Christmas Continues: Christmas at Beech Mountain

After spending Christmas day together at our house, we drove up to Beech Mountain and when we woke up on December 26, it was like Christmas morning all over again!  Stockings hung by the chimney were stuffed and presents were beneath the tree!

Here's Big Daddy showing Clara her stocking...

My mom and dad have collected these beautiful silver bells during each year of their marriage.  This year, they gave both granddaughters one for the year of their respective births.  What a precious treasure!

We got to hang out with Aunt Jennifer, Uncle Trey and Cousin Caroline.  It was so fun to watch her open some presents.  We know she'll be teaching Clara lots over the years (like how to open presents and how to read stories).....

Clara got a ladybug hat that was unfortunately adult sized.  But mama is going to enjoy it!

She also got this cool ladybug riding toy from Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Trey.

The girls spent lots of time reading with Sweet Mama and Big Daddy (I think they were happy for the snuggles!)

One of the favorite presents were some great sleds!!  Since there wasn't any snow at Beech Mountain, we practiced a little inside....

The next morning we woke up to this:

Clara's first snow!!  So, we did get to try out those sleds outside (but you'll have to wait till tomorrow for those photos.  It's the next post!)

Clara's daddy was excited to bundle her up and take her out in her first few flakes.

Of course we couldn't pass up the opportunity for a few family shots while we had everyone together.  Robert gave me a new tripod for Christmas (which he picked out all on his own!  What a fabulous gift!), so we put the self-timer on and tried to capture a few decent shots.

Thanks to Dad and Robert for helping me get the shot set up and framed....

Then a couple of practice shots of just grandparents with their granddaughters....

A nine month old and a twenty month old?!?  Most of the photos came out looking something like this:

But after two days' worth of attempts, here are the best ones we walked away with:

 Christmas at Beech Mountain was merry, indeed!

Next up: Sledding Fun

Christmas Continues: Christmas Morning

Daddy brings Clara down on Christmas morning...

And shows her what Santa brought!

It's a musical table!  Perfect for this baby who is only interested in standing these days.

She checks it out and decides it's pretty fun!

 Looks like Santa stuffed the stockings, too....

Big Daddy helps Rufus open his stocking...

And Sweet Mama helps Clara open hers...

 Santa always puts toothbrushes in our stockings, even if you don't have any teeth yet.  Clara loved hers.

What?  A second stocking from Mama K and Daddy Bob?!  How fun!!!

Now it's time to dig in to unwrapping some presents...

 It's another fun standing toy!

 Thanks, Big Daddy and Sweet Mama!

The best part of Christmas morning was having all four grandparents here to celebrate Clara's first Christmas. How we will treasure this!!

Big Daddy helps Rufus with a few more puppy presents...

 And Daddy helps Clara open another few presents...

It's a bear hat!  So cute!

She loves books!  Thanks, Mama K!!

Mama gave Clara a "junk box" filled with stuff from the dollar store (she doesn't know the difference, right?).  The silicone basting brush was the biggest hit.

Sweetest puppy in the world...

Despite getting more presents than any nine month old really needs, Clara really just wants Rufus' toys.  Poor puppy...

After a fun day of being together in our own home for Christmas, at bedtime we headed up to Beech Mountain to do it all again with Sweet Mama, Big Daddy, Uncle Trey, Aunt Jennifer and Cousin Caroline.  Next post: Christmas at Beech Mountain!

 Stay tuned!

Christmas Continues: Christmas Eve

While most people have packed up their Christmas decorations and taken down the tree, ready to ring in the new year with diets and other new year's resolutions, Christmas will continue here at The Hardy Life for a few more days.  I haven't posted in awhile, but don't worry, I've been busy snapping photos of baby's first Christmas and I am ready to share.

It was a blessed Christmas for us, from start to finish.  Not only were we incredibly grateful to be celebrating the miracle of Clara's life, but we got to spend lots of wonderful time with family and had some time to stop and reflect on the blessing of Jesus' birth.

So, first things first.... Christmas Eve!!

This was the first year in I don't know how long (ever?) that I didn't go to a Christmas Eve service.  Our family has traditionally done the candlelight service at our church and Robert and I have made it a tradition to go to a Moravian Lovefeast together (if you're not from Winston-Salem and don't know about the Moravian Lovefeast, you should look it up.  It's one of the most simple, powerful, beautiful services ever - rich with tradition and love and fellowship.  It makes my Christmas every year.).  But between feeding and napping and pumping schedules, we just couldn't quite figure out how to make it work this year.  So, there was no church service, but that doesn't mean we didn't have fellowship.

First of all, Robert's parents came up to spend Clara's first Christmas with us.  All day Christmas Eve Clara got to play with Mama K and Daddy Bob and she was in heaven (I think they might have been, too.)  We're so grateful to them for being willing to come up and spend some time with us here.

Our other Christmas Eve tradition for as long as I can remember is to have dinner with our friends the Jacksons.  Since we've all become "grown-ups" and are coordinating more complex Christmas schedules, the meal the past few years has been moved to another night in December when we could all be home.  But this year it worked out for us to gather again on Christmas Eve and Aunt Trina hosted us for a wonderful meal.  It was great to have Clara experience her first Davis-Jackson Christmas, and made even sweeter by the fact that her Hardy grandparents got to join in, too.

We didn't get a good group shot, but here are a few photos of our evening together.

Clara opens a gift from Aunt Trina, with the help of Big Daddy and Daddy Bob

She's been making this face a lot lately.  Not sure what that's about, but it's adorable.

Yay!!  It's a book!

Oh, what a spread.  Trina does it right.

Clara and Sweet Mama

 It's always our tradition to have a Happy Birthday Baby Jesus cake for dessert...

This one was from Dewey's.  Yum, yum.

And Clara got to blow out the candles this year! (With a little help, of course...)

Clara opened her first present of Christmas.  (Spoiler: it was her Christmas jammies.  Evidence of them coming in the next post... Christmas Morning)

A Special Christmas Prayer Request

This is a very special Christmas for us, as I'm sure anyone reading this knows. We have experienced a miracle this year, and have felt God's grace and mercy in a more real way than we could have ever imagined. We rejoice this year with a very different perspective than in years past, and we do it with more gratitude and fervor than ever before.

As I write this, Chrissy and my parents are sleeping soundly upstairs in their beds, and I have just finished giving Clara her nighttime bottle and putting her back down to sleep. A log is still glowing in the fireplace, presents and stockings fill our living room, and Santa's cookies and milk are awaiting consumption. This is a house full of material, physical, and spiritual blessings far beyond our deserving.

And yet my heart is heavy. Some of you may be aware of another CDH baby born recently; little Jude was born a couple of weeks ago to Brian and Rose, with whom we coincidentally have connections through family and camp friends. Jude, like Clara, went on ECMO his second day of life, and is currently experiencing many of the same problems that threatened Clara's survival: pulmonary hypertension, fluid retention, and heart and kidney dysfunction. Jude also has to deal with a serious infection, and on top of all this, he has yet to face surgery to repair his hernia. Jude's parents are updating their blog with specific prayer requests, and Rose has asked everyone to pray as often as possible for Jude in the next couple of days for miraculous healing for Jude. (You can view their blog at http://babymorrison2.blogspot.com/)

We know firsthand that miracles happen. On this day when we celebrate the miraculous entrance of a Child into the world, please take a moment to join us in praying for Jude to experience the miraculous healing that we've already seen take place in Clara. Pray also for Brian and Rose to experience the peace that passes all understanding, and to find joy and celebration while bearing a burden that no one should ever have to bear.

This is a season of miracles. Pray with us that God will work one in Jude.

Grace, Peace, Joy, and Love to all,

-Robert