Christmas Trip Wrap-Up

After our downtown adventures, we settled in at Grama and Grampa's house and hung out with all of Alex's brothers and our sisters-in-law, and Grama and Grampa lavished Mr. Dresden with tons of attention and affection. Dresden was super-spoiled by his daddy too, who played with him almost non-stop while I was busy making cookies and gluten-free Christmas foods for Alex. 

On Christmas Eve, we all went to Mass, which was really nice. I was so surprised at how well Dresden did in church. He kind of just rambled around to each of his aunts and uncles and somehow kept himself occupied the whole time. Baby girl was rolling around and kicking while we were sitting listening to the homily; it was a sweet moment for me. Both times, it has been significant to be pregnant at Christmas, because it has made me feel more of a connection to what Mary went through, right up to that night in the stable. To think about how Jesus was in there rolling around and kicking too, and what Mary thought and felt. It really makes the story feel more real and all the more special to put in that kind of context.

Here are Baby Girl and I on Christmas Eve (25ish weeks):

Here's the dapper little gentleman:

After Mass, we ate a delicious Italian meal provided by Aunt Karen, who is an amazing cook, and slaved in the kitchen literally all day. It was awesome, and so good. After eating way too much pie, it was time to get started on presents. They decided to open most of them on Christmas Eve because there were so many of us. Dresden actually fell asleep at 9, right before we were about to start opening, but somehow rallied, and stayed awake til Midnight to open all of his gifts. His response to pretty much all of them was, "Oh my GOSH! It's just what I always wanted!!!" It was so funny.

Opening his new favorite toy of the decade, his Rescuebot, Heatwave.

 He is now OBSESSED with Rescuebots.

We were all blessed with so many amazing gifts. I don't have a lot of pictures, except for Dresden opening things, which is pretty much the same picture with different gifts in each one, so I figured I didn't need to share those. We did get a lot of video. We finished the night with Grampa and Aunt Sarah reading "The Night Before Christmas", and then the little man crashed. The next morning we woke up and opened up our "Santa Gifts". Santa was very, very generous.

Playing with his new Etch-a-Sketch

 Playing with his jeep from Aunt Karen, and his train table from Grampa in the background. The basement at the house was a great place for Dresden; he could run around and play and didn't have to worry about a thing.

After we ate a delicious breakfast and got ready, we headed to Rockford for the day to visit other family. While there, Dresden became a bird-lover. 

I was shocked he let the bird sit on his shoulder, but after his initial apprehension he was hooked. 

Aside from again eating way too much pie, we sang The 12 Days of Christmas in groups, and Alex and I were "5 Golden Rings". That was hilarious, and a lot of fun. We also had a fun white elephant exchange, too. It was really nice to get to meet the rest of the family and spend time with them. Again, Dresden was spoiled rotten with attention.

We spent the rest of our time in Chicago just relaxing and playing and watching movies. Oh, and became fans of a new (to us) game, Ticket To Ride. It was seriously so much fun, and I didn't think I would like it at all. It was a perfect, restful, awesome time with family. 

I hope all of you had a Merry Christmas!

Love,

Cassie