Merry Christmas 2019

I am surprised with just how much we have done and how much I have blogged during the month of December! With a newborn and a toddler, time is scarce, but I have tried my best to document these sweet days with family and friends both with pictures in the moment and then with my blog posts afterwards. Our Christmas Eve began with a slow day at home followed by dinner and presents at my parents' house. Our traditions have changed over the years, first when Megan got married, and then when my parents and grandparents moved to Kernersville, but one tradition has always been the casual gathering on Christmas Eve with yummy finger foods and a Christmas movie. This year we watched Polar Express, and the kids were very attentive to the story line. The adults opened our presents, and Boomer and I got several things that we had hoped for: new dress shoes for Boomer, a new purse for me, and gift cards to purchase our annual membership to the Science Center. Emmy opened her presents from Aunt Megan and Uncle Zack, and she got a Minnie purse and watch. She has been wearing both since the moment that she opened them! Somehow I talked Boomer into wearing matching pajamas and even posing for a picture. On our way to my parents' house that evening, he said "I sure hope we don't get into an accident!" Despite his reluctance, he was a good sport, and his biggest complaint was that the pants didn't have pockets.   

Christmas morning for Eli and me started shortly after 5AM; the rest of our crew woke up around 7:30AM. Emmy was excited for her new Fancy Nancy books from Mommy and Daddy, and Santa brought new crayons and M&Ms in her stocking. After a short time at home, we went over to the Houstons' for breakfast and more presents. Grammy and Grandpa outdid themselves with gifts for the grandkids. Emmy got a life-like baby doll with all the accessories (bottle, bib, pacifier, and outfits). She also got two new "Big Sister" shirts, a Little Red Riding Hood puzzle book, and a Minnie Mouse hairbrush set. Emmy doesn't always like to sit still to have her hair brushed, so I am hoping having a cute new hairbrush will help with this nightly task. Eli got a moon figurine for his room, a few toiletry items, and lots of cuddles from Aunt Megan and Great Grandma Nancy. We stayed for a couple of hours while the cousins played with Zander and Maddox's new Hot Wheels track. Emmy may love her baby dolls and hair bows, but she sure like cars, too! Around 11AM, we hit the road to Star for one more Christmas celebration. 

 

We arrived in Star around noon, and there was a little bit of downtime when Emmy and Mommy took naps while the other adults played a card game of Spades. Goosie, Darby, and the kids arrived around 3:30PM, and the living room exploded in the joyful chaos of wrapping paper, noise, stockings, and laughter. I only managed to take one photo of this gift extravaganza. Emmy got a cash register, a Peppa Pig coloring book, a bejeweled cell phone, the Candy Land board game (which was confusing, because it isn't actually candy!) and then some actual candy in her stocking. Eli got a pair of swimming trunks for when we go to the lake next summer, some bandanna bibs, and diapers. Boomer and I got a few practical things too like new pillows and a carry-on suitcase. We also got an awesome poster momento for our Kennedy Ballpark Tour. After every last gift was opened, Boomer's dad fired up the grill. We had ribeye steaks with mac and cheese, deviled eggs, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, and green beans. Usually we would spend the night in Star, but we made the decision to come back to Kernersville after dinner this year. We pulled into our driveway a little after 9PM with both kids knocked out. It was a full day; full of activity and a lot of love!

It was a special holiday celebrating our first Christmas with Eli. We are so thankful for God's gift of His son and for the two precious children He has entrusted into our care. A very merry Christmas indeed!

A Winston-Salem Anniversary

As we get closer to December 25th, we are enjoying all of the pre-Christmas festivities, including celebrating our anniversary. Although it initially took some coaxing to have a Christmas wedding, I love that our anniversary falls during this time of year with all of the lights and beautiful decorations. In years past, it has been so fun to travel to different cities at Christmastime: Asheville for our 1st, Charlotte (2nd), Wilmington (3rd), Williamsburg (4th), Blowing Rock (5th), Pinehurst (7th), and New Orleans (8th). With our 6th anniversary and with a newborn again for our 9th, a night away wasn't feasible, so both times we have celebrated here in Winston-Salem. Our evening started out with a quick photo shoot at home followed by a nice dinner at one of our all-time favorite restaurants, 4th Street Filling Station. Our 5:15PM reservation allowed for a stroll through Wake's campus and a final Winston-Salem staple, Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Tonight was our first date since having Eli, and we certainly enjoyed the time just the two of us. We hope to get on Grammy's calendar for another date night soon!

In these other days leading up to Christmas, we have been staying quite busy. This past Thursday, we had our most successful Santa visit to date at the holiday party at Arbor Ridge where Great Grandma lives. While most of the party-goers were grown adults and senior citizens, there was a Santa for the younger guests in the group, and surprisingly, Emmy went right up to him and sat on his lap. After a little prompting from Mommy, she told Santa that she wanted Fancy Nancy books. Luckily there were no tears, and it seems she has turned over a new leaf with the big guy in red. Since that visit, she has continued to point out Santa images wherever we see them, and she loves saying "Ho, ho, ho!" 

On Saturday, we went to Star for Carlin's birthday. She turned 25 on December 11th, and rather than sharing her day with Christmas, we were sure to have a separate celebration with presents and cake. Eli had not yet met Aunt Carlin; he also met Uncle Goosie, Aunt Darby, and the rest of his cousins. After sleeping during the drive there, he was awake and alert for the rest of the afternoon. Although he is still sleeping several hours of the day, I am noticing that he is awake more and more. He has beautiful blue eyes like his sister, and he will follow around noise and movement. Unfortunately Uncle Kyle was not able to make it for the birthday party, but Eli will meet him soon when we are all together again on Christmas Day. 

We were back in Kernersville on Sunday, and that evening, we went to our church's Candlelight Service. All the kids (Zander, Maddox, Emmy, and Eli) stayed in the service and were able to get a taste of "big church." We sang several Christmas hymns and took communion, and the service ended with carols and the lighting of candles. Aunt Megan brought along coloring books and crayons, which helped keep the kids busy. However, there was still a good amount of "shhh"-ing during the service! Admittedly I was a little distracted with Emmy and Eli since it was our first time in church as a family of four, but I do love this service every year, both at Triad Baptist and at Burkemont when I was growing up. It is a good reminder that amidst cookies and Santa, presents and parties, Jesus is the reason for the season. I pray that Emmy and Eli will soon know the real meaning of Christmas and its significance in the life of a Christian. 

"Again Jesus spoke to them saying, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of the world.' "

- John 8:12

One Month Already!

This past month has surely been the fastest thirty days of my life! This time of year tends to be a blur for everyone with the hustle and bustle between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I feel like I blinked, and Eli is already a month old! The last four weeks have brought some sad times with the passing of my grandfather. Add to that our washing machine and garbage disposal breaking, plus dealing with ongoing paperwork for insurance and HR and those pesky hospital bills. Despite these things, the past month has been full of so much joy as we praise God for our healthy and happy baby boy. We are so thankful for Eli, and we are all finding our groove with this newest member of our family. We are learning that Eli likes to be held when he is sleepy and will make quite a fuss if you put him down. He loves looking at ceiling fans and rolling his tongue around in his mouth. He is a pretty good sleeper and likes to be cozy in his crib at nighttime with a tight swaddle. He will usually go 4-5 hour stretches at night with a full tummy and clean diaper. We have moved up to Size 1 diapers, but he is still in newborn clothes, occasionally 0-3 months. It has been sweet to watch the transformation of Emmy's relationship with Eli. It seems that she has accepted him as a permanent member of our family, and each day she finds new ways to interact with him. Admittedly, he is not that exciting yet, but Emmy likes laughing at his funny faces, 'reading' to him, and piling her stuffed animals around him. To document each monthly milestone with Eli, it is fun to be recycling the same onesies that Emmy wore (and her cousins Zander and Maddox, too!) There are a lot of similarities between Emmy and Eli, and posed together at the 1-month mark, it may be hard to tell them apart. One difference though is the dimple in Eli's chin. Emmy doesn't have this clef in her chin, but this Bakewell trait has been passed on to Eli from me and his Grandpa Buzz. Eli was quite a ham for his photo-shoot. My favorite is this first photo with his chest puffed out - he looks so proud to be 1 month old!

 

Not counting the smirks and grins that he makes in his sleep, we caught our first glimpse of a smile from Eli. Grammy was holding him and talking to Aunt Megan on the phone, and he just lit right up. We hope to see more of these sweet grins in the month ahead!

 Today is significant for one other reason. In addition to Eli being 1 month old, it is our 9th wedding anniversary! We are having dinner delivered tonight by some dear friends, so we are delaying our celebration until later next week. I am looking forward to a nice dinner out with my hubby. I love him even more now than on the day that I said "I do!" I would write more sappy, romantic things, but I hear a baby starting to stir. Things looks a lot different than they did nine years ago, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. This is exactly how I hoped life would look like for this young bride and groom!

 

Lots of Firsts

This week has included a lot of 'firsts' for our Eli! Just as I remember with Emmy, it is exciting to experience things for the first time with a newborn. Even small everyday things take on a new meaning as we do it with Eli. On Tuesday, we made our first visit to Falcon Country to see Daddy at work. I planned our visit for an evening that Boomer had late events at his school, knowing he wouldn't otherwise get to see Eli until the next morning. Eli and I came at the end of the school day, and he was quite a hit with all of Boomer's coworkers. The staff at Forbush has become like an extended family to us over the years, and I always enjoy seeing their friendly faces when we make the trip to East Bend. Eli slept through most of our visit, but he woke up at the end when I snapped these photos. He is not old enough to sit up in Daddy's chair like his big sister; we will be sure to visit again over the summer for those annual pictures in Daddy's office. 

Another BIG 'first' was Emmy holding her brother. On Wednesday evening when we were over at my parents' house for dinner, Emmy asked to hold Eli without any prompting! She hopped up on the couch and even put out her arms like she has seen her cousins do when they have held baby Eli. It lasted only a moment before she proclaimed "I'm done" but luckily I had my phone handy to snap a quick picture. I brought out the rainforest playmat this week for Eli, and Emmy loves using it with her stuffed animals and babies. Look carefully in the second rainforest photo - there is a real baby in there somewhere!

Still more firsts! Later on Wednesday evening, we gave Eli his very first bottle. Pediatricians and lactation consultants generally recommend introducing a bottle for the first time between 4 and 6 weeks. We are a little ahead of that timeline, but as I wrote about in my last post, I started pumping (once a day, in the morning), and so the natural next step was to try the bottle. Another recommendation is for someone other than the mother to give the bottle. After a brief lull in between the fall and winter sports seasons, Boomer is back to evening events 2-3 times per week, so catching him on a night that he is home is not always easy. So even though Eli is only 3 weeks old, I decided to give it a shot - and the first introduction was a big success. Eli took right to the bottle and drank 2 ounces in less than 5 minutes. With nursing and the extra milk from the bottle, he slept for 6 straight hours that night - whooo hooo! 

Eli also had his first "submerged" bath. We used the bath seat so that he was raised above the water. Just like with the sponge baths, he wasn't a big fan so we tried to be speedy and get him back in his clothes. 

Rounding out our week of firsts, I survived my first evening at home with both kids. Over the last three weeks, on evenings that Boomer has had to stay late at work, my mom has come over to help with the bedtime routine, but on Tuesday (and again on Thursday), I did it all by myself. A few things that helped make it a success: 1) We went out to dinner! This is a no-brainer. Since Eli is still immobile, he stayed in his car seat throughout dinner. After dinner was over, there was nothing to clean up and no dishes to wash! Mommy could move right on to the next part of the evening. 2) It was not a bath night. Since the evenings tend to be a time that Eli wants to cluster feed, it would be difficult to fit in a bath with nursing. Eli tends to nurse from about 7PM - 9PM, on and off for that entire time. For now, I declare all the nights that Boomer is home as bath night, and the nights that he is not, we will skip it. and 3) Thank goodness for flash cards! Emmy did a great job occupying herself while I fed Eli just before bedtime. She even stacked all her flash cards by color - what a smart girl! Shortly after this photo, the next 10 minutes were a bit of chaos, as I attempted to still read with Emmy while Eli was crying. Emmy was so understanding and didn't push it when I said it was time for bed. As soon as I got Emmy tucked in around 7:30PM, I "plugged" Eli back in again. He was in bed a little after 9PM - and Mommy breathed a sigh of relief!

I think that sums up the 'firsts' from this week. We had an at-home nurse visit on Thursday, and it was so helpful to have another weight check. Eli's weight came in at 7 pounds, 13 ounces. He was weighed completely naked, without a diaper, so comparing to his weight of 7 pounds, 10.5 ounces the Monday before, I'm estimating that he has gained about 4 ounces in 10 days. This is on the lower end of the recommended amount of daily weight gain, but it is weight gain nonetheless. We are not doing any sort of extra supplementation, but I am hopeful that now with the extra bottle each evening, his weight will take off. 

We had a pretty 'sweet' weekend as we continued our annual tradition of cookie-making at Grammy and Grandpa's. The cousins each took turns cutting out cookies, adding sprinkles, and of course sampling the final product. In the afternoon while all the kiddos napped, the adults watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (and napped a little, too!) It was such a fun day and really helped get us all in the Christmas spirit. 

On Sunday, Boomer and Emmy made some more sweet treats that he will share with the staff at his school. Emmy was such a good helper lining up the pretzels and opening up the Kisses. We ended our weekend with our now nightly ride around our neighborhood to look at the Christmas lights. After Emmy is in her pajamas, we'll load into the car and make the loop, stopping to watch the "lights that sing" as Emmy calls them. There is one house in our neighborhood with an elaborate display of lights that are synchronized to music on a radio station. We will be sad in January when there are no more Christmas lights, but for now, it is a fun family event each evening. My Christmas cards are in the mail; there are presents under the tree; the Kennedys are ready for Christmas break!