Christmas in Rockford, Illinois

Well, it looks like everything is calm enough around here now that I can tell you about our Christmas.

We left at 4 am on Thursday, December 20th along with Chris' sister and her husband. We piled into the van at our house and off we went with Chris' sister driving the first shift. We drove in four shifts and amazingly, we didn't stop any other times. Caleb did remarkably well in his car seat. He would start getting fussy each time right around the four hour mark. As we crept north through Illinois we started seeing snow on the ground and the further north we got the more there was. We finally arrived in Rockford around 10 pm or so. Caleb was allowed to stretch his legs for awhile and into bed we went.

The next few days were spent enjoying being with family and relaxing. There was a baby shower for Chris' sister who is due in April and a gathering to watch the Chicago Bears beat the Greenbay Packers. Caleb was all decked out for that event in his Bears hat and Urlacher jersey. We also enjoyed some time out in the snow but Caleb didn't want anything to do with it. He would walk around on the street or sidewalk but hated stepping into the snow.

Here is my little Buddy in his winter garb.

Walking around

We spent a lot of time inside the house and sometimes we would escape to the real world when we needed to stretch. We had to get creative in entertaining Caleb sometimes. We finally got the idea of using YouTube.com to show Caleb some Baby Einstein videos. Wow!!

Caleb enjoying Baby Monet on his uncle's laptop.

Chris' parents arrived on Saturday and Chris' mom was usually more than happy to take us girls places. One of those times Chris, my brother-in-law, and Caleb went sledding in a local park. I have a video of Caleb sledding on his cookie sheet that I will attempt to post later. Check out what they found in the park while there.

What kind of animal made that?!

Finally, the main event arrived and it was Christmas. This was the first big family Christmas I've ever experienced. Chris has three aunts and they brought their spouses, children, their spouses, and their children. I think there was close to 20 plus people there. Whew! I have never seen so many presents under one tree in my ENTIRE life!

The Loot

There was also so much Yummy Goodness to eat! Check out these pictures. I was inspired by how much Chris' aunt cooked for everyone....especially the pies.

Pies waiting to be eaten! Yum!

Breakfast Casserole

Monkey Bread!

Fruit to make it all healthy

After a full day of Christmas joy everyone went home and we all collapsed into our beds. Whew! What a day! The day after Christmas was spent packing and making some last minute visits to loved ones.

We went to bed and rose again at 2:30 am to embark on our journey home. It was snowing when we left and that made me sad. I really wanted to see a really good snow before we left but I was focused on getting home. This trip home took longer due to an extra potty break and a dinner break that took way too long. But, we got home safely. We emptied the van into the den and collapsed yet again into bed....OUR beds. We found out later that it snowed 6 inches the day we left and I was wearing a t-shirt as I ran my errands. Gotta Love Georgia!!

We are home and back into our schedule and starting a new year. I am excited about what it has to bring and I'm sure there will be lots more here.

See you soon!!