Baby’s 1st Christmas and the holiday in review…

It’s been a wonderful holiday season for us! Last year at this time, we only dreamt of what it might be like to have a child at Christmastime. A year ago I was just starting to feel Sebastian’s movements inside my belly… the awe and wonder of a baby growing on the inside have now translated into the awe and wonder of a baby growing on the outside. He brings us such JOY! Our happy, healthy, smiley baby is really the best Christmas gift we could have hoped for – we are so BLESSED and have so much for which to be THANKFUL!As to be expected at this age, he experiences pretty much everything via his mouth, and opening his gifts was no exception. Many thanks to all our family for the generous gifts. Sebastian is a happy lil’ camper and is totally enjoying all of his new toys. We still have presents under the tree for him, because we have found that any more than one or two gifts a day is a bit overwhelming… and we’d like to extend his Christmas for a little while longer. We actually haven’t done any gifts for the past two days, and Sebastian certainly doesn’t seem to mind. :)He had a great time dressing up like a miniature Santa… followed by an elf. Grandma and Grandpa were excited to be able to share some of the Christmas cheer with our little Santa/Elf/Baby… never mind the runny nose! And Seb had lots of fun exchanging presents with his cousin (and helping open others’ presents, too!). This year the cousins all exchanged names, and Sebastian and Gabe both had each other’s names. One of the gifts that I was more excited about giving this year was an album that I had made for Tim’s mom from the pictures of our trip to the Outer Banks. Each of his siblings contributed photos, plus I managed to sneak some off of my M-I-L’s camera, and it turned out to be a wonderful collection of photographed memories. It was a fun surprise!

View Full Album

Sebastian even got to spend time with his second cousin, Blake, who’s just two months older than him, but about 5 pounds and 2 inches bigger (note the two happy twin grandpas holding their newest grandbabies). And… he got to hang out and play with his cousins, Isaac and Lauryn, who love to make him laugh. Sebastian just giggles and giggles anytime they’re around. They were kind enough to share their rendition of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” on video. If you pay close enough attention, you can hear Sebastian trying to sing along in the background.



I received a Flip video camera for Christmas (very, very cool and exciting!), which gives me the ability to film videos in a super easy fashion… so stay tuned for more videos to come! Aunt Bev’s been asking for the videos…And one last shot – Grandma Judy with her kiddos. I think I see some resemblance in the genes of these cousins!Merry Christmas and God bless us everyone!

a little holiday diversion

Since we got back from vacation, life has felt a little rough.  Sebastian hasn't been himself and has been very clingy, not sleeping well, occasionally refusing to eat - we're wondering if this is just an adjustment from being back from vacation or something else - illness lurking, teething, etc.  His poor sleeping patterns have been trying on us physically and emotionally - we've both been exhausted, and I seemed to manage to mess up my neck royally by sleeping in a very akward position several nights in a row so as to protect my little babe - who would only sleep if sleeping with us. 
I also began a new schedule at work which includes multiple double bookings in order to increase productivity by accounting for our no-show rate.  I was the last provider to move to this schedule, because they were waiting for Sebastian to start solids.  For that, I'm so very thankful... but it was a difficult transition to go back to work after a week of vacation.  The mommy guilt was at a high level - I almost felt like I was going back to work after maternity leave all over again - and I had this new schedule to deal with... 
In the midst of it all, I have not felt like I was in the Christmas mood or spirit at all... it's barely crossed my mind, and I recognize that it's fast approaching.  We don't have any decorations, I have no gifts (let alone ideas!), and I haven't been in church for almost a month because of being on call and then vacation... so the concept of Advent floats around in my head, but doesn't yet seem a reality.  Sigh... Not exactly how I'd like to feel or be around Advent... especially for Sebastian's first go-around with Christmas.
In an effort to relax a bit this afternoon (I had a very early meeting that I was NOT looking forward to this morning, followed by a long day of rounding at the hospital), I decided to play around a bit with the Jib Jab Elf videos to get some comic relief and work towards some holiday cheer. 
So, here you have it - live and for the first time - the Johnsen Martin Elves performing a holiday disco dance.  There were five options, but I chose to post this one, because it seemed to be Sebastian's favorite.  He squealed in delight and flapped his little arms and legs when he saw this video. 
So enjoy!  Here's to the holiday season... may it find its way into our home and hearts very soon! 

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

And yes, we ALL can dance like that in real life. Ha!

Chillin' at the park

Sebastian made his debut appearance at the Long's Park Summer Concert Series last night for the 4th of July concert. We headed out before the onset of fireworks and canons, thinking that might be a bit much for our 6 week old baby. We met friends Marvin, Dori and Eric there and enjoyed good company and conversation, not to mention crowd-0-rama! The estimated number of people in attendance was between 30-35,000! Little Seb did just fine, and was quite content!

Check him out sporting one of his new t-shirts from our friend, Angela and family.

Full of Thanksgiving

We enjoyed a very full holiday and weekend, but it was great. I was the rounder all week at the hospital last week, and on call on Thanksgiving Day, but we managed to squeeze in two turkey meals with both of our families. We enjoyed a wonderful time with our parents, siblings and nieces and nephews. I managed to get a photo of the feasting table at my parents' house, but forgot all about it at Tim's parents' house. By the time we got to Tim's parents' house, I was very tired, and the tryptophan was kicking in - I think it took over my photo taking natural tendencies! Friday night we headed downtown to enjoy the Mayor's Christmas tree lighting, a tuba Christmas concert, a walk through Central Market, and a meal at one of our favorite locales - Spyro Gyro. Yummy Greek food! Steve, Isaac and my parents met us down there, while Traci and Lauryn stayed at home nursing a pending cold in my niece.

We had a fun outing on the Saturday after Thanksgiving with my parents, brother and sister-in-law and my niece and nephew. It's beginning to be a tradition now to go to Frysville Farms to get our Christmas tree. We pick out our favorite concolor fur, get some hot apple cider and meander in awe through the aisles of pointsettias. The kids spoke to Santa, ensuring him that they were very well behaved, and each getting a toy in return. And to top it all off, we had a horse-drawn hay wagon ride through the tree orchards. Now we can enjoy the aroma of our citrus-smelling tree as it pervades the living room!
We have so much for which to be thankful. It's so easy to forget that in the midst of how busy life gets, what's going on around us with war, bad economies, global warming, worsening crime, etc. and seeing the sorrow of so many others around us. We have a warm house, good food which is abundant, good secure jobs, wonderful family, health, love, education, our faith, terrific friends, a baby growing inside of me and each other. We are blessed! Thanksgiving shouldn't be just a single day, but a way of life... everyday.

New Years at Stephanie's

Tim & I are spending the night ringing in the new year with our friends Janel, Mark, & Stephanie. We had a yummy meal of Thai curry and fresh crab from Steph's father-in-law. Her boys (EJ and Cullen) are playing at the beach, so Steph's hosting our little get-together tonight.
We're about to play some racey game called Spicey Farkle, which Steph thought had something to do with farts, but turns out it's a game with di, and we certainly hope no one will be passing gas during the game!

I am mostly just showing Janel and Steph how to blog (and since I just started today, I'm an expert!).

Happy New Year!!!

From all of us on Quarry Lane in Lancaster - Kirsten, Tim, Mark, Janel & Steph (hopefully we'll take a picture before the night is over to remember this wonderful evening).

Addendum on 1/3/08 - Finally got the New Year's pictures ready to upload! Check out my glasses (even if they're from when I went to NYC for New Year's in 2005).