There's been a lot that's happened in December:
We finally made it back to church again. It took us awhile, partly because 9am is pretty hard, and partly because I wasn't ready to expose our baby girl to the masses :) But it was really fun, once I felt comfortable having her out and about with lots of people, to dress her up and show her off! Thankfully, our ward is changing to 11 o'clock come the New Year. And speaking of church, Gabby's blessing is on Sunday, Jan 4th, for all of you bloggers out there who actually know us and care to come!
A few days before Christmas, Gabby got her first package! My good friend from high school, whom I affectionately call “gNat” (she probably hates that nickname. Sorry babe!) totally made a comfy quilt for our baby! I was so shocked to have a package delivered to our door for our infant baby, and thrilled when I realized what it was! I made a ton of receiving blankets for her before she was born, and she’s been given quite a few blankets since then, but none of them have that “made-with-love” feel to it. With this quilt, I can totally see Gabby at 3 just dragging around her blankie, refusing to part with it day or night. I’m excited :)
Gabby turned 2 months old just a few days before Christmas - I cannot believe how much she has grown already. She’s gained 4 1/2 lbs and has grown 2 1/2 inches. Besides which, she's SO much more alert, and already has started copying what we do. Lifts her eyebrows, talks back, smiles a ton. And she’s so much more aware of what’s going on around her! It’s amazing what a little time can do to a baby!
The Sunday before Christmas, Gabby wore her Christmas dress, bought 'specially for her by Gwamma. By the time we got home and took pictures, she was pretty tired.
Paul and I made Christmas Cookies. Our one tiny tribute to the season (besides buying the necessary gifts for extended family - not for each other, or even for Gabby, since our extended families had her covered!!! This girl shall not ever want!). Putting up a tree and decorating just seemed like it would be a stressful, wasted effort this year. Because we're sleep deprived, and the one child in our home is not old enough to appreciate it, and we'd just have to put it all away again in a few weeks. And Gwamma has 2 lovely trees just 5 minutes away! But yeah - Paul made his favorite - sugar cookies with frosting, and I made candy cane cookies, where you dye half of the dough red and twist the red and white together to make candy-canes! Plus, they’re minty :)
Christmas was a lot of fun. We stayed overnight at Paul's parents' house - we were the only ones, because all of his other siblings have older children, as well as other in-laws to visit (all of my family live far away). Christmas morning we had waffles with strawberries and whipped cream while we waited for the rest of the family to arrive. Presents, as always with my in-laws, were awesome and in plenty. Our big gift was a deep freezer, which we still need to have delivered (note to self: call for delivery!) and we also got lots of books, movie-passes, other random things that we'd asked for, and a TON of cute things for Gabby. Baby books, clothes, baby toys... lots of stuff. Then there was the family dinner, which was amazingly yummy, and eventually we came back to our apartment. Which felt really quiet and pretty empty after being with the whole family all day.
Also for Christmas, my step-mom, Tania, and my little sister, Natty, and little brother, Kevin, came up for a little visit. They spent Christmas with Tania's family, but then Tania and I got to go clothes-shopping with our Christmas $ when she came back into town. While we were shopping, Paul spent the day with Kevin, his 8-year old brother-in-law. Kevin got a Wii for Christmas, and they had a blast. It was really fun to finally introduce Gabby to her Granny Tania and Aunt Natty & Uncle Kevin – My Dad is working overseas for a few more months, and so he still hasn’t been able to meet his newest granddaughter. But I just know that come March or April, she’s going to be a bouncing, giggling, interactive little baby, and she’s just going to love her Grandpa!
After our shopping trip, Gabby had her 2-month vaccinations. The shots themselves weren’t terrible, it was the waiting before, and the owies later that night. Since then she’s just not been herself – we’ve become used to a happy, cheerful, easy-going baby… and she’s just been constantly tired and fussy, and has even started screaming when I try to feed her. It’s been stressful, but looking back on all of the other stressful moments being a new mommy, I know that this too, will pass! Besides which, look how cute she still is, even when she’s grumpy :)
For New Year’s, our good friends, Tiff & Kent, came over for food and games, and to meet the baby :) We stayed up way too late and ate way too much, but it was a lot of fun!
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year!
She is such a cute little girl! I love girls! They are the best, are you still doing well? I was an emotional wreck for about 15 months ;) JK, but for a long time, I didn't handle the lack of sleep very well
ReplyDeleteShe looks adorable in every picture!! hugs to Gabby from Auntie Erica :>
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