December highlights include laughing out loud, putting anything (and
everything) possible into her mouth, drooling excessively and sleeping without
a nighttime feeding. Mommy was still trying to get completely back into the
swing of things at work while taking care of an infant. Michael was still
traveling during the week to Ennis for a job, which was hard on all 3 of us. To
top all of that off, our lease was ending at the apartment and after lots of
discussion, we decided it was time to move to something bigger. While we truly
wanted to stay and save a little more, the need for space trumped our savings.
Our hunt for a lease home began. Wow...if you could have seen some of the stuff
we looked at. Unfortunately, we just aren't quite ready to be homeowners, so we had to find something for the time being. We finally got a realtor to help us on our search, as there is
just so much out there. We had to readjust our criteria a few times, but after
a couple of intense weeks of searching we found the perfect house. As soon as
we walked in, we fell in love with the layout, small neighborhood and
cul-de-sac. Honestly, we thought we didn't have a chance getting it, but we
submitted our application that day and began praying. A couple days later, we
heard that out of 7 people we got the house. We were so relieved and excited
for the move! Well, we were excited to be in a new house, but quite frankly,
dreading the actual move. We went to the house the following weekend to take
another look at the exact layout (so I could begin "decorating") and
the landlord was planning to be there too, so we could meet in person. We could
not be more blessed - they are the nicest people! He actually gave us the keys right
there and said we could move in the next day, two weeks early! So immediately, we started
packing. We planned to move in before Christmas, as I had this wonderful image of
Christmas morning with Brooke, Michael and I waking up in our new house. I am a
perfectionist...and was determined to have everything unpacked and put away by
Christmas. We had movers, which helped tremendously - they were amazing! Trying
to do all of that, during the holidays, with an infant was NOT easy. I
realized, after the fact, I sometimes try and do too much and moving right before Christmas probably wasn't the best idea. However, now that we are unpacked and settled I am relieved that the whole process is behind us!
As for Brooke's first Christmas, visiting Santa was at the top of our list to do as a family, and begin our family holiday traditions. However, every time we tried to go to the mall on the weekend, the line was over 2 hours long. That is not even possible to do with a 3 month old baby – no way, plus Michael was out of town during the week, so weekends were our only time together as a family to do it. After 3 tries, Michael agreed that it just wasn't going to happen. So one night during the week, my parents accompanied Brooke and I to Bass Pro Shop at Katy Mills Mall. We got in line behind 2 other families – it was great! She sat on Santa’s lap without a problem. No smile, but no tears either. I’ll take it. We spotted a few more photo ops and then we were headed home to bed!
The Feast of St. Nicholas is something our family grew up celebrating. On the eve of December 6th, you put your shoes out and St. Nick comes during the night to put a present in your shoe (or if you are bad, you would receive coal). Brooke got a pair of Christmas PJs and a book. Obviously she is still too young to know, but so happy that this tradition will continue in our family!
Luckily all of our family lives fairly close, but unfortunately driving anywhere with Brooke requires a lot of work. It surely isn't as easy to just hop in the car, like when it was the 2 of us. Five celebrations in 2 days was a lot, but we wouldn't have had it any other way. Car rides and late nights threw off our schedule some, but in the midst of it all the craziness and running around, we were able to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas. We even managed to make it to Christmas morning mass...on time! Lots of foofu dresses and matching headbands, but these were the few family pictures taken from Brooke’s first Christmas. And that, my
friends, is how you learn to roll with the punches. Having a newborn is not
always rainbows and butterflies. So actually while I didn't get the perfect and beautifully posed pictures in front of the Christmas tree, these pictures will always remind me of just
how amazing our first Christmas as a family really was. We have
plenty of more years for pictures where we are all looking at camera
and smiling (and hopefully fully clothed).
We tried reading Charlie Brown Christmas, but realized that book was a bit too long for our current attention span. However, Grammy managed to read (most of) The Night Before Christmas to her, even if it was 2 days after Christmas.
This Christmas was undoubtedly full of love and joy and memories. I have a feeling next Christmas will not be quite as hectic. One thing for sure is next year we won't be moving at Christmas time (first time in 3 years) and that will be great! Brooke got lots of presents from family and friends, and we feel ever so blessed. Her playroom is definitely full of toys and books! There were so many memorable moments and we shall cherish them forever. We missed a few loved ones this year, but Brooke managed to light up the whole room. She didn't have a clue in the world that it was Christmas, nor did she understand that beyond that crinkly tissue paper was the actual present. Christmas came and went so very fast, but looking back we know we are blessed with the most loving, generous and supportive family that anyone could ask for. Nothing compares to celebrating the holidays with those that matter most!
Merry Christmas to all...and to all a good night!
