Christmas, Round 4

Now we arrive on Christmas morning. And awful parent that I am, took absolutely no pictures of our oldest child opening anything of any sort. If you look through our photos you would honest to goodness think we only have one child. I feel (kinda) horrible. 

We do get to sleep in our own house and wake up and drink our own coffee and take photos and video of just our family and stay in our pjs until noon. But...we are on Christmas Round 4. 

Yeah, "eyabobs".

Yeah, iPod.

Yeah, puzzuw.

"Yook, Nancy do it too."

Christmas, Round 3

Christmas Eve evening we headed to Ryan's parents house to eat and exchange gifts.  We headed straight down from the country and showered at their house (I didn't want to eat dinner with ash in my hair). It was fun to enjoy watching Tom and Lou Ann enjoy watching the girls enjoy opening their presents. 

Kate is so happy.

This was Kate's reaction to her Fancy Nancy doll. She literally jumped for joy.

Nancy putting on all the dress up scarves from Mimi.

Christmas, Round 2

"Up to the Country"

Christmas Eve day we went up to Gowansville where my Aunt Gerrie and Uncle Charlie have a house. It used to be my Aunt's mother's house, and until they decide if they will renovate and live up there, we use the surrounding acreage to go 4-wheeling and make bonfires and roast stuff. We ask "Hey, are you going up to the country tomorrow?" We call it the country, despite the slow suburban sprawl creeping up Highway 14. 

Uncle Charlie and Aunt Gerrie have Alice and Elizabeth. Alice and her husband Brian live in Birmingham, and were up for a couple of weeks. My Aunt Nancy has Ben and Carole, and Carole and her husband Matt came down from Richmond for a few days. Carole and I are the same age and she is the closest thing I had to a sister growing up, and we still love hanging out. It was fun to catch up and play outside together. 

It was cold, but not windy, but rainy, and we stayed out in the rain anyway. It was kind of ridiculous, but so fun. We rode the 4 wheelers through the new paths Uncle Charlie had cut through the woods, and my cousin Carole and I like to go to the dove field and ride where it's more open so we can kick the speed up. There are bramble bushes that you have to look out for - I have scratched my face and hands going 20mph more than once. We also had shooting practice and roasted some hot dogs. We were outside for hours, just talking and playing, and it was so fun. Uncle Charlie doesn't need an excuse to start a fire, so he was more than happy to get a hot one going for us, complete with snowflakes made of ash.

My cousins Elizabeth and Alice. We were keeping warm by the fire.

Uncle C enjoying his dog on a fork. We ran out of buns.

Uncle Charlie telling Carole where he cut the new trails. 

The Fam, though not everyone. Missing is Ben and Andrea and their kids Emily, Jake and Lizzie and Monie, Uncle Ray and Aunt Heather weren't able to make it up. This pic is funny b/c I have the camera propped on twigs on the bannister of the deck. Elizabeth and I had 10 seconds to press the button and run off the deck, around the ivy bed and get to our places. Her picture is a bazillion times better than mine, but it was so funny.

Is it Time for a Haircut?

Nancy's hair is starting to look like Jim from the Office.

Christmas, Round 1

We spent Christmas Eve Eve with my parents and brother and sister-in-law. Next year there will be 3 babies at Christmas! Not us...Heather and Ray! So excited about having a niece or nepher in town. My Aunt Nancy and grandmother (We call her Monie. That's another post for another day.) also joined us for the festivities.

This was actually my brother's and my joint birthday celebration on the 7th. But I think it's the only photo of the 4 of us from the season!

Kate opening her digital camera from Mo and Poppa.

Nancy showing Mo and Aunt Nancy her "beer".

The Other Lady in our Life

We have a dog. For almost 7 years we've had her. She is a fantastic, spastic dog that used to live in the house and sleep on a bed bigger than our dining table until we added Nancy to the family. After that she was put in the backyard and her bed moved to the garage for evenings. Don't pity her, she loves it. At first I was so glad to get rid of the dog hair in the house and her tail knocking over frames and drinks and children. But I now confess I hope we can one day let her back into the house so she can sit on our feet while we watch tv and pretend she doesn't notice we're eating dessert and she's not.

I love to hear her "deflate" when she's settling in for a good nap. I love the way her ears are small and her head is small and her paws are small. She likes a good butt rub. She is the reason my $100 sisal rug has lasted almost 8 years - she eats all the scraps and applesauce and yogurt and paint and playdough that gets smushed into the crevices. She doesn't dig, doesn't bark, doesn't chew, doesn't jump, doesn't run away, and has never ever pooped in the house. I'm still talking about the dog, not the kids. Seems Belle has better manners than they do! And Belle is awesome with the girls, just awesome. Nancy sits on her, pokes her paws, grabs her tail, gives her sticks and grass and cheerios, and Belle has such self control and is so gentle with her. 

Belle was there when we moved to St. Louis and I was sad and homesick, but she gave us a reason to get out and go to the park or for a run. And she was there when I was pregnant with Kate and scared and lonely, and she was still there when Kate arrived and I totally ignored her and considered her a burden. She was there when I was depressed and anxious about the world around me and couldn't figure out how to be a mom and wife. And she is still part of our home, chasing Kate and taking snacks from Nancy and vacuuming my sisal rug. I love our dog. 

And yes, I've recently read Marley and Me.

Santa Claus has Come to Town

Every year I look forward to taking the girls to see Santa. I wish our scanner worked, so I could subject the general public to 5 years of photos with the Jolly Man, but it isn't compatible with our Mac, so you'll have to trust me: every year is priceless.

It can take me 5 minutes to decide what kind of peanut butter to get at the store (the cheapest, the giant tub that will last for 4 weeks, or the no high fructose corn syrup non-comodegenic kind?) but I do not hesitate a second to lay down $25 for only 4 pictures of my kids with this stranger-man we tell them is Santa. Kate only had one year that was horrible, and that was the year she was the same age that Nancy is now. I knew going into it that Nan would probably wail, and she did, but we got the absolute funniest picture ever. Kate is prim and proper and waiting patiently with a smile on her face (why can't she do that when I take pictures?) and you can see Ryan's arms holding Nancy close to Santa on the other side, making what we call her "square face". She goes red and square, and it's so funny. But remember, my scanner doesn't work. So just do your best to picture it in your head. 

We did get some action shots of Kate with Santa. I think besides Nancy and Clara and Carson and Celia, she thinks Santa is her BFF.

"...and peace on earth, and no more hunger, and a Barbie Diamond Castle."

They really are BFF, for like, 3 minutes each year.

"Hey Nan. What did Santa give you?"

"TANDY!!"