A holiday recap
(Better late than never, eh? Blogging (or showering, for that matter) is no easy task with a newborn, so I'm just grateful to have pieced this together over the last several weeks and it's still January).
This year, the holidays were a whole new whirlwind for us. As our due date approached last month, I started wondering if we would even be partaking in many of our holiday plans. Fortunately, Carter arrived early enough that made our plans feasible. Not easy, and totally exhausting, but feasible. And I'm so grateful.
This recap will be a tad late, but whatever. I have a newborn. I've been busy.
We spent Christmas Eve with Jon's family. His grandma barely said hello before demanding we hand over her newest great-grandson. Seeing her hold him brought tears to my eyes. I wish my own grandparents were able to meet Carter, but I know they are watching out for him from somewhere special. Jon played proud Papa Bear, following anyone that was holding Carter to whatever room they went. One of our nephews finally agreed to holding him (they were both so timid about holding a brand newborn), which was sweet to see. There is a 15 year difference between them and Carter, so while I expect they won't have the closest relationship/bond, it is endearing that they are so interested in their little cousin right now. Plus I should remember that I have cousins that are 10 years older than me that I'm quite close to and get along with well so they could become buds in a way.
Later that night, after lots of food, some games, photos, presents, and "pass the baby," we opened presents with Jon's immediate family. I spent a good portion of that in the nearby bedroom nursing. A new reality for me. I was able to listen in on them as they opened presents, and well, cuddling with my sweet baby is never a bad thing. Especially now that we can nurse pain-free! It was a late night, per usual, and I am already fearing how that will go next year with a 1-year-old and a need for keeping a bedtime schedule.
Christmas morning, Jon and I opened a few presents we had gotten for each other. Carter was indifferent of the situation, just happily full from the boob. :) Can't wait until next year to see how he reacts to Christmas. I'm sure it'll be more and more fun every year.
Then we packed up the car and headed over to my parents, to see my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew that had just arrived the night before from overseas. (YAY YAY YAY) The drive felt incredibly long, as I was so excited to see them. And introduce Carter to them. I was practically bouncing in my seat.
My nephew has gotten so big! I grabbed him immediately for a good old auntie squeeze and slobbered his face with kisses. He fortunately took that fairly well, considering he's only seen me on a computer screen in the last 6 months. Skype for the win.
Can we just talk about how crazy it is that we each met each other's sons this year? I remember meeting N like it was yesterday, and then here was my sister holding my son 10 months later. What a year.
We spent the rest of the day with my family eating, opening presents, and catching up. It was wonderful. My sister and her boys were jet lagged, and well, we were quite sleep deprived as well, so we all called it an early night. After all, we were heading to Iowa in the morning for the weekend with our extended family.
I was a little worried about the road trip to Iowa with Mister Mister, but he was a champ. We tried to time our departure with his feeding, but of course that didn't quite work out. My kid likes to eat, but I can't force him when he's not ready. ;) So I figured we would have to stop along the way to nurse, and I was right. Jon pulled into a hotel parking lot in Rochester, and we had our first nursing session in the car. Have I said how grateful I am that nursing is now a positive experience for us?
The moment we arrived to my aunt's, Carter was snatched up immediately. Predictably so. I believe there were even (jovial) complaints about certain family members hogging him and not sharing, though they worked it out and all got some snuggles. My immediate family stayed at my aunt's neighbor's house, and Jon and I had the entire lower level to ourselves. This was key, as Carter was not consistently sleeping well in his bassinet (update: he has now for the past 3 nights!), so we had his swing set up as well, and ended up sleeping out on the couch with him some too. It worked out, and we survived our first nights away! I can't not mention that we also had Grandma and Auntie sleeping upstairs, and available to snuggle Carter in the early morning hours while we grabbed a few more zzz's. It takes a village.
Our Christmas celebration was really nice. Carter was spoiled rotten with gifts and snuggles, we played dominoes and laughed and caught up with cousins that live out of state, played with puppies, took family photos, and ate ourselves silly. I truly love weekend gatherings like these...so cozy and casual and fun. It was our last holiday at my aunt's house, as they are planning to move. It's sad to think about, as we've had so many wonderful memories there. But I'm very excited for their next adventure and we will undoubtedly have many more new memories.
The week following, which weren't really holidays but it all runs together for me, I spent most of it with my family. I was so glad that I could, with maternity leave, spend days with them and not worry about work or PTO. The whole family came over to our house one day and hung out, my dad preparing a turkey dinner for us all, N trying out all of Carter's toys and showing us what we will need to babyproof. It was nice. Other days we spent over to my parents. We didn't "do" a whole lot but play with the babies, played a few games of dominoes and Phase 10, watched some TV, and caught up more. We don't need much entertainment; especially with the two little boys. Oh and we celebrated my nephew's 1st birthday, spent a day at the MOA (there are NO good spots to nurse in privacy there..), and spent time with my brother-in-law's parents who came to town.
Saying goodbye to the A family was tough. In true Lisa fashion, and similarly to my departure from Brazil, I was a blubbering mess. I held it together until we were saying goodbye, and then lost it. Of course all good tears, as we had just had such a wonderful time and I didn't want it to end.
Our final holiday events were with other extended family, first Jon's side (where his cousin's 10-yr-old boy sweetly cuddled Carter and remarked we had a great baby) and then my mom's side (where several aunties and cousins cuddled Carter for so long that he slept an hour past his feeding - boy was not happy when he woke up and realized his hunger).
We felt very blessed this holiday season, and grateful for everyone's kind words, gifts, and love to Carter. I'm not sure how Christmas can be topped after this year.
This year, the holidays were a whole new whirlwind for us. As our due date approached last month, I started wondering if we would even be partaking in many of our holiday plans. Fortunately, Carter arrived early enough that made our plans feasible. Not easy, and totally exhausting, but feasible. And I'm so grateful.
This recap will be a tad late, but whatever. I have a newborn. I've been busy.
We spent Christmas Eve with Jon's family. His grandma barely said hello before demanding we hand over her newest great-grandson. Seeing her hold him brought tears to my eyes. I wish my own grandparents were able to meet Carter, but I know they are watching out for him from somewhere special. Jon played proud Papa Bear, following anyone that was holding Carter to whatever room they went. One of our nephews finally agreed to holding him (they were both so timid about holding a brand newborn), which was sweet to see. There is a 15 year difference between them and Carter, so while I expect they won't have the closest relationship/bond, it is endearing that they are so interested in their little cousin right now. Plus I should remember that I have cousins that are 10 years older than me that I'm quite close to and get along with well so they could become buds in a way.
Four generations - pretty amazing.
Later that night, after lots of food, some games, photos, presents, and "pass the baby," we opened presents with Jon's immediate family. I spent a good portion of that in the nearby bedroom nursing. A new reality for me. I was able to listen in on them as they opened presents, and well, cuddling with my sweet baby is never a bad thing. Especially now that we can nurse pain-free! It was a late night, per usual, and I am already fearing how that will go next year with a 1-year-old and a need for keeping a bedtime schedule.
Christmas morning, Jon and I opened a few presents we had gotten for each other. Carter was indifferent of the situation, just happily full from the boob. :) Can't wait until next year to see how he reacts to Christmas. I'm sure it'll be more and more fun every year.
Then we packed up the car and headed over to my parents, to see my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew that had just arrived the night before from overseas. (YAY YAY YAY) The drive felt incredibly long, as I was so excited to see them. And introduce Carter to them. I was practically bouncing in my seat.
My nephew has gotten so big! I grabbed him immediately for a good old auntie squeeze and slobbered his face with kisses. He fortunately took that fairly well, considering he's only seen me on a computer screen in the last 6 months. Skype for the win.
Can we just talk about how crazy it is that we each met each other's sons this year? I remember meeting N like it was yesterday, and then here was my sister holding my son 10 months later. What a year.
Little bay-bees!!!
We spent the rest of the day with my family eating, opening presents, and catching up. It was wonderful. My sister and her boys were jet lagged, and well, we were quite sleep deprived as well, so we all called it an early night. After all, we were heading to Iowa in the morning for the weekend with our extended family.
Hilarious photo shoot, where N just really wanted to smother C and poke him. It will be interesting to see their next encounter as C will be able to react back and fend for himself a bit.
I was a little worried about the road trip to Iowa with Mister Mister, but he was a champ. We tried to time our departure with his feeding, but of course that didn't quite work out. My kid likes to eat, but I can't force him when he's not ready. ;) So I figured we would have to stop along the way to nurse, and I was right. Jon pulled into a hotel parking lot in Rochester, and we had our first nursing session in the car. Have I said how grateful I am that nursing is now a positive experience for us?
The moment we arrived to my aunt's, Carter was snatched up immediately. Predictably so. I believe there were even (jovial) complaints about certain family members hogging him and not sharing, though they worked it out and all got some snuggles. My immediate family stayed at my aunt's neighbor's house, and Jon and I had the entire lower level to ourselves. This was key, as Carter was not consistently sleeping well in his bassinet (update: he has now for the past 3 nights!), so we had his swing set up as well, and ended up sleeping out on the couch with him some too. It worked out, and we survived our first nights away! I can't not mention that we also had Grandma and Auntie sleeping upstairs, and available to snuggle Carter in the early morning hours while we grabbed a few more zzz's. It takes a village.
Our Christmas celebration was really nice. Carter was spoiled rotten with gifts and snuggles, we played dominoes and laughed and caught up with cousins that live out of state, played with puppies, took family photos, and ate ourselves silly. I truly love weekend gatherings like these...so cozy and casual and fun. It was our last holiday at my aunt's house, as they are planning to move. It's sad to think about, as we've had so many wonderful memories there. But I'm very excited for their next adventure and we will undoubtedly have many more new memories.
Love them.
The week following, which weren't really holidays but it all runs together for me, I spent most of it with my family. I was so glad that I could, with maternity leave, spend days with them and not worry about work or PTO. The whole family came over to our house one day and hung out, my dad preparing a turkey dinner for us all, N trying out all of Carter's toys and showing us what we will need to babyproof. It was nice. Other days we spent over to my parents. We didn't "do" a whole lot but play with the babies, played a few games of dominoes and Phase 10, watched some TV, and caught up more. We don't need much entertainment; especially with the two little boys. Oh and we celebrated my nephew's 1st birthday, spent a day at the MOA (there are NO good spots to nurse in privacy there..), and spent time with my brother-in-law's parents who came to town.
Saying goodbye to the A family was tough. In true Lisa fashion, and similarly to my departure from Brazil, I was a blubbering mess. I held it together until we were saying goodbye, and then lost it. Of course all good tears, as we had just had such a wonderful time and I didn't want it to end.
Our final holiday events were with other extended family, first Jon's side (where his cousin's 10-yr-old boy sweetly cuddled Carter and remarked we had a great baby) and then my mom's side (where several aunties and cousins cuddled Carter for so long that he slept an hour past his feeding - boy was not happy when he woke up and realized his hunger).
We felt very blessed this holiday season, and grateful for everyone's kind words, gifts, and love to Carter. I'm not sure how Christmas can be topped after this year.
You should check out any fitting rooms to nurse. Nordstrom is particularly nice! Maurice works well too. ;-) most any place will lend you a room for the time it takes, just have to scope out the real fitting rooms, not those that have curtains for doors.
ReplyDeleteThe gray must have been planned right? You guys all match in that family picture with your parents and sister!
ReplyDeleteLove the family picture! Sounds like the holidays went great and that Carter was quite the trooper! Hope you are enjoying a little more relaxing now that the hustle and bustle of the holidays is over!
ReplyDelete