Christmas Eve 2009

Christmas Eve was a very, very busy day but a fun one.

I had to go to work for a few hours while Andrea got the house ready for her family to join us. I got home around Noon or so and everyone was there already. Andrea's parents and also Jessica, Tim, and Bjorn were able to join us as well. It was a fun afternoon just having lunch and opening some presents that her parents brought with them. They all hung out for a couple of hours and then we were off to the Christmas Eve service at church.

The church was packed, it seemed like everyone had the same idea we did of getting to to the 3:30 service and then we could head out and do the family stuff later. This was Bruin's first experience being left in daycare at church. He seemed to do "alright". The ladies at the door said that a lot of the babies in the nursery started to have a melt-down about 5 minutes before the service was over. So when we picked up Bruin, he wasn't necessarily the happiest baby. The poor guy's schedule had really been thrown off. But it wasn't over yet. So we took screaming baby and all to Hillsboro to hang out with my parents.

Our Christmas tradition for the last few years has been to spend Christmas Eve with my parents and hang out at their place for awhile, then we would open presents. This year was no different. We got their at about 5:30 or so and ate dinner with everyone. Bruin did alright. Of course, he was polite enough to wait until we got to my parents to have a "blow-out". Andrea was well prepared though so we handled it like pros. :) Afterward, he was a little cranky just because it was encroaching on his bedtime. He ended up falling asleep at about 9 or so and the party was dying down. We did our gift exchanges with my parents and headed home.

We got home at around 11:30 or so and put Bruin to bed not knowing what would happen overnight. He'd been sleeping for a couple of hours so we were dreading that he would sleep till like 2 and then be up and rarin' to go. Is it too early to tell him that if he's awake then Santa won't come? He did end up sleeping really well and now I'm hanging out waiting for the family to wake up so we enjoy Bruin's first Christmas, and not just Bruin's first Christmas Eve. :)

Christmas already?

Well, so it’s been a little while since we’ve done any kind of an update about our lives or little Bruin. It turns out that I’m writing this by candle/flash light because the power is out. I’m using the laptop and typing this into a Word document and then I’ll just copy/paste a little later. So right now, the house is perfectly quiet and the family is still asleep. It’s incredibly serene – just Payton and I and that’s it. I wonder just how long that will last.

So, Bruin is 12 weeks old tomorrow. My goodness, it’s hard to believe that he is almost 3 months old! People say that the time just flies by and I’m sure this is only the beginning. It is awesome to see him change from day-to-day. I remember wondering when he would be able to focus on things and wouldn’t ya know it? He is totally looking around and locking his eyes on so many things! He’s even smiling deliberately! Yes, I’m sure it’s not gas! He’s gotten to the point that not only is he smiling, but he laughs too. It’s also so amazing to see his face as he’s focusing and concentrating on whatever. He looks so determined and deep in thought. Okay, so that may in fact be gas. But it’s cool to see anyway.

He is sleeping pretty well at night. He’s usually just up the one time. He sleeps for about 6 hours and then up for about 20 minutes, then back down for about another 3 hours or so. There have now been 2 nights that he has slept for 8 hours at a time. I have to admit, the first time that happened – I was the parent who sneaked into his room to make sure he was still breathing. Andrea and I went out on a hot date and left him with two great friends from work. We were just gone for a couple of hours and they said he did great. That was the first night that he slept for 8 hours. We told them that they definitely will need to babysit more often! The second time was just a couple of nights ago. My Mom wanted to watch him, so Andrea left him at their place for about 5 hours. Then he slept through the night that night when she got him home! Maybe there is something to leaving your child with someone else! She’s offered to watch him again on the day after Christmas. I think we’ll be taking her up on that.

We had Bruin’s 2 month visit and things are great with him. The doctor said he is in the 90th percentile for his length and weight. So he is just a really healthy boy. He’s probably about 16 pounds now, he’s just a beefy kid. But, he is healthy and that’s what is important.

Christmas is right around the corner and I think we’re ready. Andrea is finishing up the Christmas card. She is amazing to be juggling a newborn and still be able to create and mass produce our Christmas card. Pretty impressive. It’ll be cool to celebrate our first Christmas as a family with little Bruin, even though he probably has no idea what is going on. What do you get for a 3 month old? We’ll be heading to my folks’ place on Christmas eve and spending it with them. Last year we kind of got robbed of Christmas. This was the week of the big snow storm so I was working on a 12 hour shift rotation for about 8-10 days right through Christmas. It will be good to get back to normal and our Christmas tradition. Andrea and I have had the discussion of starting up our own Christmas tradition. That will be fun to do. Then on Christmas, I think we’ll do a whole lot of nothin’. Just relax and enjoy the day.
So, I think that’s all I’ve got. If we were to post more often – I’ll bet these wouldn’t be near as long! I’ll try to get a little better at that. No promises though!

The Whitakers sincerely hope that everyone reading this, and those that aren’t, has a Great and Merry Christmas! Be safe and do a little bit of extra lovin’ on your friends and enemies. Go ahead and let that guy cut you off on the highway, don’t get too irritated when someone jumps in front of you in line, and be the first to forgive. As cheesy as it sounds and as marketed as it is – don’t forget:

Jesus is the Reason for the Season. Sounds overplayed – but so very true.

This pic is of Bruin's dedication at church, he did really well:




This is the 4 generations of Whitaker, I'm really glad we got this pic at Thanksgiving: