Christmas with the Dearstine's in Delaware!

We got up the day after Christmas and went to Delaware for the day.  That is where my grandparents live and my dad, step mom, and brother were all coming over as well so we could celebrate Christmas.  When we arrived at my grandparents they were not home.  I’m not going to lie, I did freak out a little because both of their cars where there but they were nowhere to be found.  After we nocked for a while and walked the perimeter of their home their neighbor came out and said that he had saw them walk down the street a little bit ago to visit a friend.  Soon after my dad arrived and I walked down to the friend’s house they were visiting and as Elisha and I walked up the driveway they came walking out.  I was then very relieved.  This round of Christmas left Elisha with even more toys.  Poppy and Nonni got him a train that you can push or sit on, it also has all of the letters and sings different “little kid” songs to help teach basic letters, counting, and colors.  He also got a homemade chicken hat!  And a few new books.  Great Mommom and Poppy got him a precious moments figure as well as cash to help start his savings account.  We then all went to lunch at Outback and did a little post-Christmas shopping.  

Elisha climbed up on top of the entire box!

Opening Presents! 

YAY!!

Lots to see, hurry up Mommy!

  

He loves books!

This was a standard gift for family this year, Elisha's foot/hand print!

Christmas with Nana

Nana, Uncle Kyle, and Uncle Ryan all joined us Christmas day for dinner and gift exchange among my immediate family.  We were very glad that my family made the trip up to Bel Air because we wanted to have Christmas at our home.  Nana brought all kinds of goodies for Elisha.  I think his favorite was Scout, a Leapfrog toy dog that is programmable to say Elisha’s name and talks about some of his favorite things.  Although I don’t yet know his favorite animal or color we choose a dog because he has followed them all around whenever we are at someone’s house that has a dog.  We choose green for his favorite color because that’s the color of his room.  That’s logical right?  Anyway, she also got him a jeep truck that he can sit on and push himself or walk behind it.  Of course it makes multiple car noises, and it came with mega blocks that store in the seat.  Elisha loves to open up the seat and pull out each block individually and chew on it for a minute and then throws it on the floor and moves on to the next.  

I got the bows!

Scout! I love this toy!

Elisha, Nana, Uncle Ryan, and Uncle Kyle

This is fun!

After we opened our presents we had dinner.  Andrew made a pesto panko lamb roast, stuffed acorn squash, and I did a potato casserole that is a mix of white and sweet potatoes with parmesan cheese, roasted garlic, and rosemary.  All in all it was a great evening that we rounded out with apple and pumpkin pie.  

Christmas Morning at the Kassouf house

Elisha came knocking on our door to wake us up so we could go open the presents that Santa had brought.  He was so excited and it warmed our hearts.  Ok, maybe next year.  This year our day started like any other.  Once we were all awake we opened our stockings and other presents from Santa and our presents from each other.  

Elisha still loved the bows the most but he was very excited when Andrew put together the new toys for him to play with.  One toy was a sit to stand toy with a dancing bear on top which he was very intrigued with.  Every time it turns on he grabs it. 

Andrew’s “large” gift was money to see a Broadway show.  I was going to pick out the show and buy him tickets but I was afraid I would pick the wrong show.  Although, Andrew would enjoy any Broadway show; because we don’t get to go as frequently now he is more particular so I did not want to pick the wrong thing.  It’s also good I did not pick them because Andrew told me after opening the gift that sometime in January they have Broadway week where you can get 2 tickets for the price of 1!  So hopefully we will be able to take advantage of that deal!    

My large gift was hidden on the Christmas tree; continuing in the Kassouf tradition.  Andrew’s Grandfather was a goldsmith and he would make a new piece every year for Christmas and then hang it on the tree for Andrew’s Grandmother.  She would have to search the tree to find the new item.  Andrew’s Dad continued this tradition with his Mom and now Andrew does it for me!  I was very excited to search the tree this year because I knew Andrew had been working with our jeweler to make a custom piece.  He had me unwrap the box but when I opened it up the box was empty which means I had to look on the tree.  This year it was a ring box!!  I was super excited.  Elisha and I searched the tree and I found a ring that has 2 interlocking hearts which represent Andrew and me and then on the inside of the ring Andrew had a heart engraved to represent Elisha.  Then when we have any future children we will add engraved hearts to the inside. (We have a video of this experience and it is very comical.  But it is to large of a file to upload :-( ) 

Then while Elisha took his morning nap Andrew and I made a special Christmas breakfast.  Andrew made bacon and eggs which were different but delicious.  He seasoned them with old bay which was new for me and I really liked the choice.  We usually do eggs and a breakfast meat on any given Saturday and I wanted to make something else that made this meal special.  I chose to make lemon, poppy seed pancakes.  They were good but I don’t think I will make them again because they were not outstanding.   

Merry Christmas from our family to yours! 

Christmas Eve

Elisha's Christmas picture taken by our good friend Tracey Parron!

This was Elisha’s first Christmas and I wanted it to be special.  I know that he is too young to fully grasp it but it is a very special time of year and I was blessed to share it with him.  We spent the majority of the day wrapping presents for family and friends.  Once we had completed the task of wrapping it was rather late.  We decided to go to Bob Evans to enjoy breakfast for dinner.  This is my favorite dinner and I was excited!  We left the house with just enough time for dinner and our drive to church.  As we pulled up to the restaurant we were informed that they had just closed.  I was devastated and Andrew quickly tried to come up with other options but everything he had suggested was closed.  The fact that all of the places we tried were closed by 6:30 which was surprising to me since Andrew’s restaurant was open till 8.  Maybe we should have gone there.  After driving around Bel Air looking for a place that would serve us a special Christmas Eve meal we decided to drive to Church in Columbia and try to find something in White Marsh on the way.  By the time we got there we only have 15 minutes to eat and with fast food as the only option in that time frame we ended up at McDonalds.  I was less than thrilled.

We made it to our home church, Crosswalk in Columbia, MD with a few minutes to spare.  We were greeted with the traditional candles to be used at the end of the service and jingle bells for the kids.  Pastor George began the service by inviting the kids to jingle the bells throughout the service as an act of worship in this family friendly environment.  During every song and at various other times you could hear the bells which put smiles on our faces.  Every carol and hymn we sung was fresh and new to the ear with the arrangements the band had prepared.  Pastor George and Donna Lippitt are amazing musicians and we were blessed with their gift.  About three quarters into the service Pastor left while we were singing.  He came back in dressed like a shepherd who had just seen an angel and wanted to tell the good news to the children in the service.  At the end he gave each child a glow stick to be used at the end of the service when the adults would be holding their candles.  We thought this was a great idea and that every church should do the same.  Andrew’s favorite part of the Christmas Eve service is singing Silent Night by candle light and tonight we were blessed to sing it by candle and glow stick light.  After the service we hung out for a bit with a few folks from our Columbia church family.  Our time there helped us refocus our attention on Christ, the reason we celebrate.

When we got home we opened one gift from under the tree, our Christmas pajamas!  In college my roommate told me about her family’s tradition of getting special Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve.  I loved this idea and wanted to do it when I had a family of my own.   When I suggested it Andrew he was game so after four Target trips we found the perfect pajamas for our family.  Elisha was Santa and we were his elves.

Here we go!

Mommy this bow is fun! It is stretchy!

Opening his PJ's

Mommy is an Elf

Daddy is an Elf

Elisha is Santa

Barrett Family Christmas

We had Christmas with my mom’s extended family over the weekend before Christmas.  This year we met at Aunt Debbie and Uncle Ron’s house.  We always have a meal and then do our gift exchange.  This year we had chili and taco salads for dinner!  Andrew thought it was appropriate to say, “Feliz Navidad.”  Then we opened presents.  This was Elisha’s first experience with opening gifts.  He was not sure what to do at first but the first box was pretty large so he pulled himself up, using it as a support and then he banged on it to make noise.  He then saw the bow and grabbed that off.  Then he sat back down and was just playing with the bow.  The rest of the evening he was entertained with the bows and that is what he would pull off any package and he was content.  Great Grandma and Great Grandpa got him a Jumparoo which he already had so we exchanged that at Babies R Us for some other toys.  

Mom am I suppose to climb on this big box?

 Elisha loved getting everyone's bows.

He enjoyed his snuggle time with Great Grandpa and Great Grandma

His Great Aunt Debbie and Great Uncle Ron got him a Bingo Dog Piano which teaches English and coincidentally Spanish as well.  They also gave him a race car and driver which is really cool because when you shake the driver the car moves.  We all had fun playing with his new toys.   

Do you see him holding the bow along with his new toy?

He enjoyed his Bingo Piano!

Don't the boys look sharp in their new glasses? 

Watch me Grow 2

Here is a re-cap of his monthly growth pictures.  

3 months: July 12, 2014
He is a country traveler, he has been to Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Washington D.C., and more to come.  

 4 months: August 12, 2014
He is 16 lbs 6.4 oz which is the 73rd percentile, and he is 26 inches which is in the 77th percentile. This month he went south and visited Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. 

5 months: September 12, 2014
He is growing like a weed.  He started daycare and loves every minute of it! He also added Deleware to his states visited list this month; which means he has been to a total of 11 states and D.C.

6 months: October 12, 2014 
He is rolling over! He is now 19 lbs (76th percentile) and 27 1/2 inches (83rd percentile). 

7 months: November 12, 2014
He started sitting up on his own. 

8 months: December 12, 2014
He is on the move, as of November 30 he is a crawler! 

  

Thanksgiving Break

We were very busy this weekend.  We spent Thanksgiving Day in Calvert County at Nana’s house.  Both of my brothers joined us and my mom made a great meal!  Elisha even got to have a little turkey, although he was not sure what to think about it.  

Nana Love!

Hanging out with the Uncles. 

Friday morning we got up and drove to Poppy’s house because Great Poppy and Great Mommom were coming for lunch.  I know they were mostly coming to see Elisha!  It was wonderful to visit with them because they had not seen Elisha since Labor Day weekend and in baby timing that is a long time! 

Playing with Patch! Hopefully next time we are there she will not be as scared of Elisha because he loves puppies! 

Playing with Great Poppy!

Snuggles with Great Mommom!

Play time with Poppy!

Then Friday night we headed back down to Calvert County to have dinner with my cousins.  My great aunt and uncle and their kids had come in from West Virginia to visit their son/brother who lives very close to my mom.  We normally only see them once a year so it was nice to get in an extra visit and catch up with the family.  This was also the first time some of the cousins had met Elisha so he enjoyed being passed around and getting all kinds of extra attention.