A Christmas Break Recap

John's parents came up to visit for a few days in order to celebrate Christmas and Brennan's birthday. It was nice they got to experience a white Christmas this year--not a common sight in Richmond! The downside to the last few days was that I got hit with a nasty cold turned sinus infection that knocked me out flat for several days. Being pregnant, there's not much I can take to get over it, but I think time has helped and things appear to be on the mend now.

Checking out his stocking on Christmas morning. He was a busy little guy with all his presents!

He loved stacking the containers of Play-Dough and then was thrilled when we got it out after his nap on Christmas Day.

One morning was perfect for a visit to the Children's Museum. John took Brennan and his parents there for some fun indoor playtime. The only other time we've been there was a night when admission was only $1, so the place was jammed. This time it was far less crowded and offered a better chance to really explore and enjoy what the museum had to offer.

The water play station was tons of fun!

On Brennan's birthday evening, we bundled up and visited the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens for their GardenFest of Lights. We all loved getting to see model trains and many, many lights. Brennan loved getting to go through a couple light mazes in the children's section.

The peacock was pretty impressive!

A blessed holiday season from our family to yours!

Tree Time!

Last year when we put up our tree, Brennan showed absolutely no interest in it. He only wanted to pull books off the bookshelf. This year was a much different story! He was so excited to help decorate and it was a lot of fun to watch his interest and involvement in family Christmas traditions develop. Next up on the list of fun Christmas things...make an Advent calendar, send out Christmas cards, and indulge in the yearly dose of "White Christmas" movie magic!

Brennan helped put up the first ornament on the tree--his "Baby's First Christmas"

The finished product

Random Trip Pics

This post concludes one of many from our trip up to Minnesota. We had a blast, and I hope you enjoy looking through the photos and videos!

Brennan with Uncle Nathan

Cousins!

Grandma with the grandkids

Grandpa with the grandkids

Looking all cute with his Christmas sucker

My dad really wanted this photo of him and Brennan in their flannel shirts

Brennan with his Great-Grandpa Ganun

Happy Birthday to Brennan!

Saturday, December 27th, marked one year of life for Brennan! We celebrated his first birthday in conjunction with the Ganun family Christmas (my mom's side of the family). There were 38 people there for the Christmas celebration, which also meant that there were 38 people at Brennan's first birthday party! He did amazingly well with the cake, eating the entire piece that we gave him!

He sure had fun with the cake!

The aftermath.

The Ganun family Christmas was a huge affair this year, as evidenced by the enormous table pictured below. Yes, all of us managed to sit around the table for one huge family meal. It had been a long time since I had participated in one of these shindigs, so it was pretty special to get to celebrate the Christmas season with my grandparents, parents, brother, aunts, uncles, cousins, and all the little ones that have been added to the family over the past few years. It was wild, crazy, chaotic, and overall wonderful. It was pretty special for us to have Brennan around so many of his relatives--all of whom doted on him and loved on him the entire day. Definitely a great experience!

Table for 38, please!

Snow!

The thing that I have missed most about winter is the lack of snow. This year, that wasn't a problem! My brother had a ton of snow out at his place and we spent Christmas afternoon sledding. Even though Christmas day was about 18 degrees, we all bundled up and had some great family time and got plenty of exercise as we had to climb back up the hill multiple times!

Brennan's inaugural sled ride with Daddy (and getting a little help from Grace and Uncle Nathan)

My dad and me (right before I flipped out of the sled)

He wasn't too sure what to think of all this white stuff.

First Christmas

This has been a year of firsts for Brennan. One of the more recent ones is that we got to celebrate his first Christmas! We ventured up to Minnesota for a white Christmas--and I was in heaven with the cold, the snow, the joy of Christmas feeling like I used to know it. We celebrated Christmas day with my parents, brother, and niece at my brother's house. Gifts in the morning, sledding in the afternoon, the traditional Prechel lasagna for lunch. John even got to try lefse for the first time (and he liked it too!). This was also the first Christmas my immediate family had been together in six years. All in all, Christmas this year goes down as the best one for me in a long time.

The baseball was a big hit.

One of his favorite parts was the wrapping paper.

My dad read the Christmas story to Brennan and Grace.

Early Christmas

My parents sent Brennan his first Christmas gift this year. It arrived last night, and John and I put it together and set it under the tree. When Brennan got up this morning, we went out to the tree to show him his gift--a music table! He loves music and dancing, so this gift is a big hit with him! He's already had a blast exploring it, trying out the different fun things, and making noise with it. Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa Prechel!

Santa Baby

Christmas Tree Time!

John set up our tree while I was at work this morning, and we took some time to decorate it before he left for work this afternoon. Brennan was more interested in pulling books off the bookshelf than the tree itself! Next up, all that yummy Christmas baking!

Getting in the Christmas Spirit

Christmas is my favorite time of year! This year, we get to go to Minnesota for Christmas to celebrate with my family. Christmas Day will be spent with my parents, my brother, and my niece--the first time the immediate family has all been together since 2001! Then, two days later, December 27th, we'll be participating in another Christmas celebration with my mom's entire side of the family. Every year, the Ganun family gets together and this year, the entire family is coming in from all over the country for what will likely be the last Christmas gathering where we are all together. I'm totally looking forward to it--aunts, uncles, cousins, my cousin's kids, my grandparents will all be there (about 40 people total!). This year's Christmas celebration with the Ganun family will also coincide with Brennan's first birthday! So...all 40 people will also be at his first birthday party! It'll be quite the gathering!

To help facilitate getting in the Christmas spirit (because, quite frankly, standing in line at Kohl's for one hour on Black Friday helped facilitate quite the opposite of Christmas cheer), I pulled out a bunch of Christmas decorations to start getting the house ready. Brennan wasn't quite sure what to think of all the stuff I was setting out. But, then we started to have fun with the Santa hat and reindeer antlers. Ah, feel that Christmas spirit!