Finally: Holiday Recap

I had briefly informed everyone that they would get to see pic's at some point of our holidays. The downside is that my camera is buried somewhere in the pile of clothes in my bedroom, so alas, you do not get to see 500 pictures of my toddler learning to rip open gifts. On the plus side, I'm sure many of you have grown tired of seeing such pics plastered all over facebook, and also, my phone pic's are much more interesting. So let's begin, shall we?

The Thursday before Christmas was last minute holiday craziness. My first day of 'vacation' from work was filled with list making, shopping, baking, and wrapping. Amelia and I left the house at 11:30 a.m. and didn't return until 4:30 p.m. She did excellent since she took a nice little nap in the car at some point, and it was a good reminder that I should be ever thankful that she is now a fun toddler rather than a colicky baby that has to remain strapped to my body to be happy. Hello, mommy freedom. Here she is kicked back in her stroller when we stopped at our local coffee shop to purchase a few gifts and relax before heading home:

I was crazy enough to try out a Christmas craft/gift that involved paint and baby feet. I imagined that this would be difficult due to the mess it would make. Little did I know that my daughter would be completely freaked out by the prospect of having paint on her feet. How I managed to make three of these pictures for her grandparents and great grandparents while she wailed and kicked her green feet around, I'll never know:

That gold blob at the top is supposed to be a star made with her hand, but she had it balled up in a fist of furry, so it is barely recognizable.

The next day, we headed down to my grandparents that live ninety minutes south of us. We stayed overnight and Miss Amelia got her first haul of toys, with two more yet to come at that point. We made it back to our home by 6:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve, I yanked Amelia's clothes off and threw a beautiful red and black dress over her head, strapped her back in her car seat, and we headed off to Christmas Eve service. She was less than thrilled about being confined yet again, but was very pleasant and snuggly at church.

The next morning my husband prepared to go to his parents early while I took Molly for a Christmas morning walk:

It was a little chilly, but a lovely way to start the day. It was quiet and calm, and a great gift to a dog who is constantly stuck in the house with a rough and over exuberant toddler. I could barely get her to sit still for a picture:

We were supposed to be at my in-laws by 11:00 a.m., however, Amelia was sick and had other ideas:

Finally she woke up around noon and we headed off to my in-laws, then my parents. It was a nice day, but I was certainly ready to be home and kick my feet up to watch Christmas movies at the end of the day.

The rest of the week after Christmas was filled with cleaning and catching up with friends. On Tuesday, my dad and I headed to a local butcher shop about 30 minutes from my house to stock up on meat for our freezers. Amelia seemed not at all interested in this at first:

However, the foodie in her must have sensed something because she woke shortly after I snapped this picture and was ready for her grandpa to show her the ropes of picking out the best cuts of meat while Mommy filled the cart with good stuff:

Who knew a butcher shop could be so interesting?:

Honk your nose, steer!

Yes, I really stuck her into a cart of meat in order to get a cute picture.

You may be saying to yourself, yes, that's lovely, pictures of your baby by a meat case, but what did Amanda do for New Year's Eve? Well, I'll tell you. My husband made me Chinese food so I could sit on the couch and enjoy a drink. Then we played some video games together and cuddled on the couch watching TV while Amelia slept. We passed out by 10:30 p.m. and were woke up promptly at 12:30 a.m., bright and early in 2012 by our daughter's hacking cough. Such is the glamorous life of parents. Although when I reflected upon this the next morning, I actually stopped going out for NYE before I was even pregnant with Amelia. I like to throw back a few drinks, but staying up late has never really been my thing, nor is getting all dressed up. I'll take sweatpants and an early bedtime any day.

And so, this concludes the belated retelling of the holidays in our household. Stay tuned for my resolutions later this week!

A Mobile Family

Probably the biggest event in our household in the last few days has been this:

It's maybe not a traditional crawl, but my daughter has definitely figured out to get herself moving on all fours. As my cousin said, that military crawl clearly demonstrates that her father is a marine. Part of me is thrilled. Part of me is sad. Part of me is tired just watching her. And a large part thinks I'm in for big trouble.

Amelia is not the only one on the move. I shared recently that I've gotten into running again. Inspired by my friend who has been running many races for the past year or so and Tina's blog, I've signed up for a five mile race. FIVE MILES. Initially, I thought I must have lost my mind. I've never run five miles, even when I was twenty pounds smaller and had  a pre-baby body. But I bit the bullet and registered, and so on August 19th I'll be running my first race. This has really pushed me to quickly build up my distance, and yesterday I ran 4.5 miles. Without stopping. This has me feeling like a kick ass mommy. It has Molly feeling like a tired pooch:

I never thought I'd outrun her, but she is generally lagging behind by the three mile mark. I suspect she will be more energetic about my new endeavor this fall when it cools off. After all, I'm not running with a fur coat on. And, don't let this picture fool you-- she loves our morning run. Follows me around all morning with pleading eyes, goes in circles while I'm putting on my tennis shoes, and heaven forbid if we have to skip a day. Those days she is on my heels all day, as if I've clearly forgotten my priorities in life and she is reminding me that taking her running should be on the top of the list.

And so, Amelia is crawling, Molly and I are running... I can't leave out my husband. He has recently started kayaking with some of his friends and been insistent that we also take a trip down the river together this summer. I've been dragging my feet about this, mostly because I experience a little anxiety about leaving Amelia for long periods of time. It's not because I don't trust those that care for her. It's because she won't drink pumped milk. And, she's a fussy little pain in the butt for other people. This was important to Jon, though, and I do love outdoor activities, so I made plans for my parents to watch Amelia. This was especially nice since we went during the weekend of our fifth wedding anniversary.

We had a pretty good time until the end, when we were delayed by a thunderstorm and I completely freaked out about being away from our daughter for so long. This has solidified that although I'm sad that she is almost out of baby stage and into toddlerhood, I am excited about her not being dependent on me for her nutritional needs.

That aside, it was a terrific trip. We actually were able to have adult conversation without having to bounce, change, feed, calm, rock, or nurse a baby. Jon also had hidden a bottle of wine, cheese and crackers, and a blanket in his kayaking pack so we could have a short romantic picnic on one of the islands along the way. Surprises are not one of Jon's fortes, and so I was shocked and touched by this gesture. We also saw a bald eagle roosting right above us as we paddled. Utterly majestic. We enjoyed ourselves so much that we are considering buying our own kayaks when we have the funds to do so.

Wow... we have all really been on the move lately! Just writing about it has me thinking about an afternoon nap....