hello, all! the lack family had a lovely holiday, and we hope you did, too :)

our three-day celebration started on christmas eve. we put ellie in her prettiest christmas dress and joined the family downstairs for yummy food and lots and lots of presents.

the dress got to be a little too much for her after awhile, as crawling in a dress simply isn’t an easy task! so we changed her into her polar bear pjs and came back downstairs for some more family time.

ellie opened many wonderful gifts, including toys, books, clothes and stuffed animals. she was thrilled!

after she was nestled all snug in her crib, the rest of the family opened gifts and had a jolly ol’ time. even nolan and the white brothers stopped by for cigars and a friendly game of apples to apples.

because ellie was too sleepy for a story the night before, we saved “the night before christmas” for the MORNING of christmas. it was very important that we not skip it because it’s a tradition that has been passed down from pop (grandpa bill) to mommy to ellie. she sat through the entire book, so we could tell she really liked it ;)

after we opened presents and enjoyed a delicious breakfast casserole ryan prepared the day before, we headed to oakland for christmas with my parents. it was so funny — my mom gave my dad a sound dock for his ipod, my brother and my dad gave me one, and ryan and i gave my dad one! we all gave different brands, too. hilarious.

it was nice to spend time at my mom and dad’s house without any stress, just opening presents and laughing together and having a good time. i also got to enjoy a nice, soft bagel from noah’s, which are scarce around these parts, so i was a happy camper :)

from oakland we headed north to my aunt and uncle’s house in santa rosa. the timing couldn’t have been better, as ellie was ready for her afternoon nap by the time we hit the road. susan’s dinner was wooonderful (especially the stuffing!) and we all traded gifts, my favorite of which is a pink snuggie :)

we put ellie in her pjs before we headed back to hayward. she fell asleep in the car and, much to my surprise, went right down again when we got home. we’ve haven’t skipped her bedtime routine a single time in all the months since she’s been sleeping through the night, so i was pretty nervous about it, but she was a perfect angel <3

we spent the day after christmas in manteca at ryan's sister's new condo. we enjoyed delicious food and wonderful company and once again ellie was showered in gifts. ryan even got a cool chair massager thing ... i think it may have been his dream gift, as i'm not a big fan of giving massages ;)

and so completes ellie’s first christmas. despite the rocky schedule and shift in routine, she was amazing through it all. i’m just so happy our daughter has such a wonderful family, so many people who love her so, so much. ryan and i hope you felt as blessed as we did this christmas and always <3