christmas with three.

as terrible and disappointing as last year's hyperemesis christmas was, this year's was equally wonderful. 

when i found out that travis was going to be working at the fire station christmas eve and christmas day, i was pretty devastated. our first christmas with the three of us, and he wouldn't be there? everyone tried to comfort me by telling me, don't worry, remy won't remember it. yeah sure, but i would remember. so i made a decision. this isn't going to be the last time travis has to work through holidays and i could either throw a fit about it, or i could make the best of it. 

and his working on christmas couldn't possibly be as hard as hyperemesis. 

so we decided to have christmas on the 23rd. we would pretend that it really was christmas, open presents, eat delicious food, have a big dinner, and it the nicest christmas we've ever had together. and our first one in our new house! (i was living at my parents' last year.)

love having a white christmas

spoiled much, remy? 

we had a good time shopping for him.

 the present i was most excited for travis to open was a "little black book" i made him. it is filled with boudoir pictures of yours truly. loved his facial expression.

remington hated opening presents. the sound of the wrapping paper ripping apart scared him silly. he would scream and then bury his head in my lap. pretty much the funniest thing ever. 

later in the afternoon, we had dinner with joe and cari, who are also living on B shift. (joe would be working christmas eve and christmas.)

check out this gorgeous pie cari made! 

pie envy. 

christmas dinner was pretty delicious, if i say so myself. i am not a huge fan of turkey or ham, so i followed the tradition of my family growing up (i was a picky eater and would only eat noodles) and made pasta. travis requested this sauce and if you are into using lots of butter and cream, the recipe is found {here}. (i also added a can of tomato sauce.)

later that night, we headed downtown to see the lights on temple square and hang out at city creek mall. we tried to take remy to meet santa, but he was "booked up" for the night. apparently the santa at city creek mall is just a clever ruse to get parents to pay for mediocre and expensive pictures. so remy didn't meet jolly old saint nick. talk about killing a young boy's dreams. 

we were so very blessed and spoiled this christmas, by our parents and each other. i think travis and i were trying to make up for the awfulness of last year. having a baby around at christmas is pretty magical too, even if he has no idea what is going on. 

the next day, travis got up and headed out for a 48 hour shift. 

we headed to my grandparents' for christmas eve dinner and annual music program. 

how adorable is this holiday outfit? 

thank you baby gap and grandma julie! 

christmas eve was very special. i mentioned last year that there is a song i sing every christmas eve, called "mary's shawl." last year i was too sick to sing it, and instead watched and cried through my mom's rendition. 

this year, my grandma called to ask if i would sing a song to remy, like i was singing him a lullaby. i had no idea if he'd hold still long enough to let me sing him an entire song in my arms, but i was game to try. the minute i started singing, he quieted down and watched me with wide eyes the entire time. being healthy and having the product of all that suffering in my arms, singing him the song i sang the entire time i was pregnant, was a moment i'll never forget. 

christmas morning dawned clear and sunny. my excitement woke me up even before remy did. my family came over for breakfast and presents. 

my brothers and i loved surprising our parents. 

we squeezed everyone into my little dining room for oat flour waffles with pomegranates syrup and baked egg casserole.

later, we made the rounds to our families and opened more presents.

we visited travis at the station and remy gave him the gift of sleeping on his chest for over an hour. that just never happens anymore. i played apples to apples with another  fire fighter's kids.

trav was a little sad to have to celebrate at the station, but what can you do, right? someone's gotta do it. 

overall a wonderful holiday with the people i love. 

now on to the next adventure, hawaii in a week! 

xo.