The most wonderful time of the year has come and gone..

This year was a really special year for Christmas for us because it was Airlie's first! She was a lot more into Christmas than we thought she would be, although really she just wanted to play with the wrapping paper and bows and could have cared less what was actually in the packages! It was nice to be in our own house for Christmas but weird at the same time. This year was the first time ever that Wes, my mom and I were not in Pennsylvania for Christmas. Although each year I complain about having to travel to PA because it is stressful and always too quick of a trip I must admit I missed being in PA for the holidays. I missed pulling up to Wes's parents house and the dogs knowing we were there, I missed seeing the snow, I missed Candy cane lane, I missed seeing my family, but we did enjoy Christmas here also. It was very relaxing. We went to church at 4 o'clock on Christmas Eve and then had my Mom over for a yummy array of appetizers and cookies. I must admit I was super excited to finally be in North Carolina to attend the Port City Christmas Service. It was amazing as to be expected and the music really filled my heart with joy for the Christmas season. On Christmas Day we had a delicious ham dinner at my Mom's house. The following week Wes's parents came down from Pennsylvania and stayed through New Years. We enjoyed having them here and are always sad to see them leave. Airlie got all kinds of fun stuff for Christmas, including an adorable Mermaid doll and light up sea horse (two of my favorites) Her favorite toy seems to be the fake cell phone she got (Daddy's girl already!) I got a super cool smore maker that makes some delicious smores along with many other thoughtful gifts from Wes. Here are some pictures from the holidays.

Christmas Day at my Mom's house

Airlie and me at Mom's

Mom's beautiful house decorated for Christmas

Airlie posing in her Santa hat!

All the goodies we made for friends and family!

Bechtel Family at our house on Christmas Eve

Airlie and me!

Reading before bed with Daddy.

Reading the Night Before Christmas with Gram!

On her way to her first Christmas party!

It's a reindeer, no it's Airlie!

On the way to pick a Christmas Tree

She liked touching the branches!

Airlie and me by our tree

Dear breastpump,

I am so sick of you. You are a pain in my arse, literally. I am sick of carrying you up two flights of steps every morning to my office and back down every afternoon to my car. I'm sick of lugging you in and out of the house morning and night. I'm sick of cleaning you, I'm sick of looking at you because although Medela insists that you are enclosed in a stylish, sleek bag you are enclosed in a ugly pleather bag that couldn't be less stylish. I'm sick of using you. Although, I am still very grateful for you because without you I couldn't provide the insane amount of milk to my sweet little girl at home.

Love, Kristen

I was thinking this morning and my brain actually started working like my husband's for once and I started computing how many ounces of milk I have pumped with this breast pump. It is amazing and exhausting to think about. After computing, I came to realize that I pump four times a day, five days a week and get approximately 6 ounces every time I pump and I have been doing this since I came back to work around the end of July. So that means that in the last 8 months I have pumped approximately 2,900 ounces of milk for Airlie Mae. That is crazy and although I am really sick and tired of this pump and I will be so excited that I don't have to carry it in and out of work everyday I think I will be sad once this season of Airlie's life is over and she no longer needs me to provide for her in this way.