedy, and the last shows me with my favorite Christmas present!

On Christmas Day, Nadia was playing peekaboo by coming in and out of Ian's closet while I was nursing Ian and Paul was doing some work in Ian's room.

Ian sleeping on the boppy on my lap on Christmas Day.

Nadia wearing her new Giant's hat, just like Daddy's!

I had hoped to get a family of four photo in front of our tree, but Nadia wanted to play with her kitchen and burst into tears when we tried to take the photo. So instead we have a photo showing Paul & I with our favorite Christmas present.

Ian's biggest present. Hopefully he'll enjoy it,
and hopefully Nadia will leave him alone when he's in it.




Nadia showing Great Gram her new teapot. She is wearing TWO hats in this photo - her Christmas hat from last year as well as Aunt Millie's hat.
She left both of them on for quite a while, LOL! :-)


Nadia definitely has learned how to unwrap presents!


Nadia doing three of her favorite things - eating a pretzel, sitting on her Daddy's basketball, and playing with Shawn. She loves playing with other children.