First Comes Love...

Happy Birthday, baby boy. I swear you've been 16 months for a while now; this age seems to be your "forever 21" (yet it's only just begun!)  The month was full of excitement and you seemed to mature so much . You understand about 90% of what I say to you now, which has made my life a lot easier: "George, go get your shoes." "where is your coat?" "will you get me a diaper?"   It's very much working in my favor  :) Lots of new stuff going on this month: When I tell you it's time to go, you eagerly find your shoes and coat.  And if Sissy is dragging herself around (as 3 year olds stubbornly do!) , you happily get her shoes and coat too.  Team work, mah man! You're into everything: opening or climbing the oven (seriously.), turning on the TV through the cable box when I hide the remote, opening the dishwasher and taking dishes out, or trying to open doors (thank God for knobs!)...   reliving this through...

We got back from Leavenworth Tuesday afternoon and have been enjoying a staycation in the 'Quah. Plans and expectations are light, but we've managed to get a few projects done around the house, spend an afternoon in town with the kids for New Years Eve, eat crab legs, miss the Time Square ball drop (party fail), and be in bed before 10pm on New Years Eve. Total party animals. Tomorrow, Kevin and I have a date night planned, but aside from that we're just relaxing and taking it all in. For now, it's off to Fred Meyer for some new space organizers. Craziness, I tell you. Happiest of new years  :)

I hope this finds everyone enjoying this first (sunny and beautiful!) day of the new year. We were busy, busy, busy this holiday season, but with Kevin off work from Christmas Eve through this coming Monday, we've had time to decompress. It's been really nice. We hosted Kevin's family for Christmas Eve (our first holiday host in the new house!) and had such an amazing day hanging out, opening gifts, enjoying delicious food, and spending time together as a family. While hosting a holiday carries its own set of stresses, I really enjoyed getting the house ready, decorating, and setting a formal table. There is a special place in my heart for fine china, cloth napkins, formal serve ware, and silver. I just love it! Then it was off to bed for Abigail. Santa was on his way with (kitties!) in his sleigh, and the last thing we wanted was a foiled surprise. Hiding her in the bathroom Christmas morning was tricky. Ab...