Harper's First Christmas

Like most, this was a whirlwind of a Christmas. The days you anticipate most seem to fly by the fastest. Although, in the moment we forgot about time and truly enjoyed our family, friends, and each other.

Our Christmas celebration started at the 2pm church service where we volunteered to be the Holy Family. Harper was a vibrant baby Jesus and kicked his legs vigorously as we walked towards the manger during Silent Night. Since Harper was a rather old baby Jesus, he sat up in the manger and glanced around at all that was happening around him. It didn't take him long to grab onto the wooden manger and proceed to gnaw on its sides. Our pastor remarked that this was the first time baby Jesus tried to eat the manger. We were both pleased Harper lived up to Away in a Manger's "no crying he makes!"

We headed home and later celebrated with a savory pot roast dinner and presents for each other. It was while we were opening presents that Harper clapped for the first time! Tears welled up in my eyes as it sunk in that my baby boy was quickly growing into a little boy.

Harper fell asleep early around 7:30pm and woke up just in time to head back to church. Josh and I sang with the choir, and since no one else volunteered to be the Holy Family, Harper was baby Jesus once again. Even though it was WAY past his bed time, he did extremely well. This time there wasn't any gnawing on the manger thanks to his pacifier.

Harper didn't sleep too well Christmas Eve night, most likely due to being awake at midnight and teething, so Josh and I were pretty sleepy packing our things into the car and trying to hit the road in time for church with my family Christmas morning. We didn't arrive until after the sermon had started, but we were just glad we made it. My mom put on a delicious spread for Christmas brunch. It was the best brunch ever! It was so wonderful to spend time with my parents and siblings, and we were especially thankful Uncle Trevor was there with us.

We easily lost track of time and realized we needed to continue on to Josh's mom's house. Once again, we had a very joyous Christmas with family, food and presents. Harper of course made out like a bandit and was easily getting overwhelmed with all the commotion. I finally felt refreshed after getting to bed early and enjoying a relaxing morning complete with Nalysnykys (a Ukrainian crepe dish).

Josh's dad and Pam got sick over the Christmas weekend, so we unfortunately weren't able to spend any time with them, but we are definitely going to make up our Christmas celebration with them soon. Instead, we spent time with Josh's grandma, exchanged a few presents, ate even more Christmas cookies, and visited for awhile before heading back home.

We were happy to drive home before dark and have a few hours left in the evening to unwind from our busy Christmas. Thank you to all our wonderful family for such a memorable Christmas!