Nick and I discovered firsthand how all the wonder and excitement of Christmas is magnified many times over with the addition of a little one. This year we spent the holidays in Omaha with the Inzerello clan and were lucky enough to stay for a week-and-a-half. Many gifts, friends, family, and good times later, we returned home to DC with about 500 pictures. Needless to say, this is going to be a lengthy blog posting...
One of the first things on the agenda when we arrived was taking family pictures. With no one behind the cameraman to make Mia smile, we were a little worried, but we ended up with some decent ones after all.
It was so fun to have "Uncle Stu" join us for Christmas too.
Erin & Stuart make it official in July!
Sweet little Mia...
Mia was not too fond of the Santa hat at first... She pulled a "Clark Griswald with a squirrel on his back" face...
...but she enjoyed it a little more once she realized how to take it off.
Most of the trip, Mia spent her days being pampered and adored.
Grandpa just couldn't wait for Mia to wake up in the mornings. We caught him sitting outside her door watching her sleep (see evidence below), wearing out the carpet between his room and hers in the mornings, and pulling her into bed with Grandma & Grandpa at the first signs of her stirring. It was pretty adorable.
The three of us were able to head down to Kansas City to visit friends for a quick overnight trip and had a great time catching up with everyone and seeing how much their kids had grown. Thanks for your hospitality, Steve & Erica!
Next on the agenda was Mia's first picture with Santa. We had to wait a little bit while Santa was on his break & taking a nap in his chair, but Mia was patient. She knew her take on Christmas morning depended on it.
Finally Santa was ready & Mia was a star. Santa was pretty surprised when there were no tears, especially compared to the children before and after her. At some point we are going to have to teach Mia to be a little more wary of strangers, but for now we are loving that she isn't super clingy.
One of the highlights of the trip for Mia was being around so many other kids. Stuart's nephew is only 5 days older than Mia & they had a great time playing together.
Mia made fast friends with her adoring fans.
One of Erin's friends had a daughter just a few weeks before us.
When they came to visit, Mia was enamored.
And perhaps a little too friendly.
When we got to see our friends, the Beckers, Mia couldn't take her eyes off of "the big girl".
And she was in good hands with all of the cousins.
On Christmas Eve, Mia looked cute in her holiday outfit...
...but the hat was a little too big.
The highlight of Christmas morning for Mia was, of course, the paper and the ribbon.
Grandma & Grandpa gave her a stroller and her first doll. Nick wasn't too excited about how girly it all was, but recovered quickly after realizing it was inevitable. Mia IS a girl after all.
Auntie Erin is helping Mia foster an appreciation for shoes.
Our trip was extended a few days when a blizzard hit on Christmas Eve and dumped 18 inches on Omaha. It was beautiful & we were glad to have a very white Christmas and a little more time with family.
Nick, Stuart, and Al were busy keeping up with it.
Luckily, Al has two of just about every tool you can imagine & the work went pretty quickly.
We had such a great time and are all going through withdrawls. It was nice for both Mia & for Nick and I to have lots of people around who wanted to take care of Mia all the time. That was one of the best gifts ever!
