So, perhaps you noticed that the title of our last posting was "Kate's First First Christmas". Although you may have thought it was a typo, I assure you, it wasn't. When we visit Brandon's family we always have lots of Christmas fun, and this year was no different.
So, first we celebrated a mini-Christmas at home as we opened gifts from my family. If you'll remember, we planned to leave that night to go to Iowa. We were thinking our best bet was to be ready to go following Kate's normal mid-night feeding, which usually occurred around 3:30-4:00 am. We got as organized and packed as we could (and man, it took FOREVER), and finally got into bed around 11:30, thinking we'd be up in a few short hours to hit the road. But, wouldn't you know it, our little Bean decided to sleep. And sleep. And sleep. She finally woke up right before 5:00. Unfortunately, both of us anticipated her waking up at any moment, and were up and moving long before she was. So while it was wonderful that she slept in, neither of us really got to benefit from it. But that's ok. We'll take what we can get. So we ended up hitting the road a bit later than expected, but were able to make it about three hours before we needed gas, food, a bathroom break, and Kate needed to be fed. For that first part of the trip, she slept the whole time. She was so quiet, it was almost like we didn't have a baby--except for the massive amount of baby-related stuff that was blocking the view out the back window :-)
We made it to Maquoketa safe and sound, and decided to stop by the Eagles Club on our way through town to drop in on the annual Eckelberg Christmas celebration. We knew we weren't going to stay long because Kate was hungry and Copper was in the car, but we made a brief appearance, and Grandpa and Grandma Jay, along with many aunts, uncles and cousins, were able to meet Kate for the first time. We only stayed about ten minutes, but we had completed our second Christmas.
From there we continued on to Aunt Lisa and Uncle Bouck's house. They graciously allowed our little family and the Notz family to take over their home. It was so nice to have a base to operate out of and take over with our explosion of baby stuff. Plus, we didn't have to worry too much about making others late or waking others up (except poor Kye, who wasn't feeling well...Copper just kept barking and barking at all of our visitors and it made it hard for him to sleep) and we got to spend some much needed time with Tara, Erik and the boys.
-- Poor Grandpa...someone cried every time he tried to hold her! --
-- Hanging with Grandma (and giving someone the stink eye!) --
-- Copper gets some lovin' too --
-- More visitors! --
Saturday evening brought us to Christmas #3 at Papa Ronnie's house. We celebrated with Papa, Vickie, Grandma Gwen, and Duke and Lynn. The Notz gang and Shiloh and Dakota were there as well. There were also FOUR dogs there! Copper wasn't one of them as we'd left him at home, but he would have gone nuts over all the new butts to sniff. We had a very nice time catching up and eating lots of yummy food. Kate made out like a bandit with all of her Christmas goodies, and Grandma Gwen provided Brandon and I with some goodies of our own that we broke into on the drive home (the cookies and Chex mix didn't survive the trip!)
-- Papa Ronnie and Vickie with the kiddos --
-- Vickie had Kate's number...she just couldn't stay awake! --
-- Still snoozing! --
Following our visit to the Snyder's, Brandon and I got a very pleasant surprise--Kate slept for most of the night! In fact, since that first night we were trying to hit the road, Kate has slept, pretty consistently, for 7-9 hours a night. I'm pretty confident that by writing that sentence I just jinxed it, but it felt so good to put it into writing!
The next day we had Christmas at Grandma Brenda and Papa John's house. We had a very cozy day starting with brunch, then opening presents, followed by lots of relaxing and a yummy dinner of tenderloins, mac and cheese, popcorn and malts, just like Brandon and Tara and Grandma Brenda used to have. All of the Snyders--Brandon, Kate and myself--got lots of wonderful gifts. Kate got lots of books to add to her library and Grandma Brenda gave her a chair for her room, painted to match the colors and with her name in rhinestones. It's my favorite gift that she was given, just because of her sparkly name :-)
-- Aunt Tara and Kye are hiding on the other side of this stack of presents --
-- Taking a little nap with Daddy --
-- Grandma Brenda is making sure I have clean pants on --
-- Snuggling with Mommy --
-- Kye is taking a break from playing with his new toys --
On Christmas Eve we went to Grandpa and Grandma Jay's for dinner and the family gift exchange. This was Kate's big debut. I remember the first time Brandon took me to Christmas Eve. It was my first time meeting everyone and I was so nervous. When we got there, my nerves went away pretty quickly because I was completely overwhelmed be the sheer number of people there! Since my family is so small, holidays are relatively quiet. Not in Iowa! And in the years since that first Christmas, they've only gotten noisier as families have grown and expanded and new little ones have joined us. This year there were kids everywhere! It's so nice to know that Kate will always have cousins to play with. She got to spend time with many members of the family as everyone was eager to hold her and get to know her, and Emily did a great job picking out a gift for her in the kid's gift exchange. Kate did great and barely cried at all, even meeting all kinds of new people and being separated from Mom and Dad for stretches at a time. In fact, Brandon and I couldn't believe what a little trooper she was during the whole trip--she traveled well, slept well, stayed pretty pleasant, flashed lots of smiles, and of course, was as cute as cute can be.
-- Getting ready to go to Grandpa and Grandma Jay's with a nap... --
-- And a little snack... --
-- And some other business. Some day, when I can talk, I will scold Mommy for intruding on this very private moment with the camera --
-- Visiting with Grandpa Jay (and I'm not crying!) --
-- With Grandpa and Grandma (and Mommy's finger...geez Mom, take a photography class already!) --
-- Daddy is showing me off --
-- And now it's Mommy's turn --
-- All dressed in my Christmas jammies and ready for the gift exchange --
-- Santa brought me a gift! --
-- And Emily got me a Santa hat and some really warm and comfy pjs! --
-- Taking a time out with Mommy --
-- Mack looks pretty tired! --
-- Nicholas got to come home from Ft. Bliss! He liked me so much he kept saying he was going to take me back to Texas with him, but Mom and Dad made sure I stayed put --
Christmas Eve brought us another good night of sleep. Kate must have known that Santa couldn't come if she wasn't sleeping, so she went down pretty easily and stayed sleeping for most of the night. When morning came we opened Kate's presents from Santa, our stockings, and Brandon and I exchanged gifts. We usually spend Christmas afternoon at the Rubel's, visiting with everyone who comes for lunch, but we didn't make it over to their house until 2:30, and by that time, we'd missed most of the visitors! While it would have been nice to do some more catching up, we had a chance to spend a quiet afternoon with Shiloh, Dakota, Grandma Brenda, and Grandpa and Grandma Jay. Aunt Wendy, Aunt Debbie, and Uncle Jason were there a bit too so we got to visit with them as well.
-- Santa came and filled our stockings --
-- My presents from Santa. I got a shape sorter, a mirror to play with while I do tummy time and three books, including Mommy's favorite, "Gregory the Terrible Eater" --
-- Max and Kye are playing with their new toys --
-- Max offered to help me open my presents since I was still pretty sleepy --
-- I'm really excited about my new toy! --
-- And just as excited to look in my stocking! --
-- Santa brought me a onesie that says "Mom's BFF" --
-- Max is looking at his new Avengers sticker book --
-- Santa brought Copper a new bone in his stocking --
-- This Christmas thing is tiring! --
-- I got to hang out with Barb too! --
-- Spending some time with Uncle Erik --
The next day we headed back home to St. Louis. Brandon and I couldn't believe how well the trip went and how good Kate was the whole time. It was so great to finally be able to introduce her to everyone, and to spend the holidays with family. As always, I missed my family and wished that they had had the chance to share in Kate's first Christmas, but knew that I'd be able to post some of the pictures on the blog (which made it a little better!).
We're so thankful for all of the wonderful people in our lives, and appreciate all of the love and gifts that were showered upon us and our little Bean this Christmas. Before the season is officially over, we'd like to tell everyone Merry Christmas one last time...we hope you had a wonderful holiday!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Love,
B, J, K and C
