It's been awhile since I've posted because we've been busy celebrating CHRISTMAS!! We are so lucky to have celebrated with ALL our family this year including all grandparents and all siblings (last celebration to take place next week with Eric's brother, Chris, and his family visiting from Texas)! We have packed in as much as we possibly could over the last ten days and I wouldn't change a thing. Ethan is still too young to understand Christmas, but it was certainly fun seeing him tear a piece of wrapping paper, put a bow on top of his head, and play with all his new toys. He's been battling a bad cough for about a week now and certainly hasn't felt his best, but he's done amazing considering all the family around and being out of his "normal" nap/bedtime routine.
Our first celebration was two weeks ago with Grandpa Joe, Uncle Jeffrey, Aunt Kristen, and cousins Jayden and Kaleb. We just watched the boys play (well basically just watched Jayden entertain us all!) and had lasagna for dinner. Then we opened presents and tried to get a cousin picture like we always do when we're together. Here's what we got...
Last weekend, Pa and Gigi came up from Tennessee for a quick visit which was a nice Christmas surprise. We spent Thanksgiving with them and celebrated Christmas at that time as well. It's always a treat when Ethan gets to see his grandparents! Sunday, we celebrated Christmas with Mamaw and Papaw Endris. We had a yummy dinner followed by lots of great presents! Ethan has needed a dresser for his room so Mary went on a search and found an awesome wood dresser that she painted to match his other furniture. It's perfect!! We are so excited because we will use the top of the dresser as his changing table and then move his current changing table into the new baby's room. We will see Mamaw and Papaw Endris again next week when we get together to celebrate Christmas with Uncle Chris, Aunt Jenni, and cousins Kaden, Aderi, and Averi - we can't wait to see them!!
Christmas Eve was a busy, busy day! It was the last day for Williams Jewelry so the family met down at the store for a final celebration. Aunt Laura, Uncle John, cousins Aidan and Sydney, Uncle David, Aunt Arynn, and cousin Hutch were all in town to help celebrate Mark's retirement. We had fun hanging out for awhile, visiting with customers who stopped by, taking pictures in front of the Williams sign, and topping it off with a champagne toast! After Mark closed the doors for the final time, we headed out to Papaw and Ginka's house for dinner and our family Christmas celebration. We were joined by Great Aunt Terri and Great Uncle John who
finally made it in from Colorado after a disastrous series of flight cancellations! Ethan got his first personalized sleeping bag that matches the one his cousin Jayden got!! Kristen and I are giddy just thinking about when they are at the age where we can start having cousin sleepovers!! He also got some new bath toys, a peek-a-boo puzzle, a pretend CD player since he loves music so much, and a big train table that he can use for his growing collection of trains, cars, and blocks! We got all the cousins together for a picture and you can only imagine who the crying kid was...
I'm sure it'll get better with time (and I'll give him that fact that he didn't feel 100%), but seriously...look at some of these Christmas meltdown pictures. They make me laugh every time! Eric said he looks like a character from Peanuts with his little open mouth frown when he cries!
I was excited to wake Ethan up on Christmas morning in his cute little Christmas jammies! Grandpa Joe joined us for breakfast and we exchanged our presents to each other. Ethan got a toy fire station complete with firefighter figurines and a dalmatian dog! He also got a stuffed animal dog which made him smile after opening it. We headed back out to Papaw and Ginka's the rest of the afternoon to spend time with family and enjoy some relaxation time! Overall, we couldn't have asked for a better way to spend Christmas. Like I said before, we were so happy Ethan got to see his
entire family over the last two weeks...such a blessing! We are very fortunate to be surrounded by our families and watch our son grow up feeling so loved. There were plenty of times throughout this Christmas season I found myself reflecting back on last year when he was only four months old and how much he has changed in a year. I also found myself fast forwarding to next Christmas when we have TWO babies!! Ethan will definitely be more into the "spirit" of Christmas and we will have a sweet six-month old to celebrate with as well!
Earlier in the week, we were able to get together with our dear friends who were in town for Christmas. Jordan, Raechel, and Jackson (who is two months younger than Ethan) live in Rhode Island - Wendi, Todd, and Jacob (2 1/2 months old) live in Dallas so needless to say we don't get to see them as much as we would like! Ethan was very interested in Baby Jacob while I was holding him and came over to check him out and touch his hand. It was so much fun getting the kids together (big kids and little kids)! Here is the best picture we got of the three boys... 
