Tralee's First Christmas

This is what Jim would look like if we had triplets!
Last time this year this is what I looked like:

I was HUGE! I'm kind of glad that's not me this year. The result of that big belly last year is this sweet baby face this year:
We had a very Merry Christmas. On Christmas Eve we went to Jeff and Tricia's for dinner (mother in-law and her hubby). After eating we piled into our car and headed off to cousin Theresa's for more goodies, and family fun. We hung out with cousins, Aunts, Uncles, Grandma Callister, and watched the older cousins put on the Nativity. It was pretty cute. Cousin Jason read the story, and when he mentioned one of the key characters the children would come out and act out what Jason was reading. At one point one of the wise men gave the baby Jesus "Frankincense, Mere (spl?), and a dinosaur." We all laughed. We also sang Christmas songs in-between different parts of acting out the Nativity. It gave me a nice warm fuzzy feeling. As soon as the story of Jesus's birth ended everyone shared a talent. We listened to a cousin play the saxophone, people sang, children danced, violins were played, and cousin Nathan even whipped out xylophone and played Christmas music on it. Tralee was enthralled with the Nativity scene and the xylophone. She loved to watch the other kids act, and listen to Jason read. As soon as the xylophone came out, Tralee's head starred at it with interest. She crawled right under it to investigate, and later had a chance to play some "music" of her own on it. Christmas Eve was really nice.

When we came home from Theresa's Jim helped wrap presents for Tralee and we went to bed with visions of sugar plums in our heads.

Christmas morning we woke up with Tralee, and Jim headed downstairs to put on Christmas Music, turn on the Christmas lights, and get our camcorder running. As soon as it was all-systems-go, Tralee and I walked downstairs and we had our very first Christmas as a family with a kid. It was sooo fun to watch Tralee open presents and play with them. The first present she opened was a baby sign DVD. She was so proud of herself and seemed perfectly content to just hold the DVD and look at it. Several presents later we were surrounded with packages, wrapping paper, tissue, and happiness! I won't name every toy Tralee got, but all of them were the learning type things. They all light up, make sounds, sing songs, teach colors, letters, numbers, and/or animal sounds. I'm excited to play with Tralee's toys with her in the up-coming days. I love Tralee's inquisitive face in this picture.

Grandma and Grandpa Labiszak helped contribute to Tralee's gifts and we really appreciate them for that. In fact, all of Tralee's grandparents helped make this Christmas extra merry! Thank goodness for Grandparents! Nana sent Tralee her first little potty chair. It's really cute, and not too long from now I'm sure Tralee will be putting it to use! Thanks Nana!

I made part of Nana's famous brunch for breakfast. I made Quiche, and Crepes with Raspberry sauce. I think they turned out perfect! I even took a picture so my Nana can see how well she taught me!
After opening presents it looked like a tornado ripped through our living room.
After breakfast we all got ready to go to Uncle Dave's and Aunt Becky's. Jeff and some of Jim's cousins were there as well. We enjoyed a delicious meal of prime rib, mashed potatoes, green beans, orange rolls, and chocolate cake with peppermint ice cream for dessert. After the food had settled in our bellies Jim and David organized a ping-pong and arcade basketball tournament. I came in one of the last places, Jim came in one of the first places. Figures! Oh well, I had fun! After the intensity of the tournament we all needed to just settle down and relax. It was fun to visit with family, and we really appreciated the invite to spend our holiday with some extended family.

Last night Tralee woke up coughing and then she threw-up! She threw-up two more times at night, and it broke my heart. This morning her illness is coming out the other end and she's been fussy. I explained Tralee's symptoms to a nurse at her doctor's office and she said it sounds like a little stomach bug that could last 24-48 hours. If it lasts longer or gets worse (or she doesn't have wet diapers) I should call back. Poor Tralee. In between throwing up and going number 3 Tralee seems pretty content, it's just during those "episodes" that she's extra fussy. Jim ran out and bought her some infant Tylenol and we had to force her to take it because she won't eat anything, but she will nurse, so that's good. I'm just glad Tralee didn't get sick on Christmas Day, hopefully she'll be all better by tomorrow.

Happy Holidays.