Ella's First Christmas {2014}

Thanks to Miss Ella, this has been the first Christmas Gerald and I have spent away from Houston, EVER. Even though we missed our family and friends dearly, I wouldn't have wanted it any other way; especially for her first Christmas. Christmas is usually super busy for us; running around buying gifts, grocery shopping, cooking, and meeting up with family and friends on an almost daily basis. By the time Christmas day comes and goes, I sit and wonder where all the time went and am pretty exhausted. Don't get me wrong, I love doing all of the above, especially hanging out with our friends and family but it was nice to spend quality one on one time as a family of three for Ella's first Christmas. I was also okay with this since I knew family was coming to visit the day after and we also had my mom here...hehe.. I suspect all other Christmas' will be spent in Houston with our family and friends so having this first year together in our home was perfect. 

To celebrate our first Christmas as a family of three, we decided to get a real Christmas tree for the first time. This made for a really pretty background to all the photos we took of Ella. Gerald did a great job putting the tree up and decorating it.  We took Ella to the Bakersfield Christmas Town {her first outing}, where they have a lighting display of a makeshift town. She was able to meet Santa and Mrs. Claus in their little cottage and take her first picture with Santa at one week old.  She looked so tiny all snuggled up in Santa's arms.  Gerald and I managed to cook a yummy Christmas Eve and Christmas dinner and we even popped open a bottle of wine to celebrate. On Christmas Day, we opened presents with Ella and then took her to church for the first time. She did awesome! We got Ella a silver plated frame with her name and birth stats engraved in it for her first Christmas. We wanted to get her something she can have forever to remember her first Christmas by. I hope she loves it when she gets older. Overall, it was the perfect Christmas with the most perfect present! Christmas has always been one of my favorite holidays and now we get to celebrate two favorites in the month of December: Ella's Birthday and Jesus' Birthday! I can't wait until next year when she can participate more in the festivities.