The Smith Family Adventures

Elias was happy Christmas Eve morning! Here he is ready to go to breakfast.

Since it was our first Christmas with baby Elias we wanted it to be a very special one. Of course, just being with him any time is special, but we had to coordinate five different family groupings including our own which made things a little difficult. My aunt and uncle wanted to celebrate with us, but were busy Christmas eve, and were getting ready to leave for Arizona for the winter. They are on their way now and are hopefully warmer than we are! Then there is my brother and his wife who also had other families to coordinate with. My parents were in the mix as well as Nate’s family who are in town over Christmas for the first time in years. We had a fun filled couple of days spent with family.

Elias and Daddy opening gifts.

Our Christmas festivities actually started on the 23rd when we went to a candlelight service at Nathan’s mom’s church. There was a woman who recited some wonderful poems, and singing the Christmas carols was nice. The musicians at Beaverton Foursquare always do a very fine job. I find it refreshing to worship in a different style every once in a while. The sermon was a little long for our taste (especially with a tired baby), but the story the pastor told at the end of the sermon was very powerful and will probably stick with me forever.

Waiting to be seated at IHOP. Elias is held by Grandma Bartle and admired by Uncle Greg.

Luckily, Nathan had Christmas eve off this year so we got to spend the morning with just the three of us. Elias was a very happy camper. Then we headed off to brunch at IHOP with my parents, Greg, and Nate’s dad. The food was good, but they put the calories for each item on the menu which was a bit depressing. They do have a few healthy items there which is nice. The place was quite busy and very cheery. It made me sad that the people who were working didn’t get to be with their families too.

We rested a bit in the afternoon, and then went to the Christmas pageant at St. Bart’s where Elias had his debut acting role. Elias got to play the part of baby Jesus. Kristin, who played the part of Mary was very capable and our big fears of a fussy baby were for nothing. He was very sweet tempered and made it all the way through the pageant. We were joking about the fact that he started out in a starring role, and then has to work his way up to being a stable animal.

Elias playing the part of Baby Jesus

It will be fun to see him grow through the different parts in the play. (Angels, animals, shepherds, etc.) After the pageant the rest of the service was very nice. Our preacher also sent a good message about making Christmas center on Jesus instead of so many other things that it usually does.

After the service, we headed to Nate’s mom’s for Christmas burritos! Burritos always taste better at Judith’s house. I try to make them, but they never turn out as tasty.

Cute cousins playing together on Christmas Eve.

She has the magic touch! We had fun snapping pictures of the babies and just relaxing after an eventful day. When Nate, Elias and I got home we tried to open Elias’ presents, but he was too tired. We ended up just putting him to bed and learned that babies don’t care what day it is….even if it is Christmas.

Christmas day was also great! We first went over the Nate’s mom’s house to exchange gifts over there. Then we went to my parents’ to exchange gifts. Then everyone from both families got together for dinner. I just felt so happy that we could have everyone together who we love for one big dinner. We didn’t have to feel like we were leaving anyone out.

Audrey and Auntie Kim

On another happy note…Elias laughed out loud for the first time on Christmas Day! It was so cute to hear him. It actually sounded a bit like a hiccup, but many people agreed it was actually a laugh. He did three or four big guffaws while listening to Grandma Smith tell a story and being held by Grandma Bartle. I guess those grandmas are quite funny. Overall our first Christmas with Elias was a wonderful one! I couldn’t have asked for anything more. Here are some pictures from the day:

Grandpa Smith wanted a picture with all three grandchildren. It proved too difficult to get all three happy at once, but here is grandpa with the babies!

Finger Wrestling Uncle Scott

Elias on his first Tillamook trip.

Today Nathan took a vacation day so that we could spend a fun day with his family. Unfortunately, his mom wasn’t feeling well, but we packed up Elias, Nate’s dad, Nate’s sister and her girls and drove to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. This is sort of a tradition we have when they come to visit. Poor Erin, Audrey and Sonya are deprived of Tillamook cheese when they are home in New York. This was the farthest that Elias had ever been from home so it was a big milestone for him. We enjoyed some yummy Tillamook icecream. I had cookie dough. Nathan had carmel butter pecan and vanilla. Audrey tried German Chocolate Cake.

Nathan enjoying icecream.

After the ice cream we looked through the gift shop and got some stocking stuffers for each other and some cheese to take home. Nathan always likes to get a sampler with different kinds. Then we went upstairs to view the cheese being packaged.

When we got home we had some lasagna ready in the crockpot and had some relaxing time. Erin and I did a baby swap. Sonya is two and a half months older than Elias, but feels so much lighter than him!

Baby swap

Nathan, Elias and I are so lucky to have so many wonderful family members on both sides! We are so glad they are all here for the holidays.

Tonight I performed hand bells in St. Bartholomew’s festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. I was lucky enough to have Kimberly, Elias, and my family come listen to the service.

From the beginning of the prelude to the end of the show was about two hours, which is a pretty long stretch for Elias. According to Kim, he was “hanging on by a thread” at the end, and indeed, he started crying just after the recessional. Still, we got him to calm down so we could get some cookies and chat with friends.

It was a fun night, and we just put a tired boy to bed. Tomorrow Elias gets to make his first pilgrimage to Tillamook. In honor of that (and apropos of a hymn we sang tonight), I present the following:

Tillamook-mook-mook

Tillamook-mook-mook

Tillamook

Gloria in excelsis caseo

Nathan’s sister Erin, her daughters Audrey and Sonya, and Nathan’s dad are all in town. Elias has had fun meeting his cousins and his Grandpa Smith. It has been especially fun to watch the babies interact. Sonya and Elias even held hands at one point, but mostly they just enjoy looking and smiling at each other. We have lots of fun planned over the holidays, so these are just the first of most likely many cute pictures!

Holding hands with Sonya

Meeting Grandpa Smith

Elias sucking his thumb

Elias usually sucks on the knuckles of his thumb and pointer finger, and it makes a very loud smacking sound. Recently, he has started to find that his thumb works better. If he can get coordinated enough to stick his thumb out and make a fist, he comforts himself quite well.

We posed for a family photo after the train ride.

Now that Elias is part of our family, we get to do a lot of fun things around town. Last night, we went to the zoo lights. I wasn’t sure if Elias would be interested in it at all since he is still so young, and I was prepared for him to sleep the whole time (or cry). We really lucked out because the weather was so mild. It barely sprinkled and it was in the 50’s so it wasn’t too cold. Grandma and Grandpa Bartle came along and we met Nathan at the zoo for our fun outing.

Elias watching the animals on a carousel pass by.

It turns out that Elias loved the zoo lights. He especially seemed to like looking at the red lights. He watched from his stroller almost the whole time, then got out when it was time for the train ride. He liked the blinking lights on the train, and was cooing a lot of the time.

We get to go to zoo lights again once Nathan’s family arrives in town so that will be a nice treat for us!

Last night Kimberly and I went on our first date . . .

. . . since having Elias.

We just had to see the new Harry Potter film. Elias has been sleeping very well lately, so we decided to go to the late showing. So, after a final feeding and putting him down to bed, Kim’s parents came over to baby sit, and we went to the 9:55pm showing. The film was excellent, and Elias never woke up. A perfect first date.

This picture was so cute I just had to post it.

Here we are next to our tree before Nathan cut it down.

Today we had a fun day full of a couple more firsts for Elias. We decided to go Christmas Tree Hunting. We bundled up since it was freezing and went off to Furrow tree farm to cut our tree. Nate and I had a little miscommunication for awhile. First, I accused him of just wanting to pick the first tree we saw because he wanted to get home and watch the civil war game. We did find one we liked and Nate cut it down for us. Then when we were picking out a tree for his mom, I found one I liked and he kept pointing out other trees and I told him to quit looking for more trees. Poor Nate. Oh well. We now have an excellent tree in our house and Nate’s mom also has a beautiful tree! Then when we were driving Nate’s mom’s tree to her house, one of the ropes on top of the car holding the tree in place was vibrating in the wind and causing a very loud sound. We were cracking up because it reminded us of  “Little Miss Sunshine” when the car horn keeps honking on the freeway. Anyway, Elias had a fun time I think…he stayed cozy in the bjorn and slept most of the time.

Elias was warm, cozy, and content.

After getting the tree to Nate’s mom’s house, we went to watch the civil war game. Since my family are not much of football fans, Nathan and Kristy did the most cheering. We had Elias in his ducks outfit from Auntie Kristy. At one point, Uncle Scott put his beavers baseball cap on Elias and Elias cried, though to Scott’s credit, I think it was the hat that Elias didn’t like….not the team it represented. Now the ducks are on to the National Championship and Nathan is happy.

Now we are at home and are about to decorate our tree!