I've always heard people say how Christmas, and the holidays in general, are so much more fun once you have kids. I never really doubted that, but I don't think I fully understood it either. Now that we've been through our first holiday season with a little one I can say everyone was right! It is all so much more special and fun when you get to see it through the eyes of a child. Even though Lilly was only 9 months old this year, and really didn't understand much of what was going on, you could still see her excitement and it was contagious!
{sidenote: all of the photos in this post are a mix between phone snapshots and actual photos with the real camera. I am lazy, however, and didn't edit any of the real photos, so just ignore that.}
We started the celebrations on Christmas Eve. Our first stop was Grandma & Grandpa Henry's house. We spent the afternoon watching Lilly open her presents (and opening a few of our own while we were at it...). She had a blast, really I think the wrapping paper and bows were her favorite, but she enjoyed the toys she got too!
{you could probably make a drinking game out of the number of different Christmas outfits this kid had...I may have gotten a little excited when shopping for her...}
This drum was one of her favorites, and she immediately knew exactly what to do with it. She plays with this thing pretty much daily, and still loves beating the crap out of it!
After the first round of presents, we all headed over to Mama T's house, for round 2. Lilly once again showed off her present-opening skills, and although she didn't take the afternoon nap she needed and got a little cranky towards the end of the night, she still had a blast. Christmas makes it easy to deal with a cranky baby, there are toys and presents {i.e. distractions} everywhere!
Eventually, all the excitement of the day got the best of her, and she was out for the count.
{outfit #2 for anyone counting...}
Lilly got some much needed sleep that night, while Matt and I stayed up late in "Santa's Workshop". Here you can see our little Christmas Morning spread - the giant purple thing with her name on it is a growth chart handmade by Daddy (with a little help from Mommy too!) I'm hoping to start a tradition of a handmade gift each year, at least for the first few years...we'll see how that goes. :) Other than that, she just had one gift under the tree (clothes) and her stocking to open - I tried to reign it in, knowing that the rest of the family would spoil her rotten!
We got up on Christmas morning, had our coffee, and sat by the tree together to snap a few pictures. Then we got to the fun part!
Our new stockings, filled up and ready to go (the snowflake one is for the pets)! I took a picture of the contents of Lilly's before I filled it up...mostly just for my own memory :) She got new sippy cups (that so far she isn't a fan of...), a hat, a book, a kids music CD, a rattle maraca thing, and a "Baby's 1st Christmas" ornament. Another tradition I'm starting is putting an ornament in her stocking each year - Matt and I already do this for each other as well.
I took a video of Lilly (& Daddy) opening her one present under the tree...probably not very exciting but I just wanted a video to remember the day by. (and really, I'm glad I took this one because I didn't end up taking any others!) Again, it's not the most exciting video, but I do find it quite hilarious that she had to check the tag and make sure it was for her. :) Also - ignore the dorky narrator...
Once all of our presents were open, Lilly just crawled around enjoying the mess :)
The aftermath...
The next tradition beginning this year (if you can't tell I have a thing for traditions...) is Christmas breakfast. I would like to have time to put a little more effort into it in the coming years, but this year it was cinnamon rolls. I put them in the pan in the shape of a tree (sort of), so it felt festive enough. Lilly had yogurt. :)
We got her into Christmas outfit #3, and snapped a quick picture before heading out for our day of family time.
We started out by going back to Grandma & Grandpa Henry's house where Lilly got to see her Great Grandma and her Great Aunt, Uncles & Cousin. She of course opened more presents there, but I figure you've probably seen enough pictures of a baby playing with wrapping paper by this point. :)
We enjoyed a delicious Christmas lunch with the family (which Lilly loved every minute of)...
{outfit #4, covered by a bib - it's just another "first Christmas" shirt}
After our wonderful meal, we packed up and headed down to Grandma & Papa German's house for the last celebration of the day. {we changed back into outfit #3 for the occasion}
Lexi & Lilly spent some quality time together, and even let us take a few pictures. I know the next few years are going to be so much fun to watch these girls play together. Lexi is such a great big cousin, she just loves "baby Lills" to pieces. They both got showered with toys, and spent most of the evening opening and playing with everything.
{back to outfit #2 again}
Lilly finally wore herself out and conked out for the night, after yet another delicious meal. It's definitely hectic going to so many holiday celebrations each year, but getting to eat a big meal at each one makes it totally worth it! Oh, and getting to see all of the family is great too. :)
All in all, we had a great Christmas, and I think Lilly did too! I can only imagine what the next few Christmases hold for us...it's going to be so fun!
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