Christmas

What better way to spend Ellie's first Christmas than back home in Wisconsin. Thanks to maternity leave, it meant we were able to go back for 2 entire weeks. We decided to drive the 16 hours back so that Baron was able to come home as well. We were lucky that RJ's cousin and his wife live in Louisville, so we stopped there and stayed the night. I'm not so sure they thought they were lucky though. Baron had been cooped up in a car for 9 hours so he was his crazy energetic self, and Ellie decided she was going to scream for about an hour straight. I know we didn't scare them away from having a dog, because they now have adopted sweet Copper, but not so sure we didn't scare them away from having a baby.

The 2 weeks home was exhausting, but worth every minute. It was wonderful to be able to celebrate Ellie's first Christmas with all of the family, and even more sweet since it was the first time most of them were able to see her. I'm still amazed we were able to fit all of her presents in the car for the trip back home. I can see she is going to be one very lucky, spoiled girl. There's a good chance her daddy and I may be doing most of the spoiling.

Visiting Great Grandma Kossow for the first time:

Sleeping by Grandpa after the visit.



 

Hanging with Grandpa Doug

Christmas Eve we celebrated at my dad and stepmom's house. My niece and nephew, Asiah and Aiden, were sick, but everyone else was able to be there. Even Santa!

        

                                                                      

Santa dropped by for a surprise visit. Unfortunately, the kids did not want to cooperate. Poor Santa.

Ellie just needed a little coaxing while Dominik just wasn't having it.

Getting ready for bed

The best part of the night had to be this moment. I'm so happy I was able to catch it on video. It was the first time she really "talked" to anybody. Of course it would be her daddy.

Christmas morning



Christmas night

Since Aiden and Asiah weren't able to be there Christmas Eve, we just had another Christmas for them.



One of our last days home was during the Rose Bowl. I know RJ really wanted to go to the game, but it just wasn't possible with a new baby. We still had fun hanging with the Whiteleys.