Christmas with Matt

Matt couldn't make it home for Christmas until Wednesday. Luckily most of us were able to be in the Haute that day to celebrate Christmas with him. Taryn couldn't come, unfortunately, because she had to work. We exchanged gifts and hung out at home most of the day.



This was the first time Uncle Matt had seen Lily since she was 1 week old. They spent some time bonding!


Michael also came over to mom and dad's house to meet Lily. We all went out with Michael again that night. Our little group was the only one at the Terminal since all the ISU kids are home for the holidays. I was glad for that because I didn't feel like the old fart at the college bar :) Barclay was bummed that he couldn't come to the Terminal with us. It's his favorite bar in the Haute, because of the cheap drinks and good times!

Haley Christmas

We celebrated Christmas yesterday in Terre Haute. We got up early and made the drive and just came back to Indy today. We opened presents shortly after we arrived. Aunt Lindy and Uncle Tim, and Grandmother got there just a little after we did. Joe got a redneck calendar :)
Uncle Tim got a membership to Hilary Clinton's fan club, which he LOVED - funny funny.
We had a big meal and then just hung out for a few hours.

Then we went over to the Sturgeon's because Santa brought Maddy a bulldog puppy. He was adorable!

The highlight of the evening, though, came when Joe and Abbie made the mistake of teaching me how to play texas hold'em. We knew Abbie was in trouble when she declared that the game was made by some guy named "holdin"....ha! Melissa didn't want to play, so she helped out by babysitting...she how much Lily loves her Aunt Melissa :)
After everyone had lost all their cash, Joe and I were the only 2 remaining. 3 hours later - at 1:30am, I was the victor and won $40. Big money!

On a sadder note, today (December 26th) would have been my cousin Will's 25th birthday. It was definitely harder to be completely happy this holiday season without him. His death is still so fresh in our hearts and our minds. Happy Birthday Will, we love you and miss you.

Wong Family Christmas

We celebrated Christmas with the Wong side of the family after mass on Christmas Eve. We had a big dinner and exchanged gifts. Betty even made lobster! Check out the present Ana got for John - hilarious!

Lily got several books, toys, and little sweatsuits. She slept through most of her first Christmas :)

Haley Christmas

Aunt Kate had everyone over last night for the Haley family Christmas. Good times were had by all, even though, as we get older there are more and more people who can't make it. Matt and Joe weren't there - Joe got in late last night and Matt can't get here until next week. Neither were Taryn and Melissa. Kevin and Danielle couldn't make it because Danielle is so close to delivering her baby. Michael wasn't in town yet from the seminary. Jenny was in Florida, Barclay had to work, etc etc. BUT, despite that, there were a lot of people there and we had a lot of fun. There were new babies for the first time this year. Lily, Olivia and John all hung out and got to know eachother. Next year will be a riot with four of them (Danielle's baby included) running around tearing up the place! Lily and I dressed like elves :)










Will's dog, Dante, is living with Aunt Kate and Jeff now. Colleen was so happy to see him... she dressed him up in a Christmas sweater.













At one point, Andrew came up to me and said, and I quote "you are Lilian's mom, Sarah is John's mom, and Haley is Olivia's mom"...it's come to that now :) As you can see, the Euchre game has also taken a generational shift. Where in years past it was the old timers who sat around a card table and played Euchre for hours on end, now it is the teenage cousins.

Joe has become quite anal about wrapping presents - can you believe it!!!!! He apparently even went out and got special boxes to fit the presents he got everyone. I usually just forget the box if I don't have one that will work :) Anyway, here's a picture of Joe carefully wrapping away. Check out the serious look on his face!

Buddies

I was at the gym tonight, so I missed this......but Barclay came in to check on the baby when she was napping in our bed, and there was some serious baby/cat bonding going on. Apparently Gizmo was purring and trying to "talk" to Lily, but as you can see, Lily was pretty out of it. Before, whenever I had tried to show Lily to the cats they just ran away. Now they apparently love her :)

Too cute

Bear with me....Lily's just so darn cute, I can't help but share pictures with you all AGAIN. I love that she smiles all the time now and has these adorable new expressions!

2 Month Appointment

Lily had her 2 month doctor's appointment today. She's 9 weeks old. She had to get shots and just screamed her little head off. I felt so bad! Other than that the appointment was fine. She's 11 lbs, 3 ounces and 22 1/2 inches. Next appointment is mid February. The doc expects that Lily will be sleeping through the night then....let's just pray she's right ;)

First snow!

Check out Lily's first venture out into the snow...snow suit and all!!! She loved it!

Lilian's Baptism

Today was Lily's baptism. The ceremony was at Holy Spirit at Geist. Lily had a big fan club there...both sets of grandparents, her great grandmother, her aunts Ana and Abbie, her cousins Olivia, Haley, and Alice, Uncle Brent, and John and his parents. At the last minute, Joe wasn't able to make the trip to Indiana for the baptism, so dad had to stand in for him as Lily's Godfather (handy since they have the same name). The ceremony was very nice and Lily kept her cool when the water was poured on her head. She wore the same baptism gown that Barclay wore, and looked adorable. Afterwards we all went back to Betty and Peter's house for a baptism feast. Yet again, Betty cooked a fabulous meal and we all ate WAY too much.

Near Oops

We had a major snow fall yesterday afternoon and evening. It's beautiful outside, but makes driving a bit hazardous. Well, my friend called and needed a ride to Midas to pick up his car that's getting repaired. It was only 3:00 and the snow had only recently started falling, so I packed up the baby and headed out to get him before the snow got worse and rush hour hit. I didn't get very far when I realized the roads were already pretty darn bad. I was careful to stay WAY behind the cars in front of me and drive slowly. Despite that, I started slipping....I slipped for about 15 yards when I realized I had to hit the car in front of me or hit a mailbox. I opted for the mailbox....luckily, my prayer as I was doing all of this worked and the car, the baby, and I all escaped w/out a scratch. The mailbox just pushed the side view mirror in, but left no marks. At that point I was too freaked out to continue and called and bailed on my friend.
Turns out, the roads kept getting worse and worse. It was taking people more than 4 hours to make a 20-30 minute commute. Made me VERY happy that I wasn't back at work yet. Snow is much more fun when we're sledding in the Haute rather than trying to drive in the city.

Grandma's 80th Birthday

We celebrated Grandma's 80th Birthday today at the Walden Inn on Depauw's campus. People came from far and wide - South Carolina, Florida, Boston, and even Fishers Indiana. Once again, Matt and Joe's choice of abnormal careers kept them away, but the rest of mom's side of the family was there :) Grandma had a great time and was so happy to have everyone together. Lily made a special card for her great grandmother ... and we finally got her smile on camera!



This picture is right after grandma gave a thank you toast. Wills made fun of her - lovingly :)