Two days after Gramms left, just as we were starting to make progress sleeping for longer periods of time through the night, Erik came down with a small cold. It was nothing big, but for a newborn, any bit of stuffiness is scary and it definitely put us back on our sleeping progress at night. He couldn't breathe very well and so had to wake many times. Luckily, Grandma MaryLou had decided about a week earlier to brave the Michigan December weather and come out to help. By the time she got here, I really needed it again, being sleep deprived. The kids are enjoying having her here and so am I!
Erik is doing better now and it finally showed last night. It's a good thing he's gaining weight well, I think it helped him fight that cold! Here is before his first real bath.
And look at these cuties!
He was my favorite stocking stuffer.
On Christmas Eve, Jason made the traditional Puerto Rican dinner of arroz con gandules, pasteles, pork, and even pina coladas. He prepped the pasteles (similar to tamales, but with plantains as a base instead of corn) the weekend before. So he didn't have to spend hours on Christmas Eve cooking. We relaxed and played, the girls and Jason sang carols at a nursing home with friends of ours, and we did the Nativity via skype with Grandma Pat and Grandpa Jim, who are serving their mission in Switzerland. (We were so consumed with talking to Grandma and Grandpa that we forgot to take pictures, but Erik made a good baby Jesus.)
After reading a few stories by the fire with the kids' new pjs on, it was off to bed.
Almost everything had already been wrapped, so there wasn't much rushing around after the kids were in bed.
Victoria's and Karissa's favorite gifts were their American Girl dolls. They haven't parted with them since opening them, even for church yesterday.
Austin got Lightning McQueen from Santa, though he was a little grumpy and getting over a cold, so nothing about Christmas really thrilled him.
He did let me take his picture with his baby brother in their Sunday best, though. My boys!
With previously made and frozen cinnamon rolls for breakfast and previously made dinner rolls, a ham, mashed potatoes, and veggies, it was a fairly simple dinner. I was tired from being woken up early, but I still got pictures of Erik in all his Christmas outfits.
Merry Christmas!
Austin says he doesn't want to share his trains with Erik, that's probably true.
Some more cheese...
Erik is in the middle of a sneeze here.
What an angel!
