Christmas with the Kahles

We headed down south for Christmas this year to spend the holiday in Jacksonville Beach with my family.  What did Santa give me this year?  A Z-pack.  After I spent four hours Christmas Eve morning at an urgent care center and was diagnosed with a sinus infection, a throat infection, and bronchitis.  Got my Z-pack, and I was determined not to let anything get me down on James’ first Christmas.

Meanwhile, James was enjoying his first Christmas Eve.  I had so many Christmas outfits for him, but I got so sick and didn’t realize until later that he spent the day in an Abbey Road shirt and sweatpants.  Oh well, he pulled it off.

My mom spent Christmas Eve baking cookies and candy, while Papa and James enjoyed eating these cookies.

Aunt Andrea stopped by with a present for James.  A 3 in1 walker, ride on, and scooter!  The excitement began immediately, and I think this will be a favorite for years.  Thank you, Aunt Andrea!

James often snuck over to the tree and got into the presents…

which reminded us of a Christmas tradition!  We always opened one present Christmas Eve, and now that we have kids around, we thought we’d bring some of these traditions back!

So, we opened one from Uncle Josh.

And it was much needed (a warm sleeper) and loved (Go Gators!).

Christmas morning was great.  Everyone slept in at the house so Justin, James and I enjoyed our first Christmas as a family of three.  My Z-pack kicked in, and I was feeling much better.  We made coffee, listened to Charlie Brown’s Christmas and played with James.  It was perfect.

And then everyone woke up, and we put the turkey in before naptime.  Another tradition (that sounds weird now that I think about it, but I can’t remember a Thanksgiving or Christmas without it) is my Dad flies the turkey.  He picks it up like it’s flying and we all would laugh and laugh and laugh.  Since I’m big on tradition, Justin will just have to go with this one.

All the family came over, and cousins Grey and James were ready to share their first Christmas.

Grey put on her Christmas dress, and I made sure to get some pictures of this beauty.

We visited on the porch before opening presents.

They say you get more out of giving than of receiving.  We open presents a little different than most families.  We open them one by one, and it typically takes a couple of hours.  Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without Josh starting off, “{Fill name in here}, open my present first!”  He can’t wait for everyone to open his presents.  A true example of the fulfillment of giving. 

First off: James opens a gift from Josh.  And I absolutely love it!  I mean, every 9 month old needs a pea coat, right?!

And the day continued.

And then Jude and Dena called us outside for their gifts.  What in the world could it have been that they couldn’t carry inside, I was wondering.  (I think Lynyrd wins ‘best picture’ in this one.)

They had painted us all gifts.  I was blown away.  They were beautiful.  And thoughtful.  And ours will always remind me of this Christmas.

We all went back inside, ate Christmas dinner, and then, Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without Jude singing and playing the guitar.  Except this time, he had his beautiful family with him.

It’s a dream to share Christmas day with a wonderful husband and healthy and happy baby.  It’s also a very special time for my family to be together this holiday.  For whatever reason, or I should say, for all the reasons, this was the best Christmas I’ve ever had.  The love and peace I felt this day is a blessing from God.  Merry Christmas to all… and to all a good night…

James and Lynyrd: BFF

I remember Justin saying when I was pregnant that one day our kid will share his ice cream cone with Lynyrd when we’re not looking. As gross as this is, we videoed it and laughed instead of intervening. (don’t even watch it if dogs gross you out.) Oh, and I tried to shorten the video, but it wasn’t working out…

And has Lynyrd learned to share his food with James? Not quite.

Mischief

Who needs toys?

When you have drawers.

And diapers.

But who needs diapers, when there is a dangling lens cap?

The story of James meeting Santa

Justin’s work had a Christmas party for the kids Thursday night. There were arts and crafts, pizza and desserts, musical chairs, and Santa!

James was very tired. We had company in town, he had missed naps, and the party was during bedtime. So, Justin was holding James by the front door posing for a few pictures.

We were watching the big kids play musical chairs,

when all of a sudden Santa made his appearance. There was no chimney so, he came in through the front door yelling, “HO, HO, HOOO!”

It caught us off guard, and you can guess what happened next.

James was very scared.

So now, he was scared and tired.

We thought maybe we should introduce James and Santa since, they’re going to be friends for many years. And besides, it was Santa’s voice that was startling. Not Santa himself.

So, we took James over to meet Santa face to face.

And although scared, James did pretty well. Santa tried to give James a high-five, which prompted the lower lip again.

He tried to plea for help.

And then Santa made the mistake of talking again, and James had already made it clear that he does not like his voice.

So, we said goodbye to Santa, and being the torturous parents that we are, we waited our turn for James to sit on Santa’s lap. Because he hadn’t had enough, right?

By the way, before you see the face of this “Santa,” I’ll admit that he is not the real Santa. The real Santa couldn’t make it to Fort Jackson this Thursday evening so, he had someone fill in for him to find out what the kids want for Christmas. But this substitute did a great job so, we’ll continue to call him “Santa.”

Anyways, “James Helfer?!” they called, and up we went.

And James did great! He was mesmerized by “Santa’s” beard. (Maybe he wondered why it didn’t match his mustache. Who knows?)

“Santa” rang the bells in his hands, and James loves music!

Everything was going great until “Santa” said very loudly in his deep voice, “MERRY CHRISTMAS, JAMES!”

And Daddy quickly jumped in for the rescue.

We took our traumatized baby home and told him he won’t have to meet Santa or his mean ole substitutes until next year… Unless we make a last minute Santa trip again this year. :)