Christmas 2010, Part 2

I made a blogging goal to write about Christmas before January turns into February, so here I am doing it!
We had a great Christmas. Steve, Delaney, and I enjoyed our second (and last!) Christmas together having a relaxing day in Riverside. We began our day by opening stockings and presents at home and enjoying some yummy strawberry crepes.

Cranky on Christmas? Unbelievable!

Check out those slippers! They were handmade for her by her Great-Great-Great Aunt Zelda. How many people can boast about having a Great-Great-Great Aunt? Delaney can.

Steve and I didn't really buy Delaney anything big--we left that up to the Grandparents. :) Here Delaney's modeling the two things that I made for her: a baby sling for her baby dolls and an apron.

And here she is, enjoying her stackable blocks from her Great Gramps and Grams. She also insisted on wearing her new Elmo shirt that her Great Aunt Linda, Great Uncle David, and cousins Gunnar and Solveig gave her.

She was able to put her apron to good use when she helped me make strawberry crepes for breakfast.

We headed over to Steve's parents' house after breakfast, and Delaney donned her Christmas best. See that shiny piece of metal in her hand? That was Steve's gift to Delaney, and it's a harmonica. She really, really loves her harmonica. Is it a little obnoxious? Yes. Is it adorable? Yes.

Here Delaney is enjoying two great loves in her life: Uncle Monkey and his drums. I cannot express how thankful I am that the drum set is not at our house for her to enjoy.

Seriously, though, do you see how happy she is? Chick drummers are pretty hot...

We are such an exciting bunch. Look how lovely Arlene is...and look at Mikey's goofy face. I don't think I have any pictures of Mikey wearing a normal smile. He is just so silly...it's one of the things we love most about him.

Later that evening we spent time at Uncle Kevin and Aunt Joni's house. We all had a great time watching Delaney slip into super-ultra-hyper-mode. Very entertaining! Our Christmas was wonderful, and made even sweeter when my parents made the trek down a few days later. We are a very blessed family!

Getting Big

Delaney Marie is becoming a big kid. There's really nothing baby left to her...except for her weight. She's still a shrimp. But other than that, this kid is growing up, and there's nothing we can do to stop it.

Case in point: The toddler bed

We knew that we needed to transition Delaney to her toddler bed before Jude's arrival. Steve and I were both dreading it. Sleep is not really Delaney's strong suit, she knows how to open all of the doors in our house, and the thought of Delaney jumping on our bed at 4am just made me want to cry a little. But you know what? She did great. She's still doing great. We've had a few rough nights, but that's pretty normal around this joint. Apparently she doesn't realize that she can get out of her bed....go figure.

Getting excited about her new bed

Pretending to sleep next to her babies

Point #2: Potty training

Delaney had decided that she's ready to be potty trained. I'm not putting my whole heart into it because a.) I don't have the energy, and b.) I know regression will occur when Jude comes. But she's doing really well, and it's all on her own initiative. We'll see how that all pans out.

Skinny, naked Laney booty

Point #3: Hair cut

While this is technically not Delaney's first hair cut (that happened in August), this is the first time Delaney sat in the salon chair and got more than just a smidge trimmed off. Delaney's hair is WILD, and our friend Kristy did a great job with what she had to work with.

The before picture

Kristy hard at work on those bangs

The after picture...such a bad picture, I know. But at least you can see her looking a little less shabby.

Jeff's Wedding

On December 19th, my "little" brother (he's actually quite tall) got married to a lovely gal named Evie. It was sort of a surreal event. They announced and planned their wedding in 6 weeks or so, and I think my brain is still processing the fact that my baby brother is now a married man. It makes me feel so very, very old. Turning 30 this year was a milestone for me, but what really makes me feel old is when my younger brother gets hitched or when Steve's younger brother turns 28. These boys are still supposed to be in high school, right?

Anyway, it was a whirlwind 48 hours. Steve, Delaney, and I had just driven up to Oregon 3 weeks previously for Thanksgiving, so we weren't planning on making this a long visit. I was 32 weeks pregnant, and my midwife wasn't super keen on me traveling. It was down to the wire whether or not I would be attending, but I got the go ahead 2 days before we left.

The ceremony was simple and elegant. Jeff and Evie didn't have any attendants, but they did ask Delaney to be their flower girl. Except that she didn't throw any flowers...she just walked down the aisle...kind of. Of course the ceremony was during Delaney's nap time, she didn't really sleep much the night before, and she started running a fever right before she was supposed to go on. So you can imagine how compliant Delaney was. She walked down the aisle half way, then decided that was far enough. Steve took her the rest of the way. Once she got to Uncle Jeffy, she held his hand, danced around for a bit, and then sat back down. It wasn't what I was hoping for, but cute nonetheless.

How do you keep a cranky Delaney at bay? Bribe her with Dora downloaded on Uncle Jimmy's IPhone. And yes, that is Steve in a suit.

She made it part of the way...then Delaney needed some help from Daddy.

She was sort of stealing the show from the groom...


Exchanging rings with the lovely Evie

They're hitched!
Grammie & Grandpa did their best to keep Delaney from the open flames, water features, and a scary balcony. Side note: weddings are not really kid events.

Cutting up the cake...

Aww...the new Mr. & Mrs. Lee.

The return home was interesting at best. We were scheduled to take the late flight out of PDX on Monday evening. Halfway to the airport we received a text stating that our flight was cancelled. We got on the phone with the airline and quickly realized that our only option was to be re-routed to LAX. Uggg...all of our experiences with LAX have been pretty rough. Anyway, we got to the airport, our flight was delayed...long story short, we didn't land in LA until 11:15pm. We were given a voucher to take a Super Shuttle over to ONT airport where our car was located. We waited for an hour in the rain at LAX for the shuttle to show up, and when it did, it took half an hour to get out of the parking garage! At this point I was past the uncomfortable-I'm really too pregnant to be doing this right now- stage. Thankfully, Delaney thought it was the greatest adventure of her life. And yes, she was awake for all of it! Once we got out of LAX, our adventure continued. Through some massive miscommunication between the driver and a passenger, the driver got lost, which resulted in a screaming match between the two parties. Delaney was somehow asleep during this portion, thank the Lord Almighty. Steve and I kept looking at each other in disbelief, wondering if we were somehow being punked? We finally got to the Ontario Airport around 2:30am, and we dragged our luggage and sleepy bodies through the rain to our car. We arrived home at 3:00am and Delaney graciously slept until 7:00am. If you know Delaney, this is a big feat.

So, all of that aside, we were so glad that we could be a part of Jeffy's big day. I would have been heartbroken to have missed it. We love Jeff, and are happy with his selection in a bride. Congratulation, Jeffy and Evie. We wish you all the best!

Christmas 2010, Part 1

I am SO behind in blogging, grr! I have a lot to blog about, as well: My little brother's wedding, Christmas with our Riverside family, Christmas festivities with my parents, transitioning Delaney to her toddler bed, the ongoing construction in Jude's room...yep, there's a lot going on these days.

All that blogging won't happen today, but I'm making an attempt to put a few pictures up to appease certain family members (ahem...Uncle Jimmy). I received a lovely little point and shoot digital camera from my parents for Christmas, with the hopes that I will take more pictures in 2011 and blog more. Call it a resolution, if you will.

Here are just a few pics from my parents' visit this December:

Totally blurry picture, but this was the kitchen that my parents got Delaney for Christmas. It's a pink retro kitchen from KidKraft, and it's amazing. She loves to cook for all of us, including Brundibar.

Grammie and Delaney with her Elmo shirt on. What is it with toddlers and Elmo? Such a love affair...

Grandpa and Laney. Grandpa got put to work the minute he got here, hence his work overalls.

Such a cheezy girl.