We had a fantastic holiday season. Because I am so far along in my pregnancy we decided to stick around West Lafayette. This is the first Christmas Chip and I did not celebrate in NC; however, we did have a lot of visitors (but we’ll get to that later). The week before Christmas we got to spend a lot of time as a family. We especially enjoyed spending the day at the Indy Children’s Museum. David got to see the frogs and go down the Yule Slide with Daddy. But, he really enjoyed playing with the train table and inside the bulldozer. We also took David bowling for the first time. He had a good time, but we definitely only needed to play one game.
Christmas Day was a blast. David enjoyed opening his presents and it was so exciting to see him so excited. He loved his new train set and pretty much everything else he received. He also got a new tent from Mimi and Papa that he loves to sit in and play and a train table that Grandaddy built for his new train set. Since Christmas we have been doing a lot of art projects too. He got a lot of new art supplies – stickers, coloring books, markers, and finger paint. He has really loved using all of the new “stuff” he got and I have learned a new appreciation for stripping David down to his diaper when letting him finger paint.
After opening some of the presents Christmas morning, David took a much needed nap and I went to pick up my sister and parents at the airport in Indy. David was a little timid at first, but the moment Papa walked through the door he was very excited to see all of them. He had such a blast playing with Mimi, Papa, and Aunt Rebecca during his visit. He even helped Papa put together the nursery furniture for the new baby. It’s kind of funny that he still walks around sometimes and says “Becca, sleeping?” I guess that’s what he thinks Aunt Rebecca did while she was here, though I think we only actually told him that she was sleeping in the mornings.
On Wednesday we got some more visitors with Chip’s parents and Chip’s sister Susan and family all arriving. David was happy to see more people, though I do think he got a little overwhelmed with the number of people. He did really enjoy playing with Uncle Jeff and his cousins.
I really enjoyed having all of the ladies in town since they could attend the baby shower my friend Alice threw for me that night. It was a nice shower and I loved being able to have family there that don’t usually get to come to these events. I got some fantastic gifts for the baby and enjoyed all of the company. And of course a big thank you to Alice Harper for hostessing!!
Susan and family left the following day, as did Mimi, Papa, & Aunt Rebecca. I think David was disappointed to see so many guests leave, but Grandmommy and Grandaddy stuck around for a few more days. We even took David bowling again. He enjoyed it for about one game, but was ready to leave at that point.
For New Years Eve, we all went over to Alice and Kyle’s house and spent the evening eating, drinking, and letting the kids play. Around 8:30pm, Chip went back to the house with his parents and put David to bed. But, graciously, Grandmommy and Grandaddy agreed to stay with David which allowed Chip to come back to Alice and Kyle’s house. We spent the rest of the evening playing cards. Chip even started teaching the three of us how to play Bridge. It was a nice way to end 2011.
New Years Day we went to church in the morning and Chip actually got a chance to cantor. Then we went to El Rodeo for a quick lunch before Grandmommy and Grandaddy had to get on the road. David was completely exhausted and fell asleep on the way home. The rest of the day we just relaxed and spent some time with just the three of us.
It was a great holiday and we really enjoyed all of the company. Thank you to everyone for making the trip to come visit us and for playing with David. He had a fantastic time and can’t wait to see you all again!
