Christmas in PA

Chris, Ellen and I made the long drive to relatively warm Red Lion, PA on Thursday to spend Christmas with Chris's family. I was anxious about an 8 hour road trip with a 6 week old baby, and not without cause! Ellen had a pretty serious meltdown as we got stuck in some traffic as we were leaving CT, enough so that we had to get off the highway so I could hop in the back seat and try to soothe her. Even though I was ready to call it quits and head home (with visions of an additional 4 hours of Ellen crying on the way to PA and maybe an additional 8 hours of crying on the way home), Chris wisely encouraged us to continue, and Ellen konked out soon thereafer for most of the remainder of the trip. We made it to PA about 11pm, and I'm glad to be here with the larger family, rather than home with our smaller family. I'm sure we'll start to develop holiday traditions of our own, but for this first Christmas as a family of three, it's good to be with Chris's family.

This is the third Christmas I've spent away from my family, and I can't say it's getting much easier. I absolutely treasure spending the Christmas holiday in Minnesota with my parents, sister and her family, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. But I trust that next year's Christmas celebration in MN when we'll be with my family again will be just as fun as all the past years. It will probably be even more fun for me than it would be this year since Ellen is still pretty unpredictable and tends to melt down in the evening hours - right when we'd be enjoying Christmas Eve dinner. So I'm looking forward to bringing a 13 month old Ellen to MN for Christmas next year!

Ellen has treated her parents to two wonderful Christmas gifts - two nights of long stretches of uninterrupted sleep! On Thursday, she went down soon after we arrived and slept from 12:15am - 6:45am. 6 1/2 hours was by far the longest she has slept in a row - she previously topped out at nearly 5 hours, and that was for only a couple of nights a couple of weeks ago. Chris and I had a serious conversation at about 6:15am about whether she was okay and if we should go check on her. Of course she was fine! "They" say that babies can start sleeping long stretches around 6 weeks of age, so I guess she's right on track. And if one night wasn't enough, she slept last night from 9:30pm - 4:45am. Over 7 hours! Now, I never really thought I would be so excited about 7 hours of sleep, but I also never thought seriously about what life with a newborn would really be like. Your world definitely changes when you have a baby!

We still have some sleep challenges with Ellen looming on the horizon. First, she's been sleeping in her bouncy chair in her crib since she has reflux and wakes up quickly if she's lying flat on her back. But the bouncy chair has a limited lifespan for our long girl who's outgrowing it quickly, so we'll need to transition to the crib sooner than later - and definitely by the time I go back to work in less than 6 weeks! Second, she has been rocked or walked to sleep since day 1, so we need to teach her to fall asleep and stay asleep on her own. Any suggestions about how to tackle these are welcome!

We'll be in PA for another two nights, then head back home on Monday. It's been nice for Ellen to have some time with her Nana and PopPop, and for her Mom and Dad to get a little time to themselves. Chris and I went out sans baby last night for pizza with a couple of friends. I hadn't been away from Ellen for the past two weeks, so it definitely felt strange to be out without her. I love my girl so much, but some time away felt pretty nice. It hit home that it will be many years before I will be out again without the responsibility of finding good care for my little girl at home.

It also hit home that my tolerance for alcohol isn't what it used to be after 9 months without drinking and only a few drinks over the past 6 weeks. I had a 16oz beer along with 2 slices of pizza and definitely felt buzzed...pretty ridiculous. So perhaps that's another reason that Christmas with my family will be better next year than this year - the wine, beer, Irish coffees, and pretty much any other alcohol beverage you can think of flow freely when you're with my family :)

I'm so grateful to have Ellen in my life this Christmas. Last Christmas, I met my cousin's newborn son and couldn't stop thinking about whether Chris and I would have a child of our own this year, or any year for that matter given my difficulty getting pregnant. But it all worked out, and here we are this Christmas with our beautiful daughter. The transition to motherhood has been (and continues to be) challenging, but it's an exciting, love-filled challenge that I am grateful to be able to take on. Merry Christmas to all!