Christmas...finally

A little late, perhaps, but I'm finally getting around to posting about Christmas 2009! It was, of course, Zeke's first Christmas, and as such it was the most meaningful holiday either of us have ever experienced. We attended First United Methodist Church's 5pm child-friendly service, not that we expected Zeke to understand the message, but we figured no one would be too bothered by a baby learning to use his voice in the middle of worship. We like to think he was praising the Lord on his own :)

We went over to Lyda and Andy's house afterward where we got to hang out and hobnob with my side of the family, including my aunt Emily who is now engaged to Rushi! I don't know details yet, and I'm sure they'll let us know as things are finalized, but I do know that they'll be having a wedding celebration (though probably not the legal ceremony itself) in India with Rushi's family.

On Christmas morning we got up early and opened presents at our house. Zeke had several VERY cool toys in his stocking, including a rubber (yes, real rubber) giraffe which he loves because he can jam its legs really far back in his mouth for chomping. I gave Adam a log carrier and a Gorillapod for the camera (I went very practical this year), as well as the first season of 24 and some computer gadgets, and he gave me several small things and a massage! BEST HUSBAND EVER!!! I haven't called the massage therapist yet, but I'm shooting for an MLK Day morning appointment :)

After our own stuff, we went to my parents' house so we could exchange gifts and spend time with Sam and Daniel before they went to Sterling for other Christmas shenanigans. There were several mad bomber hats in the group, Adam now has a fab new overcoat, and I ended up with a stand mixer (hallelujah!) and 12 matching drinking glasses. No more putting out bizarre mismatched pint glasses when we have company!

After Mom and Dad's we went to Adam's parents' house for more Christmas fun. By this point Zeke was starting to get tired and we were getting hungry, too, so we ended up eating a lot of the candy from the stockings. Bad idea; stomachaches ensued. I felt much better, though, when I opened a Kindle and nearly fell off the couch!

We ended up having dinner back at Mom and Dad's house with everyone; the three of us, Ethan, Mom and Dad, Adam's parents, brothers, and grandmother, and a whole bunch of my dad's family. The extended family attendance was a surprise and became a little overwhelming for Zeke after a while, but it was also really nice to spend time with everyone.

The next day (Saturday) we went to Adam's grandparents' house in Pennsylvania to spend time with them and Adam's aunts, uncles, and cousins on his mom's side. Bob and Tina were there from Iowa with their boys, and Jim and Laurie's family was there, too. Zeke LOVED the Christmas bells hanging over one of the doorways and was totally fascinated by watching them ring.

We finally finished the Christmas thing on Monday night at my grandmother's house with all of my dad's sisters and their families. Zeke got lots of fun toys, of course, and we ended up with new dishes (the ones we got as wedding presents have been steadily breaking over the last few months and we don't even have one unbroken set of four anymore).

We are so incredibly blessed on so many levels, not least of which being the beautiful little boy who is currently asleep on the floor wearing an unsnapped onesie and no diaper. I just cannot believe how much I love him and his father; Christmas this year was, without a doubt, a love smorgasbord.

SO BLESSED!!!

We are so incredibly blessed beyond belief! We have a beautiful baby boy who is completely healthy and happy, warm and loving families, secure and fulfilling jobs, a cozy home in an area we love, friends who are always there and, of course, a Savior we'd be nothing without. For some reason I always think more at Christmas about the things for which I'm grateful rather than at Thanksgiving. Maybe it's even more appropriate because the thing for which I'm most thankful is the Gift we remember, sing about, and worship during this time of year.

I read a blog post a few days ago about Santa and whether we, as Christians, should teach our children his myth or historical story. I thought the comments were interesting (and spanned the entire spectrum). Some people thought that if their children found out they had lied about Santa Claus being real, they might not be certain whether they'd lied about God, too. Others planned to go along with the "Santa is real" tack for their kids, either because it's just a fun, harmless story or because they don't want their kids to feel left out when everyone else talks about Santa. Many took a middle road where they would discuss Santa's historical past and identify him more as a spirit of giving than an actual person who delivers presents every year (and, of course, making sure to tell their kids not to rain on anyone else's Santa parade!).

I think we'll probably go with the third way, partly because I don't like the idea of lying to anyone and partly because I'm a little too lazy to put out the extra effort to maintain the Santa illusion :)

Getting ready for Christmas...

This will, of course, be Zeke's first Christmas. Since I already LOVE this time of year I thought it would be hard to make me love it even more, but I was wrong. As Exhibit A, see the feet on Zeke's pants:

Zeke isn't getting a huge ton of presents for us since he'll probably like the paper and bows better, anyway, but I did get him a couple of things. Some clothes, naturally, and also a few toys from Nova Naturals:

Snail Teether

Rainbow Tumbler

Teething Doll

O Christmas Tree...

Adam (farthest), Jack (middle), and Patrick (nearest) taking our tree to the pick-up point

The tree barely fitting into the living room

We finally went to get a Christmas tree yesterday afternoon. We drove up to Sherwood Pines with Adam's parents and his youngest brother, Patrick, and picked out a nice spruce for the living room. It turns out the tree was A LOT bigger than we thought and, despite the VERY high ceiling, we still had to cut off the top to get it to fit :/

Zeke was a little fussy during the trip (I'm sure his nose and chin were cold, and I've always wondered if babies' gums can freeze), but a rousing game of Peek-a-boo with his daddy helped a lot and got the smile back.

Here I'm wearing Zeke in a borrowed GypsyMama (Wrapsody) batik wrap
and a Peekaru vest to keep warm :)