The Barney's: December

This December was definitely an emotional one for me. I was a little over sensitive and prone to cry {which I totally hate} but I guess it's okay. Tears help mend a broken heart.

For me, the Christmas season doesn't really start until my Christmas tree is up. So the Monday evening after Thanksgiving I put on a Christmas movie, usually Elf, and Jared and I put up the tree. After the tree is up I focus on the rest of the house.

As I took out the Christmas decorations, I came across these.

Every year my mom gives us a new Christmas ornament for the tree {a very old tradition in our family} and these were the ornaments we were given last year. The bears represent Jared, me, Michael, and Wyatt. I cried as I took these little bears out of their packaging. One year ago everything had been absolutely perfect. IVF had been a complete success and I "graduated" from HRC. I was pregnant with twins like I'd always wanted. I was stalking pinterest for the perfect twin nursery ideas and planning out the following year. I bought matching outfits for the twins to wear and we'd picked out the perfect names. Jared and I were on cloud nine with no clue what was in store for us. December was a hard month for me because it was a reminder that the only "easy" thing with my pregnancy was that IVF had worked the first time. December was hard because Michael wasn't here with us to celebrate his first Christmas. December was hard because it was a reminder that things don't always turn out the way you plan. I had no idea that I was going to react this way to simply seeing a Christmas ornament... but that is how my December started.

Luckily Jared was at home when I came across the bears and he gave me a big hug while I cried. He's such a sweet guy. Then I put myself together and Wyatt and I decorated while watching Rudolph.

The first 2.5 weeks of December were a whirlwind for us. Jared worked like crazy to get all of his work done for the month so that we could leave for STL to spend Christmas with my family. Since he was working so much I was home by myself a ton. I was kind of a single mom there for a bit which just made me all the more grateful for how involved of a dad Jared is.

Wyatt rolled over for the first time on November 30th, but I didn't get it on film :/ I was so disappointed! He's only rolled over 4 times and has since decided it's too much work I guess because he hasn't done it again since that first week of December.

He also tried his first food. I've started occasionally giving him avocado. He pulls faces and sometimes gags like he doesn't like it, but he eventually gets it down and that's what really counts right?

I got all of our family pictures up on the walls {and when I say I, I mean I told Jared where to put them, haha}

My friend Laura took this picture when they came over for dinner one night. I've got two cute bald men :)

The Wednesday before Christmas we all packed up and went to the airport to get on our plane. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I was kind of freaking out about flying with Wyatt. Before we left I did a ton of research on tips for flying with infants and what you can gate check and info on flying with medically necessary liquids and do I need his birth certificate etc etc. I wasn't asked for Wyatt's birth certificate once, but I'm glad I had it with me just in case. I had a letter from his dr. for his lotions and out of 3 airports was only asked for it once. Everyone gate checked his car seat no problem and the people on the plane around us were SO nice about me having a baby {I was so scared people were going to be rude}. I fed Wyatt as we took off and landed and he slept during the entire flight. I'm so lucky he's such a good boy!

We were in STL from Dec. 19th-Jan 4th. I wanted to stay longer this year so that my family could get lots of time with Wyatt. None of my sisters had met him yet so it was fun for them to finally meet him. While we were in STL Jared celebrated his 28th birthday. I took him out to dinner at Trattoria Marcella {an amazing little italian restaurant} and then to Ted Drewes frozen custard for dessert. My dad let us take his Challenger for the night so Jared was pretty stoked.

On Christmas Eve Wyatt went to see Santa {yes, I braved the mall on Christmas Eve}. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be thank goodness!

I'm hoping that one day Wyatt will smile when strangers are the ones taking pictures haha

Wyatt has never liked to be picked up under his arms. He always screams if you do {I'm guessing because his skin is so sensitive} and so whenever I pick him up I have to pick him up like an infant, supporting the head and one hand under the butt. It's getting harder the heavier he gets, so over the past month or so I've been working with holding him under his arms when I pick him up, but quickly and as softly as I can. And it has totally paid off! Look what he can do with daddy now

He can only tolerate this for a few seconds, but it's so fun to be able to do some everyday baby things with him :)

Christmas day was way fun for us this year. Jared and I both lost our sunglasses sometime over the last year, so we gave each other sunglasses. The most fun though was helping Wyatt open his presents. He would grab the paper and I would turn the package to help tear it off. It was super cute.

and of course as soon as anything was unwrapped, either the paper or the toy went straight into his mouth.

It snowed twice while we were out there, the day after Christmas and on New Years Eve. I LOVE the snow!

On New Years Eve my sister and I made a 5 course dinner for the family. I didn't get a picture of everything, sad day, but here's what I made.

1. Crostini with tomato and mozzarella

2. Salad

3. Broccoli risotto with lemon and garlic {ever tried to make risotto? It took 40 minutes of un-interupted cooking to make this bad boy. The whole time chef Ramsey was in my head "It's MUSH!!!! It's effing MUSH!!! and imagined my risotto being flung across the kitchen. I had some serious anxiety before making this but it turned out absolutely superb.}

4. Sirloin steak with green beans and fingerling potatoes {the portion of meat was actually about twice this size, but I forgot to take a picture until part way through the course, oops!}

5. Dessert was fondue. I did a chocolate fondue and a cream cheese fondue. They were both phenomenal.

We had the fondue shortly before midnight and toasted the new year with Martinelli's apple cider. I think my sister had a little too much haha. {Don't tell her I put this picture up or she will kill me!}

I hung out with my sisters one night and got adventurous enough to buy red lipstick. I've always wanted red lipstick but never had the nerve to buy it. I'm not sure if I'll actually wear it out anywhere, but it's kind of fun to have. :)

The day before we left STL our friends Jackie and Frank drove down from Illinois to visit us. We met them at the F.I.R.S.T. conference back in June and it was so much fun to be able to meet up with them and for them to meet Wyatt. They said that Wyatt looks a lot like their son Ben did as a child which makes us really hopeful because Ben looks amazing. :)

When we left STL we flew straight to Oakland for our friend Mitchell and Meghan's wedding. The night we got in we went to dinner with my Gpa and Gma West and several of my aunts and uncles. It was so fun to be able to see everyone! It's been 6.5-12 years since I've seen some of my family and I hadn't even met two of my uncles yet. None of them had met Wyatt so it was really fun to show him off :)
Saturday was the wedding. I don't know Meghan very well, but I think Mitchell got himself a winner! She's super cute and they seem to be perfect for one another.