Christmas 2009

Christmas Day 2009

Making cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve.

Wearing her Christmas nightgown and opening her first present on Christmas Eve night. It took her a while to warm up to the camera.

Trying out her new laptop.

An Upsy Daisy doll. Just what she wanted Santa to bring her!

A quilt Nanna made using Little Missy's baby receiving blankets.

So excited about a gift.

A Disney Princess apron Nanna made for her.

Poppa getting the veggies ready for Chirstmas dinner.

Dinner is almost ready.

Being silly!

Christmas day has come and gone for another year. Once again it was nice to spend the time with family.

We went to Auntie and Uncle's house for supper on Christmas eve. Then after to the service at church and listened to the choir sings carols. I'm hoping it will be a new tradition. Everyone was at the house for a while after. We let Little Missy open one present. She picked the heaviest present from Nanna and Poppa which turned out to be a stocking of sorts, all kinds of little gifts in a Princess gift bag.

Christmas morning we slept in till after 8. She was lying in bed for a while before she suddenly sat up and asked "Mommy! Did Santa come?"

So out to the living room we went to see. She saw the presents and was amazed. Then checked the cookies, milk and carrot that were left on the table. They were all gone!!! She ran to the window to see if there were tracks and she said she saw some. She said she even heard Santa say "ho,ho,ho" sometime during the night.

She was so sweet.

We spent the next hour or two opening presents. She's not the rip-them-apart kind of kid - she slowly opens them and has a quiet concentration about it. At one point she stopped and asked me if it was ok that she rip the paper. Then the scissors had to come out. She couldn't tear the boxes but wanted to cut the tape and ribbon off with her scissors.

She loved all of her presents.

We enjoyed the rest of the day with family and lots of food.

We've been spending the time since then doing mostly nothing. We've slept in till 8 or 9 every morning, gone skating, and watched a lot of movies. It's been nice!

Christmas is here!

The excitement is in the air! We've been counting down the number of sleeps and only two more to go!

We've been keeping busy. Although it feels different this year. Seems like the gift selecting was easier and not so rushed as it has been in previous years. I think we took a simpler approach this year - we weren't looking for the biggest and best gift for everyone on our list. That made the shopping easier I think. (And by "we" I mean "me" as I did about 95% of the shopping this year for some reason!) Gifts bound for NL went with hubby and Little Missy when they went there so no mailing big boxes (although there was some mailing of course).

We went to the Christmas Concert at daycare last week. Little Missy was sooo pretty in her dress. She looked like such a big girl when she came out on stage. They sang a few carols, one with actions about a gingerbread cookie. They had little bells on a ribbon to shake when they sang Jingle Bells and when she started shaking hers, it fell off! In the days before the concert, at home she was singing a lot but I realized most of what she was singing were the carols the Kindergarten class were singing. She knew those as well!

We celebrated Poppa's brithday last weekend too. We gave him a cable that will connect his laptop to his LCD tv. We tested it with our laptop/tv first. Now I want one of those cables! And maybe a big-screen tv just for myself. Creating scrapbook pages on the big-screen would be awesome!

Last night I remembered some old photos we have of when we were kids. Christmas pics. It would be nice to do a scrapbook page with them - I'm hoping I have time over the next week or so.

I'm so excited about the next couple of days! It will be so nice seeing Little Missy open her presents and do all the other Christmas activities. I can't wait!

Christmas happenings

The Christmas parade was in Ch'town a few weeks ago. The crowds are amazing at these events. For such a small island, there are times when it seems there are just so many people on it. And I think they all show up for the parade.

We got there early enough to get front-row standing positions. Yet again we forgot to bring the folding chairs, blankets, thermos of hot chocolate. Every year I say next year we won't forget! And yet we do.

So we're standing there waiting for the show to start and suddenly Little Missy realizes we're standing next to someone she knows. A little one from daycare. So they go out front and sit on the curb for the entire parade. What fun they had waving at the characters, catching candy, singing along with the carols. I'm so glad she had someone there to enjoy it with!

We did get around to putting up the tree last week. Little Missy just couldn't wait and wanted to do it as soon as she got back from NL. I managed to hold off till the 2nd night she was home.

I have to admit, I was a little worried about letting her do the decorating. When she started putting the ribbon on the bottom I tried to think of something else she could do that would distract her so I could "fix" it.

Quickly tho I stopped being so obsessed with getting it just so and let her have at it. She put on the ribbon, the glass bulbs, the special ornaments, the beads - up as far as she could reach.

I think she did a great job - I didn't "fix" a thing!

They're home!

And all is right with the world. Well, my world at least.

It was soooooo good to see them again. Hubby I'm used to being away but not Little Missy. But I missed them both.

I worked yesterday and didn't get home till 5 - they got home at 3. I just couldn't wait to go home and wrapp my arms around her and give her the biggest hug. It was a difficult 11 days for me.

She seems bigger, older, smarter. One thing I noticed when she was in NL and I talked to her on the phone, her speech is so good! I was surprised at how well she could talk to me and explain what she was doing and who she was seeing. I know she's been talking for quite a while now but I just didn't realize she was at that level I guess.

She wanted to do everything last night. Put up the tree, put together her gingerbread train, write to Santa. We didn't put up the tree. I'm trying to hold off till Saturday for that but I'm not sure if she can!
We did write the letter to Santa and put this together.

It just feels so good to have her home. Last night before bed we sat in the chair for a while, her in my lap and she wanted me to tell her all kinds of stuff about when she was a baby (we do that every now and then). So I told her how I would hold her, feed her, rock her, play with her tiny feet and fingers, how she didn't have hair but I would comb it anyway, I would read and sing to her, I told her about her first Christmas and how she couldn't walk yet but she climbed up in her new rocking chair, how she liked ripping the paper off the presents and then playing with it all. She loves to hear these things - and I love to remember them and tell her.

I'm so glad she's home!

Snowy Day

Let's look out the window today...


Really, was it too much to ask that we avoid snow until the new year? Just when I was starting to imagine a green winter.

Oh well. If Little Missy were home today we'd be outside in this probably. It's not looking good that they will be back when they planned to. The ferry is not on schedule at all and they've delayed two crossings already today. Back in NL they're not getting this snow today but they are having high winds across the strait I guess.

I slept in this morning till 9am. I don't recall the last time I did that. I woke up feeling rather guilty. Since then I have spent some time on the computer, did some Guide work, purged Little Missy's small-toy bins, groomed the furry guy, showered, tidied up the house, had something to eat.

And it's only just after noon. What to do now for the rest of the day?

Progress

Christmas cards are done


Calendars are done
I guess the week alone has been good for something. I pick up the prints for both tomorrow (I really hope they don't have to be reprinted!).

Little Missy is doing well in NL. She had a brief moment last night on the phone when she got upset and wanted to come home. She calmed down when Daddy went back to Nanny's house with her tho. Only a couple more nights left! I'll be very happy to have them home again!

Lonely Mommy

This day has been so strange for me. For a week now, S has been planning a trip back to see his family. We've been asking Little Missy for a week if she wanted to go with him and the answer has always been no. She didn't want to leave me she said.

This morning when S was getting ready to go, I asked her again if she wanted to go and she said yes! Off she went, got dressed and pretty much packed her own bag. She didn't hesitate when they left the house and got in the truck and drove off.

I'm not the type of mom who needs "breaks" from my child. Yes, some weekend mornings I'd love to sleep in uninterrupted and sometimes I like to go out for an hour or so on my own (these times are very rare!) but I never want full-day or week-long breaks. This is going to be a tough week for me I can tell already.

What to do with myself? Work will help keep me occupied but then there are the long evenings and a full weekend to get through.

I know I have lots to do. There are so many things I can do and get done better and faster when I'm left on my own to do it. But my mind keeps coming back to Little Missy not being here. I have to say, my heart is aching and I'm close to tears! I miss her already!

I really must stop this foolishness. She's only gone for a few days. She's going to have so much fun seeing family and friends she only sees a couple times a year. And really, this break will be good for me too. I'll get a lot of things done while they're gone and when they come back we can concentrate on Christmas and put up the decorations.

I did get this done tonight. I only have the 11 other top pages left to do and then print. Still haven't figured out what to do with them once they're printed....

Oh my... I hope next week is easier than tonight has been! I miss Hubby too but I'm used to him going for weeks at a time.