I have so many things swirling around in my head right now and at least three drafts of incompleted posts that I may or may not finish.  Like most things in my life, there are always so many unfinished projects.  I will start with the good stuff that everyone likely wants to hear about—Holden’s first Christmas!

Friesel family tradition dictates that pizza be eaten for dinner on Christmas Eve.  I made a healthy homemade pizza with Roma tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, asparagus, mozzarella cheese, and Italian dressing (it was yummy!):

On Christmas Eve, I tossed and turned all night long and woke up with a backache.  As Christmas Day wore on, I realized that yes, I was actually getting the same damn cold I’ve had three other times already since September.  I was achey and had a lot of sinus congestion, but today I am definitely on the mend.  It helped that Rob was able to pick up some awesome drugs for me at the store:)  Despite feeling yucky, we still had a really fabulous Christmas with just the three of us.  On Christmas morning I baked some Buttermilk Bran Flake Raisin Muffins from a kit that my mother thoughtfully sent to us for Christmas.  They were warm and sweet, and totally hit the spot!

We waited to start unwrapping presents until after H’s first nap of the morning.  He is usually at his most well-rested at that point of the day.  H needed some assistance unwrapping his presents, although he seemed a little confused that tearing and ripping things was not only OK with us, but was encouraged.  Here’s our big boy attempting to unwrap some of his gifts:

The new books H received for Christmas were just as much a present for me as for him—I was getting tired of reading him the same old things!  H got so many wonderful gifts.  I want to thank everyone who helped make H’s first Christmas a warm and memorable one.  He has a beautiful wooden train, blocks, rings, books, etc.  He’s been having a great time exploring each of his new toys and entertaining us with how he chooses to interact with his new playthings.  Thank you everyone!

Christmas evening I made a simple dinner of BBQ chicken, mashed potatoes, and sauteed vegetables.  We watched The Wire and drank egg nog.  I skipped the wine because I was hopped up on cold medicine, but I’m sure I’ll make up for it on New Year’s:)

The days following Christmas have been relaxing and quiet.  It has been amazing to have Rob here at home.  It has been a help to have him here and it has been a joy to share with him all of the amazing things that Holden does on a routine basis.  Plus, it has been nice for me to have someone to talk to.  Holden just started eating broccoli yesterday and seems to enjoy it.  We don’t have a picky eater, that’s for sure.  Despite the faces that he makes with each bite, he always gives his veggies the benefit of the doubt and goes back for more.  Holden’s face is healing really well, and his diaper rash seems to be resolving very slowly with the antifungal ointment.  Holden recently started transferring objects from one hand to the other and is sitting with increasing confidence and stability each day.  It’s hard to imagine what he will be like by the time next Christmas rolls around.  One thing is for sure, he probably won’t pick off the veggie toppings from the traditional Christmas Eve pizza pie!