The most wonderful time of the year!
I have always loved Christmas. The magic of it and spending quality time with my family, but most importantly celebrating the miraculous birth of my Savior. This year Christmas became even more special because we have Holt.
I'll be honest though, it was also the most exhausting Christmas I've ever had. Trying to work around Holt's schedule (which we ended up just throwing out the window and winging it all week because otherwise I would blow a gasket) and praying he would take naps and be in a good mood and sleep well and not be cranky is TIRING.
Parenthood--1
Me--0
Can I get an amen?
Despite that, it was a joy-filled week spent pondering the love and mercy of my God to send his Son down to become a baby so that one day he could die on a cross as a living sacrifice for my sin. I also pondered and wondered about Mary (Jesus' mother). I relate more to her now that I too am a mother--what was it like to knowingly carry God's Son and become his mother? I wrote a post about the song "Mary, Did You Know?" to express my feelings and emotions about what she must have gone through.
All in all, Holt had a great week! He is such a social baby---it is so fun watching his little personality starting to come through. He loves to be held and interacting with people. He just smiled and laughed and talked to anyone and everyone. We haven't hit the separation anxiety stage yet, but I'm hoping it will be pretty mild since he seems to love people so much.
It's also hilarious to see the differences at each family gathering. On Daniel's side, Holt is the 8th out of 9 grandchildren (so far). It's always loud and chaotic and fun with a bunch of littles running around. On my side, Holt is the first grandchild and great-grandchild (on my dad's side, but not my mom's) so ALL the attention is on him. Which, of course he absolutely loves!
Here is how our week went:
Monday---Daniel worked and then we drove down to Conway to have Christmas with my mom, dad, sister and brother-in-law (they spent Christmas in Texas with his family this year so we did ours early).
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| Holt and RoRo are best buds |
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| Holt and Melly |
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| Presents! |
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| The pig teether was a huge hit |
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| First Christmas as a family of 3 |
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| Uncle Kirby, Holt, and Aunt Hannah |
Tuesday--We drove to Daniel's family and spent all day doing Christmas at his parent's house and then his grandparents and extended family.
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| Favorite |
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| Holt, LaLa, and cousin Hazel |
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| Holt met his cousin Hazel for the first time! They are 2 months apart |
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| Holt with his great-grandmother Ruth |
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| Obligatory Santa picture---he really isn't crying, I just caught him in the middle of talking |
Wednesday (Christmas Eve)--Christmas at both of my grandparent's houses. One in the morning and one at night.
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| Figuring out how to unwrap a present at GiGi's house |
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| Mimi, Holt, and Poppa |
Thursday (Christmas Day)-- REST day! We stayed at my parent's house all day recovering and resting from all the fun activities.
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| Everyone was tuckered out |
Friday--(AM) we went back to Daniel's parent's house to see some of his aunts and uncles that were in town. (PM) we had our last Christmas celebration with my extended family on my dad's side. We act out the nativity story (complete with costumes) and Holt got to be Baby Jesus! (This is special because I was Baby Jesus 25 years ago when I was his age).
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| Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus |
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| the whole cast |
Saturday--saw some of our best friends from Louisville who were in town and then headed back home.
Crazy busy, but fun week and Holt was a champ!
We also had a little Christmas photo shoot with my aunt who is a photographer. Tough job, but someone has to do it :) These are some of my absolute favorite photos of him:
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