miles' first christmas

this year miles celebrated his very first christmas...3 times! ross and i both had 2 weeks off work and we spent all but 4 days of that traveling with a baby, 2 dogs, and snow-covered roads. perhaps it was a little crazy, but we wanted our families to be able to spend this special time with miles.

christmas...graham style
after our last day of work on the 18th, we got up early the next morning and drove to graham just in time for mawmaw's 80th birthday party. All of my dad's family made the trip and it was no small affair! i was glad we could be a part of the special day, though i'm not sure anyone noticed us because they were so glad to meet miles! nana and delbert also joined us for the celebration, and they could not believe how much miles had grown since the last time they had seen him! on sunday miles went to the park with his cousins and nana and then celebrated christmas with my cousins. we had declared monday as "christmas day" in graham. we did our traditional stockings, breakfast, presents combo with my parents, mawmaw, and all of us siblings. my mom bought miles a huuuge stocking and he enjoyed holding each item i took out of it. he also loved to crinkle the wrapping paper and of course tried to eat it. he got some clothes (some for when he's older), lots of books...his fave, blocks, and lots of other little goodies. it was a lot of fun to be with the complete family.

christmas...austin style
we left the next day (22nd) and came back home. miles was perfect in the car (for the record, so were the dogs). we unpacked everything and relaxed. auntie jen came over on the 23rd and babysat miles while ross and i went to san antonio for a spurs game (our christmas present from my parents). i think we calculated it was the longest spurt i had been away from miles and i definitely missed him. we demanded jennifer keep texting us pics of him while we were at the game. we ate at saltgrass before the game and had a really great evening together. jennifer did a great job with miles, even though he was getting sick and was a super crankpot that day. christmas eve day auntie jen took care of miles allll day while i cleaned the house and ross took care of all the leaves in the yard and did some other work outside. then we went to church and afterwards ate brisket and had a game night with 2 new games ross had purchased as his christmas gift from mawmaw. we wanted to stay up all night playing but we had a busy day the next day. we were super glad jfer came and helped us out while she was cramming in as much miles time as she could before she left for her semester in wales. christmas morning we ate cinnamon rolls and packed up everything again, then we all headed out.

christmas...missouri style
we drove back to graham and spent the night with my parents there before heading up to missouri the next day. the roads were very icy and we saw more than 60 cars that had driven off the road between graham and wichita falls, but ross did a great job and 8hrs later eventually drove us safely to his parents house. ross' nephew, brother, and sister-in-law were also there. miles' grandma was so glad to see him again, the first time since he was more than a week old, and it was his grandpa's first time to get to meet him. right away he got to work opening more presents. already he seemed better at it. he started ripping at the paper right away and found a musical train and a set of shape blocks with a bucket which is turning out to be his favorite toy. miles had a great time receiving lots of love and playing with his new toys...he even got to play the piano! his uncle mike took lots of pictures of him that turned out so cute! one evening miles hung out with his grandma while ross and i went to see a movie and did some shopping at the mall...it was quite the treat for me, only the 2nd time we've gone out to the movies since miles was born. we also watched the a&m bowl game and some movies at the house. also, i read a book...a novel concept! i really enjoyed having so much help with miles. we left missouri on the 30th and made it to graham, once again spending the night there before finally heading home to austin on the 31st.

i think miles really enjoyed seeing all his family. out of nowhere, on the 19th, he decided he would smile and laugh at everyone...previously he had been very stoic when he was not at home. i was so glad that everyone got to see his personality and his beautiful smile. also, while were in missouri he started sitting up more for longer periods of time, and over the break he also began to eat cheerios he had gotten in his stocking. unfortunately he had a cold from the 23rd onward so he had a lot of difficulty sleeping, which made for a very tired ross and me. he did great riding in the car ( i think i calculated 1700+ miles), if he got bored i just rode in the back to talk to him, feed him baby food, or hand him toys/read him books. all in all, it was a great first christmas for our sweet baby boy!