Ford Family Christmas

We took off the Tuesday after Christmas for St.Louis to spend time with my family. We were super excited to be able to meet our new (and only) nephew Luke, as well as see their parents, Jeff and Liza, and Nana Kay and Papa C. Kari was clearly missed, and I do wonder when we will be able to see her again over a Christmas celebration. :(

On the way down, Micah did a really good job in the car (as we made it to St.Louis in 4 hours and 10 minutes - with a toddler and a pregnant lady!). The video is a clip of him reading a book my friend Cass got him, Jingle Bells Aussie style.

Once there we experienced some great family time! Micah was sleeping with us in one room, next door were Mike, Deanna and Luke, across the hall was my grandma, in the master bedroom were my parents, and downstairs were Jeff, Liza, and their 9 week old puppy Luigi. What a chaotic blast! We experienced some highs and lows while there, but overall it was so fun to be with my family and made me think about the days when our kid(s) are grown and on their own and wonder what our family time will look like.

Papa C, Nana Kay and Luke - 2 months old.

Proud Daddy and his little boy. Such a sweet boy!!

Mizzou boy...him and Micah will be in competing jerseys soon enough I think:)

We headed out to the zoo later that week (surprise, surprise) and I have to say that St.Louis is one of the prettiest zoos we've seen, and it's all free! We enjoyed it so much, we went back the next day to check out the parts of the zoo that were unexplored the day before.

After the zoo we headed just down the road to a pizza place called "Pi" and had a fabulous dinner. Anyone in the St.Louis area, check this restaurant out! Well worth it. Micah, although tired after a long day and continuing lack of sleep, enjoyed some Uncle Jeff and Aunt Liza time.

The happy family with their recent addition.


The most amazing penguin exhibit I've ever seen! Go STL zoo:)

Micah "roar"ing like a lion. He may not talk an exorbitant amount, but this boy knows the majority of his animals and their sounds:)

We ended the stay with the most worst temper tantrum we've had to date with Micah, and the only good part about the 20 minutes of crying was that it made him super sweet in the car because he was all cried out. He was seriously the perfect traveler, both there and back, and we're grateful for that! I'm looking forward to his communication developing more, because I think some of the tantrums that we are seeing are coming from his lack of speech and frustration that ensues. We'll see as he begins talking more, but I'm expecting (and hoping!) to see a scale back on the frustrations as he is able to start talking to us a bit more.

All in all, although a busy couple of weeks and we were grateful to return to some sense of normalcy, we had a great time! What could be better than spending time with both sides of the family as well as time with our immediate family? And remembering the reason for the entire season - the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, makes it all the more memorable.