Christmas Traditions

At this time last year, Mike and I had just shared our secret with almost everyone... we were expecting! And, all I wanted for Christmas was the little being inside me to develop into a happy and healthy baby.  Now, I have the most gorgeous, healthy and happy (most of the time) baby that I could have ever imagined.

The month proved to be as busy and exhausting as usual.  There were trees to be cut and decorated, cookies to be baked and eaten, birthdays to be celebrated, and presents to be wrapped and opened.  Although Andrew definitely enjoyed the festivities, it was a dizzying pace for Mike and I (especially now that Andrew has reverted to his pre-3 month status of waking at least twice a night).  But, traditions are traditions, and it is important to Mike and I that we introduced Andrew to those traditions from the start, and even started a few new ones.

Tradition #1 - Choosing the "Perfect" tree for Grandma Foster's house.
Mike and Uncle Dave explore fields of trees, scrutinizing every tree for the perfect one.  I've learned that the perfect one is at least 10 feet tall, very full, but not too full, sturdy branches, but not-too-prickly, and definitely not one of the first 10 trees that fit that description.  Andrew got in on the action, blowing raspberries at every tree we considered, until the final choice, which he seemed to approve of by keeping his raspberry to himself.

Andrew and I all bundled up, you never know how long these boys will take!

Saving the tree while the boys make sure there's not a better one

Uncle Dave cutting down the tree

Tradition #2 - Decorating the Perfect Tree
Decorating the tree happens several days after it is cut, in order to allow the branches a chance to fall and settle into place. Then, the magic can begin. Uncle Dave puts on his stilts, the Yule Log DVD goes on, and Grandma Foster gets out her dazzling ornament collection.  For those who are not familiar, Linda works at Pine, Wreath & Candle in Peddler's Village - a year round Christmas store.  So, as you can imagine, she has accumulated an amazing array of ornaments and has the most beautiful trees every year. There is a method to the placement of ornaments.  You start with the big red balls (I'm talking larger than a grapefruit) and fill in any spaces deep in the tree.  Then the Reflectors (Mike's favorite) and all other Shiny Bright ornaments (which I believe there were no less than 10 boxes full).  Dave uses his elongated legs to hang smaller ornaments near the top, Linda and Mom-Mom hang their Memory Ornaments (pictures of the boys, places they've been, etc).  The tree is finished off with delicate icicles.  It is perfection.

Tradition #3 - Cookie Baking
Every year, Gram Elston, Aunt Amanda and I bake Christmas Cookies.  Every year, Gram makes Spritz and Cut-outs (with Amanda and my decorating help).  Every year, Amanda makes chocolate chip cookies.  And every year, I make peanut butter cookies with kisses.  Also every year, Gram and I try to experiment with other cookies, which are generally flops.  The flops this year were the Pepper Cookies (Yucko), and Macaroons (which weren't that bad, just not my fav). However, this year Gram did come up with chocolate truffles - very yummy.

Check out our hands - this cookie led to much joking about what they looked like prior to baking!

Andrew wished he could eat some cookies - next year buddy!!

Tradition #4 - Driving around looking at Christmas Lights
We visited three houses this year and Andrew slept through it all.  Two of the houses are within walking distance, and the other just a short drive up the road.  We didn't get a picture of the last house, but the top one is our new favorite this year!

Tradition #5 - Sitting on Santa's Lap
So, Mike and I anticipated the worst with this one.  We weren't really worried about Andrew's reaction to meeting Santa, because he is not wary of stranger's yet... but we were terrified of the line that we would most likely have to wait in to get even a glimpse of Santa.  We ventured to the mall on Christmas Eve Day, preparing ourselves for Andrew's inevitable meltdown while waiting in line, but as we turned the corner, to our delight there were only two families in line ahead of us! Andrew's first time meeting Santa went beautifully!  He was happy as could be, and except for Mrs. Claus limiting our choice of pictures because her eyes were shut, the picture came out half-way decent!

Other Mall Fun

Other December Festivities:
Grammy's Party
A party was held at Grammy's house for her birthday.  We had a very nice evening celebrating a fabulous woman.  Unfortunately, we forgot our camera and did not get enough pictures of the party.  Just these few from Mike's camera phone.

Mike's Birthday
We headed to Grandma Foster's for Mike's birthday dinner.  The guest list included Mom-Mom, Uncle Dave, Aunt Cyndie, Gram, Grandpa, Aunt Amanda and Mark.  We had a yummy rack of pork for dinner and an overall great time. Andrew loved his Daddy's Birthday balloon, and delighted us all with lots of laughs while Gram bopped him on the head with it!

Christmas Eve at Great Grandmom Palm's
For as long as I can remember, we have gone to Grandmom Palm's house for Christmas Eve.  We do presents and have dinner, baking in her way-too-hot house the whole time.  Again, I forgot my camera, so the quality of pictures is not that great as they came from my phone.

Christmas Morning
Since Santa knew Andrew was pretty oblivious to Christmas this year, he kept the presents under the tree to a minimum.  Andrew opened two picture books, finger puppets, and a Santa rubber duckie!  He was more interested in the wrapping, as was Tulip and Pepe.

Andrew propped up against his presents

Tulip and Pepe get in on the Christmas action

Christmas at the Elstons'
Since Mike and I moved in together in 2007, we have done Christmas morning at my parents.  We had a breakfast of apple french toast, bacon, and mimosas.  Yum!

Thanks Aunt Amanda!!

Play time with Aunt Amanda

Christmas at Grandma Foster's
After breakfast and presents at the Elston's, we head down the road to Church Street Brewery, aka Grandma Foster's house.  We spend the rest of the day here, opening presents, eating, snacking, drinking, eating some more, etc.  This year, Mike orchestrated an elaborate dinner (as if anything else would do), and made Beef Wellington.  It was DELISH!

Andrew modeling his new hat from Grandma

Uncle Warren and Andrew

Andrew in his Christmas shirt... he never did end up wearing his Christmas pants.

 

Family Portrait

Counting our Blessings

I'm sure it's pretty obvious what we are thankful for this year...

Our Little Turkey

It was Thanksgiving day last year, when I found out that we were expecting.  (It was very hard to keep this news a secret all day - especially when I wasn't drinking!)  At the time, Andrew was a microscopic, unimaginable future. Now, a year later, he is a very present, very real, wish come true.  So, this Thanksgiving it is easy to find many things to be grateful for, the most important of which is family.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thankful for Gram

Great Aunt Julie and Grandpa

Great Aunt Laura and Great Uncle Chuck

We are also thankful for yummy Thanksgiving dinner - my favorite meal of the year!

Andrew learned what happens to the turkey!

Andrew checking out the turkey - YUM

Mike making the gravy

Uncle Paul carving the turkey

Other random shots from Turkey Day at the Elston's:

Can you find the second turkey?

Andrew tries fingers

Andrew tries hair

 

Aunt Amanda and I

 

Julie and I

 

We also visited Grandma Foster's House on Thanksgiving.  Grandma had her Christmas trees up in the dining room - gorgeous, as always!

Maia showing off her new ornament - fresh from the tree!

Cousins Ella (2), Brooke (almost 4), and Wendy checking out "Baby Andrew"

Ella was so cute with Andrew

Wendy and Andrew

Little Big Moments

Every new parent knows the big milestones their baby has (or should have) reached.  First smile, first bath, first steps, etc.  I recently read an article that cautioned parents to not miss out on the mini-milestones in their infants fleeting life. These mini-milestones include things such as when the umbilical cord falls off (or in our case when Mike ripped it off), nursing for the final time, or the last night in a crib.

Recently, Andrew had a miserable mini-milestone of his own.  His first cold.  Luckily, so far this has been harder on Mike and I than it seems to be on him.  It seems as if humans are not programmed to automatically HATE when snot drips down our face, or to be embarrassed when snot flies out of your nose when you sneeze.  Nope, Andrew has been (dare I say) delightful through his cold.  He doesn't really mind when we use the aspirator... the gross blue bulb one that every new parent has, nor the fancy schmancy battery operated, music playing aspirator that my roommate from college Allison sent us.  (She works at Graco, so she is up on the latest and greatest gadgets for parents).  This thing collects baby's boogers in a clear vessel, so you can see how much gunk you suctioned out.  Although my original thought was, "Why would parents want to see THAT?" I now kinda get it... I am amazed at all of Andrew's bodily functions, and frequently find myself discussing them like a meteorologist might the weather.  I'm always giving updates on the disasters left behind after thunder rolls in Andrew's belly.  Or, I'm asking how saturated the morning diaper is after a long night's soaking.  The first time Andrew sneezed and a solid booger came out, I had to refrain from taking a picture of it... I know, this is probably pretty disgusting to most, even myself when I see it all typed out here... but still, this is my life now, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Old vs New... We haven't decided which is better yet.

Another mini-milestone, is that Andrew finished the Good Start Program at Prudential.  His last day of coming to work with me was extremely bittersweet.  I am no longer able to walk downstairs and see his (hopefully) smiling face, or nurse during the middle of an "at-work" day.  However, this does mean that I can get out the door quicker, and more importantly that Andrew is not sitting in a bouncer, getting limited attention all day.  For the month of November, the schedule is that Andrew is with Mike two days a week, with Grandma Foster one day, and Gram and Grandpa another day.  I also managed to take some PTO so he can spend one day with me.  We are so fortunate that we don't have to pay for daycare... YET.  We are even more fortunate that he gets to spend so much time with the people who love him most.  Come December, Gram and Grandpa are heading back to Florida, but Mike's classes at Drexel will be done, so he will have Andrew on the day that my parents would normally have had him.  In addition to all that, on the days that Mike has Andrew, I am able to work from home so that I can continue nursing him.  Originally, my thoughts on breastfeeding were - get to month 3 and we'll see how things go from there.  I figured going back to work and pumping sounded like a lot more hassle than it was worth.  After all, Mike and I were both formula fed babies and we turned out great (if I do say so myself), so I was never opposed to formula.  However, now (especially now) that I'm back to work and can't spend as much time with my baby, nursing is much more important to me.  It is my way of bonding with him when I'm home, and pumping is my way of being there for him when I cannot be there physically. Up until yesterday, we had managed to make our schedules work so that Andrew only ever had one bottle a day.  Yesterday was another mini-milestone - Andrew's first full day without Mommy.  He had to have 3 bottles, and I was more than a little nervous about how he'd receive me when I finally got home.  But once again, Andrew reassured me that more often than not, I worry without cause - he gladly welcomed me home and told me (in baby speak) all about  his wonderful day with Gram and Grandpa.

Andrew's Milestone's so far (little big moments and big moments):
- First earthquake - 8/23
- First hurricane - Hurricane Irene - 8/27
- Umbilical Cord Fell Off /Pulled Off by Daddy on 8/31

- Slept in his crib for the first time - 9/4

- First bath in the tub - 9/1
- First time he rolled over from front to back - 9/12
- First smile - 6 weeks
- First bottle - 9/19
- Slept 8+ hours at night - 10/6
- First Snowfall!!!!!!! - 10/29

First Snowfall in October... notice the leaves still on the tree!

Andrew's "bassinet"

Andrew's Crib

Pre-Roll Over

First time anyone (Gram) said Andrew looked like Me!!

Andrew's First Halloween!

Although it went over Andrew's head this year, Mike and I enjoyed celebrating our first parental Halloween. It was very low key costume wise... my mother's practicality kicked in and I just couldn't bring myself to purchase a costume for one day that he won't remember anyway.  Instead, Andrew wore an outfit purchased by his Gram - a skunk sweatshirt, a Halloween onesie, and skunk socks.  He was the cutest little stinker I've ever seen.

It was our first year since we've lived on Preston Lane that we were home for trick-or-treaters.  We invited over Grandma and Great Aunt Cyndie for stew, and had fun opening the door to all the neighborhood kids.  We didn't keep track of how many kids we got, but my guess is around 50.

Here is the finished product of our first family attempt at pumpkin carving. Can you guess who is who?

Next year - we'll plan the carving a little better, consider a family costume theme, and definitely take Andrew to a couple of the neighbor's houses to trick-or-treat... we can't wait!