The Christmas Catch-Up Post

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, filled with friends, family, and food...just like ours! Christmas this year was such a blast; Squiggles definitely understood the idea of presents better this year than last year, and had a lot of fun tearing the paper off his packages. I say "tearing" but it was more like controlled peeling. He would peel back the smallest bits of paper, and the gift was not unwrapped until every bit of paper and tape had been removed from the package. I guess he's a lot like me in that way, though hopefully it won't last because I know I drive everyone crazy with how I unwrap gifts! Anyway, he would get frustrated if he couldn't get the present opened right away, but he's going on 2, so he gets frustrated if his toys look at him funny these days.

We had our little family Christmas here before we left for Ohio, and it turned out to be such a great day. Squiggles and I made cookies, and I fixed a few of Brian's favorite foods for our celebration. We did it all up as if it were Christmas Eve, putting out cookies and milk for Santa and reading "The Night Before Christmas". I don't think Squiggles really gets the idea of Santa and the birth of Jesus still, but we sure had fun with it. He was definitely excited, even if he didn't really know why.

After we opened presents (Squiggles got entirely too many action figures!) and ate breakfast, we got dressed in our shorts and took cookies to our neighbors. We all agreed that taking a walk in the sunshine was a good Christmas tradition to start.

The next day we drove to Orlando to stay with Brian's brother, Phill, for a night before we all headed up to Ohio. I am so thankful that Phill was on the same flight with us; I was so sick all day. Brian and Phill picked up a lot of the slack, and the crew on our flight were extremely helpful, so everyone made it through just fine. I just had a 24-hour thing, so I did get to enjoy the rest of our trip.

Christmas was wonderful! We got to spend a lot of time with both families, and Squiggles was sufficiently spoiled. His present opening technique did not change, but he did develop a fascination with bows (we don't usually use them). He would go around the room, pick the bows off of everyone's presents, and then redistribute them. Hilarious!

He also developed a keen sense of how to respond to each gift. Especially the clothes. Of course, we told him to say "thank you" after he opened a gift, but when he opened a box with clothes in it, he would pull each piece up in front of his face, shout "woo!" and then throw it backward over his head. You could definitely see the "Gee, thanks, Grandma, another pair of socks is just what I wanted" look on his face.

We even got to spend some time with our friends from our BCC home group, along with being able to attend two services at BCC. Oh, how we missed our church! The process of finding one here is daunting only because it has such a high standard to live up to.

So here's to a great 2009! May your year be filled with smiles, love and...dancing!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas, everyone! We are all enjoying time with family and friends right now, but we'll be back to posting soon. Santa brought us a new camera, so get ready for an onslaught of pictures to make up for the last three months!

Squiggles is just one bad Christmas sweater away from perfection right here...

Ho Ho Ho!

I just saw this great post on Lifehacker...apparently, you can dress up your Flickr photos by using Easter egg notes. Of course, I couldn't resist dressing my boys up as Santa...



Brian looks really happy as Santa, don't you think? But Squiggles makes an adorable St. Nick!

Pillow Fort

Squiggles tends to get a little antsy in that little stretch of time before lunch. Yesterday was no exception. I had lunch (chicken nuggets and tater tots, yum!) in the oven, but the waiting!

I had left our bedroom door open, so he ran in and did what he usually does when he can get into our room; he asked to get up on the bed so we could play in the pillows. He loves to fall against them and then make Brian or me fall against them, too. It gave me a wonderful idea: pull all the pillows off our bed, the guest bed, and the couches and throw them in the middle of the family room! He had a blast, and was entertained until lunch was ready. And now we have a new game in our arsenal.

Anniversaries, good and bad

I already blogged about our great, lazy Sunday last week, but it dawned on me a few days ago that Sunday was a day for a few anniversaries.


Brian proposed to me on November 30, so it's always been a special day for me. He popped the question the day before I graduated from college. It was good timing because I was so focused on finishing exams and getting ready to walk at commencement that I was totally gobsmacked by his proposal.

But something happened on November 30 last year to taint the day a bit. That was the day I was let go from my job. Even though I didn't love the job, or even the fact that I had to work, it was still a shock, and it took some time to heal.

However, since I never went back to work, I guess November 30 is also the anniversary of when I became a stay-at-home mom. And that's been a very good thing.

P.S. What do you think of the bigger picture - is it good or do you like the smaller sizes I've been posting better?