Christmas morning

This is a post about our first Christmas as a family of 3, but really... I could just write about the breakfast we ate that morning. I love breakfast. So much.

Anyway.

I woke up at 7:15ish on Christmas morning to the sounds of Ralphie rustling in his moses basket next to me. When I rolled over and peered into his basket he gave me the happiest little grin, like, "Hey mom, it's Christmas!" Oh, what a charmer!

We spent our morning listening to Christmas music and opening gifts while Ralph wiggled and kicked on the floor by the tree, completely ignoring the gifts I so carefully chose for him. Lots of toys and blocks and books and dollies were opened for Ralph, and lots of books and socks were opened by the two adults in the room. I gave Ryan a new record player to replace our old broken one, and we're both so excited to listen to our records again!

The rest of the day was full of family and food and both sets of grandparents, and the fun's still not over-- we have two more Christmases to celebrate in the next week. So, I've got some baking to do. Ah, the most wonderful time of the year!

Ralphie's first Christmas Eve.

As it turns out, having a baby at Christmastime is really fun. There's a whole lot of waving of arms and big, blinky stares at the pretty lights on the tree. We had the best time on Christmas Eve. After a little family time at my nephew's first Christmas Eve program (the cutest,) the three of us came home and celebrated with a humble cheese board, Christmas cookies, and a little wine. 

And then the photoshoots began. My inner stage mom  came out, and we set Ralphie all up under the tree with his Christmas jams on and a candy cane in his chubby fist, just like a little sleeping Who from Whoville. (He nailed it.) The child was an angel the whole time, cooing and smiling, even though it was way past his bed time. A Christmas Eve miracle! 

But really, the true miracle was how Ralph slept better than he ever has that night. I think it was his Christmas gift to his poor red eyed and ragged parents, because he hasn't done it again.

Merry Christmas!

Our first family Christmas card-- if you only knew what it took to get this photo.

We're having a very happy Christmas day over here,

and hope all of you are, too!

Love,

The Markgrafs

around these parts

Things are quiet around here lately. I'm spending my days slowly checking off items on to-do lists. This Christmas has been declared the 'use-what-i-already-have-or-can-harvest-from-my-backyard' in terms of decorating. My sister Liz gave me bunches of evergreen that she had leftover and I made garlands of cinnamon hearts, so although it may be free, it all sure smells nice. Cabin fever is already settling in and it's barely the middle of December, but I'm having so much fun spending the days inside making a cozy little home for my boys. Even if it is slowly turning my brain into a puddle of mush. Just kidding. But sometimes I feel like I should read a challenging book or do a crossword puzzle just to make sure everything up there is working properly.

In between baking and decorating and Christmas shopping, I'm using up all my free time getting to know my Ralphie. His little personality is finally starting to peek through, which is so fun to see. He loves laying in his crib and looking up at his mobile-- and nothing makes me more proud, because I totally made that thing. Gold star for this mom! He's starting to coo and smile, and he looks just like his Dad when he does, which makes my heart turn all mushy.

So that's whats going on over here-- just a mushy brain and a mushy heart. What's new with you?

A six week progress report

Ralph is six weeks old today, hooray!

So far I've observed that my little boy does NOT like to be swaddled. And darn it! Babies look so cute in swaddles! But no, Ralphie prefers to have his arms free to flail about and wake him suddenly while he's sleeping. You should see how well he can flail those arms when he's angry. Wee!

Guess what else Ralphie prefers: sleeping on his stomach. And darn it again, because there's nothing I worry about more than SIDS. He won't sleep on his back, and I won't let him sleep on his tummy at night, and therefore, our last few weeks have been a little like this: I stay up all night with a semi-sleeping baby on my chest or a crying baby in his bassinet. And during the day, I put the child on his tummy on the couch, and he takes 3 hour marathon naps while I poke him every two minutes to make sure he's still breathing.

I'm not sure where he gets the tummy sleeping preference, as I have always been strictly a back and side sleeper. Ryan thinks Ralph got it from him, but you know I'm the one who sits up all night, and I've observed that Ryan sleeps on his back and breathes big sleepy puffs of cold air at me while I nurse.

Ralph does like his baths, clean diapers, looking at windows, and the soccer ball pacifier from his cousin Lilah. He does not like the hours between 5pm and 8pm. He does, however, like the sound of us shuuushing him back to sleep, so during those witchy evening hours you'll often find one of us pacing the floor, shh shh shh shuushhing, while an exhausted Ralphie bounces along with an open mouth and semi-closed eyes. Last night, in between bouts of some serious crying, Ryan looked at me with wide eyes and whispered, "We're prisoners in our own home." I looked back at him and said, "Yes. We are."

In conclusion, I've never slept less in my life and I'm not totally sure if any of this makes sense. 

But oh man, I don't care, because the past six weeks have been the best of my life. I've got a cute husband and a cute baby and I don't care if I never sleep again as long as I can keep hanging out with them.