Homemade Christmas gifts are terrific!

Eliza received some wonderful homemade Christmas presents from her grandparents this year. Nana Cathy made Eliza her very own Raggedy Ann doll. It's really cute, and almost as big as Eliza herself! Eliza likes running her fingers through Raggedy Ann's hair.

Grandma Jan has made and decorated toy chests for each of her grandchildren, and this year she made one for Eliza. It's decorated in a traditional Scandinavian Rosemåling style that we think is absolutely gorgeous. Unfortunately we weren't able to fit it in the (extremely full!) car to bring back from Georgia with us after Christmas, but it's safe at Grandma and Grandpa's house for now and we'll retrieve it as soon as we can!

Eliza's first Christmas (kinda)

While this wasn't Eliza's first Christmas, it was her first Christmas "at home". Which is definitely the best kind! Plus, since Eliza's original due date was December 27, this Christmas should have been her first - so we treated it as her first Christmas as much as we could.

Here's another "then and now" picture comparison - Eliza with the Christmas stocking her Nana made for her last year. Yes, that's really the same stocking (and the same Eliza) in both pictures!

 

Although Eliza isn't a huge fan of road trips so far, she was nonetheless very happy to be free to travel and visit her extended family instead of vice versa. We were able to get away to Georgia for several weeks which gave Eliza the chance to celebrate Christmas with each side of the family.

 

Of course, at 15 months old (almost a year adjusted) Eliza didn't really understand what the fuss was about. But she was happy to see her relatives, fascinated by all the decorations and excitement, and of course any opportunity to rip up some paper was an opportunity worth seizing!

All in all, it was a great "first" Christmas for Eliza and we couldn't have wished for a better one!