What did you miss?
1. The end of November Asa took his first road trip to South Carolina to see Matt's family for Thanksgiving. He got to see Poppy, Nana, Auntie Lakey, and Izzy again and meet Uncle Steve, Uncle Tyson, and Anne.
We had delicious Thanksgiving food (including a very yummy and moist turkey) and enjoyed time with family. On Friday Matt's family always goes out in search of post-Thanksgiving shopping deals. We wound our way through Old Navy, Barnes & Noble, Target, and a few other stores. We got Asa a fleece jacket, hat, and mittens at ON and found an adorable ornament for his stocking at Target. Our trip home from SC was Asa's worst road trip yet. We learned that even when you do not anticipate an all-day drive, leave first thing in the morning. Our sweet boy was beside himself and completely OVER being in the car seat later in the day since we took a leisurely start. Thankfully, he did much better at Christmas. :)
2. G-Pa and G-Ma came for a visit in December. G-Pa came down to see us/pick up his new 'stang (which he and Matt drooled gallons of drool over). :)
G-Ma stayed a little longer and even got to decorate our Christmas tree with us! I loved that. :)
3. On the weekend before Christmas, we celebrated our first Christmas with Asa. Dada read about Jesus' birth to us from the Jesus Storybook Bible, and then we opened stockings. Asa got a Sophie the Giraffe teething toy (that has since been renamed Lolo) and his ornament--a cute little yellow bird that says, "Baby's first Christmas." Then we moved to the living room and opened gifts. Asa was a big fan of the bows and tearing paper off packages. He received 2 books and a toy. We took lots of pictures and video of him opening gifts. :) After he went to bed, Matt and I had our traditional gourmet breakfast dinner (my baked French toast worked with rice milk--it usually has cream!) and I even found dairy-free cinnamon rolls for desert. I gave Matt the movie The Count of Monte Cristo for Christmas, so we watched that and then went to bed.
4. On December 23rd we hit the road for Tennessee. It took about 10 hours (same as last time) and even though Asa didn't nap as well as his September trip, he only had one melt down.... when I let him out of his car seat while Daddy took a break at a gas station. Apparently it wasn't a long enough break because Asa had a FIT when I put him back in the car seat... as in screaming for the following hour. I will NOT do that again. He's only getting out of the seat if it's a real, long break (like a meal). Whew! Brad, Joy, C, & C came over for dinner that night. The next day we went to the Christmas Eve service and got to see some friends afterwards at church. Dad grilled steaks for us and Mimi for Christmas Eve dinner. Then on Christmas morning Brad, Joy, and the kids and Mimi came over for stockings and gifts. Matt and I had not been there since the kids really "got" the whole present opening thing . It was funny to see how much the flow has changed! But we worked around them and Asa's naps and had a sweet time. :)
The rest of the day we lounged around, played, napped, and such. We had a delicious Christmas dinner, as well as the traditional breakfast Mom made earlier in the day. I missed the egg souffle, sniff, sniff, but it will taste SOOO good when I CAN have it. :) I had waffles instead with Brad. :) On Saturday we got to play games with Brad and Joy. He dominated.... big time. And on Sunday I met Jessica for breakfast, saw friends at church, met another Jessica :) and Melissa and their babies after lunch, and we met Kerry, Ruthie, and Jessica (and husbands) at Barley's Sunday night. Around lunch time on Monday we set off for Rock Hill. Our time in Tennessee was SOO fun and a blessing; it just passed too quickly!
5. We got to South Carolina on the 28th... and we got to see snow on the way! There was snow on the side of the road through the mountains. So technically, Asa has seen his first snow. :) There was another first the same day... Asa got his FIRST TOOTH! You read that correctly. I know I posted about it earlier, but it was visible just below the surface of his gums in the afternoon on our way to SC. By the time we got to Matt's parents' house, a corner had poked through (thanks to LOTS of chewing), and the next morning the entire top edge had poked through! CRAZY!
(more recent picture of his pearly white)
He was not the greatest sleeper in SC. He woke up every 2 hours (sometimes less, sometimes a little more) all night.... every night. WHEW! I was one tired mama! He knew he was not at home and I think he didn't like the smaller size of the portable crib they had there. I hope to have him sleep in his pack and play some before our next trip to SC and get him used to it. Then we could just have him sleep in IT so it would be familiar. I'll let you know in plenty of time before our next trip to be praying about that. ;) We got to see Matt's sister's family and his aunt who recently moved to SC. Izzy was at the house all day Tuesday and Wednesday, so we got to see her a lot. :) We had lunch with Tyson & Anne and took Asa over to see Tyson's family too. And Asa got to see Matt's mom's best friend and her husband as well. Matt sweetly took me to 2 fabric stores where I found a little bit of fabric and a couple kinds of ribbon I liked. We had a sweet Christmas with them!! I also read the book My Sister's Keeper (it was on the nightstand so I figured, why not?) while we were there.
6. New Year's Eve and New Year's Day arrived while we were in SC. Asa wore his 2010 onesie that Jessica B. made him on New Year's Day. He looked really cute in it. :)
On New Year's Eve, UT was playing in a bowl game so we watched that (and I read and fell asleep on the couch). Unfortunately, UT lost. But I think Matt enjoyed the time just hanging out with his dad. On Jan. 2 we headed back on the road to FL. We fit everything into Matt's car (this was the first big road trip his car has been on since we got married) and made our trek south. We left early (remembering our lesson from Thanksgiving) and took nice, long breaks from the car for breakfast and lunch (this WAS Asa's 3rd big car trip in 11 days). Asa did GREAT! Praise the Lord! We got unpacked and let Asa play and stretch when we got home. Then we settled in for the night, headed to church the next morning, and got to pick up Sammy that night while also hosting our Bible study for our monthly meal together. THAT is a whole story in and of itself. Just wait--you'll want to hear it.
I am SOOOO glad we got to spend so much time with family for Asa's first Christmas--4 whole days with each family plus travel days. We missed Sammy, and she definitely looked a little thinner when we picked her up, but she is back home now and all recovered from her time at the spa. :)
And there you go! We are caught up! What a wonderful whirlwind of family and friends. :) Thank you to everyone who made time for us!
No comments:
Post a Comment