Merry Christmas, Everyone!

We sent Elliot to bed last night after a very poorly memorized dramatic recitation by yours truly of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" (I had to look up some of the later lines! I thought I would do better-- my students perform it every year). He laughed out loud throughout the poem, which made us just laugh and glow and I kept going again with the lines I did know. He loved it. We put him to bed, and he was out in a few minutes.

And it's his first Christmas morning! Dad was trying to entertain him when he was getting a little fussy with playing airplane, and Elliot graced him with a huge batch of spit up, all over Pat's face. He came into the bathroom, and I just gasped, then realized he needed help. It looked like he had gotten a pie in the face. It was impressive. Merry Christmas!

We're packing and getting on the road to Ohio this morning. Off to Grandpa Papczun's house.

Christmas Eve felt like a holiday, too-- we did a lovely late lunch (Italian style) at Dave and Jen's. The kids were great and let us all enjoy the awesome homemade meatballs, sausage, and yummy sauce that is Dave's specialty. We failed to make room for the salad!

I was feeling a little rough (Elliot had slept 12 hours the night before, which left me in, let's say, catch up mode nursing-wise), but we got home in time to recover a little and then catch a candlelight Christmas Eve service at a church down the street. The rain was less than favorable to walk in, but Pat had Elliot tucked in his coat in the carrier, all snuggled in, under an umbrella. Elliot seemed to be mesmerized by the beautiful choir music.

So MERRY CHRISTMAS, everyone! Here's to many more that will only get more wonderful as this little one gets older.