Merry Christmas!

Though Rhys was around last year, this, to me, felt like our first Christmas with him.  Last year I was beyond exhausted and still in a lot of pain, both physical and emotional, so Christmas was far from merry.  I’m so, so happy to be in such a different place now, one in which I was able to thoroughly enjoy Christmas with our little man.  

We got a lot of gifts for Rhys, many more than I had planned on, but they were mostly books and we feel like books are never a bad thing, so we splurged.  Shopping for them was actually a lot of fun.  Brian and I both took a day off of work and left Rhys home with Katie so we could get our shopping done and, more importantly, enjoy a relaxing day together.  Mission accomplished on both fronts. 

Though we got many gifts for him, we asked Rhys for only one thing…a sleep-in day.  

And…? 

Maybe next year. 

We did presents and breakfast at our house and then headed over to Gramma and Grampa Wynne’s for food, more gifts, family fun and snow!  It was a lovely day.

The first gift we opened (from Dave) came in this great box that, of course, was as big a hit as the real present.

These are the great things we found in that very cool box.

Rhys quickly got the hang of unwrapping.  We're pretty sure he's a genius.

One of the many books from Mama and Dada.  Rhys is very tactile, so we tried to find books that could be played with as much as read.

"That was all really fun, guys, but I've been up since 4:50.  Can I take my nap now?"

"Ahhhh, just what I needed."

Trying to convince Uncle Pat to share his beverage.

This boy adores his Grampa.  I think the feeling is mutual.

Auntie Megan made Rhys this great dinosaur pull-along.  He loved it!

Speaking of Christmas, I'm sure you're all wondering how the Santa visit went. 

The answer?  Fine.  Pretty anti-climatic. 

I started waiting in line about an hour before Brian and Rhys arrived, but there was still another hour wait ahead of us.  The guys walked around downtown for awhile, but eventually joined me in line where we got to witness temperament differences between little boys and little girls.  In line behind us were two girls about Rhys’ age who were more than happy to just sit quietly in their strollers or be held in their parents’ arms.  Rhys, though, wanted to MOVE.  He wanted to walk around and touch things and interact with people.  When we finally got to Santa he did cry but not because he was afraid, but because he was ticked that this strange white-bearded guy was forcing him to sit still when there was so much exploring to do!

Can I get down now?

All in all it's been a great holiday season.  We're very blessed.