Connor was his usual happy energetic self. He made the days bearable for me. There were many afternoons where I couldn't do more than just lay on the couch, leaving him to watch cartoons. I felt so guilty that I couldn't give him more attention, but he didn't seem to feel neglected.
We headed to Idaho for Christmas. We spent the 22nd at a holiday party with my family in Chester. We played games, exchanged sibling and cousin gifts, enjoyed yummy food, and enacted out the nativity. Despite feeling gross most of the day, I enjoyed our time there. Connor loved playing with his cousins.
We spent the remainder of our vacation with Brian's family in Idaho Falls. Brian had Christmas through New Year's off, so we got to enjoy a week and a half with them. We missed seeing Sean and Andrea's family this year, but the rest of us got to be together.
Connor opened his pajamas on Christmas Eve. He was quite excited about his new Thomas the Train pajamas.
Santa brought Connor a VTech Go Smart Wheels Train Set and a remote control VTech police car. Connor was a little grumpy when he woke up Christmas morning, but when we brought him out and he saw the train set, he immediately cheered up. He played with his train set all day long...like 10 to 12 hours straight. Santa knocked it out of the park this year, with only one exception. He forgot to bring batteries for the train set. Luckily there were some experienced helpers (Grandma and Grandpa) that saved the day.
We opened presents while Connor continued to play with his train. He wouldn't stop playing for anything, even to open his other gifts. Finally, Brian and I just opened them for him. It was a great Christmas. Brian gave me a gift certificate for a massage and I gave him a gift certificate for indoor skydiving. Connor got a Mr. Potato Head, a sled, and a block table.
Sean's present to the family was ingredients for a french toast breakfast. We had fun preparing the food together and it all turned out yummy.
Connor refused to stop playing with his train set to eat breakfast, so I fed him a forkful at a time as he kept at it. He did take a couple breaks from his train set during the day to play with Mr. Potato Head and the other cars he got.
We had a wonderful relaxing Christmas Day. It was so fun to see Connor's excitement. He still doesn't quite understand Santa Clause but he was very excited by his presents. The rest of our vacation was fairly relaxing as well. I fell pretty good the first half of the week, only getting hit mildly by morning sickness in the evenings. I thoroughly enjoyed the break from being sick, but it didn't last long. It hit again with full force and I felt gross the rest of the time we were there. I didn't have energy to do much but sit on the couch. Thankfully Dad, Grandma, and Grandpa were there to help care for and entertain Connor while I was out of commission.
Connor loved to listen to Grandma play the piano. He had lots of fun sitting on the piano bench with her and even played along. They were just too cute sitting together at the piano.
Sarah made some letter flash cards for Connor and they played a game with them. She would set out four letters and ask him to find the "A." He can identify all his letters and even knows some of their sounds. He was quite excited to show off for everyone, and had such fun playing the game that he wanted to play it over and over.
It was so cold during the break--each day started out with a temperature below zero--that we spent the majority of our time indoors. It was the perfect vacation for us. Brian enjoyed the time off of work with nothing to worry about, Connor loved playing with his new toys and family members, and I was grateful for time off from everything as well. We played games, watched lots of movies, and just layed low. It was the perfect break.
Connor couldn't stay away from Grandma's piano.
Tom and Sarah had to leave a couple days after Christmas, so it was just Brian, Connor, and I celebrating New Years with Layne and Kris. We finally got Connor down for the night and spent the time until midnight watching TV and eating the delicious food Kris prepared for us. I was so tired, and barely made it to midnight, but I did! It was very low-key, but again perfect.
We had to leave the next day. We drove to Chester where Brian dropped Connor and I off at my parents' house. He headed back to Utah. He had to work a few days and then would be leaving for Vegas the next week. Since I was feeling so poorly, we decided it was best for us to stay with family while he was gone. I'm so glad we did. I felt awful the whole time I was there. I think I got the stomach flu on top of morning sickness while I was there. It was the worst I'd felt in a very long time, and I was so grateful that my mom took care of Connor for me.
We did manage to do a few things while we were in Chester though. One day we went on a sleigh ride. And I worked on making a felt Christmas Advent Calendar. Connor got lots of cousin time in too.
We also got to celebrate my Grandpa Noel Greenhalgh's 80th Birthday. It was great getting to see him and other family members that I don't get to see that often.
Mid January, Brian came back to pick us up and take us back home. It was a bit hard to re-enter life again and take back over full mom and housekeeping duties again. I was still getting hit hard by morning sickness each day. Somehow we managed to get back into the swing of the things though. January was a rough month, but we survived. I'm happy to report that as I write this the morning sickness is for the most part gone.
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