Benett's First Christmas

We had a wonderful holiday season this year with our family. For Benett's first Christmas, he had a very extended celebration. We kicked off our Christmas with Mama T and Papa T coming to town for the weekend. Benett loved seeing his grandparents and all the fun classic toys he received! As Benett opened his presents Mike and I had several moments of "oh I remember having those when I was a kid." It will be fun watching Benett play with his chatter phone, stack and nest cubes and shape-o-toy ball. The Florida Trimborns also sent a wonderful Christmas book that tells the story of Santa Claus and has vibrant illustrations that look extremely life like. We loved hanging out with the Trimborns and really enjoyed our long walk around the neighborhood to deliver Christmas cookies to our friends. We can't wait for the Florida Trimborns to get here next week. Benett has been asking for several months when he gets to meet his cousins Patton and Katarina.

On Christmas Eve, we headed to Mansfield to celebrate with Nana, Papa, Uncle Matt, Aunt Alisha, and Uncle Tim. We planned on being in Mansfield until Sunday, but the trip was extended through the New Year due to Benett having RSV. It was nice to have several extra hands around as Benett fought off that nasty virus. When we arrived in Mansfield, the house and tree were decorated beautifully and Mike quickly began to check out all the presents under the tree to see which ones were his (my husband is still 8 years old at heart...I love it!). Mike was shocked as he began to realize that Benett's name was on 40-50% of the presents under the tree. Nana and Papa claimed that it was because baby toys were a lot less expensive than the "big kid" toys we received, but I think it is just because it has been a long time since there has been a baby around and they really enjoyed shopping for the gifts. A few of the most notable items Benett received from Nana and Papa were the Baby Einstein Connect and Play Zone, Magic Touch and Crawl Pooh Bear, and of course Elmo Live.

If you haven't had the opportunity to see Elmo Live in action, I suggest checking it out online. It is by far one of the coolest toys I have ever seen! Benett doesn't fully appreciate it yet, but all the adults in the house were singing Elmo songs (on repeat) by the end of the trip.

The men playing poker.

Uncle Matt opening his stocking.

Nana loving her stocking stuffers.

Uncle Tim holding Benett for the first time.

Benett and Papa after a long day!

Thank you for all the great memories we created and gifts we received!