Eden's First Christmas!

We had a great Christmas with lots of time spent with family.  Beforehand, I really gave a lot of thought to what traditions I wanted to start with Eden and came up with a lot of good ideas.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to implement many of them.  We were super busy!  I did decide to start some traditions when it came to gifts.  On Christmas Eve, we gave Eden some new Christmas pajamas, two Christmas books, and a blanket.  All of them were incorporated into her bedtime routine.  Unfortunately, she was sick and threw up after a coughing fit all over her new pajamas.  Thankfully, I was able to have them clean and dry before the next morning.  As for her actual gifts, we gave her a stocking and then did the "Something she wants, something she needs, something to wear, something to read."  We got her this Toddler music band for the "something she wants," this bath toy organizer for "something she needs," this and another coat for the "something to wear," and these Sandra Boynton books for the "something to read."

We enjoyed spending time with all (well, most) of our extended family.  On the Sunday prior to Christmas, Jeff's mom, sisters, brother-in-law, and nieces and nephew came over.  We had a big dinner  with the traditional holiday spread (I kept thinking it was Thanksgiving, haha).  I and gotten a free turkey from work and since we didn't use it for Thanksgiving, I wanted to cook it for Christmas! After dinner, we exchanged gifts.  Eden was super adorable opening her very first gift from her Nana.  She actually did a really good job considering she's only 10 months old!  Unfortunately, I didn't get too many good pics from this day.

Cousin Mercy doing some Pilates.

Blurry Virgil and Hazel posing for a pic.

Unfortunately, Eden started with some mild congestion and a little cough on Saturday evening.  Sunday, it turned into what was obviously croup.  We were supposed to leave on Monday to head to my Parents' but I ended up having to take Eden to an urgent care place to get her some steroids.  She was never all that sick but we figured it was better to go ahead and take the steroids to prevent it getting worse while we were out of town.  Needless to say, it was not a very fun experience.  Thankfully, we just had a few rough nights of coughing and throwing up and restless sleep but we were still able to go to my parents' and enjoy time with family.

My pitiful looking sick baby.

Taking a nap on the way to Nanny and Poppy's.

Feeling better and hanging out with Poppy.

 That day, we had breakfast as a family (minus one sister and my brother, sad times) and exchanged gifts.  Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures.  (Having a baby has really made me slack off in the picture-taking department).

Wednesday, Christmas Eve, we had a lazy morning and then went to my grandmother's house to celebrate with extended family (lots and lots and lots of extended family).

Hanging out with Nanny at Brebre's house (Brebre is my grandma).

Playing with my fun new toys!

Blurry picture of the active babies!

My nieces with Eden.  They are enamored with her.

That evening, we came home and opened Eden's Christmas Eve gifts that I mentioned earlier.  We took our time getting her ready for bed and read her new Christmas books to her.

Me & my baby girl on Christmas Eve.

On Christmas Day, Eden & I got up around 8am when she woke up for the day.  Nanny & Poppy were at my sister's house having breakfast with them and watching the girls open their gifts.  We waited for them to come home.  Then, we had blueberry waffles and Eden opened her stocking and gifts from Mommy, Daddy, and Santa.

My grandmother, "Gran" or "Hootie," got Eden a stocking to match the one she got for Jeff several years ago. Then, I bought myself one to match theirs.

She loved the little balls she got in her stocking.
One lights up, and the others make noise or have a little picture or something inside.

Seriously, so. much. fun.

Opening another gift!

All smiles.

Enjoying my new instruments with Daddy!

That night, we headed back to Lynchburg and went straight to Robin's house (Jeff's sister).  Jeff's dad was in town and we wanted to hang out with (almost) the whole family.  Unfortunately, they had to eat dinner without us because Eden took an epic nap that day (four hours long).  In hindsight, I probably should've just woken her up and gotten on the road earlier but oh well, it is what it is!

Cousins, Mercy & Eden playing.

FaceTiming with family in New Jersey.

Adorable girls.  Eden wasn't too big on having her picture taken that night.  Haha!

Still not amused.  Silly girl.

After getting Eden to bed that evening, Jeff and I had a nice quiet time exchanging stockings and gifts.  Then, we hung out on the couch listening to my new CD.  It was very relaxing.

Adorable little ornament Jeff got me.

And my new Copeland CD.  So wonderful.  

He also got me a charm for my bracelet and some cute cases for my iPhone.  I got him pretty boring stuff not really worth mentioning.  Heh.

Last, I'll leave you with a few pics from the next day…the aftermath, if you will.

Eden trying on one of her new hats!  We are all set for cold weather!

All our new blessings underneath the tree.

Eden has several new toys and she would rather play with the boxes and old wrapping paper.
  (I'm not surprised but it's still funny).