Farewell, '09

We feel very blessed as we exit this year and move into the new one. The top ten reasons we loved 2009 include:

1) Michael

2) Our families are healthy and safe

3) Elena became a big sister

4) Mommy and Daddy get to have their little boy and little girl to love forever

5) Continued friendships with some of the best friends any people have ever had

6) Corey and Zoe got married

7) Mommy and Daddy have jobs they love

8) Elena turned four

9) Disneyland

10) Michael (again). He's an awfully good one, you have to admit.

Thank you, 2009. We sure hope 2010 will be as good to us and everyone we love as this year has been. Blessings...

Merry, merry.

Well, Christmas was one for the books this year. I can safely say we've never been as busy as we were this year, especially with Disneyland still fresh in our minds. We started the holiday with Elena's show (16th), the neighborhood Santa Run (17th), Papa Mike, Molly and Jeff celebration on the 18th and Gramma and Jeff on the 20th, followed by the much anticipated Polar Express train ride, also on the 20th. We enjoyed the early celebrations thoroughly and found it to be a special time, indeed. And we were all spoiled WAY too much, including new barstools, a Hello Kitty CD player and toys to make Michael giggle. Ryan and I also exhanged early gifts with Ryan receiving a 'boys weekend away' in February and me, a beautiful new purse.

Polar Express (Seeing the North Pole and getting the coveted Jingle Bell)

Then, we hopped in the car on the 22nd and headed for Papa and Grandma Yvette's house in Graham. We arrived just shy of 14 hours later (3:45 a.m) on the 23rd and had an enjoyable Christmas there, complete with a Santa visit (kind of... Elena could only muster a wave and a 'shout out' to Santa from afar. He DID wave back though) and merry-go-round ride. Christmas morning was full of wonder, as you'd expect, with Elena receving her much anticipated guitar (her Santa request), personalized bean bag and many other goodies. Michael got a train, 'cool guy' Adidas sweat outfit and his special silver bell ornament from Daddy. Everybody enjoyed the day and looked forward to Corey and Zoe's afternoon arrival. Once they got there, we had a heavenly dinner, a second round of gift openings with them, and a lot of good conversation. Some late nights were had, but they were worth it. We left yesterday (26th) around 2 p.m. and again, arrived about 3:45 a.m. We had decided to stay in Ashland, OR for the night, but Daddy wanted to push through and push through we did. A small snowstorm, rainstorm and a little sickness on the side of the road were worth arriving in time to nap in our beds and wake to start putting ourselves back together again. This is where we stand now. We are half back together and half preparing to de-Christmas the house. It was a very nice year and it gave us a lot of nice memories as we move into 2010, Elena's 5th year on Earth and Michael's 2nd. Oh and to make it all a little brighter yet? Michael has started babbling, "DaDa" over and over. Merry Christmas, sweet family.

Hair today

Elena got her hair cut yesterday, despite us dragging our heels to do it. I think we've done away with the final baby curls (which is why I kept postponing the occasion), but her hair looks beautiful nonetheless. Michael is keeping his comb-over and enjoys wearing hats to cover his dome. Though this post had nothing to do with the holidays, I'm sure it will be my last until then. Merry Christmas to all....

A star is born

Elena recited her lines (previously mentioned in a blog entry, but with the "G is for Gold" addition) perfectly and we clapped and hooted for her. Ten minutes later, she rushed off stage with tears streaming down her face. Her precious 'good luck' ring was lost and so was her courage. For the remainder of the performance, instead of Mommy sitting with her on stage as we began to do, Kyah (our eight-year old neighbor and Elena's Messiah) sat with Elena and they sang their little hearts out. Joy to the World!

All I want for Christmas are my two front teeth

Although I've already blogged today, I had to add this very important piece of information (drum roll....) Michael got his two front teeth (on the bottom)! And neither Ryan nor I noticed until our neighbor, Juliane saw them. I guess we can forget that "Parent of the Year" award. We both check his gums all the time, because the tell tale drool has been around for months, so he's only gotten them in the last day or so, but jeesh. Poor kid hit such a big milestone without any fanfare.

Sorry, Michael. I couldn't love you more though, my sweet big boy with your two front teeth.

"C for Christmas"

I think it's safe to say our Michael is officially sitting up by himself. He manages it for several minutes at a time now before he sinks on his belly or flops over. I realized I only have a solitary photo of him sitting on our bed, but I'm sure there will be many more in his future. I've also noticed he's much less interested in grabbing his feet lately. Oh he'll still snack on an occasional toe, but his feet are much less exclusively in his mouth. Maybe it's a fluke and he'll dine on his paws again before we know it.

Elena sang at the retirement home yesterday and it was downright awful (nobody knew the songs, the kids sang facing the wrong direction, etc), but Elena did a fine job. Kind of. She also has a Chrismas pageant on Wednesday. Her line will be, "F for Frankincense." I gather each child is designated a letter of the alphabet and Christmas word. She's walked around here all week saying, "I for Frankincense" and I thought she was supposed to be saying, "I bring frankincense" or something along those lines. Finally, I understand she had the letter wrong. Nicky will be, "I for Innkeeper." It should be a very cute and chuckle-inducing performance.

And in the next 10 days, we have more excitement than we know how to handle. We will celebrate Christmas with my Mom and Dad this weekend, with the Polar Express train ride on Sunday with our wonderful neighbors. We are also trying to fit in a spin around the ice rink, but skiing had to be canceled due to some poor weather and a lot of work for Daddy. We will then drive to Seattle to celebrate Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa Grohs' house.

As I said, we have a lot happening, but we are very much in the Christmas spirit around here thanks to Disneyland, lots of hot chocolate and the magical combination of Christmas and children.

White Christmas

We welcomed SNOW at home today!

A magical holiday

What began with tree-cutting and decorating, has only continued with the most magical Christmas trip to Disneyland. The trip was nothing short of spectacular from the hotel accomodations and service (food and beverages free and abundant, private balcony fireworks viewing, sing-alongs, TV bedtime stories with Cinderella and more) to the snow that fell in front of Small World (a tear-jerker for Mommy AND Daddy and pictured below) to the parades and rides and most importantly, ridiculous laughter. This short trip will forever live in my memory as a very magical time. Though Michael was far too young to understand, his eyes grew large when he gazed down Main Street at the lights that never ended or rode the 'baby-friendly' rides with us. Elena, well, Elena lived a million lives in those three Disney days. Ryan and I hoped it would be magical for her, but nothing prepared us for her expressions or excitement. At some points, she screeched or screamed so loudly, it scared us. Her favorite ride was Small World, but she loved Soarin' Over California too and much to our surprise, was a rollercoaster fiend. She loved the Matterhorn, but said Space Mountain was, "too much." She also loved Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion. And she loved our breakfast with the princesses and the Aladdin show. Both were fun, but Aladdin was akin to a Broadway show... we all loved that.

Honestly, I can't say enough. We had a spectacular trip at the Happiest Place on Earth and it will live in all our memories for a very long time.

Howdy, Pilgrim

"Mom, when can WE ride the Pilgrims?" Though Elena has learned about Thanksgiving from preschool and from us, she still doesn't seem to have a grasp on the concept. I assume she's somehow mixing up our upcoming Disneyland trip with the excitement of the Thanksgiving holiday. She has been battling illness for about a week with a fever for a couple of days and now, a sinus and ear infection. We're hoping the antibiotics knock it all out and the rest of us can stay healthy for the trip we've been anticipating for almost a year now. Elena can't stop talking about Disneyland (though she has zero idea what to expect) and wants to fly in teacups, meet Ariel and Cinderella and watch Daddy run to the Nemo ride (so he can secure our place in line). Honestly, we're all so excited to go, we can barely contain ourselves.

Michael started eating sweet peas and has a mean case of cradle cap. And with that bit of 'over-share,' he will be ashamed forever. Actually, Michael did have a follow up with Dr. Ciricillo (pediatric neurosurgeon) to complete the assessment of his spine. He does not appear to have the tethered cord and it does indeed look like the pilonidal cyst they told us. But he said if he has trouble potty training by three or we notice some trouble when he starts to walk (because one foot is a little turned in), we'll re-assess. All it really seems to mean is that they'd give him some orthodics for the foot and check his spine again at three-ish if we notice trouble. I guess cords can become tethered over time, but Ciricillo repeated that this isn't something to worry about. It is correctable and Michael should be the beast of an athlete Daddy thinks he'll be.
So in the spirit of the season, I can tell you, I am very grateful.

Rub a dub buggy

Sweet Michael is outgrowing his baby bath tub and as soon as he can sit up, he will join his sister in the big kid bath tub. In the meantime, we captured a couple of these bathtime memories. He also started sweet potatoes this week and as you'd expect, sucked 'em down with energy. He is 'talking' up a storm these days with lots of 'aaaas' and 'pffffs' and constant giggles. He really did complete this family perfectly with his big belly and lots of big love.

Fall into Fall