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Some Early Christmas Celebrating

Yesterday our family headed to Whitsett, NC to visit our friends Drew and Jana. Not only were we getting to see their new home for the first time, but we were going to celebrate Christmas a little early with them. For the past four years (I think), we have been getting together each December to celebrate Christmas. Last year Jana was in Pittsburgh, but this year it was back to being the 5 of us :). The Rea family was kind enough to have us to their place and fix a delicious meal. Kudos to Jana!
Before we headed out, we had to bundle up our little bundle of joy. And, of course, we had the perfect cold weather gear for him. Here he is ready to hit the road.

Drew and Jana have a beautiful new home that I forgot to take a picture of. They just moved in a little over a month ago, but it was already very cozy. They had some lights up outside and the tree up inside. I was very envious of Jana's kitchen and master bath. I sure could use a huge island in the kitchen, but maybe not as much as the nice bathtub. They have a really nice gas fireplace, but since they're not sure what the switches on either side of it are for, they haven't enjoyed it yet. I thought that was funny, but I didn't exactly want them to experiment while we were there.
Anyway, after a nice meal we just hung out, talking and watching The Office. We also played some Pop Culture Trivial Pursuit. Not sure why I chose that game since last time we played Drew won. I at least came in second. Poor David didn't get a single pie piece :(. Harrison actually stayed up long enough after a feeding for everyone to enjoy him. We did some tummy time and passed him around for cuddles. The last time Drew and Jana saw him was the day after he was born, and he didn't exactly open his eyes for them. This time, though, his eyes were wide open and he was making lots of noises and doing cute things.


I also got the opportunity to have someone take a picture of me with my little man, and I think it turned out very well. I love him so much!

It was so nice visiting with our good friends, and it was even more special having our son with us this year. What a wonderful Christmas season this has been so far.

Giving Thanks

This past Thanksgiving our family had so much to be thankful for. First and foremost, David and I were thankful for being blessed with our beautiful son, Harrison. We were also blessed with David's family visiting us. David's mom came into town last Friday and stayed with us for a week. She was an immense help to us. I did not have to prepare one single meal, although I did help with the preparation for Thanksgiving. She gave me the opportunity to get out and about several times to do some errands, and gave David and me the chance to go spend some time together. What a wonderful gift that was. We just went to Barnes and Noble, but to sit and enjoy a hot cocoa and pick out some books was just what I needed. David even got the chance to read some comics :).
The rest of the Bunge family came in later in the week. Mike (David's dad) and Kevin (brother) arrived early Wednesday evening, and David's sister, Katie, drove down early Thursday morning. We had a great Thanksgiving meal and just relaxed most of the day. The weather was nice enough to enjoy a walk with Harrison and David's siblings. I even convinced David to watch a Christmas movie - Elf- on television.
Friday we were crazy enough to do some shopping. Since I had to be up early to feed Harrison anyway, we went ahead and took advantage of the sales. It honestly wasn't that bad anywhere. That's the advantage of living in a smaller town like Wake Forest, I guess. We were able to take care of some of our Christmas shopping and didn't stay out too long. Good thing Harrison will be too young for awhile for us to need to worry about the "it" toys. I think we can depend on grandparents and cardboard boxes for a few years.
It was such a nice week, and to have family here for Thanksgiving meant a lot. It's just the 4 of us for a few weeks until my brother, Scott, visits, and then we head home for Christmas. The holidays can be such a whirlwind sometimes. I hope that our family is able to take some time and slow down and enjoy each other and not be stressed by everything that comes along with this time of year. With that said, I'm off to stare at my beautiful, sleeping baby boy.
So that happened...