K's first Christmas!!!!!

Age of Lady Kaitlyn:  9 months and 18 days

Family,

Matching Pajama-grams - courtesy of Grammie!

And a good Sunday afternoon to you from the Queen City, where Team Taylor is EXHAUSTED from the whirlwind that has been Christmas week.  JT is actually asleep upstairs as I type this (as is the Munchkin), and the Bull will be in bed EARLY tonight after the first AFD in more than a week.  But SO MUCH FUN!!!!!  It has just been perfect, and we can't believe that K's first Christmas has already come and gone.

The latest hand-stitched creation from
Granny Alice - check out that beanie!

So as I believe I mentioned in a previous post, this was the first time that Jenny and I had ever hosted Christmas (or any holiday for that matter).  To call us novices in the kitchen is to give us WAY too much credit, but we were pumped up and ready for the challenge (and when I say "we" I mean "Jenny").  The schedule was tight, with Jenny's family arriving on Tuesday and leaving Friday afternoon before dad's clan arrived just 90 minutes later.  Mom hasn't arrived yet (coming tomorrow), and so the "flip time" for the house between my parents will actually be a full 24-28 hours - what to do with all the spare time! :-)

Still not a huge fan of wearing anything on her head...

Honestly, from the time that Kim and Matt arrived Tuesday (Christmas Eve) at 1 PM, it has been a blur of AMAZING food, great wine and beer, tons of laughs, and many wonderful new memories made.  We kicked things off on Tuesday with Kim, Matt, and Cuz Megan over at the house.  Auntie Megan spent the night, and so we made use of every bed in the house!  It was so fun cooking, being the sommelier, and just hosting in general.  Plates were going fast and furious  (in fact, we have run the dishwasher at least once a day EVERY DAY for the past 10 - I'm scared of the water bill this go around!), and we moved from a cheese tray into 4 cheese gnocchi (along with a shrimp cocktail) and dessert all whilst sipping some excellent red wine (after the bottle of white that had disappeared earlier).  K went down about 7:30 (her schedule was a bit off this week - understandably - but she did get quality time with everyone throughout the week), and the rest of us turned in about 10 PM or so.  Mercifully all of our guests were as exhausted as we were after a month (and year!) of being run ragged, and so we didn't have many late nights (which is a good thing, because K wasn't in a mood to sleep in this week!).

Wednesday was K's first Christmas morning, and whilst she obviously didn't know what was going on, so LOVED having everybody over.  She had a smile from ear to ear as different people held her and played with her.  Kudos to Nanny Tacy for being diligent with K's "PT routine" - those Tacy women give no quarter! :-)  But seriously - the change in K right now is daily and METEORIC.  She is standing (once brought to standing position) for minutes at a time - oftentimes only holding onto furniture with 1 hand!  If you put something on the couch she can touch or play with, she will stand there mesmerized - it is GREAT!  I have been thrilled to watch her continue to strengthen and gain ground on her motor skill milestones - she is now turning much faster, is able to push her self into sitting with barely a second thought, and can push herself backwards for a country mile on the hardwoods - it's so cute to watch her slide!  Still no forward crawling yet, but there have been a few instances where she definitely was moving forward (albeit just 1 motion or 2 at most).  I think the question of "where do my arms go" is still perplexing her, but hey - progress is DEFINITELY noticeable.

Christmas Day itself passed in the blink of an eye.  JT was a WARRIOR in the kitchen, making a casserole, stuffing, AND doing the Christmas ham.  I was SO PROUD of her - she has gone from beginner to Gordon Ramsay in the space of 5 days!  She actually made the broccoli casserole twice this week - once for her fam and once for dad's crew.  The one for dad's crew was made with cheese (her dad is allergic) and was simply delicious.  Matt (who is a master chef) had whipped up a great brekkie as well that morning, and so we ate like kings all day (honestly, I wasn't hungry for about 3 days straight yet ate constantly with reckless abandon).

Christmas morning brekkie - the first usage of the formal
dining room, baby!!!!!

In the gifts department, we all did very well, but K made out like a bandit!  She got several new books, lots of GREAT new clothes, and a rocking bunny plush from Grammie!  Jenny's folks also gave her the VERY generous gift of $500 for her college fund - can't argue with that!  My favorite present for myself would have to be the UNC Tarheel Christmas canvas that Kim made by hand - very impressive!  K, I hope you get your Aunt Kim's penchant for art!

Look who's standing on her own!

Thursday was another terrific and chill day.  Matt was in the kitchen that day, where he made coffee rubbed pork loin and pots de creme (amongst other things).  It was FANTASTIC, and we ate like there was no tomorrow.  Jenny and Kim's mom also joined us that day and spent the night, so it was another day of relaxing and hanging out.  And in a surprise, the Bull even got out for a matinee movie!  I went to see "American Hustle" - the first movie in a theater since becoming a dad!  Wow - 9.5 months between visits to the cinema - how is that even possible...especially for this guy.

On Friday we said bye to Kim, Matt, and Nanny.  Kim actually had to work on Thursday and Friday, so she left us in the morning.  Matt and Nanny, however, left us about 2:30, giving us 90 minutes to get the house prepped for visitors part II - Dad's clan.  The rolled in about 4 PM, and the next 43 hours passed in a blur!

Christmas in the 21st century - Skyping
with the Markham's and Tacy's in FL - so cool.

Granny Alice rolled into the house first with the CUTEST "puppy dog walker" for Kaitlyn - simply adorable!  It has all these interactive features and is PERFECT for where she's at in her development, as she's big enough to ride it and walk behind it.  We spent the evening hanging out and watching football before Adam, Casie, and Briley rolled in just before 9.  We all relaxed for a bit longer before calling it a night, as we had a big event on Saturday - THE BELK BOWL, BABY!!!!!

Now it should be noted that this night was a ROUGH ONE for Team Taylor.  K had been an angel all week, and on this night she'd even gone to bed at 7:30 right on schedule.  Well, at 10:45 (just when everyone is in their rooms and ready to go to sleep) K starts going CRAZY!  I mean, we're not talking"I'm awake in my cube and want to just look around," but instead "Somebody get in here right now before I call Child Services!) - it.  was.  CRAZY.

Given that we had every room full (and a 5 year old in the room beside Pattie), we didn't want to let her cry it out.  We picked her up and tried to sooth her in her room twice, but she was having NONE OF IT.  The first time she was fine when we picked her up but went crazy when we put her back into her crib.  The next time, however, she went crazy even when she was in the chair (after we'd taken her out of the room to try and distance the fam from the screaming).

Ultimately, we had to break out the PACK 'N PLAY from the car and put her to bed in our room RIGHT BESIDE me.  In retrospect, I think it was a mixture of a) her having so many new faces and by extension sensory overload, b) her not burning as many calories during the day (we weren't doing the normal drills with her given that we wanted to ensure all family had a chance to hold her), and c) probably some louder than usual noises whilst trying to sleep.  But the good news is that, by 11:45 PM, she was back down and sleeping, and she remained calm until 7:22 that morning (which was a good thing, because Team Taylor's adult contingent needed SLEEP).

Tailgating with the fam - Pattie was a trooper
with her crutches!

Saturday was a BLAST - Team Taylor's first football game in a year!  The Tarheels were in the Belk Bowl vs. the Cincinnati Bearcats, and so we rolled 6 deep over to Bank of a America Stadium for a fun-filled day of tailgating, concerts, and football.  We had a good brekkie before saying goodbye to the Munch (Granny Alice kept her and Bailey), arriving at our tailgate spot around 11 AM.  Sneetch - you will be proud to know that (when you read this 30 years from now and have already graduated college) your mom was a Flip-Cup Warrior, posting 3 "one-flip" performances. :-)  Seriously - we had SUCH a blast.  It was just great to relax, have a few beers, chat with friends (we pulled up beside some buddies and ran into a few more friends before heading to the game), and "be adults" for an afternoon with no responsibilities other than to ensure that recycling and trash were sorted into the correct bags.  Plus the Heels won, so you can't really complain about the day - so much fun!

That night was Hawthorne's pizza back at the house, and then Sunday morning we had Christmas with the fam (as well as a big breakfast) before they shuffled off about 11:15 AM.  We then spent the day washing, folding, cleaning, unpacking, and doing the other 16,000 tasks still on the to-do list.  And yes, I'm actually finishing this blog (meaning these last few paragraphs) on Monday, so I'll stop now (since that will form next week's installment :-)).

Bone thug in Christmas harmony.

We've still got Christmas and time with Mom and Steve before we officially "conclude" the holidays.  However, with Jenny's return to work looming on Tuesday and mine on Thursday (as well as K's return to daycare), it definitely feels like things are drawing to a close and the new year is beginning.  Hard to believe how quickly Christmas came and went this year, but it was a blast, and I definitely feel that we had adequate time to enjoy it and recharge our batteries.  Also, I must confess that I'm really charged about 2014, as I have a feeling it will be yet another great year.  But let's not get ahead of ourselves, as the EOY recap (and any prognostications for 2014) will be the focus of next week's blog. For now, let me just say that this was a very, VERY special Christmas for us for so many reasons - our first with the rug rat, our first at home, and our first time properly hosting a holiday.  We have been showered with gifts, love, and calories, and I wouldn't have changed a second of this past week.  That being said, I am ready for the new year, as this guy needs to burn some calories and get back into shape (other than round, that is!).

Chat next week - Happy New Year a few days early!

Love,

Sam and Jenny