A Christmas to Remember!

I thought it was time to update after the nutty NW weather, the "Christmas of Changed Plans", and Hannah's big present. After a week of amazing snow amounts, crazy traffic situations, and Keith being off for a week (he was supposed to be off for 5 days, but it was stretched due to his office being closed!), I am now looking at a more typical outdoor scene for this area--drizzly rain & patchy, slushy snow. It was a different Christmas, for sure, but it was still wonderful. Keith's whole family--minus Mary, as she is actually in Bethlehem!--was supposed to be here, but due to the weather, no one made it except Noah. Noah got here last Sunday night, just as the record-making snow was falling. We have spent the last 5 days watching movies, eating snacks, chatting about all the Christmas memories, and the guys have been playing computer games galore. On Christmas Eve, my parents & Senia came over to deliver Hannah's main present--a beautiful kitchen set from both grandparents, great-grandparents, and Mom & Dad. Hannah was appropriately excited & happy about it; she started fixing up meals right away! We got some cute video that was able to suffice for those who could not be here in person. :) We had a nice quiet Christmas eve dinner with homemade pizza and a small version of my family's Jello Ribbon Salad (thanks, Senia!) We tried to watch the Claymation Christmas special (a tradition in both our families, actually), but Hannah only made it through "We Three Kings," which, if you have seen that show, is at the very beginning. Christmas morning I woke up at 7am and got everyone else up--well, Hannah was actually already awake, so that worked out. We gave her a rocking horse that we've had since she was born, and it is the perfect size for her now--she's a little shy about it, and I think she is afraid it is going to start neigh-ing at her like her friend Emily's horse. :) We then headed to Starbucks, as is our new tradition as of the last 3 years on Christmas Day--thank you to those VOLUNTEER baristas (Anne!) For dinner, we headed over to my grandparents' house, and Noah was such a good sport about it, since he really doesn't know any of those people. However, I figured a full meal at a stranger's house on Christmas would probably be better than peanut butter sandwiches at our house. ;) (When we planned on meals for Christmas week, we had the groceries split up between the families that were coming into town...when that changed, we had to make other plans.) The rest of our evening was spent snacking, watching movies, and...gaming. The day after Christmas, Hannah & I hitched a ride with Mom, Dad & Senia to head out shopping, looking for bargains, and braving the crowds. Target wasn't too bad, but by the time we got to the mall, it was crazy! After some good deals, more Starbucks, some bagels, a trip to Fred Meyer & the DMV, and a potty chair for Hannah (more on that later), we finished up around 4:00. We started at 9:00, so I'd say that was a full day! Dad was good enough to drive us everywhere, as the roads were still pretty slick & slushy, creating a bit of a roller coaster experience for any driver. When I got home, I discovered that someone had decided to reinstall our entire computer with its programs, and consequently we had lost all saved e-mails, bookmarks, and e-mail addresses. I was not a very happy camper. I pointed out to Noah that he better take note of what makes a wife angry, and he politely agreed, stifling his smile. After grumbling for a while, we had dinner & then put Hannah to bed. We watched more movies & ate more snacks, while the guys did more gaming--do you notice a theme here?? Today Hannah & I are going to a wedding (I love weddings, especially at Christmastime), and then tomorrow after church (which we haven't been to in two weeks because of weather cancellations!), we are getting together with my family for our Christmas celebration. After that we are having the Nelson Christmas Party at my parents' house, which was postponed last week due to...weather issues. (There are a few themes here, can you tell??)
Needless to say, this Christmas has been different, but still memorable & fun. I have enjoyed having Noah here, even though his presence makes me outnumbered in the male-to-female ratio. :) He is very polite, he helps clean up the dishes, and he knows when to keep his mouth shut. I think he is going to make some woman very happy! :)
All that said, as much as I always LOVE Christmas every year, I am going to be ready for some state of normalcy starting on Monday. I am really happy that Senia is still here for 2 more weeks, and I am looking forward to being a little less constricted with the weather in terms of hanging out with her. I am still listening to Christmas music, though, because the theme of Christmas is one I am not ready to let go. Christ is still present in our lives now & always, and I like the reminders that the songs bring.

Well, that is my Christmas wrap-up for this year. Stay tuned for more on Hannah's potty training (we'll see) and the fun of the kitchen set. :)
I hope everyone's Christmas was as memorable as ours, no matter what the weather.

STUCK!

Well, today was a long day. First, I should probably mention that yesterday afternoon our starter went out on the car. This is something we were expecting to happen, as the car had been struggling for the last month or so. It was really a matter of waiting for it to stop starting eventually--so every time we'd get in the car for the last month, we would basically pray that the car would start. Yesterday it didn't. I knew today would be hard, but it's been a while since I literally could not leave the house--at least to go farther than where I can walk. I think Hannah was quite a bit younger the last time, so she probably was still napping twice a day, maybe not walking, etc.
To start it off, Hannah woke up at 7am, so by 8:15 we had had breakfast, taken a bath and gotten dressed. What now? We played with all of her toys, we went up & down the stairs, we got out the play-doh, I made cookies, we read books...only to find when I looked at the clock that it was 9:15. Oh brother. Walk time! We went for a super-long walk, and we only headed home when I figured both of our fingers & noses were in danger of frostbite. After getting home & trying to keep Hannah busy with any number of songs, dances, books, etc, we had lunch & I put her down for her nap before noon! Yikes. She didn't actually go to sleep until almost 12:30 because, well, she hadn't really done much to expend any energy, right? I, on the other hand, was exhausted & ready for a nap myself. Hannah was up within 2 hours and it was back to "entertainment mode." We did a few more games, read some more books & I started some spaghetti sauce. I put on "Little Drummer Boy" to try & catch her attention for a brief 24 minutes (I know, I'm horrible--I allowed my under-2-year-old to watch the horrid television; well, I'll have you know that she sat through about 1-minute increments & then went and played or screamed elsewhere in the house.) *Oh yes, and her latest thing is screaming randomly for no apparent reason. That's fun.
At 3:30 we headed outside again to walk down the street & look at the lit snowman in our neighbor's yard. At 4:15, I got a call from Keith saying that he wasn't going to get home until 6:00pm. Lovely. Two more hours of...what??? Well, that last bit of time was kind of a blur because I was doing anything I could think of to keep Hannah (& myself) from falling apart at the seams. Now that it is 7:15 and Hannah is getting her snack from Daddy, saying her cute little words & doing her own sign for "I Love You," I can't really think back to why the day was so hard. It's amazing what mommy-memory does...right from that first labor experience, you just forget the negative things...or at least you forget why it was so traumatic. :)
Thankfully, my mom (bless her!) is coming over tomorrow so I can (borrow her car &) go get a haircut, run some errands, and generally have a break. The ironic thing is that Hannah will probably be napping the majority of that time, but I'll take what I can get! :)

I've done it...

After trying to ignore the Christmas displays in Fred Meyer, Costco, the mall, etc for the last few weeks, I finally decided yesterday that it was time for me to start listening to Christmas music. (Well, it actually started with someone *cough*Senia*cough* telling me I could get a free "Tennessee Christmas" ringtone, at which point I spent a ridiculous amount of time searching online for "free" ringtones, which don't exist but instead all re-route to the same darn $19.99/month membership.) Anywhoo, after listening to Amy Grant's "It's the Most Wonderful Time of Year" ringtone a number of times this weekend and getting gleefully happy during each 10-second snippet, I decided I would just go ahead & start the rest of the music full-throttle. It has been SO great! I can't tell you how happy it can make me, and you want to know something: Hannah likes it too! The first day I played some in the car (via a local radio station because they are already playing non-stop Christmas music), Hannah started bouncing up & down in her car seat and smiling from ear-to-ear. Amazing! My love of Christmas music has already been passed on...It's all very exciting, and although I will still wait until after Thanksgiving to do any decorating, the "glorious strains" are filling my heart with joy!!! (And no, that is not an exaggeration.)

Garlic Breath

A while back I read in my Health magazine that eating a clove a garlic a day will keep you cold-free for this season. (Or any season.) So, a few weeks ago, I tried the theory out when I was sensing a cold on the horizon. It actually seemed to help--either that or it was: a) psychological or b) the 6 gallons of water I chugged that day, effectively flushing the bug out of my system.
Yesterday I was again feeling the scratchy signs of a sore throat & ensuing cold, so today I gritted my teeth and ate some chopped garlic on a piece of toast. I'll tell you something: that stuff BURNS going down! My sore throat is actually (momentarily?) gone, but I'm guessing it is because the garlic sting has disguised the lesser sore throat.
We'll see what happens in the next couple days...besides the fact that Keith will be sleeping as far away from me as possible & that our friends we're dining with tonight will be thinking "is she wearing some sort of garlic perfume?"

***Update: I still haven't had a cold yet this season...however, I did have the stomach flu...Hmmm...

Pumpkin Carving

Last night after dinner, we got Hannah ready for pumpkin carvin'. Following in my parents' footsteps, we stripped Hannah down to diaper only, as that seemed to be the easiest way to handle the inevitable mess.

Although Hannah did take one spoonful of "guts" out, she was more interested in eating the orange goop & slippery seeds than actually digging it OUT of the pumpkin.

After the hard work of carving out the pumpkin (or rather, cheering Daddy on), Hannah decided she needed to de-stress by taking a couple laps around the house.


And yes, that is her diaper she is holding.

Today, though, we finally got a picture of the finished product (with Hannah's clothes ON.)

Dessert Disaster

Last weekend I was asked to bring desserts to a family birthday party, so I thought I would be my own Betty Crocker and bake a chocolate layer cake & a key lime pie. I know. My first cue that it was not going to go well was that I discovered the night before that I did not have powdered sugar. Now some of you may or may not know that frosting of any kind generally requires powdered sugar...and a layer cake is not a layer cake without frosting. I was not off to a good start towards the new Mrs. "BC." Sunday after church we rushed home and I got going on the pie. Crust in the oven--check. Pie filling made & baking--check. Cake made & baking--check....on to the frosting....whoops. Discover that I underestimated the amount of cocoa powder needed; decide to run next door with fingers crossed, hoping they have baking cocoa (they did.) Cooking frosting & notice a faint burning smell. Sniff, sniff...hmmm. Not the frosting. Where is that coming from?! Peek in the oven & open it to see a huge plume of smoke blast out of the oven. Agghhh! Cake has bubbled up over the cake pans & is now burnt to a charcoal-crisp on the bottom of the oven (reminiscent of Senia's latest baking trauma.) Cakes are not baked through; they are still jiggly. I did everything right: I measured correctly, I poured into the correct pans, I made sure the racks were in the right place, I preheated...I guess it will always be a mystery. Pull cakes out after baking for a few more minutes in a cooler oven (Keith's idea--I guess I should call him Mr. BC. :) After cooling, transfer cakes to wire rack...well, "transfer" is a loose term--I threw them quickly onto the rack as they started to crumble. Frosted "cakes" and layered, turning them into one big slanting pile of chocolate. (See picture.) I called it "Chocolate Blob." Surprisingly, it tasted fine (how can you go wrong with chocolate, chocolate cake?) The key lime pie was a success, too, if I may say so. I would even make the chocolate cake again...as long as the smoke alarms have new batteries & the kitchen is well ventilated.

She's Growing Up!

Well, now that Hannah is almost 16 months, I figured I should write a post about her changes in the last few months--and there are quite a few! She is definitely seeming more like a toddler every day, and she has such a good, fun-loving spirit. She now walks 99% of the time (crawling is "just for fun" now & then), and she is close to being able to run. Especially when she goes around the corner to "hide;" then when we say "where's Hannah?" She comes dashing out with a big smile on her face. She is starting to say more words, including ball, hot, beep (when she pinches noses, thanks to Grandpa Dale), and she signs a number of things, including more, please, thank-you, music, bird, & water/milk (she has blended the two together). What I think is most amazing is that she is understanding & comprehending a lot more of what we are saying. For example, yesterday I said "Let's go upstairs & take a bath." She walked right over to the stairs & climbed up towards the bathroom. :) It's nice to be able to talk to her & actually get a response. (Now I don't sound so crazy talking, although supposedly some people still think it's weird to commentate during shopping trips.) I also see the effect of the "human sponge," as the other day Hannah started walking around with her arms folded--apparently I do that more than I think...
With all of these good, fun things, also come a couple struggles. I recently read in my Parents mag that often the "terrific twos" rear their heads at the half birthday marks. Hannah is a couple months early, but much to our dismay, the other night Hannah actually stomped her feet after getting upset about something. :) I smile because it was actually somewhat funny to see this little person displaying anger. (And it probably seemed like something really inconsequential--to me--like us taking away the tupperware for the night.) Since then, she has thrown herself on the floor and kicked her feet (you know the body position), but I definitely caught her peeking to make sure I was watching. Hannah also has a very strong will...like others...and I have no doubt she will be making her opinions known for her entire life (a pattern that seemed to be evident from her first days as a newborn.) My mom mentioned yesterday, too, that she is growing into her role as a drama queen as well, so she & Aunt Senia will have a lot to talk about. ;) (Love you, Seni!)
So that is what is happening in Hannah-land. After all is said and done, though, she is such a joy, and like Afton has told me...there's nothing sweeter than watching them sleep...