Had Ourselves a Merry Little Christmas!

We had a Merry Little Christmas,... and hope you did too! Here's a run-down of our Christmas:

First, we went to Effingham and Neoga, Illinois to visit Dustin's mom's family. We hung out, ate great food, and caught up with great people. Plus, they all got to meet Graham! Here are some pictures from that fun time:






We did the Dirty Santa game. At first, I stole a 2-tier dessert tray. I thought it'd be nice to have for baby/bridal showers I help throw in the future. But that was stolen from me, so next I stole a cake pop/donut hole maker. Again, I think I'll use this for future shower/birthday treats. It comes with recipes, so that helps!

Graham got a Sesame Street Grover doll (apparently Dustin had a Sheriff Grover that he loved as a kid), a blanket and some outfits.

That night, right after the Dirty Santa game and saying our goodbyes, we drove to Springfield, Illinois to see Dustin's step-sisters and their families. Here are some pictures from that adventure:






The last picture is Grandpa/Great-grandpa Tony with the grandkids. Graham is the little one on the left. Isn't he cute?! (They all are!). Graham got lots of clothes and toys! He really hit the jackpot this Christmas!

After spending lots of fun time with family, we got home. Though I had a lot of fun, it was tiring and it's good to be home and get Graham back in the environment/schedule he's used to. We also got to finish up a craft we started before we left. Thanks to a great friend, Jessica, we got to make Christmas ornaments with Graham's footprint and hand print. Unfortunately, the hand print was pretty difficult to do, because Graham likes to keep his hand in a little fist and moving around a lot, but we did our best! Here are pictures of the ornaments we made:



I can't forget to show you Graham's cute Christmas outfits! Here they are:


This one (above) says "HO HO HO" and has Santa on the feet.


This outfit says "Santa's First Stocking Stuffer"


This outfit says "My First Christmas" under the "Mommy's Lil Elf" bib. : )

This final picture is not a Christmas one, but I love it, so I had to share it anyway...


Ha! Now I just need to get him a strong man outfit!

Family, Fun & Holidays

We've been pretty busy lately, so I have quite a bit to fill you in on!

We took Graham's newborn pictures; here are some of my faves:










We also sent out Graham's birth announcement. Here's what it looked like:


Graham finally met his cousins, Maggie, Marin and Emmy. They loved him and he loved them. I can't wait to see how their relationship develops as he grows and can play with them! Here are some pictures of them:



Then, we all went to a birthday party for Marin. There was yummy food and we got to see a lot of family. It was a blast! Some more of Graham's family got to meet him too. Here's a family picture we took at the party:


Graham has been smiling more and more everyday. In fact, one day I woke up and leaned over to look in the bassinet and there he was smiling the biggest smile at me. Wow, what a wonderful way to wake up! Here are some pictures of his beautiful smiles (haven't been able to catch the BIG smile yet, mostly just the tail end of them):





Graham also had his first picture taken with Santa! We're getting the professional one later this week; this is one we took with our personal camera:


Santa told us what a gift he was and wanted to hang onto him even though there was a line of other little ones. Of course, we knew he was special, but it's always nice hearing it from others. ; )