39 Weeks Old

December 19 - December 25

We couldn't have crammed more into this week if we had tried!  On Monday, Sarah's daycare was closed, so Tom was a good dad and stayed home with her. Sarah turned also turned 9 months old on Monday, so I'm sure the two of them celebrated all day long!

We had our 9-month visit to the doctor on Monday, too.  Sarah weighed in at 20 lb, 12 oz (83%ile) and was 29" tall (90%ile).  Her head circumference, meanwhile, was 19 cm - literally off the charts!  She is SO Tom's daughter!

Tuesday was my last day of work, so I rushed home as soon as I could to spend some quality pre-Christmas time with my family!  We started on Wednesday, when Sarah and I made Christmas jammies.  These are a bit of a tradition in our family, so it was super fun to make them with Sarah this year.  These cookies are also used as Santa bait on Christmas Eve, so it was important to make them extra yummy for Sarah's first Christmas!  See the look of approval in her eyes?

Wednesday night, I was feeling especially blessed by all of our friends and family.  See the amazing display of cards we got?  It's so much fun to look up and see the faces of the people you care about - I wish it was okay to display Christmas cards year-round!  I wonder if that would make it less special, though.  I guess I can be okay enjoying the display once a year...

The Christmas pre-party continued on Thursday, when actual carollers came to our door!  We were getting Sarah ready for her bath, and we could hear a lot of noise outside.  Then our doorbell started ringing, and the singing began!  I took my half-dressed daughter down and opened the front door, and I got to stand with my daughter in my arms as a large group of teenagers sang "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" to us.  The best part was Sarah clapping for them as they sang!  I think she made them as happy as they made us!!!

On Friday, we began prepping for Christmas dinners.  I baked a chocolate torte, bread pudding, and a cinnamon-caramel-chocolate cake.  Tom prepared short ribs and mashed potatoes.  I also rushed around making sure that all the gifts were wrapped and that we were ready for the upcoming festivities - because Christmas Eve Eve is always the start of our holiday celebration!  My friend Shauna hosts a stromboli dinner every year on the evening of Dec. 23.  Last year, Shauna and I were both pregnant.  This year, we dressed our daughters in Christmas outfits and had ourselves a beer!  Oh, how quickly things can change...

Sarah wasn't super happy about the Santa outfit, but I think she's super cute!  She may have also been a little cranky since she refused to take a nap AT ALL that day - which may have been due to the tooth that came through on the bottom left that afternoon!  She ended up falling asleep in the car on the way to the Bartel's house, so we drove up and down Lee Boulevard admiring the Christmas lights while she slept long enough to be presentable at the party...

We took Sarah home around 7:30 (sorry we're party-poopers, Bartels!) and let her look for Santa. We explained that just because she got a gift from Shauna didn't mean that it was time for Santa yet, but we're not sure she understood...

On Saturday, we got in the Christmas spirit by watching "A Charlie Brown Christmas" with Sarah.  She didn't pay much attention to it (nothing is more interesting than sitting under her exersaucer right now), but I had fun knowing that it was the first time she'd seen a Christmas special. It's so amazing to think that she truly has no idea what will happen next!  Will Charlie Brown mess up the play the way he messes everything up?  Will Snoopy win a prize for decorating his doghouse?  How will that sad little Christmas tree make everything alright?  I can't wait to share more Christmas specials with her next year!

After the Christmas special was over, we started getting ready for Grammie, Grandpa Jeff and Uncle Adam to come over for dinner at our house to celebrate Christmas Eve.  They arrived around 5:00 to play with Sarah before we ate.  She had fun basking in all the love and attention, and she didn't even fuss about wearing a dress!

We let Sarah open one gift early. She had lots of fun figuring out how it worked - and putting it in her mouth!  Luckily, Grandpa was there to help...

Next, it was time to eat!  Tom made some outstanding short ribs and mashed potatoes. Grammie brought yummy appetizers, and Uncle Adam brought rainbow chard and a big bottle of wine! We ended the dinner with a flourless chocolate torte and with a scoop of peppermint bark gelato.  One of the things I love best about hosting Christmas Eve is getting to use my great-grandma's china plates and my other great-grandma's wine glasses.  It's so special to have that little bit of them with us as we celebrate!

 

After dinner,we put Sarah in her pajamas.  She read a book with Grammie and then tried to climb over Grandpa to get to the Christmas tree.  Mean old Mommy told her "no" and then put her to bed.  Since we didn't make it to church this year, we just read the Christmas story to her and hoped that she got the general message behind it!  We'll do better in the future, I promise...

Grammie, Grandpa and Uncle Adam left around 9:30, and Tom and I got ready for Santa's arrival.  Note the use of Christmas jammies

Christmas morning started around 7:15.  Tom brought Sarah down for a bottle and a peek inside our stockings.  Santa seemed to know exactly what to bring - Pickle got some bones, Mommy got some chocolate, Daddy got gum and jelly beans, and Sarah got lots of Christmas toys! 

 

Once the stockings had been emptied, it was on to the gifts under the tree!  Sarah crawled on her own through the kitchen and into the living room.  It was about 50 degrees outside on Christmas this year, so we skipped the fire in the fireplace and used the Yule Log on TV to set a festive tone instead...

Check out the awesome presents Santa left for us!  Santa also left Sarah with two special gifts you can't see in these pictures - her two front teeth!  Her top two teeth both poked through her gums Christmas morning.  Who actually gets their two front teeth for Christmas?! 

Sarah showed a little interest in opening gifts, but we helped her unwrap most of them.  The ball popper was the one box she unwrapped on her own!  She helped us unwrap some of our gifts, and we helped her with the rest of her presents.  Everyone got some great gifts, and it was a wonderful first Christmas with our little family!

Sarah played in the boxes for a little while, then it was time to get dressed and head over to Grammie and Grandpa's for Christmas brunch and presents with the extended family!

This year, Uncle Adam's girlfriend, Megan, joined us for Christmas.  We love her, so it was great to have her there to celebrate with us!  We opened stockings that Santa had filled for us at Grammie's house, and then we had our traditional Christmas morning breakfast of Steeple Chase Casserole.  Sarah just enjoyed pulling off her boring old white socks...and then her new purple striped socks!

After breakfast, Sarah had a quick wardrobe change, and then we opened the gifts under the tree! As always, there were WAY too many presents...

Tom got stuck playing Santa this year, which means he had to pass out all the presents.  Lucky Tom!  Sarah had fun playing with the packages, and she even enjoyed a few of her new gifts as well!

We came back to our house so that Sarah (and Mom and Dad!) could have a nap before heading over to Carrie's house to have Christmas dinner with the Mayers.  This year was especially fun since it was the first Christmas for Sarah AND for her baby cousin Gavin!

Merry 1st Christmas, Gavin!

Sarah had a blast checking out Aiden's Christmas carousal, playing with a Christmas balloon, playing with Aiden, Grammie and Uncle Barry, and watching "A Christmas Story" for the first time!

Sarah's Christmas dinner consisted of a few bites of brisket and some delicious mashed potatoes with loads of cheese.  She took over Aiden's high chair while he hung out at his picnic table.  (Thanks for sharing, Aiden!)

Then it was time to open the last presents of the day! Sarah got a cute purple tutu outfit, some books, and a cause and effect ball toy from her cousins.  Aiden got a toy helicopter from Sarah and a workbench to hammer from Aunt Marti and Uncle Jeff.  It is so fun to see the difference in how Aiden plays and how Sarah plays!  They're 9 months apart, but that's a BIG 9 months at this stage in their lives!

After presents were opened, we took our little Christmas angel home for the night.  We had a wonderful Christmas this year, and we can't wait to spend more together as a family! 

Sweet dreams, my sleepy girl!