Christmas 2

On December 23rd, my friend from college, who now lives in TN came for a visit. She's back in SD for a few weeks and she and her husband drove down for the day to hang out with us. We met at Fazoli's (Kaelyn's favorite) and she showed them what kind of damage she can do on breadsticks...she ate four. They came back here and I put Kaelyn down for nap, during which she sang and counted and carried on. She never did fall asleep. When she got up, she warmed up to Stana, my friend, and had herself a new buddy! It was nice, I just sat and watched most of the time. :) Kaelyn is still really shy so the fact that she warmed up to Stana and played with her long and hard was really good. She even asked about her the next day.

My husband's dad had knee replacement surgery the weekend we had our first Christmas of the year with my family. That meant he wasn't up for much traveling and he wasn't up for much company actually ON Christmas. But we went down to their house on Christmas Eve, just for the day, to visit and spend a little time there. Kaelyn was REALLY good and we had fun. She napped really well and played with all of their stuff and the few things we brought with us. She even ate well so it was a nice day. We got home in time to plop her in bed for the night.

As we drove home that night, I told my husband I thought this Christmas was going to be the first Christmas EVER that I had been in my own home actually ON the day of Christmas. The more I thought about it, the more I think that's really true! Growing up, we always went to my grandparents house and were there Christmas Eve and Day. By the time that stopped and I would go to my parents house, I wasn't living at home anymore. So this year, I was actually in the house that I live in ON Christmas.

I always said before that I didn't care if we were home on Christmas. I just wanted to work out whatever was best for all of the families involved so both sides can get together whenever works. After being at home on Christmas, though, I may change my mind. It was SO nice and peaceful and relaxing and just all around enjoyable.

We weren't really planning on opening presents right away when Kaelyn got up, but I had brought them down from the closet I had been hiding them in. She saw them. Presents again! Presents again! She said until Sean went to get a shirt over his undershirt since we'd be taking pictures. By the time he got back, she had half of one open that wasn't even for her.

Again, she enjoyed the things she got, but mostly, she just wanted to open things. She was just as impressed with the shirts and posters we got him and the calendar and shirt he got me as she was all her cool things. She got a train, which she likes to have run into her face, an Elmo house toy, some Elmo books (with her name in them!) and DVDs. We saved her last present for after her nap.

Christmas was on Sunday we got ready and went to church after the present session. We managed to get Kaelyn to wear her Christmas dress again and we were ready early enough we could take pictures as a family. Kaelyn LOVES taking pictures. "Cheese again," she'd say. We were almost late to church. :)

When we got home, we had a quick lunch and Kaelyn has some Christmas custard. Her face was a mess. After that...she wanted to take more pictures. So we have a lot of REALLY cute pictures of her and of us, but her face is just a mess! Oh well, tis the season!

While she napped that afternoon, Sean and I watched The Christmas Story. We watched Elf the next day. It was just an all around relaxing, nice weekend. When she got up, we gave her her final present. A trampoline! Which she calls her bounce house. She spent quite a bit of time bouncing on it and throwing herself off and to the ground. Hopefully it will keep her entertained if we get snowed in this winter sometime.

I have to admit, I always thought holidays would be MORE fun with a child. The last two years, that has not been the case. When Kaelyn was a baby, she didn't sleep well and I never felt like I was "with it" because of that. Plus, with her nursing, etc I missed a lot. Last year, she was pretty sick around Christmas and it wasn't really much fun either. This year, though, it has actually been a lot more fun having a kid around. The wonder and joy of opening presents...the way she randomly says "baby Jesus!"...and seeing all the "pretty lights" around our house and out in the other neighborhoods. It's much more fun this year and I can't wait for the next two Christmases with Sean's side of the family...coming New Year's weekend!