A Christmas Day of Firsts

We spent Elijah's first Christmas quietly at home.  It was the perfect Christmas day for us after all the hustle and bustle of a busy family weekend and Christmas Eve. I woke up at about 5:30, before everyone else and went downstairs to prepare for our celebration. I turned on the tree lights, and put on the decaf. I also put a mixture of oranges, cinnamon, nutmeg and cranberries on the stove (a gift from my most creative friend, Jessica) so that our house would smell like Christmas!  Elijah woke up bright and early at 6:30am and we went in and woke Chip up so we could start our day. Our baby is a morning boy and I wanted to open gifts when he was at his best. We all went downstairs together. Now I was not sure what to expect with Elijah. He is very aware for his age but he doesn't understand Christmas and presents, etc. We had waited until he was in bed Christmas Eve to put anything under the tree so that maybe, just maybe, he would get a little smile on his face when he saw there was something different in the morning. Well, our boy did not disappoint. When we walked downstairs, a big smile crept across his face as he looked in the direction of the brightly lit tree, tons of presents and brand new little scooter just for him! I can tell our little guy will have the same deep love the Christmas season that is alive in myself and Chip! We had a great morning opening presents that we had carefully selected for one another and Elijah. I feel so happy with the choices that we made as he seemed to have so much fun banging on his new piano, riding around his in his little scooter and playing with all sorts of balls we got to add to his collection. Chip's big gift was a new stereo and speaker system for his truck: a big hit! And I was so excited for my new laptop that  I had been wanting for a while, not to mention my awesome food dehydrator and tea kettle!!! But the big gift of the day would come later when Elijah took HIS FIRST STEPS!!!!!  That's right! Just one day shy of eight months old on the holiest of days, Elijah took three full steps from Grandma Parish to Mama and his stuff dog, Scout! THREE FULL STEPS!!!! We were all so excited and overjoyed that the four of us (Me, Chip and his parents) yelled for joy....well, that might not have been the thing to do because we scared the crap out of our little guy. But there was no denying it. Elijah's first steps were on Christmas day!

Our living room on Christmas morning!

Look at the smile on that sweet face. 

He knew exactly what to do! I put him on the scooter and he grabbed onto the handlebars, ready to go!

"Come on, Mama, Put the camera down and push me!"

Had to get a quick Christmas morning picture before we tore into our gifts. 

Stockings first! Chip found me a Gone With The Wind mousepad (my lifelong favorite movie!) that I had seen at a little store in the mall. 

Godiva truffles....my favorite!

Ok there is a story behind the Justin Bieber ornament. When I was pregnant with Elijah, there was a funny picture we took at the Haliburton Rodeo Cook Off where I am pointing to Justin Bieber and my belly.....see below...

My baby daddy? :) 

Time out for some Elijah cuddles!

One of Chip's stocking treasures was a stress ball in the shape of the LiteBoy soap from Christmas Story.

.......and my parents send him GIANT Reeses Peanut Butter Cups!

Elijah kept himself busy checking out our Christmas movies. 

Elijah had goodies in his stocking too! Little balls in the shape of animals that rattle when you shake them.... a big hit!

Since he loves Rubber Duckies he also got a Reindeer Rubber ducky in his stocking. Let's see how many he can get in his mouth at once. 

The antlers felt good on his poor little gums. 

Meanwhile, Daddy opened his first present......

He will look dashing in his new sweater and cords!

Elijah did a great job opening his next gift! He barely needed any help!

He seemed to know just what to do with his new piano! 

Composing already!

Chip was thrilled with his Ninja Turtle boxers. His mom and I had both gotten him this!

Cozy penguin PJ's for Mama!

Chip was very excited to open his new truck stereo!

Elijah hard at work opening another gift from Santa. 

"Vroom! Vroom!"

Chip was surprised by the back up camera for his truck!

Yay! So excited for my kettle!

I CAN'T WAIT to start dehydrating!

For his listening pleasure....a new car speaker!

I pimped his ride. :)

Elijah loved his sensory balls!

Yes! A laptop for Mama! I am SO EXCITED!!!!!!! By the end of the weekend all my photos and videos should be transferred to this new beauty plus some fun photo editing software! Wooohoo!!!!!

Chip took such care to choose this amazing machine for me with my photos and videos in mind. I am one lucky gal!

Watching Mama put his toy together. 

Bonnie and Wrigley do not get left out. They had goodies in their stockings too!

Wrigley was very excited about his new toys. 

Bonnie posed happily with her bone. 

That's our Wrigley!

"I can do it all by myself!"

Merry Christmas, Darling!

Ooops! Forgot to open one gift!

"Merry Christmas, Mama and Daddy!"

Bonnie and Wrigley were WORN OUT!

Too much Christmas fun for this dog!

Sweet sleeping girl. 

The giant Reese's

They were each about the size of the palm of my hand. 

Ready to dig in!

Just wanted to share my homemade centerpiece! The candle was left over from our wedding and the ribbon and candy canes cost a dollar each. Total cost of this was two bucks! Plus my hot glue. I love how it turned out!

Perfect match for the rest of our table decor!

"Daddy, you crack me up"

"Pssst, Granddad. I found you!"

Such a busy boy wore himself out!

Enjoying Christmas morning even more once the Senior Parishes came over for a visit!

"Ready for lunch, Mama!"

Looking good in the Baby's First Christmas bib from Grandma! I love that it has his name on it!

"Okay, let's dig in!"

Loves his asparagus!

Look at that variety!

"Mmmm, this is good stuff!"

Sweet potato for my sweetie pie!

Silly boy!

The guys enjoying their Christmas lunch!

Granddad smiling at his little fella. No, not Chip. :)

Mama and Daddy got some relaxing time while Grandma played with Elijah. 

He loved watching Grandma stack the cups so he could knock them down!

Wrigley and Bonnie enjoyed their massive bones from Grandmama and Pop!

Bonnie gnawing on her bone. 

Time for a quick rest. He is gathering up his energy to take his first steps!

Our two redheaded Parishes enjoying a moment together

"Read me a story Grandma"

This was after those first steps were taken. We were all so busy watching it happen, no one thought to film it. Chip tried to get him to do it again. 

Checking out his new toy!

"Hmmm, I'm not sure about this crazy contraption."

"Daddy, what do you think?"

"This could be kind of cool"

"Okay, Daddy, I like it!"

Great first Christmas for our baby!