I can’t believe it’s already January and I haven’t gotten around to recapping our Christmas celebrations for y’all yet.  Bad blogger!  Mostly, it’s because I wasn’t really focused on taking lots of pictures and planning out a blog post in my head.  I was just trying to enjoy the holiday (with as little stress as possible) and soak in time with friends and family.  But here are a few snaps, all from phones or iPods, to show you just a little of what we did over Christmas week.

We spent the holiday at my parents’ house in northeastern New York, and I was so excited to be there.  Last year we had planned to go, but decided at the last minute that Peanut was too tiny to take on such a long journey.  So we passed Peanut’s first Christmas at home in northern Virginia and it turned out to be the right decision, since several of my family members were sick that week.  This year was a different story and we were itching to show Peanut off to the extended family.

We always do our big family gathering on Christmas Eve and it used to be a traditional, sit-down dinner.  Last year my parents hosted and they don’t have a big enough dining room to seat the entire family, so they did a buffet of hors d’ouvres and everyone loved it.  I asked if they would repeat hosting this year, because it would free us up to enjoy the party without worrying about Peanut’s bedtime.  She goes to bed at 7:00, which is just when things really get going, so if one of my aunts had hosted we’d have had to either leave right as the party was starting, or put Peanut down in a pack ‘n play in a spare bedroom and then wake her up at 11:00 p.m. to drive back to my parents’ place – neither option a good one.  My parents immediately saw that hosting again would be the best course and agreed right away.  (And I hear that was a popular option with the rest of the family, too – one aunt told me she was relieved not to have hosting duties, and one cousin told me the food was great at my parents’ house.)  So Peanut got to enjoy the party and then go to bed upstairs in her snug little room, and we were able to head back down and catch up with the relatives.  It was a great night, with plenty of time to see loved ones that we hardly ever visit.

After the relatives left, Santa came and dropped off a ridiculous pile of presents for Peanut.  I wish I’d gotten a picture of the stack before we opened it, but we were all kind of in shock.  Peanut made out like a bandit, getting a huge pile of “bookas,” a lion walker to help her toddling efforts, and more noisy toys than she knows what to do with.  (I bought her a xylophone.  What was I thinking?)  On Christmas night our family friends came over for some wine, snacks and baby snuggles – perfect.

We were there almost all week and packed in plenty of time seeing other friends, as well.  We stopped by a neighborhood party on our way to meet our friend Seth for our annual (or every year I’m around, anyway) tradition of seeing the Christmas lights in Albany’s Washington Park and then having dinner.  Seth is one of my closest friends from college (you may remember him from two Thanksgivings ago, when we squeezed the lights in early since hubby and I were going to Buffalo for Christmas) and we’ve been doing lights-and-dinner every year since 2002.  We only missed last year.  Hard to believe that Seth and I started this tradition over ten years ago now!  (Hubby joined us starting in 2005.)  This year, we drove through the park, waved to all of our favorite light displays, then had dinner at a new Belgian restaurant.  Seth and I enjoyed mussels, hubby had a duck confit salad, and we each had a Belgian beer.  (Yes, I drank BEER!  It was a Christmas miracle!)

Then, on Friday morning, my best friend from high school came by with her young daughter.  We exchanged Christmas gifts and let the girls play with each other.  BFF’s little one is 14 months older than Peanut, and Peanut is absolutely mesmerized by her.  We’re hoping to see more of their family now that we live closer.

Unfortunately, as soon as BFF and her girlie left, we had to hit the road as well.  We’d planned on staying until Saturday, but Peanut came down with her first cold – too much Christmas excitement? – and we decided to head home a day early.  We were glad we did, because we popped by the pediatrician and discovered that Peanut has an ear infection, too.  Poor kid!  And since misery loves company, she made sure to share her bugs with hubby and me.  We don’t have ear infections, but we do have icky colds and I had a fever for a day, which is very unusual for me.  We’re all on the mend now, thanks to antibiotics (for Peanut), extra sleep (for hubby) and ginger-turmeric tea (for me).  And heading home early did bring one benefit – a nice long visit with Emma, who was only in town for a short period of time.  (And Grace, who is in town all month.)  Peanut loved catching up with her aunties:

So, that was our Christmas.  Some family, some friends, good food, and a cold to end the old year.  And now, welcome 2014!