christmas, birthday, and new year's craziness

Thanks to all of you who are continuing to follow our journey from pregnancy to parenthood. I'm so sorry to have to move this blog from it's other location, but I desperately did not want to lose all of the posts I wrote as they contain so many memories for our family. As I was transferring all of those posts to this site, Shawn and I found ourselves fondly remembering some of the things we had completely forgotten about in our pregnancy. Seeing the positive on the pregnancy test seems like so long ago already!

Likewise, it seems as though every week since Jude's been born has flown by. I'm sorry that it's taken me awhile to update, we've had a lot going on around the Maurer house lately! So let's start with Christmas. Christmas Eve was a restful day for Shawn and I...we did our best to relax and really enjoy spending the holiday with our son. I made my Mom's world famous carmel corn, we had some egg nog, went to Pinedale's Christmas Eve service, and Shawn read "The Polar Express" to Jude for his bedtime story. After we put Jude down to sleep, Shawn and I enjoyed our carmel corn and watched "The Polar Express" together. Soon enough, we look forward to camping out in the living room to watch Christmas specials with our kid(s).

Jude getting ready for the Christmas Eve service in his cute new Christmas outfit.

...sleeping in heavenly peace

When we took his sweater off, he looked kind of like a native american warrior
Shawn reading Jude his Christmas Eve bedtime story

Shawn let me sleep in a little bit on Christmas morning and woke up to feed Jude his first morning feeding (which is usually anywhere between 6:00 and 7:00am). I woke up to feed Jude around 9:30am, we had breakfast as a family, and then it was time to get down to the present opening business! I had expected Jude to either sleep or cry through the opening of the presents, but he actually played contentedly on his Baby Einstein playmat. Shawn and I took turns opening his presents and showing them to Jude, who...to be quite honest...was a little more interested in his flashy star. Nonetheless, we had a blast opening his gifts! Jude (i.e. Shawn) especially loved his new Steelers jacket and warm up pants! It'll balance out his Bengals onsie nicely. :) Jude also got several adorable little outifts, some great toys, an umbrella stroller, a couple of very thoughtful books, a homemade hat, and several other thoughtful gifts for which we're so grateful.

Our little elf on Christmas morning.

My Christmas present to myself was getting to dress him up in this ridiculous, but oh-so-adorable Christmas day outift!

We had so much fun opening Jude's presents and can't thank our friends and family enough for thoroughly spoiling our son on his first Christmas! After we opened presents, I went for a run, and we enjoyed our sunny and warm North Carolina weather! We had dinner and then drove Jude around to look at Christmas lights (well, he slept in his carseat...but Shawn and I enjoyed the lights!).

My 27th birthday was December 30th, which seemed to sneak up on me this year. That morning, Shawn woke up early with Jude again, allowing me to get about six straight hours of sleep. Once I woke up, we went to breakfast at IHOP together, and Shawn headed into work while I enjoyed hanging out with Jude. We asked a friend from church to watch Jude for a few hours and Shawn and I enjoyed a much needed date! We had dinner at Noma, a new restaurant downtown, got some coffee, and walked around a bookstore for a little bit. I missed Jude terribly and was excited to head back home to see him, but I cannot express how refreshing it was to my heart to spend time away from being a Mom and enjoy being a Wife. I smiled and giggled and danced and bopped (yes, bopped), all of which seem like rare occurances when mixed in with diaper changes, the race to catch a few hours of sleep, dealing with screaming fits, and all of the other insanities of motherhood. After spending time alone with my sweet husband, I came home incredibly eager to see, hold, and kiss Jude!

Since we've been dating, Shawn and I typically go out for my birthday and stay in for New Year's, and this year was no exception! We enjoyed a slow paced, semi-restful night at home - watching movies and loving on our son. Jude went to bed around 9:30, but Shawn and I actually stayed up to say good-bye to 2008 and welcome 2009. So that, my friends, concludes our holiday craziness wrap up! Our holidays were especially meaningful this year, and I pray that you likewise enjoyed time with your loved ones!