I realized I posted practically nothing about what happened in December... well, that's about to change! And I've got photos to boot! Woo Hoo! Lucky you! :) Aren't you glad you stopped by?
As usual, I had to do something crafty for Christmas. Besides baking, I did make some Hot Chocolate mix for family, and I repainted a table and chair set for my niece and nephew (love it... the black is actually chalkboard paint), made my yearly Star Wars ornament for my husband, and made hand and footprint ornaments with the kiddos. Grandparents got a footprint each. I kept M's hand print for myself... ;)
We found out that our popcorn popper had finally burnt out on us... after 7 years. And I wanted popcorn. So, we got ourselves a new one... movie style! I love it! M asks for 'copcorn' regularly now... and if we didn't regulate, I'm sure she would eat more of the stuff than I do! She loves watching it pop... who doesn't?
The first through fourth of the December we were at the Dairy conference in the city. The kids enjoyed themselves... as you can see below!
Bram did pretty well at the hotel. I think we did good bringing the mini humidifier along so we didn't have a repeat of last year (M woke every hour the first night due to dry air and it being so hot in there). I managed to do some work on the laptop... made our Christmas cards. And M... she loved the daycare. First thing she said when we walked into the hotel was 'play... toys'. And first thing she did when she got there was head for the dollhouse.
M got a couple of bells from the group that came and provided entertainment for the kiddos the night of the banquet. She called them her 'tinkerbells'. :)
The daycare was great! They remembered M from last year and were thrilled to see Bram as well, remembering that I had been expecting last year as well (and I can't even remember their names... how sad is that). Bram had fun chewing on whatever he could, and he loved being held. M tried sharing all the toys she could with him... except for the tiny teddy bear from the doll house. She clung to that thing almost the entire first day. She made lots of friends, too. It was funny watching some of the older girls there helping her paint and work with the play dough.
I did manage to take Bram's 7month photos... almost a week late, but I did get them. And Christmassy ones, too! He's sitting up so well already! Where has the time gone? Oh... and he's got four teeth, and is finally eating so many different foods!
M got to do so many different things this month. We played outside... briefly. She didn't care for walking through the snow and was NOT happy with me for trying to get her to make a snow angel next to me. She just wanted me to carry her everywhere. Maybe later. She washed dishes with her cousin and Grandma. She played with her play dough at home with cookie cutters and her rolling pin, and she painted clay ornaments.
I had to take a pic of my tree this year. I hope to have it somewhere else next year, but that depends on the renovations. We got a few 'family pictures' taken at the church with my flash-less camera. I am so upset that the thing had to die on me after such a short time. Yes... just over 1 year after purchasing, the flash quit working. It costs approximately $150 to fix. Not worth it. We figured we'd just buy a new one... more on that later.
And... the yearly tradition of making white cookies continues. Now I have a helper! She didn't ice any, but she stirred the dough for me, and enjoyed trying to put cookie cutters on it. And eating them, of course!
Christmas was busy. On Christmas Eve, we headed to my sister-in-law's house for some family festivities. The kids enjoyed unwrapping gifts, and M kept telling everyone "happy dirtday" whenever she saw a present. They got so many toys! Christmas really centered on them this year... although I guess that will happen when there are kids around. It was great!
Christmas morning was relaxing... as far as Christmas morning can be. M walked to the top of the stairs and saw the tree... and a plush Yoshi was placed inside, as well as two teddy bears that I didn't wrap but just put just in front of the tree itself. "Teddy Bear... Yoshi" was what I heard as I was scooping up Bram to bring downstairs. Before Hubs came inside from the barn, I managed to assemble the bears (they were the kind you stuff yourself and add a heart to and stuff). After breakfast we unloaded the stockings... M was trying to get to them long beforehand. She had a Hello Kitty toothbrush inside, and she could see Kitty poking out and wanted her SO badly. Out of all the toys she got, I think that toothbrush was her favorite, haha. She wouldn't let it go.
I got a few things from the MCC for cheap... and the kids loved them. The xylophone you see above was one of those items... $2. And I got her a vanity set (you can see the chair) for $3 from a garage sale. I think we only spent $40 total on the kids... and that includes two movies (new, $6 each) and a train set (new from Ikea... wood... $15).
Bram actually got in on the action and was playing with the toys as well. He's quite musical, would you believe. Loves the xylophone. That was one great buy!
I was sick on Christmas day... had to take a nap when the kiddos did. Managed to wake up in time to get them ready and head over to my parents. We spent a fun evening there eating appetizers and watching the kids open their gifts from the aunts and uncles. We gave our gifts to each other and to my parents, and then went to watch A Christmas Carol in my parents newly 'made' entertainment room. Insane! Of course, we put the kids to bed first. Did I mention we all stayed the night there? Yeah... it was crazy!
I was not feeling well, unfortunately. Didn't stay up to watch all of Elf... had to head to bed around 12 (Hubs didn't stay, he had chores to do the next morning so he went home). My kids were asleep thankfully, and so I joined them. Bram woke sometime during the night to eat, and then again at 7:30... only then he was angry and woke M... and my parents. Ah well. At least it was after 7. He wouldn't eat properly from me that weekend. My guess is that it was too busy, too much happening. It was rather frustrating.
Either way, boxing day morning had us making breakfast, then opening gifts from my parents. We played some games (Mad Gab is hilarious), and the guys ended up downstairs playing their Call of Duty on the Projector... I don't think I was downstairs much that day. It was fun, but tiring. The kids were ready for bed early.
Monday I felt much better after a good night's sleep... and took down all the Christmas decorations. We want to do renovations, so I figured the sooner that came down, the sooner I could completely empty the office, and the sooner we could rip down the ceiling. The next day we wanted to go to the city to take care of a few things. Bram woke up that day with a fever. It was not looking good. This was the only day that Hubs could take the evening off all week, and I didn't really like the idea of him going and leaving me behind... I hardly saw him as is. As it was, Bram's fever went down, and he was sleepy, but ok, so we went. I had him in the Sleepywrap the whole time we were in the mall, and he loved it. We also managed to nab a deal on a new car seat (rear and front facing) for him. He's grown out of the infant seat already...
A little Tims? Ok ok... it's actually water. She was asking for water.
Thankfully, Bram's fever didn't return. The rest of the week saw me cleaning house and reorganizing all sorts of things from the office... moving everything into the dining room. It's a little cramped.
I hope you all had a Merry Christmas! And a Happy New Year, too. Can you believe it's 2011 already?
