Merry Christmas, Libby

Well, Christmas has come and gone (too quickly) but Libby is blessed to have more celebrations on the way. We are still reading her Christmas books and discussing the reason for Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Jesus, and rediscovering new gifts every day. As I type this I am asking Libby if she remembers what gifts she got for Christmas. She is nodding and calling them off, "books. baby. bottle. monkey. hat." Hat? I don't remember a hat? "See!" She says, and she has gotten out of her seat, finished her dinner and attempted to show me her hat from grandma. It's in "Wibbuh room," she says. Now I realize she's talking about her kaleidoscope. She thinks of it as a hat!

Next week, many of Libby's aunts and uncles will be here to celebrate with her yet again. Grandma Anna and Grandpa Larry and all daddy's sisters and brothers, plus our future brother-in-law, will gather to catch up and exchange gifts, in honor of Christmas.

And, as if that weren't enough, mama and daddy, together with granddad and grandma shelley, have purchased for Libby her final Christmas gift -- a puppy! Libby's little labradoodle will be 4 weeks old this weekend, and two weeks from then we will go pick him up and bring him home. His breeder sent me an updated picture of him this morning. See how little he is! and curly! We are very excited to have him join our family, a little nervous at the added responsiblity, but thankful to be able to give her such a fun gift (especially since he's the best dog in the world!).

Early Celebration with Granddad, Grandma Shelley, et. al.

The weekend before Christmas we enjoyed our guests, grandma shelley, granddad, uncle mason aunt brett, great uncle doug and great aunt sandy, cousin kelsey and of course macey, mader and izzy. libby had been standing in the window saying, "izzy, come" for days before izzy finally arrived. we had a great weekend, (despite mama's killer cold) playing pitch by the fire, eating hot soups, and of course, exchanging gifts. Libby re-learned about presents this Christmas, and she quickly found that she enjoys them. She had fun unwrapping each one, but couldn't be rushed - she was very deliberate. She then toted her new gift around the house and tried it out while everone else opened. She wasn't in a hurry to get to the next gift, but she enjoyed each one. We really enjoyed sharing Christmas with her.

granddad and grandma shelley got libby a sled, which she truly loves - and that's despite the fact that we have not yet had a snow (really!). once we drop out of the 40s and 50s and libby wakes to a white wonderland, mama's going to have a big challenge in finding a way to drag libby back into the house rather than play and sled through the yard!

Libby got so good at opening gifts she rushed over to help uncle mason.


libby enjoys sitting in her sled to open other gifts

 

a gift from grandma shelley and granddad


libby's first gift of the holiday was from aunt brett, and it was a little chimp we now refer to as monkey. he's below, and you can see that libby took to him quickly. she totes him around, feeds him (and samples from his banana bottle) rocks him, burps him, hugs him, tickles him, and he responds in kind (he's battery operated and really does respond to her)


great aunt sandy helps libby hang our new ornament,
first christmas in our new home

 

peering into her new kaleidoscope from grandma shelley and granddad

libby shows Great Uncle Doug how she rocks on her horsey, which Great Uncle Doug made for Libby's mama at Christmas 1981.


after learning to unwrap presents, and finding her new chimp inside, libby decides to teach him how to help her unwrap the rest of her gifts.


put your hand right here, and pull!

libby shows off her new book from Great Uncle Doug, Great Aunt Sandy, and Cousin Kelsey (pictured below). This book is the story of Christmas, personalized for Libby, including her throughout the story and even mentioning her cousin Kelsey and best friend Josie!

just wait until she gets this baby in the snow!

 

Christmas Eve with Grandpa Larry, Grandma Anna, et. al.

I'm very disappointed to say that we didn't get a family picture taken on Christmas eve, or Christmas day... though Christmas day is more understandable since we took our pictures while still in our jammies that morning. We spent Christmas Eve saying goodbye to Granddad and Grandma Shelley and Uncle Mason and Izzy, then rested and went to church that evening.
Libby got to enjoy the service rather than the nursery, and was fascinated by the musicians playing the drums and the guitar and the piano, and singing to celebrate baby Jesus. She was such a good girl! We discussed being a good girl on our way to church, and afterward, mama's friend commented to Libby that she was such a good girl and Libby beamed with delight and said, "Wibbuh (Libby) good girl." and patted her little chest.
After church we celebrated and Grandpa and Grandma's house with a big feast and more gifts. Everyone opened 1 gift (or a few more) from G & G, and we'll get together again next week to celebrate when Aunt Lucy and Uncle-to-be Dan are here with us. We're looking forwad to getting together once again!

Libby had a bag of gifts as big as she is, and right on top was a new little baby. While grandma works to get her out of the box, Libby decides to make good use of the time and find out what else might be waiting for her in there!

 

libby and "unco dannuh" (uncle daniel) share a hug, with a squeeze.

libby couldn't help but notice, during that hug with a squeeze, that unco dannuh has a scratchy face!

big smiles for libby's new baby, complete with a bottle and a head band!

 

libby shows grandpa larry and aunt wendy how she cares for her new baby

so how does this work?

i hadn't yet mentioned, but at home, libby can turn "lights on. lights off." and we experience that effect at various times throughout the day. and then again. (she's getting so tall!) at grandma anna's, baby finds that she can reach the lights from the sofa...

here's to Christmas! bottoms up!

 

It's Christmas, It's Christmas, It's Christmas!

We spent our first Christmas in our new home, at home. Though mama didn't rise and shine with Libby and daddy (fighting a sore throat/ear), I eventually got out of bed, as did Aunt Brett, and we opened our Christmas morning gifts. Libby was thrilled to find out that she had more gifts to open! Little does she know, she'll have twice as many next week!

libby get's the morning version of an old favorite, pajama time.
this one's called, hey! wake up!

daddy gets busy reading to her because let's face it, a book about waking up has no business in mama's hands. libby catches right on to the actions, touch the sky!

aunt brett holds it steady while libby
carefully reveals her gift from "jose."

stocking stuffer... care bear fruit snacks. let's just say they definately make her top 10 list. her first fruit snacks, christmas morning, care bear.
what else is there?




another great stocking stuffer, she can't even bother to look at mama - her eyes are on one thing only. well, two things.


daddy and libby unwrap one of her new favorite books.


libby proudly shows mama her cute new outfit from bff, josie.

 

Christmas Card, take 1

Due to some massive and very disappointing miscommunication between mama and daddy, the Christmas card many of you received contained 3 pictures of joyful Libby, one of which even included her parents. Many more pictures were intended for inclusion on that card, and some of those shots are below for your enjoyment. Mama had lots of fun taking pictures of Libby, and thanks to mama's great piggie impersonation and other random silliness, Libby had a good time as well.