Christmas Day 2010

The morning of Christmas was perfect and my favorite part of the holidays. Matthew slept in, mommy and daddy woke up. Daddy got his coffee. Matthew woke up. We brought him down stairs and mommy started breakfast. Matthew opened up his gift from us which was a vacuum. Daddy got much better footage on the video camera. The pictures I took don't reflect really how much fun he was having playing that morning.

The smile on his face as he looked at me then his daddy was priceless and as daddy said 'worth the price of admission" I can see how tempting it would be to absolutely spoil him with material things if that is the reward. He spent the time until morning nap vacuuming the kitchen floor. When we got back home, it was the first thing he went to find. Our friend Amy had found a great deal on a train set so we had set that side for Christmas as well. Matthew is curious about the train. I think watching Billy teach him how the remote control works the engine will be fun.

We ate sausage, pancakes and scrambled eggs. Matthew went down for his morning nap while Billy and I opened our gifts to each other.

After Matthew woke from his morning nap at 10 am, we had to get on the road to the airport. We made it with one bag Matthew and I shared and a smaller bag for daddy's things. Billy and I each had a carry on filled mostly with distractions, changes of clothes and diapers , and food for Matthew. Here we are waiting for our first of three flights for the day:

Here is where I am going to be really honest. Was the 10 hours and 3 flights it took to get to Idaho hard? Yes, it was. Was it worth it to spend time with Billy's family for Christmas? Yes, it was. Being 15 weeks pregnant had me tired and hormonal. Watching Matthew struggle with elevation changes, fatigue, being confined in small spaces, getting over heated was hard to watch. We arrived in Idaho 3 and a half hours past his normal bed time. There were thoughts on my part to just ship all of our belongings up there as at that moment I didn't want set foot on another flight again. I think for us it just a learning experience. We would have done several things differently, not that we are planning to fly with a toddler again anytime soon :-)

Matthew watching the planes:

Matthew on the first flight. It was down hill from there:

We arrived safe and sound to loving relatives. We were happy to see each other and glad to have arrived :-D Our rewards for a long day of travel were those smiles and hugs as well as Matthew falling asleep within minutes of getting in the car and feeling the new baby kick for the first time as walked out of the Boise Airport.