51 Weeks Old

December 25th: MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Today, we celebrated Blakely's first Christmas!! It was a perfect holiday, and watching Blakely discover new toys in bags and boxes was the best gift of all. Can't wait til we get to teach her about the best gift of all... JESUS!!

On Christmas eve day, we celebrated Christmas with the Tober family. We had a perfect day! Usually, we play "the game" to open presents; however, Christmas with babies can get a little crazy and takes up A LOT of your time. Just doing baby presents, naps, meals, and playing with new toys took up the whole day... we didn't even start opening our presents until after 8pm!! Loved watching Blakely open up her new presents. The funny part is that she loves tissue paper WAY more than presents! HA!
Favorite gift from Gigi and PopPop- Pottery Barn Anywhere chair. Blakely immediately crawled up onto the chair and started jumping up and down. Such a big girl.

On Christmas eve, Rich was on call so "Santa" set up Christmas at 1am.... alone. Always LOVED Santa when I was a little girl, and it was so weird to actually BE Santa this year. Loved surprising my girl... can hardly wait for the year that she actually anticipates Christmas coming.

On Christmas day, we celebrated Christmas as our little family and with the Monk family. We had a wonderful day. I kept Blakely in our room until her Daddy came home at 9am (ate "his" cookies and milk), and then Blakely got to crawl out and see what Santa had brought her. She was soooo excited, and we had so much fun watching her open her presents.
Favorite gift from GrandAnnie and GrandPop- Moxie Foxie. As soon as she saw it peeking out of the bag, she grabbed and looked at her little Foxie face. So sweet.
Favorite gift from Mommy and Daddy (ie Santa)- the tunnel. Initially, I thought this was a bust. I had intended to purchase a tent, but when I opened the box at 1am I discovered it was actually just the tunnel. So sad..... BUT THEN..... on Christmas morning, we discovered that Blakely LOVES the tunnel. She loves to crawl through it over and over again. She giggles the whole way through. She even likely to hang out in the tunnel like its her own personal "hide out!"

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

Picture highlights from Christmas Eve with the Tober Family:

First Christmas with Babies... I guess it's official, we are no longer the "kids"! Weird to be so grown up... I have a husband, a mortgage, a real job, a baby and a minivan... I'm a REAL mom!

These are adorable... Mom got the kids their first chairs and monogrammed them herself! She is so thoughtful and talented!! Thank you Gigi and PopPop!!

Gigi and PopPop with the kids!! Gigi made both of these adorable outfits for Banks and Blakely... so adorable. We attempted several times to take them to get their pictures taken with Santa.... but Blakely is TERRIFIED of Santa! If she sees him in a commercial, the mall, a cartoon.... if I even put on a Santa hat... she looses it and cries hysterically. Oh well, guess we'll try again next year! :)

Blakely LOVED this remote control. To get her to open presents, I would put it under the paper or drop it to the bottom of the bag. She loved looking for it...less interested in  her actual gifts. HA!

Gigi also made bibs for the kids... however, they look pretty good on these handsome gentlemen.

Everyone had a great time and really loved their gifts.... but NO ONE loved their gifts as much as Rich. My mom got him all the supplies to turn out garage fridge into his own personal kegerator!! He was so excited, just like a little kid. Best present of Christmas!! He loved it!

Blakely loved drinking out of a straw and she loves hold her cup herself... won't be long, and we will say farewell to Baba's!

 

PopPop loves Diet Coke, so this was the PERFECT gift for him. It was washed and filled with coke no less than 5 minutes later! Must like it...

Loved our first Christmas as a family!!

 

Thank you Gigi and PopPop for a magical day!! Blakely had a blast!!

 

 

Picture Highlights from Christmas Day with the Monk Family:

 

Santa came! Santa came! Santa came!!

When we were little, my mom and Santa would write notes to us on our presents about our good behavior and achievements from that year... this is one tradition I am hoping to pass on.

Blakely watching "Mickey's Christmas" while she waits for Daddy to come home... she doesn't know if Santa came yet!!

Daddy's home!! Blakely gets to see the spread...

At first she was afraid to touch anything...



But that didn't last long...Blakely saw her new Christmas baby and she went for it! Blakely loves her babies!!

Into the tunnel she goes...

Out she comes!

She was always so excited to see us as she peeked out of the tunnel. She would crawl back and forth over and over again! So much fun!!

Even more than her baby, she loved this pink ballerina. She is a girly girl from the start!

I love this girl!!

Richard with GrandAnnie and GrandPop!

GrandPop loves this girl!!

Blakely's stocking....opening presents, playing, dinner distracted us, and we forgot about Blakely's stocking until 7pm!! It was a fun, nighttime surprise! Loved that little Taggie Baby best of all!!

GrandAnnie and GrandPop gave Blakely a very special gift. They gave her a recorded book in which they told Blakely the real story of Christmas. Baby Jesus!! So sweet.

Someone is having a very happy first Christmas!!

Blakely loaded all of her toys in her new grocery cart (like a homeless person) and started taking some of her very first steps hanging onto the cart!! Go Blakely!!



MERRY CHRISTMAS Y'ALL!! Hope your day with your family was a special as ours!!