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It still feels like Christmas was just yesterday to me, but if I don’t write about it soon, it’s going to be Christmas 2010! But life has been beyond crazy since we got back from our trip to Minnesota, with Jason heading to Phoenix to see his Frogs in the Fiesta Bowl and my return to work. (More on that later.)

Before all the craziness, the three of us had a great first Christmas together, and Maya got to take her first plane ride to Minnesota. She and I headed up there about a week before Jason (wanted to take advantage of the end of my maternity leave) and I was incredibly nervous that I would end up with a screaming baby the entire two and a half hours! But Maya did great. She ate when we were taking off and didn’t wake up until we were at the gate in Minneapolis. No complaints from mom!

When we got to Minnesota, Maya got to meet her Uncle Ryan for the first time, since he was home from school in Poland for the holiday. We went on to spend much time relaxing with Maya’s grandparents, and I took advantage of having willing babysitters around, going to movies, shopping and getting together with friends. We all had a blast. One day, Maya and I headed to Matt’s cabin for his annual party. There weren’t many of us this year, but we had a great time (saved the sledding for next year when Maya is bigger) and Maya got to meet her slightly older friend Wyatt for the first time. It’s funny to think about how these parties have changed since we were all in college, now that there are little kids in the mix. Other fun things we got to do while in MN: See Santa #2 (Maya had a much more stoic face this time, instead of a frown), meet lots of mom’s friends for the first time and best of all, see Maya’s first snow!

What a first Christmas in Minnesota for Maya: we had record snowfall. It was beautiful and perfect weather for Christmas! Luckily Jason was able to switch his flight from the 24th to the 23rd to avoid getting stuck in Fort Worth alone for the holiday. So he made it in time to beat the real snowfall… we’re talking feet, not just inches! We spent Christmas Eve at my cousin’s house with about 30 people from my mom’s side of the family. Christmas Day was at our house with a much smaller gathering of family. We played lots of Scrabble and spent much time on the couch watching all the white! Maya loved her first Christmas, although I think she was rather oblivious to what was going on. She didn’t care about her presents at all this year! But I think she was happy to have so many people excited to hold her.

We ended our trip with Maya’s second successful plane ride, aside from Maya’s unhappiness with the changing accommodations in the plane’s bathroom. Luckily, the engines drowned out the screaming, and she was happy as a lark to get out of there. And happy to be home too.