Joshua's First Christmas, 2009

Christmas was very special for our family this year. We were able to welcome our new baby, Joshua, into our family only four days before Christmas. I was very anxious to be able to spend Christmas together as a family, and so I left the hospital the evening of Christmas Eve. Brent brought Joshua and I right over to Lisa and Steve's house, where the rest of our kids were waiting for us. There we enjoyed a nice dinner together and read the Christmas story from the Bible while the kids acted it out. There was a special spirit that evening as we celebrated Christ's birth as well as the birth of our own precious baby boy.



Following our evening at Lisa and Steve's, we went straight home and got the kids ready for bed so Brent and I could get ready for Christmas the next morning! I was still pretty sore from the surgery, but able to help Brent get everything ready. Joshua's first night home from the hospital was pretty typical for our babies: he definitely had his days and nights mixed up! Below are some pictures from Christmas morning. I was so grateful to be well enough to go home a day early so we could all be together on this very special Christmas.






Matthew, Elizabeth, Rachel, and Emma eagerly waiting to come up the stairs to see their presents.
Emma is rather obsessed with horses and anything tiny, and Santa brought her a new horse stable with lots of tiny horses. Hopefully Rachel (and Joshua in a few months!) won't swallow too many pieces! Rachel did stick a pony bead up her nose the other day...


Toddlers like Rachel are so easy to please!

One of my craziest nesting projects ever: attempting to make matching nightgowns for my girls as Christmas presents during the hectic week and a half before Joshua was born. I was still working on the final hems when my mom showed up to take the kids so Brent could drive me to the hospital! Mom was generous enough to finish those hems for me. They did turn out really cute, but ended up taking about 20 hours for my slow pregnant brain to figure out!

Matthew is always thrilled with more Legos.

Our first Christmas in our new house! Notice all the homemade paper ornaments the kids colored and cut out.

Rachel was in heaven when she reached into her stocking and pulled out a stuffed kitty. She also received a new baby doll with high chair, cradle, and stroller. Again, she couldn't have been happier.

Elizabeth asked Santa for a golden "magical" locket with a picture of her family inside.

After Christmas morning at home, we headed over to my parents' house for a late Christmas breakfast and to enjoy Christmas with my family there. I spent much of the day resting upstairs in my parents room and nursing the baby, but it was still nice to be able to be part of the family instead of home by myself.

My niece Kira holding Joshua on his first Christmas