Merry Christmas!

Here are some Christmas day photos from all our festivities:) We had a wonderful first Christmas with Alley and the rest of the family!Santa couldn't make it to our house to hand out gifts, so he sent an elf...a very big elf...
Grandma Alley getting some quality time with her great granddaughterRelaxing while opening presents (taking a break from it all!)Calming the oh-so-tired oneSporting a Santa hat from Grandma Alley...I'm not sure if she enjoyed it...but it makes for a cute picture!!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends!!

Christmas Eve

Okay, so this is my second post of the day:) Our Christmas Eve has been full of activities...it started out at 3am this morning when Alley decided that she was way too excited about it being her first Christmas Eve for her to sleep. Man are we tired! We spent most of the day getting ready for tomorrow and resting up from the eventful night we had. Alley had her Christmas eve bath...so exciting;) Then we had some family photos before we headed off to the Rickman's Christmas party. Alley met little Josiah, Amy Wood's son, for the first time (and we would have a photo of their meeting, but Alley decided it was way too close to feeding time for her to pose for a shot). Then the Alley family met up at McDonalds for our traditional Christmas Eve meal (yummy!). The rest of the evening entails the late Christmas Eve service tonight that we're going to try and attend (we'll see how Alley fares). Here are some photos from today.

Getting up at 3am is tiring work!Yeah for warm blankets and towels:)

McPherson family Christmas photo

Alley posing in her new Christmas outfit (thank you mimi and papa!!)

Family festivities

It's really beginning to feel more like Christmas! Grandma Alley, Aunt Pat and Steve arrived yesterday from New York to celebrate christmas with us. We had a very nice day of relaxing and preparing from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. After dinner we all decided to take a drive to look at the Christmas lights downtown (man, some people get crazy with lights!!). Here are some photos from the day.There is no question about who Alley belongs to!!Grandma Alley holding little Alley for the first time.

Sleeping baby! Finally!!! Will this last all night?! Of course not...

Grandma Alley and Aunt Pat holding Alley (I think Alley is loving all this attention!)

4 generations of Alley's...Grandma Alley, Papa and Aunt Pat, me and little Alley

Christmas is coming...

Here are a couple pictures from the last couple of days. We've been enjoying ourselves by relaxing, going on walks, visiting friends and are now in Richmond with Mimi and Papa for Christmas.Alley "learning" how to relax and hang out without being in mommy and daddy's arms...this peaceful state didn't last long!We've got a cat who just has to be in the same exact place as Alley...what a jealous animal!Quite a little girl on a big sofa...I think she looks close to the size of the remote control near her (she is bigger then that!)Mom and Alley's debut in the Christmas pageant at church
Checking out Papa...Papa definitely has the calming touch:)

Christmas decorating is so tiring!!
Nap Time for all:)

Life continues...

My apologies for not updating the blog recently! We have been rolling through life here in the McPherson household with adjusting to the lack of sleep at night, the fussiness of someone who has no clue what she wants except to be held (I can't help but give in to her pitiful looks and quivering chin...too adorable!), and trying to learn all the ropes as a new family. I wont lie, it's been tough but at the same time my love for her grows with each passing day (fussiness, crying, poopie diapers and all!). I'm in the midst of the nap time struggle...which sometimes overlaps into the bedtime struggle...those are the rough days! Regardless of all the hard and stressful times as a new mom, I'm loving it and fall in love with Alley more and more each day...and I must say, her dad is head-over-heels for her and he has been a tremendous help to me! Andy has been an incredible dad and husband during this major transition in our lives. He supports me when I'm falling apart, he cares for Alley in such a tender way and enjoys getting to hold her, play with her and tend to her needs. I am very thankful for the time he is taking to be with us girls.
On another note...after Thanksgiving our family (extended) celebrated Granny's 85th birthday with a party with all her friends. Here are some pictures of the event and some other photos:)
I'm working on more photos, but I think she is getting a little camera shy...every time I take a picture, she turns her head away...silly little girl! We're working on getting her used to the camera, so hopefully I'll have more photos soon:)