Baby's First Christmas

OK!! This is going to be long, but I have a lot to say. Rebecca's first Christmas was absolutely fabulous. Of course she doesn't know it, but it was. We were gone Dec. 22-26. What a trip. I was a little nervous about how she'd do with all the people and commotion and sleeping in different places. But she did just great! She was so patient with being passed around in so many groups of people. She slept at just the right times. She was good at church. She hardly fussed at all! She is just the perfect baby, we are so lucky.
We had our own little Christmas at our house on the 22nd. Rebecca woke up and ate, we put her in her walker and then opened presents. Seth was throwing wrapping paper and bows at her, she didn't even blink. She was so tired! It was funny. Seth and I got some nice gifts. I love Christmas. It is fun to surprise the ones you love.
Then we headed to the farm in Bancroft for the traditional Danish dinner at Seth's parent's house. Here are my cute nieces Emilee and Eve with "baby Rebecca" as they call her.

Here's the Danish dinner, it is so good! The little pancake puffs are called Abelskievers. Very tasty, with apples inside.

We usually do a pinata on Thanksgiving, but most of the kids weren't there this year, so we did it for Christmas. Rebecca got to go first. The kids were so cute and excited.

We did a white elephant gift exchange. It was fun. We ended up with really decent stuff, and got rid of a hideous lamp that has been in our basement.

Seth's mom and all the kids put on a Christmas pageant. It was really neat, with beautiful costumes. The kids all did so well. I love the Christmas story. Jesus came from humble yet magnificent beginnings. Rebecca got to play baby Jesus, which was so special to me.

And here she is, smacking on her fingers (upside down of course) having a great time with Grandpa Wistisen.

Here we are in our house opening gifts before we left.

We got Rebecca a walker for Christmas. Boy was this hard to find! I hate Winnie the Pooh, but we pretty much had no options. It is actually pretty cute, and Rebecca loves the toys. The only problem is her feet don't touch the floor so she just kind of hangs there. I wonder if her feet go to sleep.

My parents gave Rebecca this high chair. She loves to be right there while we are eating.

It was pretty funny to watch her suck on this candy cane. It has the wrapper on, but all of a sudden her expression changed...she made it through the wrapper. She liked it after a minute.

Here we are on Christmas morning opening presents.

Rebecca liked the wrapping paper the best.

I can't remember the last time we had this much snow at Christmas. It was so beautiful on Christmas day-tons of snow and a bright blue sky.

Every year on Christmas day, we go to my grandparent's house in Bountiful for yummy food and singing Christmas songs. I never knew how much I loved this until I was on my mission. I returned from my mission the next Christmas (Dec. 23) and was so glad I only had to be away for one Christmas. I'm not the best singer, but I love to listen to these beautiful songs about the Christ child. I'm impressed with my Grandma's piano playing skills. She is so good!

This is the last year we'll be there in Bountiful on Christmas day. I'm a little sad about that, since it's the only time I really ever see my extended family anymore. I'm looking forward to starting my own traditions with my little family though.

Above: Rebecca's legs are so strong! She stood up against this couch for such a long time and smiled and laughed at my mom. So cute.

Below: 4 generations!! Rebecca Lynn, Me, My Mom and my Grandma Nelson.

Merry Christmas! We sure had a great one, it was so nice to spend it with all the people we love so much. We are so blessed to have wonderful families.

5 Months Old!

Last Christmas was not so good. I was horribly sick--morning sickness. When we got out our 4 foot tall fake tree we've been using, the stand was broken, so Seth bungee corded it to a nightstand so it would stay upright. We put the lights up and that's as far as we got on decorating last year. Let me just say, it was pathetic! Anyway, this year I was determined to do better. Way better. We got a great deal on a new fake tree and it is 7.5 feet tall and really nice. My favorite thing is that it is pre-lit. That is the only way to go!! So nice, just put it together and plug it in. I love my ornaments and I'm a little worried about next year. Rebecca will be old enough to do damage. But this year was good, all she could do was look! And she loved it! It's so funny to see her looking at lights, it's like she can't decide which one to look at. So cute.
So here is our little Christmas baby on Dec. 12-five months old.

The month of December has been wonderful. I can't believe it's almost over already. Rebecca is growing and changing every day. She is getting so strong. She sits up pretty good by herself, for a little while (she still falls over a lot). She makes loud wet noises when she is happy, it is pretty funny. She takes much shorter naps and loves to be awake and doing whatever we are doing. She loves her toys now and reaches for them. She can pass toys from hand to hand. She lights up when Seth comes home from work. She loves music and sways back and forth while standing on my lap when music is playing. She has the sweetest little smile and such a great personality. She is so easy going and fun to be with. She is a great shopping partner too! We love our little baby so much. Here are a few of her accomplishments this month:

Rebecca sucks on her fingers upside down. It's so funny looking!

Here she is rolling over!!!

And she found her feet. Lately she loves putting them in her mouth.