Okay, so the above photo is from 12/21, not Christmas Eve, but I added it because of the questions about Jonah's eyes...They are definitely blue now, but they only show up that way in outdoor light. Inside, they are so dark that they still look brown.
This was my first Christmas ever away from my family, and the week had been bittersweet...Good times with friends, but constant thoughts of home and family members arriving and the warmth and laughter and lively background noise that have always been part of our family holidays. This year, we would be just four - not 15, like the years of my childhood, or 11, like recent years.
But we had a beautiful snowstorm on the 23rd that stretched into Christmas Eve and covered the city in a white glow. Christmas lights everywhere - on Victorian houses, stores, city landmarks - reflected in the snow and lit up the night. It looked like a postcard Christmas, and that made it a little easier. And we didn't have to travel through that snow, or stay up all night before a flight packing and finishing presents, and we got to enjoy our own tree on Christmas morning. Also, Isaac's main present from Santa wouldn't have traveled well. In the end, we had a beautiful Christmas here, just the four of us.
On Christmas Eve, I made apple pie while Isaac napped, and then we got him up early so we could go to church. We have tried so many churches, and we finally found one that we both loved not long before Jonah was born. We'd only been once, but it was nice not to wonder where we would go for a Christmas Eve service. This church had a service especially for families at 5pm, so we dressed up a little and headed to the beautiful stone building from the 1880's, on a corner of downtown. The snow had stopped, and a frigid wind had picked up, so I wrapped blankets around Jonah, and we hurried in a few minutes late. Inside was all warmth and light, pews packed with families, babies everywhere. The service was beautiful, and even Isaac (who had broken the silence of our last service there with "Go home. Isaac want go home.") seemed to enjoy it. He sat in my lap for much of it and gave me hugs and kiss after kiss. We all received candles as we entered, and after the sermon, they turned the lights down low, and we passed the flame down the rows, lighting our candles one by one. Then we sang Silent Night in a beautiful scene of old wood and flickering light. Isaac seemed mesmerized.
I had brought the camera to church so we could get a rare family shot. Isaac refused to look at the camera, so the photo above is what we got. Jonah is yawning - deceiving, as I put him (unsuccessfully) to bed three times that night and finally just let him fall asleep in the sling and stay there until I went to bed.
Below, we tried again at home to get a picture of Isaac - same result.
In my family, it's tradition that the children get to pick one present to open on Christmas Eve. It's fun for many reasons, but we especially like it now because it helps spread out the presents so the next morning is a little less overwhelming. We always did it after dinner, but this time it made more sense for Isaac to open a toy before dinner so he'd be entertained while we cooked and drank wine. With the happy distraction of a present from Deeda and Babop in his hands, he finally looked at me, just long enough to click the shutter.
Dinner: French goat cheese, a wonderful Bordeaux, tenderloin and roasted root veggies (beets, potatoes and carrots, all grown at our CSA or in our backyard).
It was not exactly relaxing (Isaac just picking at his dinner and needing help with many things; Jonah finally sleeping in the sling so I had to eat right-handed), but it was candlelit, yummy, and wonderful. We were all together in our warm house with the excitement of the morning to come. Adam and I were the most excited of all.
Once we put Isaac to bed, with Jonah snuggled peacefully against my chest, Adam and I got to finish our wine and eat my homemade apple pie together in the candlelit dining room before Santa arrived. Then we could relax.
A close-up of my first-ever apple pie. I was proud.
No comments:
Post a Comment