Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas--even though here it's now the 26th. Just got the girl to sleep...well, in her crib that is. She was sleeping on my lap while I watched "It's A Wonderful Life." That movie gets me every time, and now it fits in with the growing list of things that are hitting me harder now that Evie is around.

This is just the first batch of many more pictures to come. We played around last night and some today taking some "official" first Christmas pictures. Evelyn's been getting better everyday at sitting on her own, or with very little assistance, and so when she had herself propped up tripod style--using her arms to keep sitting upright--I backed a little further away than I should to try and take the picture. She didn't realize that her arms needed to stay in place to keep her face from having an impromptu date with the floor, and thus, down she went--face first into the carpet.

She was really alright, but the shock was definitely jarring and I felt awful because it happened while I was busy trying to take her picture. She cried for a few minutes until I was able to calm her down. Although it was the first, I know it won't be the last time she takes a nose dive, and it's something I'm going to have to work on dealing with. My tendency--I think it is so with many mothers--is to try and save her from any pain, any frustration, any failure. And while, of course, some protection is good and even necessary, I must let her live outside my little bubble of safety, or I will be doing far much more harm than good. Anyway, it seemed noteworthy that it happened for the first time, and we both came through it unscathed.

Justin was able to watch us open presents on Skype. Evie enjoyed the wrapping paper and thought it looked tasty. We got lots of fun things--new music, books, and even a pair of thick woolen socks (yay!). It certainly wasn't the same not having Justin here in person, but all things considered, it was as nice of a Christmas as I imagine it could have been. Evie and I hooked up with the family back in Texas, again via Skype, later in the afternoon which was fun.

Chokydar got a new bone, but hasn't quite figured out what to do with it yet because it doesn't appear to have any stuffing to pull out.

More pictures to come...