{Merry} First Christmas

I did not know it was possible to love Christmas any more than I already did .. and then Trice came along. Oh man did he up the level of love I have for this holiday. He is a Christmas lover already! Of course, I can't wait to teach him all about the true meaning of Christmas as he grows, but for now I think he sure appreciated all the love he got from family and all the love he got from Santa. I didn't know how this Christmas would compare to last as we shared the exciting news last year (Sharing the News), but it definitely was better with "Poppy" outside my tummy to enjoy the festivities.

As soon as we got to town (after me nearly hyperventilating on the ride home because Benny decided it would be smart to take back roads!) we headed to meet the beautiful Krista Bix. Trice loved her .. he remembered walking down the aisle at her wedding while in my tummy. At least that's what he said ... I reminded him that he made my dress not fit! ;)

Then Trice got to experience his first Holbrook family Christmas! My cousin Trevor and I start bugging my aunt about this in June - what will be eating next year, Tracy?!

Trice got lots of snuggles with Grandma Jaris...

Her card to Trice said, "I love being your Grandma Jaris" Yep, I cried.

He got spoiled by the fam again and we discovered just how much he LOVES opening presents..

My aunt Cheryl gave the nieces and nephews a very special gift -- teddy bears made from Uncle Joe's shirts.  Trice will definitely love his Joe Bear!

On Sunday we headed to my aunt Joanie's house for Christmas with my mom's side. This was their first time meeting Trice so I was pretty excited!

Christmas Eve -- Nick, Trice, and I ventured to good old Walmart to finish up some stocking stuffers. I even let Trice go in his jammies! It was a good old fashioned kind of Christmas Eve day. I used to always go around town with my mom finishing up last minute gifts and getting the groceries for the day. I'm so glad that despite how life has changed, those are memories that no one can take away. We spent the afternoon napping and then in the evening we wrapped presents, watched "A Christmas Story" and hung out in our Christmas jammies. 

Christmas morning we woke up bright and early and headed to town for Christmas at Benny's house! His mom always makes Christmas so much fun! 

Merry 1st Christmas morning little guy!

Hanging out with Uncle Adam

Sweet gift Adam gave Wendy

The annual family picture -- getting everyone to cooperate for this is quite the ordeal. Oh, and we always all wear ISU shirts every year ... leave it to Benny (who owns like 2 non-ISU shirts to ruin the tradition. ;)

Trice's 1st Stocking

Our 1st Family Christmas

Trice got bored waiting for presents, so he ate his foot.

LOVED that rattle ball in his stocking!

Sweet pot Adam made for Nick

We then headed to my brother's house for Christmas with my family.

LOVES wrapping paper!

Dad was his silly old self..

We enjoyed a friendly (okay, mostly friendly) game of Headbandz.

And took the first family photo we've taken in a very long time...

And we got home WAY too late for Trice's liking (aka we enjoyed a wonderful Christmas evening full of non-stop screaming! Hey, I get sad when Christmas is over, too!)

We did a lot of other fun things on our trip -- visited Lily, Robyn, and Tim! We spent time with Baby Kinsey and her parents! Then on Saturday we headed to the big family Christmas on Benny's side. Trice got lots of play time with his cousin, Hayden!

Literally, too much cuteness going on here...

Cousin photo session - no caption needed.

Left: Hayden & Trice the first time they met (Trice 1 month, Hayden 3 months), Right: Hayden at almost 7 months and Trice almost 5!

We drove to Omaha after the dinner and enjoyed an evening with our friends, Chris & Wendi and their daughter, Emma! Wendi has been SO wonderful to me throughout my pregnancy and as I learn all about this crazy thing called being a mommy. I can't thank her enough for all her support/advice and for never making me feel like an idiot!

We failed at getting any pictures of Trice and Emma together (whoops!), but how cute is this?!

We made it home and we're ready for an ISU victory tomorrow! I have so many more pictures, but I suppose you can check them out on Facebook since I'm drowning in blogs I need to post! Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!