Baby's First Christmas

I have a lot I want to update on, but I think I'll start with this- we celebrated Christmas, of course, and of course, it was Caleb's first. He turned exactly 6 months old on Christmas. Cool, eh? Christmas morning Jeff and I waited to open presents until Caleb woke up and after we ate breakfast. I made a breakfast casserole and homemade cinnamon rolls. Yum! :)

Then we let Caleb start, by sitting him in front of the tree and first seeing what he would do. He started playing with the lights and then he sort of attacked a present under the tree. I gave him his own present to unwrap. He wasn't too thrilled at first- I must say here, that he seemed to enjoy the wrapping paper- and I took the wrapping paper bow that I made from him- and he was sick with his first real cold (or whatever it is that's still ailing him).

He unwrapped his present and immediately put it into his mouth- Perfect. We then tried having him unwrap another present and that's when he started to cry, and I mean really cry. Poor guy. He was first enjoying the wrapping paper- I took it away. Then he was enjoying his new toy and I took that away... and to top it off, he wasn't feeling- just to add insult to injury. Jeff opened the windows though and he immediately stopped crying. Outside is so magical for this kid. He just loves it and I hope he will always find the beauty of nature magical.

We all continued to open our presents. It was a fabulous morning. After opening and playing with presents, I nursed Caleb, who then went to sleep. Jeff got ready for church. He's the only one of us that went, since Caleb was sick and we stayed home.

Later that afternoon, we headed to Powhatan, first to pick up my nephews and then to head to my grandmother's home for Christmas celebrations on my dad's side of the family. It was so nice to see everyone. My aunts had only seen Caleb once or twice and one of them hadn't met him at all yet. My grandmother had also not yet met him, so it was good to see them all. My aunt Monica held Caleb for awhile and he eventually fell asleep in her arms, it was so sweet.

After spending a couple of hours eating, talking, reminiscing, looking at pictures and enjoying spending time with family, we packed up our car (wishing that we had a bigger car) and headed to my mom's-side- of-the-family-celebration at my granparents' home. We were the first ones there, which was nice because Caleb was sleeping and was able to continue to do so on my grandparents' bed. Soon everyone else arrived and it was a grand celebration with family. We ate, talked, took pictures, laughed, told stories all leading up to the main event- where my grandfather read the Christmas story from Luke in the Bible, then I played Silent Night on the flute (my string present! Yay! I had played the flute many years ago, but not since and was so excited to get a new flute and learn how to play all over again) while my little nephew Miles sang. It was absolutely precious.

Afterwards, we opened presents- which was completely hectic, but definitely an exciting thrill for all of the little kids, which made it really fun for me. :) I love watching little kids get excited and their eyes light up and when they try to help pass presents to the right person. What fun!

Once everyone had received their presents, we presented my mom and step-dad with their gift. They each opened a box of picture frames. Inside each box were framed photographs of all of their children, together and separate or with families- so that they could create a collage on their wall. They were thrilled. They were excited that we all managed to get together to take pictures. It really was fabulous and we all had such a great time.

Well, that was our Christmas in a nutshell!! :) Hope yours was just as fabulous!


*EDIT*

Thanks to my friend, I realized that I inadvertently left out our family celebrations with Jeff's family. Jeff's brother, Evan, was heading to BYU- I to start school this semester, so we celebrated Christmas with his side of the family on the Monday before Christmas since their plan was to fly to Utah early Wednesday morning and not be back until after Christmas (they drove back with Jeff's sister, Lisa). It was nice. We had a yummy dinner and then opened gifts afterwards. They gave Caleb a wooden activity walker thingy which Caleb loves... mostly as a teether, but it's a toy that he will grow with. Great choice!! :)

I think he rather enjoyed the box. :)

Checking it out.

Yay!!! I graduated!! :)

Well, folks, today I graduated with my Masters in Special Education- General Ed. at VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University). It feels great to be done with this chapter of my life. Now I can focus more of my time and efforts on my sweet little baby boy (who is just getting so much bigger all the time). The graduation was nice. There were far more graduates than I expected. I just didn't expect so many for a December graduation. It was nice seeing my family there. I'm grateful for the love and support that I have received along the way and today.

My mother-in-law held Caleb some during the ceremony- it was nice because I got to see him on my way back to my seat. He smiled at me. :)

Heading back to my seat.

I'm laughing at Caleb because he was crying.

My dad, Caleb and me. 

My mom, Caleb and me.

Ditto. :)

Me and the boy.

Jeff, Caleb and me. 

My sisters (Sarah and Hannah), Caleb and me. As you can see, Caleb is done with taking pictures.

Jeff's parents also came. My step-mother, Debbie came as well. And a dear family friend, Theresa came. I wish I had gotten a picture with all of them. :( My sister, Kayla, was on the way when her tire went flat. I talked to her afterwards though. 

5 months!

So really, I meant to write this last week when Caleb actually turned 5 months, but I have just been so busy!! Anyway, my sweet boy has gotten so big so quickly! I just can't believe it has been five months already. It's been so neat to watch him progress and grow and to continue to watch his little personality develop. He's been such a blessing to our lives. He really makes us laugh every day!! I just love him so much!

He's starting to get up on his knees.

Look how well he sits up now!

He sometimes helps with household chores.

He still loves to cuddle and sleep in Mommy or Daddy's arms.

We took family portraits.

He dreams of going on trips.

Another family portrait (I wish I had a more natural smile- lessons learned for next time).

He met two of his aunts (Lisa and Tracy) for the first time. 

He "eats" everything these days- or gums rather.

He is in LOVE with his feet!

He looks so cute in his hat with his chubby, oh- so- kissable cheeks.

He is so curious about things and just takes in so much with those beautiful, big, brown eyes.

He got to sing with his daddy and daddy's siblings and celebrated his first Thanksgiving. 

He had his first taste of an apple.

He met one of his Uncles, David, and his cousins (Brayden and Blake) for the first time.

Caleb, Blake and Brayden

Cousin Aaron eating him. It was so funny- well until Caleb started crying.

He sometimes throws little tantrums.

He had his first "big boy" bath- no baby seat thingy for the tub.

But, he was a little unsure and held on for dear life.

As you can see, it's been a good and a busy month for the little guy. He celebrated his first real holiday, met some family members for the first time, learned how to get up on his knees, sit up straight, roll over-  He is a roly poly now!! He loves to roll over on his tummy (which is funny because he used to not like "tummy time"). It's not so funny when you're trying to change his diaper and he rolls over with poo all over him. Nope, that's not funny. But, it's super cute to watch him figure out how his body works. He loves to move around now. He tries to get out of his Bumbo seat but his legs are too chunky and he gets stuck. If you're holding him one way and he wants to be facing the other way, he'll twist his body around until you can't but help to turn him around. He really is just learning and he seems to really love it! 


Oh yeah, and we went to the doctor last week. Caleb weighed in at 18 lbs. 7oz. The doctor commented on how big he is- I hear it all the time, but in my eyes- he's perfect and perfectly adorable. :)