We had a wonderful Christmas at home. Despite being on call and working a half-day on Monday, I had a 38-hour period between Christmas eve at 2 a.m. and Christmas day at 3 p.m. where L& D was quiet and I was home with family (Kelvin's parents are in town to help us with childcare over the school-closure week-and-a-half, and Theresa joined them here for the pre-holiday weekend and holiday). The kids really enjoyed having their grandparents and aunt around for extra attention and playtime, and it was awesome to not have to pack/travel over the holidays.
Fun with "Zaza"
Iver and Theresa made mini donuts from a Japanese donut-making kit that Zaza brought
I was pretty nervous about prepping everything for the kids and for Santa, in case I was not around much due to OB responsibilities...but everything turned out so well.
We went to St. Mary's for the children's Christmas Eve mass. Theresa cooked a delicious dinner of lobster and noodles.
Theresa and Iver baked, and we set out cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer.
The adults finished all the Christmas Eve preparations.
(Tuckered out)
We had moved Niall's crib into Iver's room over the weekend, and BOTH kids slept through the night in the same room on Christmas Eve, waking after 6 a.m. on Christmas Day (and I, too, slept, without any overnight calls). This was the true Christmas miracle!!
Iver was surprisingly mellow about starting gift-opening (to be fair, they weren't in plain sight to create anticipation or expectations because we didn't put up a tree). While we didn't go overboard, we had to actually prompt him to finish opening those sent by friends and family (or open them ourselves!)!
He seemed surprised and pleased that Santa had read his "letter" and that he and the reindeer had eaten their snacks.
He loved the Wizard of Oz Nesting dolls from Vanessa
(So did Niall)
Kelvin got a lump of coal...
Baby's first Christmas
Wrapping paper is always a hit (although we used mostly reusable fabric bags this year-- for the environment, and for time/convenience!)
Blocks for Niall
Photo display for ba noi
UCLA license plate holder
Picture Charades (which Iver, reading a few letters, calls the "Cha-Cha" game)!
A watch from Santa! Silly putty was also a hit.
A letter from the North Pole
Once he was done with PJs (this kid changes about four times per day!), he got hard to work on this decorate-your-own butterfly wings from Kat. He also got some cool stencils from Grandma and Grandpa Arness. We loved playing with the arts & crafts!
Marble Run from the Lees!
It was so lovely seeing Christmas through a 4-year-old's eyes. Iver really wasn't that into the gifts so much as being and spending time with us for the whole day, which is so encouraging and made my heart happy. We had a relaxing day of breakfast, cuddle time, a walk outside (as the rain had finally stopped!), and lots of play time, although I spent the latter afternoon and evening at the hospital managing a labor. Delivering a Christmas Eve and a Christmas baby was special, too!
There was a lot of preparation and stress on my part with having Christmas here this year (even though, thankfully for all parties, I didn't have the cooking responsibility) but the day itself was so lovely and I really needn't have worried so much. We had a full house, and our hearts are full.
And for some holiday cheer, here is a photo of our now-all-grown-up child -- Iver likes drinking sparkling water out of a stainless steel wine glass, his "adult cup."
Merry Christmas from this crew!
That's a wrap!
