Christmas Time in the Nelson Home

Christmas was a little different this year. With the baby due in early January, we were not supposed to travel anywhere...nor did I really want to. The idea of being in any sort of vehicle for any length of time did not seem pleasant. So it was our first- and only- Christmas just me and Jonathan. It was kinda nice not going anywhere. It was a little break before the baby.

We got a tree! It had little pine cones on it. I'm 8 months pregnant.

The tree in all its glory, ornaments, lights, train, and some presents.

Crazy hair on Christmas morning. Apparently we took no pictures of Jonathan, but he was there too. We got a popcorn maker, a Wii, new tv (you can see it a little in the background), Jonathan got some good gloves, a headlamp, I got some clothes, a sewing box, and a ticket for the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, which should be fantastic.

After we opened presents in the morning we went over to Jonathan's cousin, Melissa's home. We had a Christmas breakfast with some of his extended family and watched the kids play with their presents. Later that day, we had Jonathan's Uncle Carl and Aunt Glinnea over to our home for Christmas lunch. It was our first time making a Christmas meal, and it turned out great. We had ham, potatoes, carrots, green bean casserole, pasta salad and jello. It was a good Christmas.

After a deep freeze and heaps of snow (we had over a foot of snow fall in 2 days), we got some beautiful icicles all over our house.

Showers for the Baby

So many people love the baby, and we had 3 different baby showers for him! We are so lucky to have fantastic friends and family, and 95% of the baby's wardrobe is due to their love.

Nelson Family Party

During Thanksgiving Break, Jonathan's family had a baby shower for us.

We played a fun matching game that matched candy bars to different baby things. For example: Baby Girl's Name = Baby Ruth, 10 lb baby = Whoppers, Hospital Bill = 100 Grand, etc. If you made a match, you got a candy!

 Some of us did better than others. Gracie was rather protective of her loot. :)

 Then, the best part...seeing all the gifts the baby gets! Baby showers are interesting because all the focus is on the baby, who isn't there yet, so therefore the attention is all on the mom. It is strange to have a party that is for you, but not really for you. Strange, but good, because everyone loves to see cute baby things.

Here we have a super cute baby bag- turns out these are incredibly useful in dressing baby.

The baby got a couple of really cute and warm blankets made by Jonathan's mom. Babies love to snuggle. Don't mind the crazy face in this one.

He also got some really cute outfits. They all have animals on the bum. This makes no sense to me, but I guess it is all the rage in the baby world. Our son has a moose bum, a bear bum, and maybe one with a penguin. Weird, but still cute.

It was a great day. It was fun to see some family and to see how much everyone loved the baby. Glinnea was kind enough to host the party at her home and she made some delicious food for us.

Foothills Elementary Baby Shower

I don't have any pictures from this baby shower, but the ladies I work with in 5th grade decided to invite the whole school to have a baby shower for me. It was really sweet. The baby got so many cute outfits, blankets, lotion/baby wash and some toys. He got an amazing quilt from Tonie- who is on my team, and a super cute blue monster stuffed toy which I know he will love once he is old enough to play with it. It was amazing to me the love that came from my fellow teachers. I've only been teaching in this school for 5 months and it was neat to see how much everyone was willing to help to insure this baby would be taken care of once he got here.

Jonathan's Surprise Baby Shower

This one was by far my favorite- not that I didn't love the others, because I did, but because of how this one came about. Turns out, I have the best husband in the world. He secretly planned and executed a fantastic baby shower with the help of some of my friends. His sister made cute invitations and lots of people came. We had people from old wards, our current ward, friends I've had for years, people I've worked with, and family. I am super impressed with my husband, he is the most awesome. 

Monica and I- typical laughing picture with cute dino slippers and bib.

Another absolutely fantastic surprise that no one knew about.... my parents came into town for the baby shower! They live in NC, and they flew out the day before the shower and stayed around for a few days afterwards. It was excellent to see them and spend some time with them. They are sitting on the couch with me in the above picture.

From left to right: Dad, Jessica, Jennie, Tammy and me (covered by an outfit)

Family and friends at the shower. From right to left: Jonathan's aunts on the couch, Shannon, The Giauques, me, Tammy, and Jennie.

Quite possibly the best present of the day- we got these 3 outfits, from 3 different people, in 3 different sizes- Newborn, 0-3 months and 6-12 months. So, the baby can keep wearing the same clothes and appear to be the same size for a year. Awesome. I opened the first present and saw the cute outfits, then the second gift I opened was the second one, and Shannon made me open hers next, where we found the third. Then, a few weeks later, I got a package from my good friend Elise, who lives in Chicago area. In it, I got yet another of the same dinosaur outfit. People know what this baby's parents love.

Another really cool thing they did, Shannon got Elise and Amber- friends I've had for many years and who live in different states than me, to make a video message to send to me. I got to watch them at the shower. It was really awesome to have a message from them and have them there for a little bit.

 This baby shower was fantastic. I got to see my parents, and lots of friends. I got to be amazed by my husband's love and support. We got super cute clothes so the baby won't spend his life naked, because he'd be awfully cold here. It was a great day.