Christmas at the Allemans

Well, it's been quite awhile since I posted here, but with the holidays and a surprise trip to California, I think it's understandable. Now that we're back in the swing of things, with me working once again and Cody set to start classes again tomorrow, I think an update is in order.

First of all, Christmas! Unfortunately, the morning of December 23rd, we found Joshua in his crib, having thrown up all over himself and his sheet. Then began the diarrhea...poor kid had some incredible stomach bug. He was mostly better by late the next day, but not before he got a wicked diaper rash and cried every time he sat down. We felt so badly for him! Cody woke up on Christmas Eve and started having the same stomach problems, though thankfully he too felt better by that evening. So, with two sick boys in the house, it fell to me to finish the Christmas shopping we had procrastinated...never again do I want to do Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve. I hope to get it done by Joshua's birthday this time around--hold me to it, people! Anyway, we were lucky that the sickness was over relatively quickly, and thankfully we were all well enough to read about the birth of the Savior in Luke II before Joshua went to bed.

Christmas morning dawned white and snowy. It was a pretty lazy morning, though of course I was unable to sleep in thanks to Joshua (I let Cody sleep to make sure he was fully recovered). Then, stockings and presents! We took several pictures for your enjoyment. Most of them are of me and Joshua, since Cody took over filming and picture-taking. I'll have to post the videos later, because I don't have the video camera here with me at work. Here are our stockings (L-R Cody, Carina, and Joshua):
And here's our Christmas tree, complete with presents all wrapped up underneath it:
Here are a few of Joshua and me going through his stocking...I know, he looks positively thrilled about it all, doesn't he? =P
Those who grew up in the Burr household know that Santa traditionally gives us an apple, an orange, and a banana in our stockings. Apparently he does the same thing in the Alleman household now, too, so we each got some fruit for breakfast. Oh, and Joshua actually did bite off the end of the banana, which of course provoked a brief hiatus in picture-taking and some frantic mouth-fishing.We decided Joshua needed some sort of stuffed animal, so we got him this little teddy bear...I'll have to post the video of him when he first saw it, because he squealed most adorably. He was much happier about it than these pictures let on.And here is an ever-so-flattering picture of the two of us opening yet another of his presents. Look at that concentration! He got pretty good at tearing off the wrapping paper by the end of it all.It's about time for Joshua to start experimenting with a fork and spoon, so we got him this little set, complete with a plate/bowl that suction-cup to the table. Isn't that just amazing? The things they think of these days! The aftermath...and, of course, Joshua is playing with a tiny piece of wrapping paper rather than his cool new toys. It was no surprise that Joshua was interested in the fruit from our stockings, but it surprised both of us when he actually succeeded in taking some bites out of an apple. Of course, he didn't eat the whole thing, but he did a pretty good job for having such a little mouth! For those curious on what presents we got, here's the rundown: Cody got The Dark Knight, Super Munchkin, and a book on father's blessings (all from me--we forgot to give presents to each other in Joshua's name, but we'll be better about it next year when Joshua can be a little bit more involved). I got Seasons 2, 3, and 4 of Smallville (Cody made sure to catch me up on the seasons I missed while on my mission), plus some exercise equipment because we are planning to work out together at night. Joshua got the teddy bear, some connecting toys, a beanie and mittens, and the feeding set. Oh, and my brother Kendall and his family gave to us this year--the complete Disney Pixar DVD collection! Toy Story 1 and 2, A Bug's Life, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, and Ratatouille. I think that collection will be a huge favorite in the next couple of years, especially if Joshua is anything like his cousins Luke and Damon.

Anyway, that was Christmas for us--very quiet. We had planned on going to Cody's grandparents' house for awhile, but the white Christmas outside prompted us to just stay home and enjoy the cozy family time. We watched a couple of movies and had a nice chicken dinner and just had a good time as a family. We hope everyone else had a very merry Christmas, too!