Where to begin, where to begin…

We always have so many things going on around the holidays that it’s hard to sum it all up. I’ll do the best I can and hope this post doesn’t go on forever.

Friday, December 22nd

We went to our new friend Sara’s house for a holiday dinner with Kelly and Kurt. Hailey had a couple of friends there; Ally and Tela. Ally and Hailey are just a couple of weeks apart, so it was fun to see them interact. (If you want to call it that.) Ally’s mom took pictures, so I borrowed them from her family blog. We had a fantastic dinner and the kids played for a while. Hailey proved to be pretty independent and found her way around the main floor of the Meech’s house on her own. She was fairly entertaining at dinner, as well.

Saturday, December 23rd

We headed over to Nana Pat and Grandpa George’s home for our Christmas celebration. The day didn’t start off too well; we think the little Miss may have had a tummy ache. After her nap, she was feeling much better and ready to open presents. Hailey’s aunts and uncles were there and spoiled her rotten, as usual. (Hey, i’m not complaining!) There is no lack of love for this little girl, this is a fact. Aunt Chris & Uncle Ray gave Hailey a Barbie Laptop. We are happy about this because she’s constantly trying to get onto ours. Now, she has her very own. Nana Pat and Grandpa George gave her a Little Touch LeapPad from LeapFrog. This is a neat book that will read to Hailey. She just has to touch the book where she sees something interesting. We all had a very nice dinner and then it was off to bed for the little one and some fun for the adults.

Sunday, December 24th

On Sunday, we headed west to Ottawa to have Christmas with Grandma Barb. Uncle Kurt, Aunt Kelly, Auntie Em and Uncle Tim where there with us to share the fun. Once again, Hailey received super fun gifts from her family. Uncle Kkurt & Aunt Kel gave her a “Disney Princess Tent”. This tent has been a BIG HIT in our household. We had Grandma Barb’s famous homemade pizza for dinner – my favorite! Pretty sure it’s Hailey’s favorite now, too. Good food, good company, good conversation; overall, a GREAT Christmas eve.

Monday, December 25th – CHRISTMAS DAY

We left Ottawa on Christmas Eve so Hailey could wake up in her own home on Christmas morning. We wanted to make sure santa knew where she was. She came downstairs in her Christmas jammies, sat with daddy for her morning bottle and then opened her presents. I think we were more excited than she was. We just shoved present after present into her hands and I’m sure she didn’t know what the fuss was all about. It was a nice, quiet day and we enjoyed spending it with each other – our little family.

Then, later on in the afternoon…we decided to get a head start on our trip to visit Grammy Peggy in Pennsylvania. We left around 7pm and stopped at a hotel in Ohio for some shut eye. Hailey did wonderfully. We woke up early the next morning and finished our trip to my hometown.

Tuesday, December 26th

We arrived in St. Marys around 11:00 am on Tuesday morning. It was great to be in my hometown again. Hailey did very well on the trip. Although, she started having some congestion on Christmas Day. Grammy Peggy was VERY thrilled to see her 15th granddaughter. She has a very special relationship with Hailey. We didn’t waste anytime…sat right down and opened our Christmas presents. One of Hailey’s presents from Grammy Peggy was a Laugh and Learn phone that goes with her house. She LOVES her phone! Another gift were three little musical books. Hailey has decided to “snack” on those, so we watch her closely while she’s listening to the music.

Later on that night we got a lot of visitors; Uncle Bill and cousins Mindy and Rachel, Uncle Kenny, Aunt Sara and Alexa, Uncle Joe, and Uncle Rick all stopped in to spend some time with us. Hailey was a bit overwhelmed with all of the attention but overall, I think she handled it very well for a 14 month old.

Friday, December 29th

We went next door to our friends and neighbor’s house. Our friends from Once Upon a Dream were in town and FINALLY got to meet Hailey and we were finally able to meet little Gillian and see Gabby again, it’s been a while.

It was SO NICE to be home for the holidays. I would say that this Christmas has been the best one in a while for us. We were able to spend it with all of our family and our beautiful litte girl. We’re looking forward to a healthy, happy 2007!