Have a Holly Jolly Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!!

Now on to the important stuff - let me assault you with pictures of the recent Wallace Christmas celebrations. We stayed in Charlottesville this year and had a nice Christmas just the four of us. Our tree looked like it had enough presents under it to last for several Christmases yet to come, and of course, Erin's pile was the largest.

Let me begin with Christmas Eve, which was spent largely with our friends John and Margaret several football games and their new HDTV. Not exactly your traditional Christmas Eve but being with special friends was nice. We did get out to the Christmas Eve service where Erin donned a halo and took part in the children's pageant as an angel. Unfortunately they didn't have any wings small enough for her.

Once we got home and tucked the kids into bed we began the assembly of the tree area (all the presents had been hidden in the basement) and Erin's present from her Nonni and Grandad. She was to be wake up the proud owner of a play kitchen complete with microwave, refrigerator, oven, sink and telephone. While Tom assembled the kitchen Meghan finished wrapping gifts and stocking stuffers. Amazingly the kids slept through it all and we were in bed by 1:30 AM.

Jeffrey woke us up around 8:30 - late for him and Erin was still asleep. So Meghan got Jeff up and ready and then gently woke Erin up. I asked her if she wanted to see if Santa had arrived and she woke right up. We headed down the stairs and Erin looked at the tree stating again, "so pretty." Then she noticed the kitchen. It took her a few seconds to soak it all in but before long she was cooking up a storm. It was nearly impossible to get her to open her stocking because all she wanted to do was cook in the kitchen. Once we were able to get her to focus on the ctocking she got really excited about it. Santa brought her Tinkerbell panties, a Dora coloring book, candy and even a toothbrush which she immediately brought up to her bathroom. It's amazing how thrilling little things can be.

Jeffrey was much more interested in things than I remember Erin being her first Christmas. He wanted to get right into the middle of everything. He helped open the gifts from Santa and even gave one the "chew" test before it even got out of the wrapping paper. Santa brought our little man his first sippy cup and several pair of socks to chew on.

After the long process of opening stockings, Tom began preparing breakfast. Erin cooked in her kitchen whipping up strawberries, corn and my favorite - coffee. We got her to eat a few bites of eggs inbetween cooking her own courses.

Once we started with the presents under the tree Erin showed a little more interest but was still obsessed with the kitchen. She slowly began to realize that more and more fun things were appearing. Jeffrey stood at the activity table near the tree and helped to open some of the gifts but mainly just watched. He continued to show interest in most things though. He did get really excited when he got to open his gift from Uncle Jeff and Aunt Robyn because it made lots of fun noises and had lots of lights. It also contained a hammer which was just as good for chewing on as it was for hitting his sister when she got in his way.

Tom loved his special calendar with pictures of both the kids. He also got a pod coffeemaker so he could bring hot coffee to work in the mornings. I got lots of yummy things to consume including coffee and coffee liquor, as well as a new DVD burner for my computer. I also got a book on how to work in Photoshop so you will all have to put up with more of my experiments.

Tom and I got Erin a working camera for Christmas. She has always shown an interst in our camera so we thought this would be a good idea. She knew almost immediately what to do with it and quickly asked to start taking pictures or in Erin-ese to "take a camera." We were both very glad that she was excited with it and I am looking forward to seeing what things look like from the point of view of a pre-schooler.

After an hour or so of wrapping paper and boxes flying around and each toy being played with for approximately 3.5 seconds no presents remained under the tree. I laid Jeffrey down for a nap and Tom proceeded to clean up breakfast. Then Erin and I put together Jeffrey's activity wall toy - which appears to be as much for Erin as it is for Jeffrey. The nap, which lasted a whopping 30 minutes, ended and Jeffrey was introduced to his new toy. He took a few seconds to look at it and found it somewhat interesting and daunting at the same time.

The rest of the afternoon was quiet and full of experimenting with new toys etc. I fixed a ham for dinner and John and Margaret joined us for the evening. We closed the weekend much as we began it - watching football with some special friends and sitting back as the kids settled into their new toys.

Several days later we've returned from a brief Christmas visit to Silver Spring, Erin continues to cook and serve coffee in her kitchen and Jeffrey has figured out how to stand at his playing wall. Requests to "take a camera" continue off and on. New sheets adorn Erin's bed and Jeffrey now has a toybox in his room. But other than that, things are beginning to return to normal after a wonderful and magical Christmas together.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night....

Imagine my surprise....

...when I realized that this



had turned into this.



While working in the kitchen I heard the familiar sounds of the activity table. Erin still plays there on a regular basis so nothing crossed my mind. Then I realized that Erin was supposed to be napping. I turned to give her a gentle reminder that she is to stay in her room until the music stops even if she's not asleep. What I found was Jeffrey standing at the table. He had pulled himself up to it without any help from anyone. He was pushing buttons and spinning the rattle without realizing that he was standing up.

Sigh, they grow up so fast. Not just physically but emotionally and mentally. I don't remember time seeming to go this fast with Erin. It felt like she was a snuggly little baby forever. It's the exact opposite with Jeffrey he seems in such a hurry to do everything. It is the rare occasion that I get a snuggle and when I do it only happens because I know he's tired and needs to sleep so I hold him tight. At those times I just try to sit back and soak it all in because I know it's not going to last.

Decorating Fun

We finally got the time and organization to go get a tree on Saturday. Unfortunately there are not any Boy Scout troops who sell trees nearby. Therefore we went to the local garden center and picked out a nice frasier fir. Erin and Jeffrey both came along for the trip. Erin tromped around the lot while Tom, Jeffrey and I picked out a tree.

When we got home, we set up the tree and let it stand for a while before decorating it. Jeffrey laid down for a nap and Tom and Erin baked Christmas cookies. It was quite a cute sight, Erin and Tom both dusted in flour cutting out cookies on the counter. I piddled around putting little decorations here and there. After the cookies cooled, Erin and I frosted them with pink icing. In a combined effort we managed to get MOST of the frosting on the cookies rather than Erin's clothes, hair, hands, the counter or the like. Erin did discover quickly though that any frosting that got onto her fingers was perfectly fine because she was able to eat it then. I even caught her licking the spreader at one point. Like mother like daughter I guess.

Once Jeffrey woke up we got the lights on the tree and began to put up our hodge-podge of decorations. Erin picked out the Pooh Bear ones as her special ones this year. And as usual she tried to hang all the ornaments from one branch. We have the perfect spot for the angel and Erin helped Tom put her on the top of the tree. Erin now walks by the tree and looks at the top, saying "so pretty."

This morning we went into church. I took Erin and Jeffrey to the nursery to give Jeffrey a test run to see how things might go if we decide to start leaving him there. After church one member took professional photos for the church fellowship list. It was the first professional photo of the four of us and may actually be the only photo of the family aside from a few at the Katie's wedding.

Both the kids looked so cute this morning that I did my own photo shoot when we got back home. I set them both down in front of the tree and Erin put her arms around Jeffrey to "hold him." It's good to see that she is still infatuated with him as he grows older - even though he now is very interested in all of her toys. The photos in front of the tree came out adorable. At least I think they did.

I'm expecting the tree to bring much joy and excitement as Erin realizes that something special is going to happen soon. It will also add another level of drama to Jeffrey's life serving as another item for him to crawl under, pull on, chew on etc...

So as we continue to count down the days to Christmas (even though Erin already Lost Baby Jesus and Mary from the advent calendar) we will all try to sit back and relax, say a few prayers and remember what Christmas is really about.

Dog Days of Winter

I love winter - the snow on the trees is beautiful and out here at the new house it is so pristine. Erin is getting more excited about the snow and looks for more snow every morning. BUT....

...the hill on our street is a sheet of ice. Since it's a dirt road there's nothing that really can be done except to sand it - which would at least help. Last night I got stuck half-way up the street and it hadn't snowed in almost a week. Thankfully the kids were not in the car to learn all sors of "new" words. But it means that this morning we are not able to get out to storytime - one of our weekly excursions that we BOTH look forward to.

...Jeffrey either got cold or hot or has a stuffy nose and spent the entire night alternating between screaming at me, snugled on my chest sleeping (which does not equal sleeping for me), nursing followed by more screaming at me.

...Erin woke up with green gunk flowing out of her nose and she HATES to have her nose wiped. It's a battle for everything with her when she feels like this.

Meghan: Let's sit on the potty Erin.
Erin: No!!!!! No potty.
Meghan: How about some milk.
Erin: No! Juice!!! Something to eat!!!
Meghan: OK, let's get dressed first.
Erin: No! No pants. Rocket!!!!
Meghan: You can watch Rocket after breakfast.
Erin: crumples into a ball on the floor screaming while Meghan walks off to the kitchen to get some much needed coffee.

I think you get the picture.

My only hope is that this is all this will be done and over with by Christmas next week and we are all back to being as happy, healthy and rested as possible.

And that the kids are not in the room when I call the maintenence person for the development and give him a piece of my mind. Maybe I should make him sit here with two housebound babies.

Not really about the kids but...

So I took my first mommy vacation this weekend. It had been over a year since I had had a weekend off from Erin and I had never been away from Jeffrey for more than a few hours. Mom had a conference in Boston and I LOVE Boston at Christmas so we used up some frequent flier miles and I went along to hang out at the ritzy hotel and walk around Boston for a few days.

The weather on Friday played some nasty games with us and I had to be routed through Charlotte in order to get to Boston. That's heading a hour south in order to get north, but hey it got me there. Mom also had to rearrange her flights and ended up landing in Boston during the middle of a white-out after having the plane struck by lightning. So needless to say the first place we headed was the bar at the hotel for a little something soothing - lol.

The kids gave Tom his own headaches. Jeffrey refused to drink anything for almost 12 hours. He was supposed to bring Erin to a friend's house on Friday, but couldn't get up the hill because of the ice so not much work got done on Friday. Erin tried to help with Jeffrey, but there's only so much a two-year old can do for her baby brother. When she can change his diaper, then we'll talk.

On Saturday I met up with Craig and we nabbed some lunch then headed out for a walking tour of Boston. We checked out the "holiday village" in the convention center and then walked through the city peeking into high-end hotels and wandering through the Common. We even found the store windows that were dressed up for the holidays. When I was a little girl we walked along those windows every year. So that meant a lot for me to find them. As I headed back to the hotel the sun was setting behind the skyine and it was completely gorgeous.

For dinner Mom and her friends and I went to Anthony's Pier 4, a special place from when I was a little girl. It had changed some but was still much the same. And very yummy.

Back at home base Tom got a little relief Saturday evening by taking Erin to Nathan's and for a break. He hung around with Jeffrey and watched a movie with Nathan's daddy while Erin, Nathan and his mommy watched "Rocket" and played computers. It didn't take Tom long to learn the value of a nearby friend after a long day with the kids.

Sunday led me up the Prudential building in Boston to take some awesome pictures. Then after a little Christmas shopping we all grabbed a cab back to the airport. Apparently while I was sitting in the bar eating a sandwich at Logon, Michelle Kwan walked down the hallway behind me and apparently headed to MY PLANE. As a longtime figure skating fan I searched for her, but never caught sight of her - bummer.

After a short talk with Tom encouraging him that I was heading home and Jeffrey would soon stop screaming I hopped aboard the flight home.

It was a nice weekend and I loved getting out around Boston again. Tom got some great bonding time with the kids and a true lesson in how tough it is being the only one in the house capable of diapering, feeding, consoling, rocking, playing etc... The most important thing I have to say is...

Thank you Tom and I Love you.

Adventures in Santa Hats

We got out the holiday decorations over the weekend and both kids had their own, but similar, adventures in Santa hats.

Here's Erin's:

Let's Try This Way



Almost There


Got it!!!!




And Jeffrey:

Where did I go?


Here I Am.


Aren't I Cute!!!


Merry Christmas to you all. Stay tuned for more adventures in holiday decorating.