Christmas

This Christmas was the third Faiver and I have spend together, but the first with our little princess. We were so excited to go visit my family in North Carolina! It had been a while since I'd been with my family for Christmas, so I was very much looking forward to it. Let me preface our trip little: Lily is a very calm, mellow baby. She doesn't fuss very much and usually just goes with the flow. Even so, I was a little worried about howshe would handle flying. It wasn't just the fact of taking off, spending hours in one position, or landing, but we also had layover times, and let's face it, that's not fun for anyone. However, I shouldn't have worried. She didn't mind taking off or landing (I tried to time feedings so I could nurse her during those times to reduce the ear discomfort; but even when it didn't line up, she was not phased by it at all!), and she slept almost the whole time we were in the air. She was an angel! If traveling with all our future kids will be this easy, bring it on!

Posing for a picture...what a happy baby!

When we landed in NC, the flight attendant let us take a picture of Lily in the cockpit

For those of you who have never experienced a winter in the South, temperatures do not get too low. However, this Christmas was exceptionally warm! It stayed in the 60s the whole time we were there, except for the last day where it dropped into the 40s with lots of rain. I hardly even needed to wear a light jacket. It was heaven! Usually I would be devastated that there wasn't any snow (never had a white Christmas before), but after leaving the frigid temperatures of Utah, I was basking in the Spring-like weather.

It was good to have almost the whole familytogether (Nathaniel and his family couldn't make it) and I was especially excited to spend time with my nephew Alexander.Lily was super excited to meet him! When we went over the Phillip and Heather's house, as soon as Lily saw Alexander she got excited and made cute baby noises and touched his face. Alexander wasn't sure what to think about this new little girl who was touching him, but he just went with it. You should've seen the faces of confusion! It was the cutest thing to see them together! Hopefully these cousins will be able to get to know each other well in the future.

Playing with cousin Alexander

Christmas is definitely not the same with little ones around; it takes a lot longer to get through presents! Lily was interested in playing with the paper and the bows...she liked her presents ok, but what are they compared to things NOT designed for babies?! It was a great day!

opening some presents ... thanks cousin Trey for letting Lily use your Bumbo chair ... it was a great help!!

On the last day of our trip, we were able to visit Muriel's neck of the woods. She is finishing up her college degree this year at the University of North Carolina - Greensboro. We went up on Monday evening and stayed at the house where she lives with 2 other girls (they weren't there at the time). She showed us some of her favorite spots (a yummy restaurant and the international food market) as well as the beautiful lights in her neighborhood. I wish I had taken pictures of it because it was incredible! It was great to spend some special time with her!

Lily and Aunt Muriel!

Now we're back to normal every-day life, but it was a wonderful, memorable first Christmas with our daughter!

Merry Christmas! (I can't get over how cute Lily is in her red dress, white socks and black shoes!!)