Christmas

Our Christmas this year turned out a little different than planned.  Curtis was scheduled to work on Christmas day and several days surrounding it, so we decided that we would do Christmas on the 27th, Curtis' day off.  Plans changed, however, when we received the news of Curtis' paternal grandmother's passing just a few days before Christmas.  Curtis took a few days off of work and we decided that we would head up to New Mexico on Christmas day for the funeral on the following Monday.  Curtis got home from work on Christmas morning and we all gathered around the tree to open presents. Nathan, of course, has no concept of Christmas but he could sense the excitement as we sat down by the tree.  

Nathan was completely puzzled when we handed him his first gift, but after a little tutorial from Curtis he became a pro at unwrapping.

It was fun to watch him unwrap his gifts mostly because he would let out an appreciative "ooooooooooooo" as he caught a glimpse of what was inside the wrapping paper.  

Instead of overwhelming him with present after present we let him sit and play with each new toy until he seemed ready for the next.  He got a kick out of carrying around this mat that came in a backpack from his Grandma and Grandpa Ashton for a good while...

but he had even more fun once he realized that the mat and trucks came out!!

As super cool as all his new toys were, he seemed to have the most fun with this:

Nobody believed me when I told them that all I was getting for Nathan were some empty boxes.  In fact, I think a lot of my friends felt bad for the poor little guy and wondered if I was fit to be a mother when I wouldn't go out and buy him a decent Christmas gift. What can I say?  I'm cheap, and Nathan LOVED the boxes!  So there!

After we finished cleaning up our Christmas mess we packed and loaded up the car to head to Ramah.  However, about 30 minutes into our trip our car decided to do some crazy things, causing us to turn back around.  We switched all of our luggage into my good 'ol reliable Ford Explorer, but decided that it was getting too late to make the 7-8 hour trip, especially considering the fact that Curtis had worked all night, and that we would try again in the morning.  Having not anticipated cooking a Christmas dinner, we feasted on some not so delicious spaghetti and meatballs and called it good.

The drive to Ramah was much more successful the next day and we were able to spend 3 days with family before heading back home. Now I must say that traveling in the third trimester is not necessarily something to look forward to, but with this little man as a fellow passenger, how can I complain?