It's Christmas Time in the City!!

A few weeks ago, my Dad came into town, he was here for a work trip in Connecticut, but stayed with us for a few days. Since we weren't able to go home for Christmas, it was really great to see him again!  We did several holiday activities like decorate our tree, make him put the christmas lights up, and go to Boston's Celtic Christmas Sojourn. It was a great song and dance show they have every year that we really enjoyed (except for the very annoying lady behind us that insisted on singing along to all the music despite her terrible voice). We also went to Faneiul Hall to see the tree light show, eat and do some shopping. Last year when he came around the same time it was SUPER COLD, so the warm temps this year were a pleasant surprise. 
The stockings were hung on the the china cabinet with care
Thanks DAD for putting up our lights,
they looked about a thousand times better than when I did it last year!
We played Acquire together,
I lost big time because I was most interested the whole time in figuring out how
to get my new camera to take a picture by pressing a button on my phone remotely. 
at the Celtic Christmas Sojourn, annoying lady is the one in red

That same weekend I also had my baby shower. I love my super amazing friends that put it on for me and it was super cute because it was woodland creature themed (aka, HEDGEHOGS!!!)  We even had a hedgehog cheeseball!  It was so fun to have friends over and to celebrate baby hixson!  One of the most amazing parts was actually what Nate contributed to it.  He had a list of questions sent to him to answer in a little video and before he answered I was supposed to guess what he was going to say.  I never could have anticipated his crazy answers, what he made was super hilarious and just needs to be seen to understand.  

The two amazing friends who threw the party
HEDGEHOG CHEESEBALL!!
SO MUCH GOOD FOOD
Lab Buddies came!!!
You'll notice I wasn't the only one expecting!


This year for Christmas, we stayed in Boston and had our Christmas without family for the first time.  I was pretty bummed that I was just barely over the threshold for when you are advised not to travel and was pretty sure it would've been fine, but didn't want to risk it (or rather, Nate didn't want to risk it and I would totally have done it anyway). Big shocker, the holiday went by and nothing happened, so we totally could've gone!  

We made the most of it here in Boston though.  On Christmas eve, we went out to eat at a great pizza place in Braintree, MA. Later that night we got a call we'd been waiting for that our good friend was going into labor, and we rushed to their house to take care of their other two little girls while she had her baby.  We got there at 11:30 pm after the girls were asleep, watched Star Wars episode V, to prepare ourselves for when we go see the new one, and went to bed. At 6 am we got a call from them hoping to hear that the baby arrived, but turns out they were coming home because despite having consistent 5 minute apart contractions for several hours, they just stopped.  Since they were expecting labor to come back sometime soon and quickly, we stayed with them through Christmas day.  The best part was watching their two girls open their presents from Santa. Nathan had to run home to get our stockings so we'd have something to open that morning. Later in the day Nate and I took their girls to a Christmas dinner party at a friends house in Walpole, MA, a nearby city that a ward member recently moved to. It was super fun to have a real Christmas dinner with great friends and delicious food. That night our friend still hadn't had any more contractions, and didn't for several more days. Unfortunately, it was 67 degrees on Christmas day, so no white Christmas for us   :(

We got these cuties some Lego's for christmas and they were stoked!
Opening presents on Christmas morning
Too intrigued by the legos to smile for the photo
Since we were home for the holiday and didn't have a lot to do, we also signed up for some Christmas volunteering opportunities around the community. On Dec. 20 we went to what's called Christmas in the City, which is a giant event where children from women's shelters, homeless shelters, and other organizations come to have a feast, play on carnival rides, see performers, get spa treatments and even dentist cleanings. The kids received personalized gifts from Santa. This year, they had around 3000 guests, and gave toys to all of the children, and many more children that weren't able to attend the party but that got their toys the following day, all of which were donated.  Our job there was to help escort them back to their buses when they were leaving and help carry gifts and make sure all children were accounted for. 
On Dec. 23 we did a holiday meal delivery through Community Servings, a local non-profit that feeds the critically ill meals in their homes that are catered to their various dietary needs. We delivered the regular weekly bag of meals to three people along with a holiday feast for them and their families. Our last volunteering opportunity was on Christmas day, and we were going to pick up some elderly people from the community and take them to a special Christmas/Hanukkah luncheon and drop them off, since we were on call in case our friend went into labor, just Nathan was able to attend this one.  We really enjoyed making the best of our holiday at home by getting involved at trying to help make the holiday special for others in the community. 
Volunteering at Christmas in the City
We also skyped with family several times which helped them seem less far away, and we opened our presents on the evening of Christmas day once we got home. We got some super great stuff, some of our favorite stuff was a really super amazing blanket my mom crocheted for our baby, a new fancy camera from Nate's parents, and warm slippers to get us through another Boston winter. Nathan knows the key to my heart this year was literally a key... one that starts the engine of our car from inside the house so that it can be heating up and nice and toasty with the snow melted before we even venture outside.  Last year I couldn't stop dreaming about how amazing it would be to have that, but I'm glad we waited until this year because we had to replace our car since then. I got Nate several small things including a few books, which I knew he'd love because he asked for them, and a personalized cookbook I made with easy, quick recipes I chose that I knew we both like so when the baby comes he can have some guidance in the kitchen when I'm not available to help out (yes, this gift is completely self-serving :) ). I also got him some dip clips, which were an amazing and perfect gift for Nathan--they clip to the side of any plate and you can put in syrup, salsa, etc. so it doesn't get on anything else on the plate.  Nathan is a REALLY strange eater, and particularly with pancakes, french toast and waffles, he has to put a utensil under his plate so that it's on an incline and the syrup can sit at the bottom, now he doesn't have to! Baby also received lots of gifts... a dresser from my mom and dad, which we built on Christmas eve, lots of clothes, and some shelves for decorating his room from Nate. I don't have pics of the camera because it is taking the pics, but don't judge me yet because I'm trying to learn to shoot in manual mode and still failing.
The cute family portrait we got from my sister
The dip clip!
The gift I'm most proud of giving
(even though this is as far as I got) a new stocking for mom! Spoiler alert, the finished product is your gift next year.
The crocheted blanket for baby from my mom. SO CUTE!!
I also got this amazing pregnancy body pillow, it is my new best friend, and Nate's new enemy!
The cookbook I made for Nate

















Speaking of the baby, I'm now 37 weeks, which means I'm no longer considered pre-term, but I don't really consider it full-term because the brain really needs until 39 weeks to be completely developed before birth, and despite being pretty ready for him to get out of me, I just love the brain too much to want him to come out early. I'm still shooting for 40 weeks and 1 day though, so that I can use the brand new labor and delivery unit at the hospital that opens on Jan. 19th, the day after my due date!  We are ordering everything remaining on the checklist for a newborn this week, finishing the nursery decorations and preparations, packing our go-bags, and already have the car seat out in the trunk so we are prepared.... however, we anticipate that since it is a first baby we will have plenty of time laboring at home so won't need to rush to the hospital too quickly. Nate will also be completing the tasks assigned to him to do before the baby comes including several in-home repairs and finishing the homemade/custom changing table with pad attached. Nate and our friend designed it to hang on the side of our crib, and sit on rollers that allow you to pull it up and lay it on top of the crib with one hand. I still don't completely trust it will work, but they have all the materials now so I'm really hoping it does since it will save me a lot of space. 
Full Fledged Nesting Mode making our new dresser!
The finished product

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