Holiday Hoorah

Who knew the season would be more challenging on Chris and me than any of the years before?

Okay, okay, I can almost hear the guffaws of laughter coming from all of you readers with chicos/kiddos/little ones.

The joke was certainly on us for thinking otherwise!

This year, the parties were not about visiting so much.

They were about strategic planning of arrivals and departures in order to have the most enjoyable time as a family.

All that careful planning went straight out the window

since our Little Mister is going through

some not-so-outward changes and it's making him outwardly frazzled.

"They're lying! I am perfectly peaceful, people!

Oh, and by the way, present bows are AWESOME!

They are plastic, after all.

And don't listen to my mom and dad. They're cranky and need a nap."

(He didn't even make notice of the bow on his head. I think baldies appreciate just about anything to cover their cabezas.)

So, it's been a busy-fulll few weeks and, I must say, I am thankful it has wrapped up!

Between Ajay working on cutting another tooth and being on the verge of walking,

there has been an upheaval in his napping routine.

All of you friends and family witnessed an unfamiliar Ajay.

Not to fret, though. He's worked out a few growing pains and is taking "regular" naps again and

is behaving in his peaceful, chill-baby manner ;-)

(Please check back here soon for a more detailed Ajay-update.)

Christmas Day was all planned out to spend with my "second family."

So Chris and I had our first family Christmas together on Friday, Christmas Eve,

shortly after Little Mister went to sleep for the night.

We got BIG gifts for each other this year:

For her: A Gorgeous-Giant-Grunty-Bunty-Boy!!! Framed!

For Him: A whole mouthful of Romolo's sponge candy!!!

...He said this didn't hurt... yikes.

You know, my favorite of all Chris' gifts to me is my brand new 4th generation, 32 gig iPod Touch.

It's got a built-in camera and HD video camera.

Chris says his favorite gift of all that came from me is his black and grey plaid,

Merino wool winter coat.

Each of us agree that those were the most fun to give to each other.

Our favorite gift that Ajay received is

a push toy walker that also converts to a pull toy wagon

from Chris' parents (Grandma and Paps).

Thanks guys!

What was your favorite gift to give and favorite one to receive?

So, Christmas Day was lovely with my "second family," Pastor Jim and Pam (Poppy and Nana).

They have always been my close friends and loving mentors.

So, in all the meanings of the word, we are family.

We were really blessed to be able to spend time with all of the Dumont's, but had to leave too soon.

A continuation is in the plans this week, but nonetheless,

we were still blessed with a few fun things for Ajay to enjoy.

When we first arrived there, Ajay went on an adventure!

"I will conquer this fire by carefully scaling the hearth. Next, I will shimmy across the chaise. Then a strategic dismount and I'm off to inspect all the wrappings and unwrappings!"

"Nana & Poppy's place has proven to be perfect grounds for this Little Explorer!"

Later, we took a break to break the binding of a cool board-book for the boy who loves a good story.

"Remember, Ajay, books are for reading, not eating..."

"Hey! What's that?!"

"Look mom! There's a baby on here!"

After much shaking, flipping, and crawling over,

Ajay settled in to closely examine the box with a picture of a baby.

(I love this one with Chris in the background drawing on the doodle pad!)

"Don't you know that the gift boxes and wrapping paper are the most important part

of a baby's first Christmas? Well, if you didn't, now you do."

;-)

On Sunday, after church and Ajay's one and a half hour nap,

we had another party at my mom and step-dad's (Granny and Grandpa)

with approximately 900 people attending.

Well, maybe it was just 30 people or so,

but it was still pretty chaotic even without tending to a fussy baby!

Personally, I could have done better with my attitude in handling Ajay,

so I'm sorry to all who saw my frustrated face

instead of my "this isn't bothering me" face :-D

Christmas Weekend + Growing Baby + Tired Momma = Wit's End

(We don't have any photos on our camera for this party,

although the ones I saw turned out well.

We'll have to get those from you, Granny)

For the finale of our Christmas festivities, we went to Chris' parent's home

(postponed until Grandma was feeling better).

It was truly a blessing watching (sister and brother in laws) Stephanie and Thoai's children show such genuine love and interest in Ajay's well-being and entertainment!

Temple, London, and baby Anne called for him and crawled around with him.

They showed him different objects to calm him and gave lots of pats on the head.

They even rough-housed with him.

We were enjoying these precious moments so much that we only took a couple photographs.

What a blessed time we had on New Year's Day with them all too.

Again, Ajay was greeted with warm, loving affection,

especially from Anne, who held his face in hands and pulled him in for a couple baby kisses.

We will always treasure that moment!

Thank you to all for your generosity to our family this year!

Blessings of Joy in 2011 to you all!