Christmas 2

Because of my work schedule, we met my family for Christmas on the 29th-1st.  We went to our place in Bailey to cozy up and celebrate in the grand, Waterhouse way.  This is a lot of pictures, and there are more on flickr.

Reuniting Jack with my family:

Showing off his table manners:

We arrive in Bailey. The rest of the family spent the night.  I was on call and stayed in Lakewood until the morning.  

Jenn doing her sinus therapy with husband's help:

Let the presents begin!  Oof, heavy:

Kinects for Ben and Andy and Jenn, and a Kindle for Jenn (now everyone has one!)

 Jem fished her present out of a bag when no one was looking:

What a nerd:

Can you believe this?!  Mom made this aviator sweater for Jack, it's incredible!  The helmet comes from Soil, that independent children's clothes crafter I love.

Jack was happy with the paper, but occasionally needed pieces fished out:

 I love this, we're all pointing to the ball he just opened, and he hasn't noticed it yet:

Another amazing homemade gift - Amanda wrote two children's books for Jack.  The ABCs of Zelda and a counting book of Mario.  They are absurdly nerdy and cute.  I'll have to post a detailed walkthrough of the books later.  

Dad strumming his uke from Andy:

And then he whipped out his own crazy handmade gift of the year - cigar box guitars.  These are so beautiful and they sound great!

 Dad got Mom a cool microscope, and brought creepy crawlies to test it out:

 My lame homemade gifts this year, but they crack me up.  I made Amanda and Andy and Jenn BLANKET STATEMENTS!

Sometime while we were opening presents it started to snow.  A white Christmas!

 That night I gave Jack a bath in the kitchen.  I've decided using storage tubs is a genius bath method.  Yesterday I gave him another bath in a tub in the tub, catching all his splashes.  I could sit in the bath fully clothed to support him, and use less water to fill his small tub.  We've taken to calling them "tub tub baths."

Too many presents ;-)

The adorable outfit from Jenn and Andy:

A hiking backpack.  I think he likes it!

And a final cute outfit to finish them off!

Oh, what a glorious Christmas.  We were all severely spoiled.  I also got a swift and winder, yarn and fibers to spin, fancy fabric, some art, many little gadgets, silpats, lotions, a ballet date (babysitting included!) and the aforementioned iphone 4.  Later Ben picked up an AT&T microcell device.  It gives us five bar coverage all throughout our house.  I'm thrilled!  We canceled our Vonage house phone plan today.  My big gift is a trip to Boston this spring to attend the nephrology nursing conference.  We are both daunted (because of the ten month old who will accompany us) and excited by the idea, and very grateful for the trip. What will come in the oh-1-1?  I'm excited to find out.