Family Christmas version 1.0

We have returned from our Christmas celebration with Ted's family. 10 adults and 6 kids under 8 years old- it was a very exciting day...

Mike, our brother-in-law, played chef all day (actually all week) and made a huge and fantastic meal for everyone. In addition to the two pans of lasagna with homemade sauce, he cooked his first standing rib roast (7 ribs total). 19 pounds of beefy fury! The rib cuts were devoured by breakfast the next day. Of course, we also had homemade cookies, sticky buns, mixed berry crumble, and a choice of two homemade dressings for the salad. If I've left any goodies out, I apologize- my brain is still in a food filled haze.

The kids had tons of fun opening presents. I believe each one was "exactly what I wanted!" Gotta love that kind of enthusiasm. We were also surprised to get a pack of adorable animal print onesies for Charlie (thanks to Bill, Jess and Gracie) and some notecards with cute little drawings of us- big preggo belly and all- from Chris, Mike, Aimee, Dee and Luke.

Now we will have our just-the-two-of-us Christmas before we get Caitlin for one more family celebration. Whew! That's a lotta Christmas!

On the baby front: Charlie is moving a lot more regularly now. He did his first Jean-Claude VanDamme move, kicking me on opposite sides of my belly at the same time, yesterday.

As a group of us were loading into the van to visit an Amish farmers' market, Dee (4), asked me why I don't have a puffy jacket like everyone else. I opened my coat a little and said, "Because I have a puffy belly instead." Chris said, "Dee, why does Aunt Ashley have a puffy belly?" and Dee quickly replied with a giggle "because she ate too much!" Funny, funny.

Merry Christmas everybody!