Merry Christmas!

My apologies for the lack of posts...December came and went! Here is a little snapshot of our first Christmas with Grant in our own home! He was so busy playing with his new toys that he could hardly be bothered to look at the camera!

Grandma was having the time of her life playing with Grant and his toys.

There was so much to look at with so many lights at Grandma and Grandpa's house! Only a few smiles under the tree on Christmas morning. Instead, Grant makes this new lips together mouth smacking noise.

In the collage above, you might notice some socks and shoes hanging from the tree. It has been a long tradition at my parent's to have a "sock" tree. Various socks hang like ornaments on Christmas morning and the lucky family members take turns picking out new socks for the coming year. This year, the adults didn't have socks hanging, but I had to laugh when I spotted some baby socks and even shoes hanging from the tree. Too cute! We neglected to even get a family picture together during Christmas morning, but maybe next year we will remember. I was the one behind the camera when we went to my parent's after our own family Christmas at home. It was classic...dad buried in the tree and the rest of us enjoying time together.


The best surprise of the morning came when we heard my brother Nate's voice floating in from nowhere. My mom was really sad that she would not see Nate this year for Christmas since he has made it home from D.C. for the last many years. My dad received a laptop for Christmas (he did not know it yet!) and Kellie and Spencer arranged with Nate (who was celebrating in Florida with his wife, Tanja's family) to make a guest appearance over webcam. It was awesome to see my mom so shocked she was in tears and my dad's reaction to the fact that it was HIS laptop making this Christmas surprise happen!
We had our own Christmas Eve miracle. Grant's feeding pump bag goes with him everywhere and the old red one was beyond repair. I have been fighting with insurance companies and our home health carrier to get Grant a new bag since September. On Christmas Eve, we got a call and were finally able to get a new bag. This really sounds silly, but it makes my life SO much easier and I LOVE IT!Kyle and I were very spoiled this year. We gave ourselves the gift of good health and purchased a treadmill since we are often home bound. My parents gave us (among other treats) a beautiful parawood entryway table that we are finishing for our home. Kyle's parents were so sweet and sent us money for a baby monitor (can you believe we didn't have one??! We rarely leave Grant's sight, but it was very difficult to exercise during naptime since the treadmill is too noisy to hear him) and got Kyle a wonderful drill and saw set for finishing our basement. We feel so very blessed!