Thursday, December 24, 2009

Baby's First Christmas


In our five years together, I think Scott and I have actually celebrated Christmas exactly once; after our first, we gave up on formalities and just started giving each other gifts in November. We'd drink to the holiday, and did not a lot else. I think we stayed awake long enough to toast the new year once or twice - one year we were so busy playing Everquest II that we didn't even notice the clock strike midnight, and only realized it was the new year when we heard the noise in the streets. We just weren't big holiday people.

Personally, the holidays stopped having much meaning to me after my grandma Laverne died about 8 years ago. She baked three different pies from scratch (pumpkin, mincemeat and "Christmas" - a fluffy coconut cream pie); made numerous candies including chocolate covered peanut butter balls, chocolate fudge and divinity; and baked a million different cookies (my favorite were her pfeffernüsse - nutty, crumbly little bites). This, in addition to her seven-course dinner. She was the most important person in our family and always did so much to make everything special. After she died, I found little reason to talk to anyone in my family.

My mom always hated the holidays because they reminded her that our family was poor and that made her feel like a failure. She complained about the hassle each year when it was time to put up our little plastic tree, and worried about how to pay for presents. It was depressing, and I'm sure played a role in my own feelings about the holidays, even though I don't have to worry about things like stretching food stamps to the end of the month or keeping the lights on.

Now that we have a baby I feel like the holidays should mean more to us, even though we aren't religious "reason for the season" types. Though we were always a unit together, Zephyr really makes us feel like a family, and I'm glad Scott and I can create our own family traditions now. It gives me a much more positive outlook on everything.

I'm making some French toast for breakfast tomorrow using pannetone (Italian sweet raisin bread that's almost like cake) with orange syrup, sausages and mimosas. It'll be our new little family Christmas tradition.

We still open some of our gifts early.

9 comments:

  1. Sounds like a beautiful start to future Christmases. I only have two traditions that I hold onto dearly - both food related. One is Christmas Eve dinner of crab and lobster (gifts are opened as well). And then a Christmast morning breakfast of sugary delight....layer different sugared cereals and at least 3 different sherberts in a tall glass. Where this came from I have know I idea but it is just this side of awesome. :)

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  2. So sweet! Like you, Christmas was pretty much dead for me until Ezra was born. He brought the magic with him. We created new traditions and it has been amazing. Now he is almost ten and my biggest fear is that time is running out.

    Merry Christmas to you and your cute new fam, Heather! Savor the moments!

    Love,
    Lori

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  3. P.S I did't know Michael was typing you a comment at the same time! He's at work I am at home! ha!

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  4. This is so beautiful :) Merry Christmas to you & your family, Heather. Zeph's little face is so adorable....here's to your new traditions :)

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  5. Yay for new family traditions. Nice to start with an empty slate and build them from there. Your baby is just beautiful. Congratulations again!

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  6. Just discovered your new family blog. Huge congrats and much for us to think about being 6 weeks away from famdom. that was a sweet story. Your tale of the labor/delivery was amazing, too. Merry Christmas to you guys!

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  7. Happy Belated Christmas, and warm wishes for a wonderful New Year.

    Baby Zeph is just entirely too cute. Just delicious looking. (OH and yuuuum to panetone french toast. Yowza.)

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  8. It's amazing how having a kid changes the holidays...it just gets better every year!

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  9. Having a new family member is the best possible reason to embrace the holiday I think. And as an excuse for champagne at breakfast.

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Yay! Thanks for saying nice stuff about my baby.