Jackson's First Christmas

I've never covered up the fact that I absolutely love and adore Christmas--it's such a magical and peaceful time of the year and I enjoy everything about it. Now that I'm a mom, I love it even more and want to make it as special as I can for our family--that's why I've pulled out all the stops for Jax's second Christmas!

The other day, I realized that I never shared the story of Jax's first Christmas and thought I'd take a minute to jot it down for your reading pleasure ;and for my own walk down memory lane). I now invite you to sit back, relax, and get ready to roll your eyes over and over again at my raging emotions:

As many of you may remember, Jackson was born two weeks early and was unable to cry when he was first born--because of this, the doctors were worried and whisked him off to the NICU an hour after he was born. Brandon and I were heartbroken but grateful to the amazing hospital staff for taking such great care of our precious boy. Not even 4 hours after Jax was born, the doctor informed us that he would have to stay in the NICU for a few days to be closely monitored.

Jackson was born on the 22nd and we were holding out hope that we'd be able to take him home on Christmas Eve (my favorite day of the year). Unfortunately, that wasn't in the cards for us and on the night of the 23rd, I had a mini meltdown to Brandon about how worried I was about Jax and how unfair the situation seemed (I was an exhausted, hormonal mess and didn't realize just how blessed we were to have such a beautiful and otherwise healthy baby). Being the great guy that he is, Brandon brought over all of the Christmas stockings and decor the next morning and brought Christmas to Jax and me. Jackson was released to my room the morning of the 24th--just in time for the rest of my family to arrive for Christmas Eve (my parents came down the morning of the 23rd and my Aunt & Uncle came from Denver Christmas Eve morning)! 

Our first family picture :)

The rest of Christmas Eve was wonderful; my family went to Christmas mass and dinner (while Jax and I stayed back at the hospital), brought back yummy Whiskey Creek for me, and then we opened our Christmas stockings. Once everyone left for the night, Jax and I snuggled in my hospital bed and watched the end of "It's a Wonderful Life."

It was truly the perfect Christmas Eve!

..until my new little bundle of joy wouldn't go to sleep and I panicked every time I heard a peep. #newmomprobs

At 4:30am, the nurse finally came in and offered to take Jackson back to the nursery for a few hours so I could try to get some sleep. I. Slept. Hard for two glorious hours before the nurse rolled Jackson back in to nurse. 

Brandon came back to the hospital at around 8 that morning and we began to wait for Jackson's discharge..

..and we waited..  

..and waited.

After Jax was all checked out, circumsized (poor guy..), and taken care of, it was finally time to take our baby home! It truly was the best Christmas gift ever!!

We arrived at our house a little after noon and were greeted by my parents, aunt & uncle, Brandon's mom & boyfriend, and Brandon's dad & stepmom (who we're visiting from Knoxville)--it was a really neat experience to be greeted by so many family members and we felt so blessed by their love of us and our little boy. After opening gifts and eating (Brandon was awesome and cleaned the entire house/made Christmas dinner while I was in the hospital), my parents, aunt, and uncle all headed back to CO.

Headed home!

That's when things begin to get a little blurry for me.. I was so utterly exhausted and couldn't stop crying over every little thing..

I cried to my mom because I didn't want Jackson to grow up. 

I cried when my parents left. 

I cried because all the cookies I made were gone. 

I cried because I missed being pregnant already. 

I cried because I was utterly exhausted. 

I laid with and nursed Jax (all while still crying, of course) while Brandon and his family continued having Christmas out in the living room--I felt so ridiculous for being so emotional but I just couldn't help it!

..which made me cry even more.

Once Brandon's family left and it was just our little family of four (including Bitsy), I began to cry because Christmas was over.. I'd been so tired and emotional the entire day that I felt like I'd missed out on my favorite holiday. Brandon and I walked into the nursery to change Jax while I continued to sob and that's when I for my first ever lesson in being a boy mom.. Jackson began to pee everywhere; on Brandon, me, the wall, the floor, and himself. 

My blubbering turned into mass hysteria right then as I began to laugh uncontrollably--I'm not sure what it was about my son peeing all over the room that calmed me down, but it did and I suddenly felt so much better. Brandon took Jackson downstairs to give me a little alone time to shower and read and it was just what I needed; I began feeling human again and had a chance to collect my thoughts and sort through the day. 

We all turned in early Christmas night; Brandon swaddled Jackson, we laid him in his Rock & Play, and we all got a few good hours of sleep!

Jackson & Daddy relaxed downstairs while Mommy did a little after Christmas shopping on the 26th.

Looking back at Christmas 2013 still leaves me feeling tired and silly but it really was the perfect Christmas--we got to bring our sweet boy home the same day our Lord was brought into the world! It doesn't get any better than that.