Campbell's First Christmas

Campbell's first Christmas was a great one, if I do say so myself! It was a very busy few days, but so much fun! We started out our Christmas celebrations with David's mom and dad, his brother (Pat), Pat's girlfriend (Jodi), and Mama, David's grandmother. Sadly, I didn't get any pictures that day, but we had a great time. Pat and Jodi are on vacation in Thailand, so we had to get our Christmas in a little early with them.



On Christmas Eve, we always visit with my dad and stepmom. This is Campbell playing with the squeaky block set from my stepsister and her family. My sweet girl is sporting her "My First Christmas" onesie! We had a nice time visiting with Dad and Theresa and Allison and Larry (my sister and brother-in-law, the guy in the background there looking very serious). We also attended our church's Christmas Eve service which is always one of my favorite parts of Christmas. Unfortunately, I missed Allison's solo because a certain little person (pictured below) did a big poop that went straight up the back of her adorable onesie!

When we got home, we had to get things ready for Santa's first visit to our house! Granny (my mom) sent Campbell a Christmas Eve present, which was a record-a-story of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, read by my Mom. I'll admit that I definitely teared up while listening to my mom read the story to Campbell, especially the last page, when she told her how much she loves my baby girl. David saved the night by reminding me that Santa needs cookies and milk...I had completely forgotten that! I also put out a couple of carrots for the reindeer, too!

Christmas morning was so much fun, even though Campbell isn't old enough to understand what's going on, or coordinated enough to open gifts. I do think she could sense the excitement of the day, and I could tell that she was enjoying herself. I absolutely love the picture below. David is going through her stocking with her, and even though you can barely see her face in the photo, you can see that her eyes and mouth are wide open. It's almost like she's saying, "Oh, wow! How did Santa know I wanted this?!" And it's just a teether....but she does love it!

She got a couple of "big" toys from Santa, along with some bath toys and sensory balls. In the next picture, she's opening one of her presents from us...which is a portable booster seat/high chair. She seems to enjoy it, and I like it, too. She fits in it much better than either the Bumpbo (which is too small now for her chunky thighs) or her high chair (which is still too big for her). It'll also be nice to be able to take it with us when we're going to family or friends' homes at mealtimes.

After church on Christmas morning, we headed over to Mama's house for lunch with the rest of the Klingenfus family. We were missing a few folks this year (Pat and Jodi were in Thailand; Daniel and MaryBeth were in St. Louis with her family), so it wasn't quite the same, but it was very nice nonetheless. While we were there, Shirley snapped this picture of our sweet family, which I just love. We'll have to get this one framed.

After lunch at Mama's, we came home for a quick nap to recharge, then headed to Mom and Chet's house for our last Christmas hurrah. We ate some more and had a nice time with Mom, Chet, Allison, Larry, and my aunt, uncle, and cousin. Miss Priss was showered with gifts, one of which was an absolutely adorable pink armchair! Campbell loves it, as you can see! (It's got a cat's face embroidered on the back...those two big black dots are eyes.)

Christmas with our sweet girl was absolutely wonderful, and we're definitely looking forward to many more!