My Adorable Nieces!

Christmas Break!

Today is my first day of my break, and this year, I get 2 whole weeks! Max and I have already had a great morning visiting friends, going shopping, and reading books. We spent an hour and a half in Barnes and Noble, but it was mostly spent playing with trains and running around, examining every single item in the children's section :) Charly will only get a couple of days off - Christmas Eve and New Year's - but we have a lot of plans to see friends, family, and just hang out.

We will pick up Alex, as usual, at noon on Christmas day, and then he will stay with us for the next 8 days.

Max will still go to daycare for 2 days in the 2 week span. After all, I'm still paying for it! I thought it would be good for him to see his friends and Julie and Angie, particularly since he hasn't been there very long. Also, it will give me a chance to do stuff around the house, run errands, get ready for next semester's classes, and read the stack of books calling my name.

I have always loved this time of the year, the break is always nice, and now that I have a child of my own, the holidays mean even more. I'm truly lucky to have a job with such flexibility and breaks, and I intend to make the most of it.

Maxmis

Does the bulb look out of place?

It appears someone has already been in the presents.

Max has had a busy and fun year with the tree and gits. There are bulbs and hooks constantly scattered about the house, and when he is not unwrapping presents, he is carrying around the ones in gift bags that have handles. He also LOVES to plug in the Christmas tree. Over. And Over. He's obviously not supposed to play with outlets, so he's quite sneaky about it.

We decided to put up our artificial tree this year rather than deal with the needles we knew would be Max strewn with a real one. We made the right decision!

This Was the Closest Max Would Get to Santa

Perfect Winter Evening

This last weekend, we had a rare night where we did not have anything planned, so Charly made a slow-cooking beef stew, we bought some crusty rolls, and made a fire. I LOVE building fires, but with Max in the picture, they now require constant vigilance, so we don't have one often. However, with 3 of us in the living room to guard it (and him), it was okay. It was cold and snowing outside, and we ate stew by the fire. I hope we can have these evenings more often.

Life with a Toddler

Oh, how busy and chaotic these days are! Max is keeping us on our toes, and his seemingly boundless energy tires us out before even nap time. He is learning, growing, and changing every day and always trying out new sounds and words. This week, he said Taco and Juice for the first time, and as always, the kid loves to eat! Julie, one of his teachers, said his favorite word lately has been "Snack":)

He's moving into the naked stage, where he even removes his diaper. Last week, he stripped down at daycare and appeared to be quite proud of himself. 

Here are a few pics, and I will post videos soon:

The kid is always eating!

Playing with Alex's skate helmet-he wants to do everything Alex does!

Playing with Mommy's Mousse-he loves my hair products!

These days, it's getting hard to keep his clothes on. Here was one of his recent naked escapades.

He loves to sweep.

He was only alone for mere moments.

He loves his books!

I covered him up to make this more "PG". 

My Grandma

 My Grandma Hilda passed away on Tuesday, December 30th at 3:35 p.m. I have been dreading writing about this, almost as if it would not be real if seen in print.

Words can't even begin to describe how amazing this woman was to everyone she met, and she was and will continue to be an influence over how I would like to be as both a mom, and someday, a grandma.

She was my last, living grandparent, so I feel like I have lost a very special part of my family. No one spoils, bakes, and cooks for me, or smiles and laughs at everything I say, quite like Grandma did. When I was younger (up until I was about 19!), she would bake me her special biscuits every time I was sick because she knew how much I loved them. When I was 17 and died my hair purple, she was the only one who told me she loved it. It doesn't matter if she was lying through her teeth; the way she smiled and patted my hand felt sincere, and she always made me feel like the only one in the room, although she had the same love, affection, and kind words for every one of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

I am thankful we were able to spend one last Thanksgiving with her, but Christmas will be quite hard. We have spent every Christmas Eve since I was a child at her home, with a big dinner and presents. Of course, she always came to my parents for the annual Christmas Day brunch and more presents.

There are so many little things I will miss. I have never once seen her in a mad mood-how many people can you say that about?? She loved everyone and was always smiling and friendly. Her cooking and baking. Her notes and cards. A couple of days ago, I came across a note she wrote me a few years ago, thanking me for inviting her and Dave over for a dinner of stir-fry. She was the only person I know who would write and mail a letter for everything:) Being a GG (Great-Grandma). They all loved and adored her, and Max often walks around asking for his GG.

Once thing I was really looking forward to was discussing my upcoming trip to Israel. She went with my Grandpa for their 25th wedding anniversary, and she always said it was the best trip she had taken. She was very excited when I told her I would be going, and when I took her our trip itinerary, she had been to almost every place I will visit. She excitedly told me about some of the locations, food, people, etc., and her enthusiasm made me even more excited about going. However, until I actually visit, I won't have those same images and stories she was trying to convey, so we had a plan that I would bring home a lot of pictures, and we would sit and talk about the common sites. I am literally crying right now at the thought we will never get to have that conversation.

I love you, Grandma!