Baby's 1st Christmas

From parades, lights, and movies to cookies, presents, and a candlelight service, we have had a very special Christmas season with our little girl. For Boomer and me, it was memorable as we celebrated the holiday as first-time parents. What a blessing to celebrate Christ's birth with our own little one! 

A couple days before Christmas, Em and I went over to Grammy and Grandpa's to make Christmas cookies. It is a Bakewell tradition to make several different types: chocolate chip, Snickerdoodle, Swedish tea cakes, and of course, iced sugar cookies. Grammy got a head-start earlier in the week, and it's a good thing that she did, because with a newborn, 3-year-old, and 1-year-old, just the sugar cookies took a whole afternoon! Zander was very involved this year, and we all laughed at how he would smash the cookie cutter right in the middle of the rolled out dough! He didn't quite understand trying to maximize the space -- needless to say, Grammy stayed busy re-rolling the dough. We made quite a mess, but a lot of memories, too!

On Christmas Eve, we were back over at Grammy and Grandpa's for our traditional finger foods and presents. All of the adults opened their presents, while Santa waits until Christmas Day to bring gifts for the kids. We then went to our church's Christmas Eve candlelight service. It was the first time we had been to church with Em, and it was special to worship with her. On Christmas morning, we went over to the Houston's to see what Santa brought Zander and Maddox, and then we hit the road to Star. We arrived in Star around noon and celebrated with Granny, Paw Paw, Aunt Carlin, Aunt Darby, Uncle Goosie, Uncle Kyle, and the kiddos -- Trivett, Adelynn, and Kessley. It is so fun to see how both sides of our families are growing; there are more people around the table and more little ones playing on the floor. We are so blessed! 

 

This was a very special Christmas! There were some crazy moments -- blowout diapers, a pan of burnt cookies, messes in the living room. There was also a lot of laughter, snuggles, and family photos. As we reflect on the true meaning of Christmas, it is a blessing to raise our little girl in a Christ-honoring home. We pray that she will one day know Jesus Christ as her Savior. 

Merry Christmas from the Kennedys!