Whitney's first christmas

It was Whitney’s first Christmas and it seems like she was mostly just amazed by all the attention she got while at my parents’ house in Pasco. Whitney was pretty fascinated by everything there; there were a lot of things to get into and bite. (Those are her favorite pastime activities).

She liked the Christmas tree with all of its lights. Any decorations that were on the lower branches were in trouble, but nothing was broken; we were happy about that.

There also was this little Santa decoration just sitting on the floor way too tempting to not go over and attack. I wonder if Whitney thought it was a real person, but she did like being by it and grabbing at its head.

On Christmas morning we let Whitney go near the presents first to see what she would do. She loved the wrapping and all the pretty colors. I think the wrapping was what she really enjoyed the most because it makes this cool crinkly noise. It was fun watching her grab presents and hit them and try to open them with lots of our help.

We have a couple of family traditions for things we eat for Christmas. We always have turkey, of course. My family is not big on ham. And we always have Danish pastry for Christmas breakfast. The pastry is so full of sugary goodness and chocolate chips. It is delicious. I should probably learn how to make it myself so I can enjoy it more often. Unfortunately, it is probably one of the most fattening things to eat, but calories don’t count on Christmas, right?

Every child in my family growing up has a Christmas stocking that my grandma Hein makes. This year Whitney was given a stocking. It is really cute. She even fit inside the stocking. I had to get a picture of her inside it because I know she won’t fit next year. Whitney was not too keen on staying inside her stocking for very long, but I managed to get one okay picture.

These are some of the presents Whitney received. She seemed to really like the bouncing, lighting, noisy ball. It was one of her favorites. She also liked a little simple doll that I got for her at a Mothers Trading kind of place for a buck. There were fun cars for her to play with and lots of toys that she is going to appreciate more in a couple of months when she is a bit more active. I was grateful for all the diapers we received. That means we won’t have to buy any for awhile.

We all had a really great Christmas. Here is Whitney and some of my siblings checking out their new gifts. I am most especially grateful for our new vacuum. Our last one is broken and with Whitney crawling everywhere, we really need clean floors.

This isn’t the best picture because of the light coming from the window, but this is all of us standing in front of the Christmas tree. Whitney is even holding her new doll. I hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas; we sure did. And Happy New Year to all.