Christmas with MaeMe and BaPa

We celebrated Christmas with my family a few days before Christmas. Uncle Dude (aka Tim) had to work Christmas weekend, so we bumped our annual get-together up a few days. Here's a summary of the night's events...

Trains, trains and more trains. Did I mention Gavin got a TON of trains for Christmas? Ton is an understatement. He has literally a whole room full of Thomas tracks and various Thomas trains. It's incredible!

Squeezes for BaPa before bed.

So, our cruise is right around the corner. We all got Mickey shirts for Christmas to take with us! My shirt is a throw back to the early 90's. My first Disney experience was Disneyland when I was in third grade - my mom found the tee-shirt I'm wearing below stowed away in the archives. The 35th anniversary tee in a girls size XL...so, it fits a bit more snugly now than when I was a child. I was just amazed I could squeeze my flabby post-baby body into it at all (though I am back to my pre-pregnancy weight as of a few weeks ago, yippy!). Oh, and the ears...aren't they great! I'm excited to bring them on our cruise for Gavin's first Disney experience!

Coach shoes...for all of us gals! Thanks Dad!

Showing off his new jammies and robe, made specially by MaeMe!

And not photoed here - some tributes to our angel who is spending her first Christmas in heaven. Everyone got her a special ornament for her tree at the cemetery. It makes me proud that our family continues to talk about Grace and include her in our family traditions even though she is not here with us. It makes me feel very honored when others think enough of her to include her...even in very simple ways. It's hard to believe that one year ago, at our Christmas gathering in 2010, we were sharing the great news of our expanding family. Having no idea what lied ahead.

Last year for Christmas, my parents bought Gavin a wagon with two seats. I remember opening it thinking how fun it would be to fill that wagon with our two children that following summer. Instead, we walked around the neighborhood this summer with one seat unoccupied. I dreamed last Christmas of how different the following year's get-together would be. Another little one crowding my parents' living room. At the time, we didn't know the gender of our little one, so my visions were mixed between another boy or our first little girl. Cute little Christmas outfits. Instead, I now try to avoid looking at the cute little girl clothes in the stores (particularly the adorable dresses this time of year) because it brings me to tears - and not in a "safe" place where people know why I'm in tears. Instead, it is in a very vulnerable place where people have no idea. Instead, it is easier to just avoid it all together.

So, we've done other things to honor Grace this holiday season. Santa brought a couple gifts for her to our house. And we donated the gifts that we would have bought for her, had she lived, to the Angel Tree. I wasn't able to buy any baby girl clothing, though, to donate. Maybe I'll be okay with it next year, just not this year. We opted for toys instead. I do hope that the little girls out there enjoying those toys are blessed with Grace's presence. I'm sure that they are enjoying them, so that makes me happy and proud.

Overall, a very nice day spent with the Gavin family celebrating Christmas!