Riley's First Christmas festivities began the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, at Christmas on Las Olas. We were excited to take the kids to see Santa, for Riley's first sit on Ole' Saint Nick's lap. We had a nice time and Riley did very well with Santa, as I knew she would, because she had no idea what was going on.
Before we knew it, it was December, and time to get in Holiday mode. I, for some reason, kept thinking the holidays were going to wait around for me. I kept procrastinating on everything. Shopping, decorating and holiday spirit didn't begin for me until about 2 weeks before Christmas. All that procrastination resulted in me doing an electronic Christmas Card this year, which I emailed out instead of mailing. I guess it wasn't so bad given the fact that I communicate with almost everyone I would have mailed them to via email anyway. The way I look at it, I saved myself a ton of money and time. To make myself feel a little less guilty about my approach, I did design my own card again this year. Here it is, Riley's first Christmas Card. (It only took us 328 takes to get a decent picture).
Given that I do now have a girl, one could say that I am a little obsessive with all of the accessories. I searched online for the perfect Christmas outfit and it hit me like a ton of bricks. The perfect Christmas outfit would be one that was made by Mommy. So, I set out on a little challenge to myself, to see what I could come up with. Here it is, matching hairbow and all...
Our next trip to see Santa was at Bass Pro Shops. I had been trying to talk Tyler into liking Santa for a few weeks, so I wanted to test the waters and see if his judgement had changed at all. It did! Big Brother Tyler was actually happy to go see Santa the second time. This first time he wouldn't even look at him. He only sat on Santa's lap for a quick 2 seconds before he decided he just wanted to stand. But, no tears!!!! Riley, again, could have cared less. She just sat there, modeling the outfit Mommy had specially made for her!
We continued in holiday mode with a trip to see some FANTASTIC Christmas lights that were one street over from my parent's house. Riley was amazed by the lights. The fact that they were all coordinated with music, had everyone's attention. It was 40-something degrees out that night, so it really made it feel like Christmas. I only lasted about 15 minutes before Riley and I jumped back in the truck to soak up the heat. Of course, I had to dress Riley up for the milestone, so when we got back to my Parent's house, I did a little photo shoot in front of the trees. Great memories!
We did things a little different this year and had Christmas Eve at our house with David's family. It was such a nice time and it was convenient for us so that when the kids got tired, we could just put them to bed. We had dinner and opened presents and just visited. It was actually very relaxing. Little Miss Riley lasted until about 10. She must have known Santa was coming that night!
Christmas day...one word...hectic. Our Christmas is always hectic, but with 2 youngins, hectic is taken to a whole new level.
We started at home, Christmas morning, when I woke everyone in my house up just before 6am. David thought I was crazy, but I was so excited. We all opened our presents in our pajamas and Tyler helped his Sissy open all her presents.
We continued on to David's Grandparent's home for Christmas Brunch & more presents with his extended family. This is the best brunch in town. Although Riley didn't get to enjoy the breakfast part, it was great visiting with all of the family.
Then it was on to the next stop, my Parent's house. We do Christmas with my immediate family around 11:30 (but, we're late every year) and the rest of the extended family usually starts showing up around 1. Needless to say, Riley was ready for a nap since I woke her up so early. She went down for a nap almost as soon as we got to my Mom's and slept for a good 3-4 hours. The mound of gifts that she received from my family was unbelievable and I am still trying to figure out where to put all of it.
Riley also got to share her first Christmas with 2 others, Cousin Raegan and second-cousin Hailey. They were just too cute, all posing for thier 1st Christmas photos.
Completely exhausted, Riley passed out on my mom's couch around 9PM Christmas night.
It was a LONG, but joyous day, visiting with all the friends and family!!! Thank you to everyone for everything! To see more of the 500+ christmas photos we took, click here!
I'll make the New Year's portion of this post short and sweet, since I have already written a short novel. We spent the New Year in Lake Wales with family and friends. Riley didn't quite make it to midnight, but she was surely dressed for the occasion!!!!!!! Cousin Raegan and Riley were matching for the event!
We couldn't have asked for a better First Christmas or New Year for Riley and feel that we are truly blessed. Here's wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2011! And so it goes...
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