The holidays

Our Anniversary is always kind of shoved to the side because it is 6 days before Christmas. We are both ok with that because we rejoice and celebrate in our love everyday so we would probably not make a big deal out of it if it was any other time of the year anyway.

First visit with Santa!

This year we ordered take out and had a pajama picnic in the living room with Emily. It was fun and easy and completely us.

James and I were really excited about Christmas this year because we have Emily now. Of course she had no idea what was going on but it was really fun buying her gifts. The week before Christmas we took her to the mall to see Santa. Luckily she slept through most of the 45min wait. I thought it was a great success because she did not spit up on Santa.








I made picture Christmas cards this year. It is the first year I did picture ones. James and I don't really take pictures of ourselves so I never had any to use in previous years. I got a really cute Christmas dress for only $5 (score!) and Emily looked so cute in it. It was really hard to put on her though. Once I got the thing on and was walking down the stairs she spit up all over it. I wiped it off and decided to continue with the picture taking. The problem with taking staged photos of Emily at that age was that she could not sit up unsupported yet. (She still cant totally but is getting better. So even though I put her under the tree you could not tell if I zoomed in enough to get her face. I found the best way to get a picture was to put her in the middle of her boppy. I put a white blanket over the boppy to make a good background  The second issue I found was that she had just entered the chewing the hand phase. She also likes to suddenly move so I have tons of awesome smiley pictures where she is blurry. Slider was way better at posing so he earned a spot on the card :)

James had to work on Christmas eve so Emily and I hung around the house and cleaned bathrooms. Yep sounds exciting. Once daddy got home we had dinner (nothing fancy), watched some Christmas movies and then went to church. On the way home we drove through the neighborhoods and looked at Christmas lights. It was uneventful and wonderful at the same time. Sometimes keeping it simple is the best way to go.

Christmas morning was fun. Daddy fed Emily while Mommy opened everyone presents. We kept it small and only got her a few things she needed. We also told Santa that he did not have to go very big either so he got her a Sophie giraffe. Then we made breakfast and lazed around the house the rest of the day.

Em in her jumperoo from Nana and Grandpa. She loves it but is still a little short :)

My parents and sisters arrived the next day. James had to work. That left me making Christmas dinner alone while entertaining a baby. I hosted Thanksgiving this year but I had help cooking from my mother in law and my friend Molly. So this was the first time I did it on my own. I had to adjust the timing several times because  my parents ended up driving through a blizzard. But everything turned out well and it did not take that much longer for them to get here.

All in all I think it was a great first Christmas for Emily and I look forward to even better ones as the years go on :)