Monday, December 27, 2010

Braden's First Christmas With My Family

We packed up our things, gifts, the baby and the husky and took off up to Edmonton on the 23rd. The 23rd was a pretty momentous day in the Schultz family, it was Joy's 30th birthday (happy birthday, even though you don't read this!) and it was also the day that Jay's Grandma Graham passed away. Grandma's passing was sad, but also a blessing. She died peacefully with her daughter Barb at her side. I will blog more later, after Grandma's service.

Braden is still a yucky traveler. It could be WAY worse and I do know that. He doesn't scream or cry the whole way, but the child really doesn't sleep! He never has been a good car seat sleeper. We planned to leave right on time for his first nap so he would be tired and hopefully sleep most of the 3 hour drive. Nope. Not so much! Woke up 1.25 hrs into his nap...which was okay because we stopped in Red Deer for some lunch and to stretch our legs. Luckily driving conditions to and from Edmonton couldn't have been better. We had a nice white Christmas, but no new snow and the highways were bone dry.

When we first got to Beaumont we had to go and visit our wonderful friends the Huskas. I can't believe how big 3.5 month old Sophia has gotten. She's almost doubled her birth weight already and is getting cuter everyday!
Braden is probably almost double her size. They are so cute! Just look at this little beauty:
It's been almost 2 months since we've seen her and she's gotten so strong and alert and aware of her surroundings. It's so wonderful to see the big changes in these little ones.
Then came Christmas Eve. My family has always had it's big Christmas celebration on the 24th. I was looking very forward to this day with Braden. Here's some pictures during the day.
The infamous drool drop on the chin...
"Who needs Santa when I have grandma?"
Love the Santa bum!
It only took him about 30 seconds to learn to crawl stairs (he doesn't have stairs to practice with at home):
Then it was nap time...
Okay, time for dinner! A Throndson/Burrell family tradition is steak and lobster. Jealous? Thought so!
Had to work off the calories from supper by climbing stairs with Daddy:
He wasn't totally into opening presents this year, but he was very tired again, right before bedtime!
And then after a wonderful night's sleep for all of us, it was Christmas morning. Look what Santa left for Braden:
Santa brought Braden a sled that converts to a wagon and some little stocking sutffers. The Little Tikes sports centre is from my Dad. This is probably my favorite picture from Christmas. We sat Braden in his sled, he grabbed ahold of the rails and stood up and randomly started dancing!
Cool toy!
Then I dressed him up in his little Santa costume:
 Love this picture of Braden and his Uncle Ben:
 I went to Grandma & Grandpa Burrell's for a quick visit, then when we got home we took the sled and husky out for a test drive! New snowsuit:
He really did enjoy it!
Then we had a wonderful turkey dinner!
Like Braden's Christmas sweater!? hehe!
Anyways, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas! Thanks for taking a look and letting me share the memories of Braden's first Christmas!