We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!
Clark had a wonderful first Christmas. He was a little confused because we celebrated Christmas as a family on Christmas Eve. He woke up around 8am, had breakfast, then we opened gifts! He got a small toy piano, a teether, foam blocks, playmat, some DVDs, a Christmas CD, and a giraffe stuffed animal! His big gift was a sit-to-stand walker! Here are some pictures of the gift opening time:
Clark's toy piano:
He is sitting on his new playmat:
Oh boy, we have a blinker!!
His stocking is in the background:
His big gift! the sit-to-stand Vtech walker!!
After gifts Clark went down for his morning nap and Josh and I had our Christmas breakfast. We had omelets (tomatoes, cheese, bell peppers, onions), hot chocolate, limeade and blueberry muffins! Here's a pic of Josh at breakfast:
We had a relaxing afternoon. Clark didn't take very long naps, which was a bummer, but I got lots of piano practicing done! At 5:40pm we loaded into the car and drove over to the church for the Christmas Eve service. Josh sang in the choir and in a men's group and I accompanied the choir and played a violin solo, and played violin for the congregational hymns. The choir sang a cantata, complete with narration, and it was beautiful! One of the songs was called "O Holy Night" and the narration started with the piano introduction. The narrator was telling of Jesus' birth and as she spoke I was getting so choked up!! She quoted, "and Mary gave birth to her firstborn, a son." And I just thought of Clark and how he's my firstborn and he's a son too and how much I love him and how much Mary loved Jesus as his mother. I don't know what got into me but I thought I was just going to cry right there as I was playing!!! It's amazing how the Bible comes alive as we make our way through life. Anyway, as I was having these sentimental thoughts, Clark was in nursery wailing away but unfortunately we couldn't rescue the nursery help because we were involved in the service until the very end!! It was a huge blessing to be involved with it. And although Clark had a hard time, he survived. :)
Christmas morning came and we hopped into the car again to head to church! Clark did very well in nursery this time (he's more of a morning person :). Josh did the powerpoint slides during the service and I played violin because my Dad was the worship leader. Again, it was a wonderful blessing to be involved! Aunt Kim played flute with me and we also did some prelude numbers--that was fun too! After picking Clark up from nursery we took some pictures in the sanctuary. I wish I had planned the backdrop better (or at all!!) because the pictures turned out nice:
After church we came home, Clark ate lunch, then we loaded up the car and headed over to Mom-mom and Pop-pop's house!! Clark fell asleep in the car so Josh and I took turns sitting out in the driveway with him for the first half hour, then we woke him up. He was sleeping for about an hour so I was happy with that! Clark loved playing with his cousins and just watching them play too! He also loved watching Rufus, the dog! :) He had a snack about mid-afternoon then I tried putting him down for a nap--he wouldn't have it. So we decided to wait. I tried feeding him dinner and he was super fussy so I tried putting him down again and he went down easily and slept for an hour! That was great! He woke up at 5:30pm and hung on until about 8:15pm which is when we left. And he slept all the way home, transitioned right into his crib and slept until 6am! Yay! Then Josh popped his paci and he slept until 8am. All-in-all a wonderful Christmas for Clark :)
But let's fill in the details! We opened presents before his afternoon nap. He got a fun popper toy, learning home and Little People train set from Mom-mom and Pop-pop!
He got a beautiful monogrammed apron & play pots and pans from the Roesler cousins! And an adorable personalized picture book from the Yorgey cousins!
He had a wonderful Christmas!! And we hope that deep down in his little heart he was grateful for all the presents. :) I know we were!!! It's great to have new toys around the house. He was getting sick of playing with the same toys all day every day!! :)
Josh and I received beautiful gifts as well! Every year Mom Fenton gives me a caroler and this year she is a beautiful lady holding a fancy beach-themed wreath! Josh suggested that I write the year on the bottom of the caroler. However, I will always remember because this year Mom and Dad bought a beach house! So it goes with the theme of the caroler. :) We had a delicious Christmas dinner around 4:30pm--ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, corn, rolls, cranberry sauce and cranberry relish! plus pumpkin pie, whipped cream and ice cream for dessert!! We were soooo full by the end of the night!! Plus Mom had put hors d'oeuvres out all afternoon for us to munch on--they were super yummy too!! It was a Christmas feast all day!! It was such a relaxing day for us. Clark did really well, Josh and I could just sit and chat and catch up with everyone. We are just so thankful for such a wonderful family!!! Everytime the holidays roll around I just think of how so many people have dysfunctional, awkward family gatherings, and how wonderful it is that Josh, Clark and I have normal, and not even just normal, but awesome!! family to spend holidays with. It's truly a wonderful time! It's the most wonderful time of the year!
