I'm not going to lie, I'm not a fan of odd years. I have absolutely no reason for this. In fact, many wonderful things have happened on odd years (my birth, the birth of my son, etc.) but I tend to breathe a sigh of relief when the clock ticks down on an even year.
Even though "2013" gets stuck on the tip of my tongue on the way out, it has already proven to thwart my prejudice by quickly delivering many surprises.
But let's back up to Christmas.
This was our first ever Christmas away from our families. We were excited to make our own traditions but sad to miss out on the ones that we know and love. We couldn't bare the thought of not opening presents together so we even planned skype dates with each family (mine was even a three way conversation with my brother in Nashville). It was going to be a lazy day at home followed by Christmas dinner at our friends, Leslie and Khahn's house.
Plans changed when I got a call a little after 6 am.
It was Leslie and she was in labor. Her due date wasn't until the New Year, but this baby was going to make his entrance on Christmas.
I jumped in the car in my PJs to pick up their daughter (Jack's girlfriend) Nora. Just imagine two toddlers opening presents, fighting over toys, squirming and fussing all while trying to skype our families. Uff da. We had a blast but were so exhausted by the end. Leslie had the quickest labor and gave birth to her son, Ephraim at 9:30 am.
We spent the afternoon making Christmas dinner to take to the hospital and got to hold that precious boy the day he was born. What a Christmas gift!
Someone is a little excited about Christmas
Jack and Nora on Christmas Morning 2012
Meeting Ephraim Minh Nguyen
This year, every night of Advent, we lit the candles of our Advent wreath, read a devotion, and Dave and I sang one verse of a Christmas hymn to Jack. It was so special and something we plan to continue every year with our kids. Jack LOVED blowing out the candles at the end.
Dave got Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Years Eve, and New Years day off (THANK you outpatient clinic!!) so we had loads of family time together. On New Years Day, we packed up to go find some snow to play in and were so proud of ourselves for remembering every little detail right down to the hot chocolate thermos and treats for the car ride home. We easily found snow 20 minutes from home but as we got out of the car, we realized we had forgotten our laundry basket... aka "poor mans sled". Argh.
Luckily, our pants were slippery and we were able to slide down a mini hill with Jack to give him a taste of it. And like many toddlers before him, Jack lasted all of 10 minutes before he was begging to be held and ready to go home. :)
Don't mistake this little man for Rudolph
He took a header on the playground and got this scab on his little nose
First ever taste of snow
Weeeeee
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