Christmas!

This post is quite late, but with a little mover in our house, blogging hasn’t been a priority.

Elysen’s first Christmas was as wonderful as I could ever have imagined. She didn’t really know what was going on, but she loved the attention.

We went to Tyler a few days before Christmas and stayed until the 28^th. Anytime we get to stay in Tyler for an extended period of time, I am so happy. David didn’t take his 9 days off this summer, so he got to use them over the holidays. That meant that he didn’t have to take any phone calls or answer any emails! We spent time with the Harbersons, who were in town staying with Nana. We also spent part of Christmas day with the Burkharts. And all of the Johnson side of the family got to come over to our house for present opening and Christmas Eve dinner.

Elysen got to meet her second cousin Lainey. They are so close in age (only 5 weeks apart), but they are very different. Lainey is precious, and I loved seeing her animation. We got her a small brown bunny stuffed animal for Christmas and when Chase opened it, she started saying “Oooooh!” and hugging it. I told them that I would have paid 5 times as much for that bunny if I’d known how she was going to react. It was the sweetest thing.

Elysen’s first Christmas morning was fun. Unfortunately, we were dealing with teething and a lot of change – so we didn’t get a lot of sleep during the nights we were in Tyler. And Christmas Eve night/Christmas morning was the WORST! David and I were worn out. But we got up and had Santa. Then, Elysen took a nap while we opened our presents. Christmas morning with my family is one of my very favorite times of the whole year. I love seeing everyone’s reactions to their gifts that I worked so hard to find. There’s always so much laughter, and everyone is relaxed. I love it.

Elysen got so many toys and clothes from our family. She is truly a blessed girl. We have some of the toys put away so that we can bring them out later when we need a new and exciting distraction.

When we returned from Tyler, Dan and Janna had just arrived from Louisiana, and they came to stay at our house the next day. We had Christmas with David’s family, which was also a lot of fun. It was extra wonderful this year because we had Charlie with us for the first time. Our family feels more complete.

Probably my most favorite thing about this Christmas was putting Elysen in all of her Christmas outfits and listening to Christmas music with her. We read Christmas books, and sang lots of Christmas songs too. I know that she won’t even remember this Christmas, but I had so much fun telling her all about it. I know that someday she will love it as much as I do.

Santa brought Elysen a children’s storybook Bible. On Christmas morning, we read the Christmas story out of her new storybook.

As a parent, this holiday was much more meaningful for me. I felt 1000 times more grateful for every blessing we’ve been given, especially Elysen. I found myself getting emotional often over the last month, and I know it’s because I never imagined how happy and blessed I could be. I also became emotional thinking about the fact that my Savior came down to earth as a little baby, and the fact that He came to sacrifice Himself. Mary’s role as a mother meant more to me this year than it has before.

We had such a blessed holiday season. I know that next Christmas will be just as exciting and fun. 

11 months

Elysen, you are 11 months old! The next time I write one of these posts, you will be 1 year old!

Weight: 20 pounds!

Height: Not sure

Sizes: You are wearing all 9 month clothes - 12 month is still just too big. You are wearing a size 3 diaper, but I think we're probably about to move into size 4 - I get scared that you'll grow out of them in the middle of a package!

What you're up to:

- EVERYTHING!!! You are crawling everywhere at light speed. I put you on the floor one minute and the next time I turn around, you're in another room. This means that your daddy and I have had to get serious about child-proofing. The things you want most and the places you want most to go are always the ones that aren't allowed.

This is you with your second cousin, Lainey, at Christmas

- You are learning so much. You talk all the time to whomever will listen. Many times, on the way home from Lincoln, you and I will have our own conversation with sounds. We spend the whole drive just making sounds and imitating each other. You still use all of the same words that I've mentioned before. Now you know that the puppies have names. You call Darsee (or Remus) any number of sounds from "dee-dee" to "day-day", but all of them begin with a "d". I know that Darsee's name is the easiest for you to say. 

- You ask for your daddy all the time. Sometimes, when we get home to an empty house in the afternoon, you look over my shoulder and say "Da-da?" You've even started calling him "Daddy" sometimes. But, thankfully, you also call for me sometimes too. (Although, not nearly as often - probably because I'm always with you! Ha!) Usually, you only say "Mama" when you are sad.

- You are pulling up on everything in this whole house - the end tables, the couches, the kitchen chairs, the refrigerator...the dogs. I have a feeling that you will be standing on your own (if not taking a step or two) by your first birthday. You do many funny poses trying to stand up. We call them your yoga poses, because that's exactly what they look like.

- You still have 7 teeth, but they have grown in much more this month. You look like such a big girl with a mouth full of teeth!

- You still love your baths. Every night, you play in the tub with your toys while Daddy sits with you. Sometimes you listen to music, sometimes you sing - it's a pretty fun time. You love to put your face in the water and blow bubbles (I guess we're going to have to find a pool to visit this summer!). You also like to drink the bath water, but we try to discourage that. 

- Last week, you and I got the stomach flu. Uggh. It was nasty. But we managed your first real illness pretty well. In your first weeks of life, your daddy was so disgusted by spit-up and all other baby bodily fluids, I never imagined that he would handle it so well when you threw up all over him (multiple times). Hehe. But we are all well now and hopefully, we won't be getting that bug again for a looong time.

- This week is going to be a big one. Next Tuesday, your Marmee is coming to visit because I'm leaving to go to a conference in South Carolina on Wednesday. This will be the first time we've ever been apart overnight. I know you will have a blast.... pray for me. 

- While I'm gone, I guess we'll just have to talk on the phone! You love the phone. You have always been fascinated by our cell phones, but now you know what they are for, and you will pretend to talk like us. You get your play cell phones and hold them to your ear. I think you are expecting someone to really talk to you! We call Daddy at work most mornings and say hi to him - even though you usually become silent when you see that someone is really talking to you.

- You know several body parts. We were playing with one of your Christmas presents, this puppy that talks and says "hand", "foot", etc. Well, the puppy said "ear" and suddenly, you grabbed your ear and looked at me! I thought it must have been a coincidence, but it wasn't, you did it again! It turns out that your ReeRee had been working on helping you know your ears when she stayed with you that week. So, if you're in a good enough mood, you will show us your ears, blink your eyes, and sniff your nose. And you know what to do when I say "clap" and "dance", so I know we'll get "hands" and "feet" soon.

Eating dinner with Reed on New Year's Eve

- You are eating a lot lately. You've gone through a growth spurt. You're still between sizes, but all of your shoes are snug and your pants are too short (I never thought that would happen). You eat oatmeal and some fruit from a jar at Ms. Amanda's house every day, and you eat more of that at night. You still don't really like "real" food besides bread (crackers, puffs, cheerios, etc). We've tried peas, oranges, bananas and several other things, but you're not really a big fan. But if there's one thing I've learned with you, it's that I just need to keep trying and one day you will suddenly decide that you like it and then I won't be able to find enough!!!

- You love music. I had a crazy experience a week ago. We got in the car to drive to Lincoln. Usually, you are babbling and squealing and playing with your seat toys the whole way (or fussing). I put on the Getty cd that I got last year and listened to a lot when I was pregnant with you. You literally froze in your seat, and turned your head to hear it better (I have the sound mostly faded to the front so it's not too loud). You were still as a stone on the whole drive because you were listening. I guess you recognized it from even before you were born! Aren't God's creations amazing?

I can't believe you will be a year old in a month! Time flies when you're having fun...and you are so much fun. We love you lots, baby girl!