T'was A Quiet Christmas

Chris and I spent our first and last Christmas together just the two of us.  We usually flip flop between my family and his on Christmas day.  My family was spending Christmas in Houston with my oldest sister, Michelle. My doc gave us the no-go on traveling that far this close to my due date.  Though I probably would have been just fine, I am not about to test this pregnancy after the Great Foot Incident of 2010.

Before Christmas, I went with my other sister, Kathy, and her two kiddos, Jameson and Jaelyn, to the Trains at Northpark. I thought we were going to have to drag Jameson out by his toenails. He loved it!

Waiting for the trains to whiz by

I had the hardest time getting them to peel away from watching the trains. Jaelyn's face (and the hat) is hysterical.
Leading up to Christmas, my nesting instinct kicked in. I'm not sure if it's because I wasn't with my family, but I went into major baker mode. I attempted to make patissa, which is an Italian sweet bread and NOT an easy process. Join me in following along:
Step 1: Make dough and let rise overnight (it's already a two-day process)
Step 2: roll out dough

Step 3: add filling (nuts, cinnamon, sugar). I skimped way too much on the cinnamon and sugar

Step 4: roll up tight

Step 732: bake and enjoy!
All in all, it turned out fair. It lacked a few things I remember from my Grandma's version and Michelle had many of the secrets figured out too. But, not too bad for my first attempt. They are definitely edible.

On to Christmas morning.  Chris and I enjoyed a really nice morning just the two of us. We took our time exchanging our gifts (don't worry, Sally got some too). And then Chris had a HUGE gift to Walt and I from Santa. I felt like I was 10 years old again opening it. Here's what I got :)
It's a glider!!
I was so giddy to get this! I can't wait to hold Walt in it.  This was truly a special gift!

After gifts, Chris made a fantastic breakfast for us...

 Blueberry Oatmeal Pancakes and turkey bacon. We had also enjoyed several pieces of the patissa.
We took a nice nap on the couch (love naps!) and went to Chris's aunts in the evening for a delicious Christmas dinner.  Chris's parents came in too, so it was nice to be with some family on this special day.  We are celebrating with my parents, Kathy, Greg and the kiddos tomorrow, so the celebrations keep on going!

We hope everyone had a nice holiday -- whether Christmas or just a couple days off. It's nice when things slow down a bit.