Nolan's 1st Christmas

I say this every year, but I can't believe how quickly Christmas has come and gone. Nolan's first Christmas was wonderful. We began our Christmas Eve at Sam and Justin's house (Aunt Ginnie's daughter) before heading to Grandma and Grandpa's house for the evening. Nolan was lucky enough to see snow for the first time on Christmas Eve! Although it was only a little bit, the excitement of a white Christmas had my mom's smile and joy filling up inside me.

On Christmas Eve Nolan had fun opening up presents from his Grandma, Grandpa, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and Great Grandma's. He was more thrilled with the bow on top of the gifts than opening the gifts.

Christmas morning around 8am Nolan woke up and we took him downstairs to see all the presents Santa left for him. Nolie was interested in opening presents the first few times, but then quickly lost interest. As expected, he was more excited about the wrapping paper and tissue paper.

After opening up his presents and playing with his new toys for a little bit we packed up and headed over to my dad's house for brunch. Nolan was spoiled once again with more presents from everyone. Our family tradition has always been to have everyone over at my dad's for dinner. This year I was not much help with the cooking (sorry Alaina), but Ryan filled in for me! Overall, our little guy had a great first Christmas.

Sadly, on Christmas Day we received news that Ryan's grandpa (Papa) had passed away. We recently flew to Florida and having already taken Nol on a plane, we decided we would go to Texas for the funeral services and to see his family. Early on Thursday morning we were flying to Texas. Nolan met his Great Grandma (Nana) and his cousins, Brandi and Kylee for the first time. He also got to see Aunt Sue and Uncle John again! I hope that having Nolan there brought a bit of happiness to everyone during the difficult time.

While in Texas, Nolan started to become fussy, extra drooly and had trouble sleeping. We thought he may possibly be teething or going through a growth spurt. Our happy baby has been pretty miserable these past few days and his schedule went out the door. :(

On our flight home we were fortunate enough to fly first class (thanks Grandma and Grandpa!). Nolan started out the flight great. He took his bottle on take off and asleep he went. Ryan and I enjoyed our breakfast and drinks while he was asleep. He woke up about an hour and a half into the flight and pretty much screamed for 45 minutes. We tried feeding him a bottle, solid food, nursing him (yup, I tried in a public place, go me!). He was not hungry. We tried the pacifier. We changed his diaper. We gave him gas drops and oral gel. We gave him toys and teethers. Nothing worked. We even turned on our phones and tried to give them to him. Nope, he still was not stopping. We even gave him Tylenol and he was still screaming. Those 45 minutes felt like 6 hours. I can say, our American Airlines flight attendant was the nicest lady (she must be a mom). She came by and asked if we needed anything on multiple occasions. When Nolan finally fell back to sleep, she came back to check on us and complimented him. I was apologizing and she was telling us we had nothing to apologize for and that she just hoped he was feeling better. 3 great flights out of 4 is not so bad. Still proud of my boy!

Now we are finally home sweet home and working Nolan back to his routine schedule. He is still struggling with sleep. Ryan and I are not used to it being so difficult to get him to bed. I don't think he has slept through the night since Christmas Eve. Hopefully, he will be back to his normal routine soon. I hate seeing him so miserable.

Yesterday was New Year's Eve, but it was also the day that our friend's had their baby! I would like to send a big CONGRATS to Jamie and Matt as they welcomed their little girl, Lily into the world. She is so loved and has wonderful parents! Both mom and baby are doing great! Aun and I went to meet Lily today and she is as cute as a button. She is a healthy little girl and holding her makes you realize how quickly our little babies grow!

Reflecting on 2012, what a wonderful year. We were blessed with our amazing son and have created a little family. It has been a year filled with ups and downs. Wishing everyone a safe, healthy and Happy New Year! Cheers to 2013!