Kai's First Christmas

Get comfortable, this is going to be a long post!

Last year we celebrated our last Christmas as a family of two.  We had high hopes for Christmas this year, knowing that we would have a sweet 8 month old baby (boy? girl?).  The holiday did not disappoint.

We started off Christmas with two snow days (Thursday and Friday), making my winter break begin early!  On Saturday 12/22, Wendy and the girls came over and we headed to Dumont, leaving the men behind (they came a few hours later).  My aunt Mari, uncle Kirk, and cousins Dustin, Kelsey, Kendra, & Hannah all joined us for lunch at my parents' house. Dustin goes to school in Florida and this is the first time that he's met Kai or Ella!  After lunch and a couple hours of playing, we went to visit my grandma Pecha in Ackley.  After several photo ops and visiting for awhile, we came back "home" where Darren, Tyson, and Sophie (Malcolm's dog) had just arrived.  We spent the rest of the night relaxing.

On Sunday, us and my parents went to their church, while the Malcolm's went to Darren's family Christmas.  After church, Kai crashed, Tyson ran, and I got some more relaxing time while my parents got lunch ready.  Besides making a Christmas pie and a quick run to Hampton to pick up some laundry detergent, we didn't do much on Sunday.  Kai got spoiled with attention for being the only grandbaby around and he got a ride around the house from Papa in a diaper box pulled by a belt.  The Malcolm's arrived around 7:00pm and then it was game time! We played a few rounds of Whoonu and then Battle of the Sexes.

Monday marked Christmas Eve and Tyson had to work!!  We spent the morning in our pajamas and were all ready to open presents by the time he got home around 12:30!  However, that was just the time that Kai was ready to take a nap.  The rest of us took turns opening gifts, but mostly Ava was doing the gift opening.  This year, my parents only gave gifts (except the traditional pajamas and a couple small things) to the grandkids because we will be going on a vacation next year that we traded the presents for!  However, the grandkids hit the jackpot!!  When Kai finally woke up, we opened his gifts.  He came home with some pretty awesome gifts: a  ride on/walk behind motorcycle, a lawn chair with his name, tons of clothes, 2 new pairs of shoes (Pumas and Vans), sippy cups, a homemade taggie blanket, stacker cups, puzzles, books, shape sorter, remote, Little People airport (and so the collection begins!!), a laptop, steering wheel toy, a cube with several spinning objects on it, and MANY, MANY more things that I'm sure I'm forgetting!

After the presents were opened, Ava gave Kai a ride around the house in her new sled.  I could not believe that he just laid on his back and let her pull him around!  Then we ate supper (Tyson's "famous" Chicken Tortilla soup) and scrambled to get ready for church on time with two sleeping babies who still needed to eat and get dressed!  We made it on time and decided this may be the last year that we can all fit into one pew!  The Christmas Eve service was bittersweet.  Last year Wendy and I were both pregnant, so to have two babies this year was a blessing.  However, it was our first Christmas without my Grandma Meinders and I think it hit us all when they turned down the lights, lit our candles, and we all sang Silent Night.  After church we took a few quick pictures, changed the kids into their jammies, and drove back to Cedar Falls and my parents and Josh followed.

On Christmas morning, Kai let us sleep until 8:00am!  We all got up and went into the living room to see what Santa had left for him!  Kai was surprised with an elephant ball popper, some much needed new socks (he is quickly outgrowing his others), bath soap, a new book, more sippy cups, 4 different textured balls, and some snacks.  He also opened his gifts from us (not sure if this will be the tradition we continue or if he'll open them on Christmas Eve from now on).  From us he got a stack of new books (I'm trying to add to his library - we can't have a teacher's son with no books!!), a bath scoop to hold toys, and a bunch of new clothes.  We didn't go too overboard.  We just wanted him to have a few gifts from us and a few from Santa.  Nana and Papa took care of the rest!! :)  He got so many new 12month outfits that I'm considering packing up his 9month stuff that still fits just so he can wear the new ones!!

The rest of Christmas day was spent at the Malcolm's.  We went to their house for brunch around 10:30 and stayed until 5:30.  We played with Ava and Ella's new toys, played several games, and just had a relaxing day.

Now Kai and I (Tyson is back to work today) have one day of relaxing before we leave again.  Tomorrow 12/27 we are going to the Wisconsin Dells for a little getaway.  The Malcolm's, my parents, and Josh will be coming along as well.  Then, we'll get back on Saturday and wait a couple more days until Tyson's mom, Nana, and sister arrive for a week!  This is definitely a busy few weeks in the Burton household, but we'll never get Kai's first Christmas back so we might as well celebrate for two weeks!