Drew's News: Final Christmas Post

Man, I feel like Christmas was a marathon. I guess that with all the travelling, visiting with so many relatives and opening so many gifts, it was certainly an eventful holiday season.

One thing we didn't get a picture of was the Christmas Eve service we attended at First Baptist Church Amarillo. It was mostly singing Christmas carols, and their pastor got up and gave a short sermon. They didn't have child care, so Drew came with us to the service. He started to get a little fussy during the songs, so I stepped out into the hallway and gave him a private concert as I sang the carols to him. He fell fast asleep and slept in my arms the rest of the service. My favorite song that an ensemble sang was "Breath of Heaven." I smile just thinking about it. I was sitting next to John, holding a sleeping Drew in my arms, in this beautiful sanctuary hung with wreaths and candles, looking down on this ensemble singing next to a life-size nativity scene. Christmas just doesn't get any better than that.

One of the other great parts was getting to see our cousins from California, who we hadn't seen in a long time. We got to meet my cousin Melissa's son, Ryan, who is about 2 months older than Drew. They're not quite old enough to play together yet, but I have no doubt that they will be great playmates in years to come.

Here is Drewby all dressed up for Christmas dinner. I may have a small addiction to Baby Gap, but you gotta admit that the kid is cute.

The first time we got Drew and Ryan together, they stared at each other for a little while, and Ryan started laughing. He just would look at Drew and have these big belly laughs. We think he was relieved to have another little boy around to play with.

Drew has learned how to make a motorboat noise, complete with lots of little spit. Granddad and Drew played airplane while Drew made his best airplane motor noise impression.

Yes, there is a backstory to this picture. My mom and Aunt Lainie have a major addiction to Christmas sweaters. It was worse in the 90s, when they'd have enough to wear them from Thanksgiving to Christmas without ever repeating. These sweaters invariably had some sort of glitter of sequins or were possibly even handmade. (Anyone else remember the year that my dad drilled holes in all those Christmas lights and we strung them together for earrings and necklaces?) So, to welcome the boys to the family, our moms bought them their very own baby-sized Christmas sweaters. Drew seems to be in shock at wearing it, but Ryan clearly understands the horror of the outfit. I will admit that the sweaters were kinda cute and even had adorable matching khaki pants, but I cannot condone such theme outfits.

Here's cousin Ryan opening his gift from Drew, a Texas A&M tracksuit. Melissa thinks Ryan may grow up to be the savior of the A&M football team, so remember him in your prayers. :)

Here are Pop and Grandmom opening gifts. Pop turns 90 in just a couple of weeks, and in March, they will celebrate their 70th (yes you read that correctly) anniversary. Their health and memories are failing, but it was neat to see them light up when everyone came over. Pop especially just loved to see the babies and talk to them.

We got all the cousins on my mom's side together for some family pictures, but my camera wasn't used for that photo session, so I can't post those. (If you're reading this and have those pictures, PLEASE e-mail them to me!) We did take some pictures outside since it was a gorgeous day.