Thursday, December 27, 2007

Baby's First Christmas










Though Violet thoroughly enjoyed her first Christmas, I think it's safe to say that this year her mama and dad enjoyed it more! We spent Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa Stickney's, along with Aunt Kristin and Uncle Mat. Our gift exchange there was Violet's first run at unwrapping and she took to it right away, particularly the plucking of bows from paper (as seen in the first two photos above). After a late night there, Eric and I stayed up even later wrapping Violet's gifts - an event prompted by procrastination that turned out to be yet another sweet, sentimental part of Christmas as parents.

Christmas morning started off with a trip downstairs to see what Santa had left for Violet under the tree: a soft, floppy stuffed horse that - sprawled out - can serve as a playmat, and a wooden activity arch. Both were a big hit. After breakfast, the three of us adjourned to the couch to bask in sunshine and Christmas music, which lulled us into a nice nap. The afternoon included a walk with Atticus, and of course, more presents. And it's not over yet . . . we head to Eden to celebrate Christmas/New Year's with the rest of the Swartz family this weekend.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Merry Christmas


Happy holidays from our family to yours!

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

O Christmas Tree







Decorating the tree was never as much fun as it was this weekend with Violet. After the ceremonial hanging of the first ornament on Violet's first Christmas tree, I popped her in the pouch and we all decorated the tree together. Yes, even Atticus was afoot (although not much help), as he hates to be left out of anything these days. Violet was fascinated with the whole process - from removing the ornaments from their boxes to their placement on the tree, and participated with studious concentration sprinkled with lots of smiles until sleep overtook her. If only she had succumbed so easily at two o'clock this morning . . .

Monday, December 10, 2007

The Many Faces of Violet







Our Christmas card photo shoot went so well we had a hard time deciding which shot to send! Here are a few of our favorites that didn't quite make the cut, but were too good not to share.