Baby/Bump's first Christmas

pregnantgingerx3

Christmas is finally over! No more stress about the holiday! 

How did the little ones make out? 

How did momma and daddy make out?
 
What was the best or favorite gift you received or gave? 

ea301

We attended a family xmas eve party with LOTS of people & noise, and she did great! Slept in someone's arms (mine, my mom's, my sister's) almost the entire 3 hours we were there! Christmas day we facetimed with relatives and had dinner at my parents, and she did well there too. We did have a bit of fussiness during dinner, which meant my meal got a little cold, but that's not so bad.

DH and I held it together! One of my friends cautioned me that RSV was going around, so FTM paranoia and anxiety was high... but I survived. We ran late to church and dinner, which was annoying. I hate being late. We also forgot the presents for my family at home. Mommy brain...

Sappy but my favorite gift was just time spent with family. We got some good family photos too, which will be great to have  

PensiveCrayon

Still pregnant, which was much to the relief of my priest and his wife, who is the choir director at church. There were three services between Christmas Eve and Christmas, and H and I sing in the choir. I was also in a quartet on Christmas Eve. So they were really hoping I wouldn't go early!

Baby didn't really get many Christmas gifts, other than a few stuffed animals from Dad, and apparently my sister couldn't resist a Very Hungry Caterpillar onesie! I bought a couple Baby's First Christmas items just in case, so I guess I can return them now, haha.

As for me, I got the subscription to the GymnasticBodies online workout program that I very much wanted. Now if only this child would evacuate so I can get started on it!

ETA: And as for my favorite gift I received, H and I got two sets of half-sized beer tasting glasses (each one a different shape for specific beers) and fourteen beers from his parents. Again...baby needs to come so I can start using my gift!!!

maamawaabangi

My baby (still in Bump) got a baby book... like the kind you record milestones in... which is about the worst thing to get a 7th child. There is NO conceivable way that that book will get filled out! Help me! 
I literally almost laughed out loud when I opened it... for real... 7th child here!!! 

My mom did get this adorable outfit however!!! I nearly died when I saw the back! 

slartybartfast

@maamawaabangi we haven't even filled it out for our 1st. Thank goodness because now we won't feel bad a we don't fill one out for our second.

we had the best Christmas ever. Because DS is only 20 months we went minimal - a book, a toy bottle for his baby doll, and a matchbox car. That plus the clementine in his stocking plus gifts from uncles and grandparents (including a bike and brio train) it felt like a lot. Lesson learned- we keep it simple every year! Seriously the boy was beyond happy and fulfilled after pulling the clementine out...

nothing specific for new baby. Except my milk came in like cream and she has been in heaven since...

maamawaabangi

@slartybartfast  That makes me feel better... I do an online photo book for them each, but haven't managed to get our 6th child's done yet... I'm sure I will in time. 
Our toddler was beyond thrilled with her stocking "Orange" too... she just kept repeating it over and over until we got it peeled. Simple is good. 
I love it that your baby enjoyed her Christmas cream! 

karmba

Our Christmas was low key and great.  We didn't go home so we face timed family and it worked well!   We told everyone that DS came too close to Christmas to make Santa's list so he got nothing from us haha.  His grandparents and aunts and uncles got him a bunch of clothes, diapers and a few toys.  His best present was a lillebaby carrier from my mom.  It was the last big item on our registry so she bought it for Christmas.

The best gift I got was a shared gift with DH - a TiVo mini from my brother.  

cayaylonglegs

Christmas was most excellent this year. My mom hosted her extended family and DD did great. There were about 25 people there throughout the day and she slept basically the whole time.

DD received some more sleepers and some stuffed animals from family for xmas, including a Jigglypuff that is currently bigger than she is.

Per the xmas tradition my brother gave me a Totoro themed sweater which is awesome.

ErikandAfton

Little boy decided to stay put. So our family came to us which had been the plan all along. We had a very restful holiday.

Leif didn't get presents since our due date was so close to Christmas and since he decided to stay put anyways.

Dh got me a gift card for a spa day so that was kind of a shock! And my Dad got me a new kitchen aid! Mine had been my mom's and was well over 20 years old. Dh got his roomba he wanted earlier in the month. 

ea301

Oh I forgot! My aunt painted a little canvas for the nursery! She is a professional artist and illustrator so to have a commissioned work is very special for me

capps42613

Christmas was extra special this year due to baby's arrival. He received just a few toys so that my 8 year old DD didn't think santa left him out lol. My husband got me Disney 101 Dalmatian vans that I can't wait to wear on our next disney vaca.

jennbaylor12

We had a wonderful Christmas! 2yo and LO both had a good year, tried to keep it reasonable, at least from us... grandparents, meh, who can control them ;-)
DH spoiled me this year with beautiful Kendra Scott earrings and a digital picture frame. I got him the Bose speaker he'd been lusting over, he was so excited :-D

ashleaf2018

We went overboard for baby even though we hadn't planned on getting him anything. A tummy time mat, 5 new cloth diapers, 2 pairs of maxaloones, Christmas pajamas, a hardcover version of "Twas the Night Before Christmas," and a "Baby's First Christmas" ornament. He also got an ornament, plush blanket, and clothes from FI's family. We haven't done Christmas with my family yet but we will this weekend. We were able to do Christmas with my grandmother and she got him a toy that plays classical musical for the car and also an activity bar for his car seat. 

My favorite gift for me was a Phillips Sonicare toothbrush from FI's family. Having HG my whole pregnancy has made me obsessed with oral/dental hygiene so it was the perfect gift. By obsessed I mean I probably brush my teeth too much... like 4 times a day. I just can't stand the feeling of my mouth not being clean though. 

Austenista

@ashleaf2018 I'm on my second Sonicare and I love it. That's the perfect gift for you too, if you're concerned about dental health. My friend was so obsessed with oral hygiene that she was over-brushing her teeth. Her dentist had her to switch to one of those and to let it do the brushing because she was taking off the enamel. 

Our Christmas was amazing. I got to introduce Eaton to his great-grandparents and it was just a heart melting experience. I put him in each of their arms and he just snuggled up and slept there. My grandparents did a large portion of my raising, and so it means everything to me that I have the chance to share my son with them. 

From us, Eaton got a box of his formula and a lamb wubbanub for Christmas. The kid loves his paci and he loves to eat so we covered his bases. We went to Target today and bought a baby's 1st Christmas ornament 2016 for him. 

He got some of those stuffed animal headed handkerchief sized blankets, bibs, and some clothes from his auntie, money from his great grands, and some formula from his grandpa. I LOVED him having his own little gifts. It's so awesome to have a new family member and seeing all my folks love on him.

As for me, my favored gift from DH is the airpod headphones from apple. I cant wait to drive and exercise cord free. I also got a good bit of money and gift cards to put toward some clothing shopping (I needed this badly). I got DH some Xbox accessories, engraved pens so folks will stop stealing his at work, and a new glasses case for his Oakleys.   

temmetime

I've been super MIA with DS being only 6 days old, but we luckily had an awesome low key Christmas so far. We still have to have Christmas with DHs family on Friday, but I'll feel more confident about it since Maximus will be over a week old by then.  My family always does Christmas Eve together and we initially planned on making it there, but my niece has a cough so my family said to stay home (it was only our second day at home) and chill out. I video chatted with them when they opened gifts as I sent out gifts out there for them to open...That was extremely difficult being 5 miles away from my family and having to video chat to spend Christmas. I also spent a lot of time, effort and money on my gifts and didn't get to be there-- definitely a first world problem as I'd do anything for my son and we were just protecting him from illness.
The weather was crappy on Christmas day so we hung out at home all day in our PJs and I edited a couple of pictures I took. I can't stop taking pictures!

ea301

@temmetime Those are beautiful photos!!! Can you come take pics of our baby? We absolutely stink at it.

Exhibit A - probably the best one we have... 

temmetime

@ea301 haha well thank you!! I have taken pictures for nieces and nephews before and had zero experience with infants at the time... They turned out horrible!! I've done a lot of research since (especially lately) and am definitely no pro, but found a few tricks that really help. Lighting is a huge deal for sure..If you can get natural daylight inside its best. Also, if LO eats and goes total comatose that's the perfect picture taking time...They become so moldable! 

pregnantgingerx3

a very low-key & hectic Christmas for us as well... DS2 didn't get much other than from our families because we knew both boys would be spoiled by them. We got a few things for DS1. My favorite recieved gift was my new shirt from FIs grandmother, and FI LOVED his bottle of Jameson (his favorite whiskey -- everyone keeps asking if little one is named after that and NO, why can't we just like the name Jameson?!) 

We went to the Christmas Eve children's service at church and that didn't go over well with my almost 4 year old. You would have thought he was the devil incarnate the way he cried and screamed half the service!

 DS1 didn't get home from his father's until 12 on Christmas day, so I didn't get to experience the wake up "SANTA CAME" and excitement that I know he must have done. He only had 2 hours to open his gifts from us and play for a bit before we had to head off to my aunt's house, which was ultimately disappointing. First year we've celebrated there with my family and she changed it all up from the normal, but as long as my boys are happy - I'm happy  

Lisa3379

Christmas was great. Both families came to our house and we had brunch, open gifts, and had a huge dinner. My dad and MIL kicked ass at making all the food, I kinda felt bad since we were technically hosting - I felt like I should've done more, but MIL insisted. She's awesome.

I got a bunch of kitchen stuff and AFI tickets. Date night coming up! And evidently a lot of cooking now that I'll be a stay at home mom, haha. 

I gave my boyfriend a few work shirts and two coupons for paternity "leave" - whenever he wants, he can get "leave" the house and go snowboarding, lift ticket cost on me. 

Let's see... Max got some books, a stuffed Curious George (it's like tradition in our family to have one), and some other stuff. My favorite gift came from his daddy. When we were in Germany last, he was in the middle of ordering a BMW but was unsure of what color to get. We went to BMW World in Munich to see a color in person to verify that he liked it. Anyway, the shop at BMW had a little car that was almost the exact same color, and I thought it would be cute if father and son had matching cars, but we didn't get it because hauling that back to the US would've been ridiculous. Well, daddy remembered and ordered it. Max won't be able to use it for months, but it's still neat. 

Kacie209

Christmas was good for us. We went to my in-laws Christmas Eve,  which is just a 45 min drive. 2/4 of his cousins on DH's side were there and they just love him... ages 8 and 4. Wyatt was spoiled with clothes and toys! It was his first big road trip and no issues. We made it a rule that he wouldn't be held all day as then he sleeps and is awful that night, and it went well. Everyone still got some quality time with him.

Christmas day, we went to my parents in town. The weather was supposed to get bad throughout the day but we ended up only getting rain/sleet and some snow. My parents actually went and picked up my grandparents, who live 3 hours away (their city got 18" of snow!), so they got to meet their newest great grandson. They just loved him!! My parents and sister got him a few toys for when he's a little older. DH and I also got the video monitor that we wanted so that was nice to get. It was a good day and Wyatt was pretty good. My parents just live being grandparents!

cgss11

Ours was low key also. They usually are but I really appreciated it this year. My parents were in town so that was nice. We got together with my brother and his family and just had finger foods. My parents got Scarlett an exersauxer. It was really cute to see Niece and nephew (7 and 5) so excited to give her gifts. They had picked out some of their favorite books, and then had a little musical rattle set so she could be in their "band". DH and I just got her one small toy..just because we felt like we should. I'm really excited for future Christmases when she's older and has more awareness.

penelope4612

Christmas is finally over! No more stress about the holiday! 

How did the little ones make out?  LO did well.  He got a bunch of books and clothes (which is what we were hoping).  Only one toy that makes noise from a distant family friend, which we will probably donate.

How did momma and daddy make out?  We did ok.  We don't exchange gifts with each other.  We got some clothes that we asked for from my parents, a few other things, and gift cards.  The in laws gave us money.
 
What was the best or favorite gift you received or gave?  I gave my nieces superhero capes and masks, which they had been wanting, and they were so excited.  They ran around the house in them for quite a while.

sourlemon

Ours was interesting. Christmas eve my parents and 2 brothers came to our house. Usually I cook something super fancy but this year I cooked an appetizer and my mom brought a sandwich tray. So it was easy which was good cuz both kids were fussy all day. 

Christmas morning was just us. 2.5yo saw the presents and said "what!?!". She's sarcastic at 2.5. God help me! She got a big girl bike (12 inch with training wheels), some doc mcstuffins toys, and a bunch of books and puzzles. She gave up opening stuff after about 10 things and just wanted to ride her bike so we stopped opening presents. She went from crying when sitting on the bike to riding around the block in under 30 minutes! I was super impressed. Then we watched finding dory while eating lunch then it was toddler nap time. Newborn got a few toys that she'll eventually use as toddler would have noticed if Santa skipped the newborn. 

After nap we went to my parents for presents/dinner. Newborn was cranky but toddler was well behaved for presents. She got a different kind of bike for over there (she's there once a week) and my parents bought her a little battery quad. Spoiled kid! 

My older brother is crazy (literally) and had been struggling with the visit this week. He was released from the hospital on Christmas eve but is very much out of it still. He really was pissing me off during presents because even though he's 30, he complained about every gift he got! I know he's depressed and all the other stuff, but his attitude just rubbed me the wrong way. He doesn't live here so he doesn't get big items that he'd have to fly home with (but my parents take him clothes shopping when he's here...that's his big gift), but this year he was in the hospital before Christmas so they hadn't been shopping yet. So my mom wrapped some ordinary items he needs like toothpaste and nail clippers. He started crying. I got toothpaste too...it's kinda a thing in our family. 

Anyways.......we finally finished dd1s gifts last night. Now I gotta put things away somehow! 

tinattt23

Spent the first half seeing what seemed like every doctor in the hospital trying to get all the tests and stuff done so we could jailbreak early. Made it home about 2. Then we had a revolving door of visitors a couple at a time bringing Christmas to us. Definitely did not feel like our traditional christmas but one that will always be remembered. 

phoenix870509

Ben made out like a bandit! We didn't get him anything, unless you count the copies of Grimms and Hans Christian Anderson fairytales (original stories, not edited) we bought before he was born for his library. My parents and ILs spoiled him. He got lots of clothes, some stuffed animals and toys for when he is older.

Mom and dad made out well, too. DH got several history books he is planning on enjoying, some DVDs, gift cards, a tool kit for the house, and his big gift was my dad is going to take him out to get his own fishing gear. He was super surprised. I got new boots (tradition), stuff from Pampered chef, cross stitch books and DH bought me a beautiful dolphin necklace. I have to say that was my favortie gift.


For Hanukkah we both got Amazon gift 5 cards. Prime is dangerous lol. And here's a family photo:

dmontgo

How did the little ones make out? 
Ashton made out like a bandit on Christmas. I mostly just wrapped things we already had bought months ago, but people gave him tons of gifts. DH even bought him some gifts I wasn't aware of lol. One package sent for Ashton was filled with baby girl clothes (shoulder pad starter sleeves and all) so I'm not sure what happened there. Reminded me of A Christmas Story when Ralphie got the pink bunny suit lol. He "behaved" all day and is truly such a good baby in general it makes me scared he will be a difficult child. >.>



How did momma and daddy make out?
 We got some great gifts too. I started shopping in October so DH got mostly everything he asked for, and we both got a lot of gifts from my parents which was surprising. I got some clothes from them which will last me through the colder months PP. Somehow almost all of my pre-pregnancy clothes were lost in our move, but I don't want to buy a new wardrobe yet. Christmas Day at my parents was also surprisingly drama free, and they gave us a whole lasagna to take home. It's like they have weird moments of clarity when they don't suck---wish they could be like that EVERYDAY.

DH went all out for me this Christmas, which was kind of unexpected because he's been juggling so much. He wanted to give me a nice Christmas after everything we've been through this year. He made our whole Christmas Eve breakfast and dinner, he got great gifts, he decorated the tree, etc. He's amazing.  And he enjoys helping with Ashton. What more could I ask for?

What was the best or favorite gift you received or gave? 

Best gift I gave would be two Warhammer models DH has been eyeing all year. Warhammer is a fantasy world war game that you play with models you build. It is an unfortunately expensive hobby, so DH had been waiting to get them. He was so excited and has been building them since Christmas.

Best gift I received was a self-exploration journal DH got me. It has wonderful prompts, quotes, and art in it. It asks hard questions that really make you dig deep into who you are and what you want out of life---a great thing for me at this point in my life when I'm grappling with identity change, PPA, career changes, etc.

Best gift DH got Ashton was "The Dangerous Book for Boys." He is so excited to go on adventures with our son and it melts my heart.

mysteryship

We had the most low key Christmas ever, since our family is all far away. We video chatted with my family Christmas Eve, opened presents people had sent us, and watched Christmas in Connecticut. Christmas Day we video chatted DH's parents, lounged around with the baby, and ate cookies. I really missed being with my family even though they're crazy, but it wasn't possible, and I know next year will be awesome when August is older.

DH is making me a printed map of our new property, and I'm still finishing a knitted neckwarmer for him. We got some nice things from family that we'd asked for - insulated overalls for me and a new drill for him, plus nice warm socks (it makes us feel old to get excited about socks but the good ones are expensive!). 

August got some cute stuffed animals and toys from his grandparents. I think our gift to him was finishing his nursery a few days before he was born.

Christmas family portrait with photobombing dogs:

zubenescamali

We had a sleepy blurry Christmas - managed to get out of the hospital after only 24 hours so we got home around 10:30pm Christmas Eve. LO kept us up all night long so gift opening took all day long. DD1 and DD2 made out pretty well, and baby Emmy ended up getting a few gifts and a stocking because it would be weird for Santa to leave one out. 
My favorite gift is my mommy bracelet from DH:


It's made with pink, blue and purple swarovski  crystal beads. 

And here's baby cuteness

yellingbanana

We had an easy, low key Christmas as well. We ordered BBQ brisket and ribs, and I made green beans and baked potatoes. My mom, step dad, and 1 brother in law came over. I also had like half a glass of wine and immediately felt tipsy! And now I'm realizing that I didn't get any pictures of Lucas in his Christmas outfit, mom fail. That's what happens when it's baby #3! 

We don't really give gifts among the adults, except between my mom (she won't let go of gift giving). Lucas got blankets and outfits, baby toys, and of course.... diapers! Santa is a genius. My mom did give us a really cute bird bath, and I think that is my favorite gift. We have been living in our home for 7 years and have completely redone the entire yard, some insanely intense landscaping. That we did, no hiring workers! I have been wanting a bird bath for years, and am happy to say we now have one