Brian's First Christmas

It's the most wonderful time of the year!! That saying was so true this year, as we got to share Christmas with Brian for the first time. Everything was just more exciting this year, because Christmas really is all about the kids. It's been a long time since we've had one in our family!!

Our Christmas travels started out in St. Louis. Brian did pretty well during the road trip, and thanks to a neighbor, he was able to watch Baby Einstein videos and Finding Nemo on the way. What would we have done without the DVD player?!? That kept him quiet for a lot of the ride, considering he didn't feel like sleeping much at all in the car (bummer!) Due to an unfortunate circumstance, Christmas in St. Louis was a bit subdued, but we had a wonderful time visiting with Vahe's family. Brian especially loved all the time he got to play with his cousins. I think his favorite, though, was watching Grandpa Ayvazian's train in the basement. He loved it! :)

We then came home for a couple of days and had our little family Christmas before we left for Chicago. It was a lot of fun seeing Brian open the presents that we had picked out for him. I have to say, though, he was much more interested in the paper and tissue paper than the gifts. Vahe and I thoroughly enjoyed it, though! :)

Next, we headed to Chicago on Christmas Eve (which also happened to be Brian's 9 month birthday... pictures to come of that! Sorry, I'm a bit behind!) We caravanned with Mom and Dad and overall it was a pretty smooth ride into the city. It was snowing in Chicago, which was perfect for Christmas! I was SO excited to be there with all of our family, and they were equally as excited to share Brian's first Christmas. On Christmas morning, Uncle Dave dressed up as Santa, so Brian got to sit on Santa's lap and get some presents. TOO CUTE! He was, of course, spoiled ROTTEN by my family. We were thinking we were going to need a U-Haul on the way home! It was really special to be with all of the family. They just couldn't get enough of Brian!!! He got to meet his cousins on my dad's side for the first time and he got to hang out with Aunt Bridget and her family. It was a lot of fun! But, Brian had had enough of traveling and was just so overwhelmed that we decided to go home on Sunday. The drive home was BRUTAL, but we made it home safely. :)

As special as Christmas was this year, it's only going to continue to get even more special as the years go by. I can't wait until next year when he can get more excited about his gifts and maybe has a better idea of what is going on! :)

Happy 2010, everyone!

Love
Lauren