Raegan's First Christmas

This Christmas was Raegan's first, and she really seemed to enjoy herself! We started off the festivities by hosting our fifth annual Christmas party which was a lot of fun as always! We had a great turnout and the food was delicious, if I do say so myself. :) We had a nanny for Raegan so Jasen and I could enjoy the party, and Meg drove up for the weekend, too. Jasen did an amazing job with the exterior decor this year....12 foot snowman and rooftop Santa! Most of the kids in the neighborhood LOVED the snowman, however Raegan cried in horror every time she saw him. He was rather large. I asked Jasen if he couldn't have found one a little bigger -ha!

Christmas Eve we went to one of our favorite restaurants, Paul Martin's Bistro for some organic/local American cuisine (a second annual tradition). Shari joined us, and we had a nice time eating delicious food....even Raegan had fun entertaining the other diners with her squeals and smiles. The banana cream pie (even minus the crust) is mind blowing! Pair it with a cappuccino and it really is a merry time! 

Christmas morning Matt joined us for opening presents and Santa remembered us all very well! Daddy even had a very special baby's first Christmas ornament made for Raegan - a very sweet surprise! :) Raegan was pretty tired and ready for her morning nap by the time we started opening presents, but she managed to tear some wrapping paper and play with a few of her toys. We went to Shari's for Christmas day, where Jasen's family joined us. Shari made a delicious roast with a baked potato bar, yum! 

Raegan and I flew back to Illinois for Christmas at the Trutters. We spent the week before Christmas with Jasen (he had that whole week off) so he wasn't able to go back with us this year. Aside from some drama during our travels on the way there (missed our 6:00 am flight and ended up in Chicago instead of St. Louis) we had a very good trip! I wish we could have seen Lindsey and Trevor longer than a day, but we did get to spend a lot of time with Ben and Meg. Raegan visited with Great Grandma Trutter on several occasions, and she particularly loved the cat! During our trip, Raegan learned to get around very well using a modified crawling position, she got in 4 teeth, and learned to give kisses. She stated off kissing herself in the mirror, and then moved on to kissing all of her stuffed animal toys. She received so many amazing gifts for Christmas.....included a talking Teddy Bear, a musical book, an interactive train (that she can ride), some really cute clothes, a shape stacker, many many books, and a move and crawl interactive ball....just to name a few! She adores all of her toys, but she particularly likes a book of Dogs from her great aunt Wendy. Raegan is a HUGE fan of dogs, and she gets so excited if she even sees a picture of a dog!

I didn't take a stroller back with me, so when we went to the Galleria we rented a car stroller and Raegan thought it was a riot. She was even turning the little steering wheel! She definitely was grandpa's little girl, as he often had the magic touch at getting a very tired baby to sleep. I'm pretty sure he reminder her of daddy. :)

She was an absolute champ on the plane....and she enjoyed an extra seat next to us on our way back to California. She mostly played with her toys, although there was the occasional knocking over of drinks and grabbing at the sudoku book of the lady next to us. She spotted a toddler across the aisle on one of the flights and had fun giggling and babbling with him. I think she is a better traveler than I am! :)

It was a wonderful Christmas! Here are some pics!