Monday, December 28, 2009

Have Yourself a Merry Little

It's hard to believe our first Christmas as a family has come and gone already.  We had a fantastic time, with minimal stress.  I'm glad Shaun convinced me to not go anywhere on Christmas day.  I feel bad that not everyone got to see us, but this is life with a (nearly) 6 month old.

We started our festivities on Christmas eve with my dad's family.  I look forward to this gathering every year; nothing signals the start of Christmas like cheese fondue and COOKIES.  Kayla was completely spoiled; Shaun and I were as well.  When we got home, it was into our PJ's and we read "The Night Before Christmas" before saying goodnight. 



Christmas morning found us up and unwrapping gifts early.  Kayla pulled each item from her stocking and eyed it before casting it aside for the next one.  She's a great gift unwrapper too, pulling on the paper and putting it straight into her mouth over and over again.  Too sweet.  After all the gifts from Santa were unwrapped, we had breakfast with Shaun's parents.  After the rest of his family came for a visit, we relaxed for a bit and waited for my mom and sister to arrive.  They spent a few hours with us, and my mom got to give Kayla her cereal and a few bites of applesauce. 












**I feel as though I must digress here to tell the applesauce stories.  I can tell that Kayla is loving her solids, although I put veggies on hold while I wait for my baby food mill to arrive.  I picked up some all natural applesauce at the store to try in the mean time.  I tried giving her a few bites but she didn't seem crazy about it.  And by not crazy, I mean she swallowed it and proceeded to have one of those full body shudders accompanied by her best bitter beer face.  She didn't refuse it, but each bite got the same reaction.  So I stopped feeding it to her rather than continue to torture her.  My mom tried it as well, since she still seemed to want more after her cereal, but it got the same reaction, so once again we stopped feeding it to her.  That's the applesauce saga in a nutshell.**

The day after Christmas we went up to visit with Shaun's grandmother at the nursing home.  It was nice to see her and I'm glad she got to meet Kayla.  It was nice to see her smile and be smiled at in return.  We had coffee and cookies and chatted with family we don't see often for a while.  That evening we hosted my dad, stepmom and sister for dinner.  We had munchies and chatted while Kayla napped, and then she woke up and stole the show.  :-)  After checking out her new rocking horse, we strapped her in her high chair so everyone could get a shot at giving her a few spoonfuls of cereal.  After that, I broke out the bannanas for her to try.  Thank Gerber, those got the same initial reaction as applesauce.  I don't think she dislikes the taste though becasue she never once spit any out or refused the spoon.  Eventually she seemed to get used to the texture and the shudders went away. 



Sunday we went to Shaun's parents' house for lunch and a little football watching.  I even caught a short nap on the couch while Kayla played with Grandma. 

I've put a few things away, but somehow our living room still looks like Christmas exploded in it.  We need to find/order a toybox for all of Kayla's stuff.  Or perhaps we'll set the Pack N Play back up and just toss it all in there; we could easily fill it I think.  I'm pleased to report that all of her gifts are a hit though; consider this my preliminary thank you until I can get thank you notes in the mail. 

All in all, we had a wonderful holiday filled with fun, family and love.  Who could ask for more than that?

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