A Very Jedi Christmas

Christmas has swiftly come and gone, yet again, in a blur of wrapping paper and turkey comas. This Christmas was really exciting since it was obviously all about Audrey. It makes the holidays so much more special to see them through her eyes and the excitement is contagious. This year, her biggest gifts were her Jedi robe (from Papa) and a super sweet light saber (from Uncle Joe). Mama and Papa also got her a pink retro play kitchen and refrigerator...she hasn't stopped playing with it since the grand unveiling.

We celebrated with all the normal family traditions: Clam Chowder on Christmas Eve, candlelight service at church, biscuits 'n gravy for breakfast on Christmas morning, a marathon session of opening gifts (pretty much all for Audrey) and one heck of a Christmas Dinner. YUM! We did break from tradition, for me, and went to see Sherlock Holmes on Christmas Day. (Fantastic, by the way)

By the time Sunday rolled around, the amount of transient family members about had dissipated and the house looked like a bomb had gone off. We spent most of the day trying to get things cleaned up and organized. I also fell into a fit of intense nesting; I'm motivated to get things done early because I want Audrey to have time to adjust to all the new stuff that's going to be around the house. (not to mention springing a new baby sister on her) So, we got the pack n' play and most other stuff we'll need for Bailey set up in our room. John also dragged the swing back out of the closet and I've compiled an official To-Do List to complete before the munchkin makes her appearance. I remember the day we brought Audrey home from the hospital being a very stressful experience; we really didn't have our act together as far as anticipating how things would need to be set up in our room and the entire evening was spent running around, moving furniture, trying to shove food in our faces, and figuring out how to care for a newborn. I'd like it if that were a little less intense this time.

That being said, all this nesting is really bringing back a lot of good memories too. Now that the crazy holiday season is over for the most part, I'm starting to honestly get excited about meeting this kid and if she wanted to make an early appearance, I feel like I'm at least ready for it. Ideally, we'll get most of our To-Do List checked off and then have plenty of time to revel in some quality one-on-one time with Audrey. It's a little sad for me to think that the days of us being a super-awesome duo are numbered. We've got a routine...we hang out and eat snacks...life is good. But pretty soon we'll be thrown into the chaotic world of new babyhood again. I have a feeling Audrey will take to big sisterhood like a duck to water and will be critiquing me on my parenting techniques in no time.

I'm working on getting all the Christmas pictures uploaded on Picasa, but it hasn't been easy--I got John a new computer game for Christmas and have been lucky to check my email, let alone upload and caption new pictures. On a side note, our camera died half way through opening presents and we couldn't find the power cord for about 12 hours...which explains why they cut off abruptly and also why John didn't get to take any sweet candid photos of relatives stuffing their faces with turkey. Tragic.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! Believe it or not, even though we're crazy busy, we're thinking of you too!