Christmas With the Smiths

No Christmas would be complete until you have Christmas With the Smiths.  I swear, just saying makes me think that it should be a holiday movie.  

After our tearful farewell with dropping my parents off at the airport, and after Kasia and Kara both stopped crying from having to say goodbye, we stopped off at Mom and Dad Smith's to exchange gifts.  This means more presents for Kasia and more importantly, more chocolate.

The funny story is that there is this doll feeding/changing station from Target that Kasia absolutely loves.  Every time we go there we have to spend a minimum of half an hour with this thing as she feeds and gives baths to whatever stuffed animal happens to be nearby.  Now, being the wonderful grandparents that they are, Jeff and Kathy get this for Kasia for Christmas.  And Jeff spends a few hours, and a lot of frustration, putting the thing together for her.  So as Kasia is opening her presents, she gets a toy minivan to go with her doll house.  She is extremely excited about this and is having a great time playing with it.  Then we pull out the baby station to surprise her, and her reaction was, "That's cool.  But I'm playing with the minivan right now."  All that time and frustration spent putting the thing together, and she spends the night zipping her action figures around the room in their new little car.  Sheesh.  Of course now that it's home she plays with the thing all the time, and yet every time we go to Target, we still have to play with the one there.  I don't get it.

As for the rest of us, I got a circular saw.  How awesome is that?  I spent much of the weekend cutting two by fours to finish the attic floor.  I feel as though I'm officially a homeowner.  

Ama and Bupa Come to Town!

Before Santa Claus could come to town, we had two other guests come to town.  Grandma and Grandpa!  Yeah!  They flew in the Sunday before Christmas and stayed until the Saturday after.  At long last, we had house guests and a good use for that guest room that sits empty most of the year.

Originally we were fearing that maybe Kasia would not warm up to her Northern Grandparents right away and that it might take a little while before she felt comfortable with them around.  Fortunately, that was not the case.  She warmed up to them right away and immediately was walking all over the airport while holding Grandma's hand.  Then when we got home, she spent hours chasing Grandpa around the kitchen.  She had a blast, and my father got one heck of a work out.

Then on Christmas Eve, my mom sealed the deal when she gave Kasia one of her Christmas presents a day early.  A dollhouse.  Kasia's eyes lit up and she was in love.  All day long she played with that house.  She set up the furniture and made the new family feel right at home.  Then she went and got her other figurines and had them come over to say hello.  Mickey Mouse and Strawberry Shortcake all stopped by  for a quick visit.  Then, Winnie the Pooh came over and constantly insisted on jumping out the window. 

The downside to the visit was that shortly after they arrived, I came down with some flu like illness which knocked me out for most of the week.  Then after Christmas, just as I was getting  a little better, Kara got knocked out.  It wasn't the most ideal of circumstances, but then again, they came to spend time with Kasia.  So they got what they wanted for Christmas, and that's all that matters.

On Saturday, we all went out to lunch and then we took them to them to the airport.  We arrived a little early, but Mom insisted that it was ok since they both had books they could read.  So we dropped them off, said our goodbyes, and drove away.  Kasia cried... a lot.  She really hated seeing them leave and hated even more having to say goodbye.  Kara also didn't enjoy saying goodbye, and as we drove away, tears were also streaming down her cheeks.  I was the only cold hearted one in the car with a dry eye.  Maybe I've just had a lot more practice saying goodbye to my parents.

Hours later, after we got home, I received a phone call from, of all people, my mother.  Their flight was delayed by three hours and they were still sitting in the airport.  Fortunately, the did eventually get out that evening and made it home 

Hopefully the next time we all get together, none of us will get struck down with some major illness that takes us out of the game for days.  I know that's a tall order to fill, but maybe in the summer we can do it.

Merry Christmas!

It was bound to happen sooner or later, but after two tries, Kasia finally was able to enjoy Christmas on the third go around.  

On her first Christmas, she was completely overwhelmed with the whole event.  While she might have been curious about the toys and colorful boxes, the place she really wanted to be was somewhere else.  So she kept crawling in to the next room.

For her second Christmas, she was once again overwhelmed by all the fuss that was going on.  Her two older cousins were ripping in to their presents, and we kept giving her presents to open... which she did reluctantly.  The problem there was that she'd open a present and want to play with it for an hour before moving on to the next one.  It took us almost two days to open all of her gifts.  

The third time it was perfect.  She came downstairs on Christmas morning and saw all the gifts.. and then ran right to the doll house she had opened the day before.  I mean, the wrapped presents could be anything, but she knew that the doll house was a doll house and fun to play with.  We definitely didn't have to worry about her getting in to anything before we were ready.

Soon though we were all downstairs and ready to rip in to some presents.  Kasia was extremely excited and had a good time this year not only unwrapping her own presents, but handing out presents to everyone else.  And just in case we were having problems with taking the wrapping paper off our gifts, Kasia was right there to help.  

After everything was opened, we adults (Kara, my parents, and me) all enjoyed a good breakfast while Kasia continued to play with her toys and eat some chocolate that was in her stocking.  She then also ate some chocolate that was in my stocking.  And if you count chocolate as a major food group, then Kasia ate very well on Christmas day.  In fact, she ate very little else.  Normally that would concern us, but it was Christmas.  

Later in the afternoon we all went over to Judy and Darrell's to enjoy a nice Christmas dinner with the family.  The men spent the evening mixing and drinking different cocktails and discussing the fine differences between different types of Scotch while the women... I have no idea what the women were doing because I was with the men.  But the women were there, and I'm pretty sure they did some talking or something.  They must have all gotten along because there were no fights and no blood was drawn from anyone.  Personally, I had a great time.  Kasia was given a few more toys, and of course a little more chocolate.  

All in all it was a fantastic Christmas.  Kasia can't wait for Santa Claus to come again next year.  Maybe it's because she likes getting presents or maybe it's because we have a large tree in our house at Christmas time.  But she's excited for it to happen again.

Where is Our White Christmas?

There was three inches of snow in Las Vegas and the forecast is calling for more.

Snow storms hit the Northeast and knock out power to thousands.

My Grandparents wrote that they got ten inches of snow.

Chicago is expected to get a foot of snow.

And here in North Carolina?  It's warm.   It was in the 70's the other day and we went to the park without our jackets.  The chance of us having a white Christmas is near zero.  The sad thing is that it's forecasted to rain on Christmas Day.  If only it were colder, we'd have snow.  But how can we get the climate to drop severely in just a few days?

I know.  We'll invite Al Gore to give a speech on global warming at Moyock Middle School.  History shows that wherever he goes to give these speeches coincides with record low temperatures and lots of snow.  So Al, if you're reading this (and we all know that you are), then you need to spend some of your carbon credits, get on your plane, and get here on the double.  Don't make me angry here.  You... wouldn't like me when I'm angry..

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Kasia got a change to go see Santa Claus and tell him what she wanted for Christmas.  She was excited.  She was in awe.  He walked in the room, and she was simply speechless.  She sat there star-struck and watched him as he sang Christmas Carols.  Then she got a chance to sit on his lap and tell him what all her Christmas wishes are.

It didn't go so well.

Like almost every other toddler there, seeing Santa from afar is awesome.  Seeing him up-close is the most terrifying thing imaginable.  I was not able to get a good picture of the two of them together.  I've discovered that it's extremely difficult to operate a camera while at the same time trying to cajole a two year old to stand by a man with an extreme amount of facial hair.  

This is the best shot I could get.

Kasia running in terror from Santa

There was also a picture of me holding Kasia and standing next to Santa, but alas, the poor old lady who took the picture didn't do a good job and it came out all fuzzy (bless her heart).

The Worst Morning Ever?

I think that I've just lived through what could be considered the Worst Morning Ever.

It started at midnight.  Kasia has been sick lately, and so she wasn't able to sleep very well.  She's had a pretty bad cough, and so I decided to take her into the guest bedroom to sleep in the big bed.  That helps her cough.  Well, she isn't the best of sleepers, and she likes to do this thing where she takes her toe nail and dig it into my back.  Then she likes to kick and scrape as much skin off my back as possible.  Suffice it to say, I did not sleep very well.

Then, after breakfast, I realized that it was the day we could go see Santa Claus at Little Birdies.  It's normally our library day, and so I had totally forgotten.  I'm rushing around like a chicken with no head trying to get ready to go see Santa, and meanwhile Kasia is crying/screaming "LIBRARY!" because she REALLY wants to go to the library today.  Of all days.  

It's raining, really hard and we get wet as we rush out to the van.  I try to cheer up Kasia by telling her she's going to see Santa.  She doesn't care.  Tears are flowing down her cheeks and "Library" is the only word leaving her mouth.

We get to Birdies and it's pouring rain.  I gather up everything and make a mad dash through the parking lot, and my shoes and socks get soaked.  

We meet Santa, but that doesn't go over very well with Kasia.  I'm hot, sweating, and trying to wrestle with a two year old to get her to stand next to Santa Claus so that maybe I can get a picture of the two of them together.  It doesn't really work, but Santa gives Kasia a lollipop anyway.  I tell her she can have it when we leave, and suddenly she REALLY wants to leave.

We get back to the car, and suddenly I can't find my keys.  We're standing in the rain, and I'm checking all my pockets only to realize that they're still in the ignition of the car.  And the doors are locked.  And Kara is the only person who has the spare keys and she's in Richmond.  

And the clock strikes noon and my morning is over.  

It Finally Happened

The day I've been dreading for nearly two years has finally arrived.  I knew that it would be coming any day now, but I was always hoping that I still had more time.  Sadly, I don't.  It's over.  The good ole days are gone.  Kasia can now climb out of her crib.

It happened during her nap yesterday.  I put her down and then came downstairs to pick up all her toys.  I heard a shuffling upstairs and thought that she was just tossing and turning to get comfortable.  Then I turn around and there she is, giving me a hug.  She was so excited.  "I climbed out of my crib!" she said over and over in that language only Kasia speaks and which only a few of us understand.  My heart sank.  She looked so cute from being so proud of herself, and meanwhile all I could think was that this changes everything.  

Of course she's probably been able to do this for a very long time, but she has never tried hard enough to actually get out.  I put her back upstairs in her bed for a her nap about an hour later, and a few minutes later I heard a THUMP.  She did it again.  I asked her to show me how she does it, and sure enough, she just scales that crib like it's nothing.  

Well, so much for naps being easy.  Now my next big fear is the day when she doesn't take a nap anymore.  I pray that she's like my mother and still naps long after she's grown.

Kasia Quirks

Kasia is now two and a half, and she definitely has some strange little quirks.  She's talking a lot more now, and that is in itself just grounds for hilarity.  For instance, she will always call her Granny "Cree" for some strange reason.  If ever you ask her where she wants to go, or where her toys are going to go, her answer is inevitably "Cree Poppy."  Translated into English, that is Granny and Poppy's.  

She is utterly convinced that the number five comes after the number two.  I don't know how many times we go over this, but it always comes out "one, two, five."  I guess this is an improvement over the way she used to count which was "two, four, two, four, TWO!!"  If you sing a Backyardigans song to her, she can tell you exactly what DVD that episode is on, but she can't get that three comes after two.  

She will imitate me and do anything that I do.  If she sees me turn on the fireplace, she turns on the fireplace.  If I walk funny, she'll walk funny.  She can learn anything... except how to use the bathroom.  What is that all about? 

Mom Makes a Ginger Bread House - Kasia Eats It

Over the weekend we down to BJ's Carolina Cafe to take part in a gingerbread house making workshop.  It was a fund raiser for the library and the proceeds were going to help the story time program that Kasia and I go to every week.  So we were super excited to go and watch as Kasia made her very first gingerbread house.Well, as it turned out, Kasia was more interested in eating the house and all the decorations than in building it.  She started by munching on the two gingerbread trees that were standing in front of the house.  Then she moved on to the gumdrops that were lining the roof.  The chocolate Santa Claus never even got the chance to come visit the house before we was taken away and eaten.  We even had gotten her a plate of French fries in the hopes that it would distract her long enough so that the house could be finished.  It did no good.  Kasia ignored the fries and went for the candy canes that were flanking the door.  Nothing could stop her.

Then, I guess, she got full.  She stopped eating and moved on to the fries.  

Kara displayed her phenomenal house making skills as she carefully layered the house in frosting and sweet tarts.  

Kara's Masterpiece

The house now sits on our kitchen table, and is relatively still all in one piece.  Much of the frosting has been swiped away by little fingers, and there are a few more missing gum drops, but all in all it still stands.  The problem is that at home, we don't have the French fries around to keep her distracted. 

I Embrace My Southern Roots

I mentioned a few weeks ago that Kara has finally embraced her southern life when she didn't have to wait in line to vote on election day.  That was the defining moment for knowing when she had finally embraced this life of the South.

I knew that I fully embraced it once I stopped referring to the Civil War and started calling it the War of Northern Aggression.  

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wish that I could post a picture of Kasia sitting down at the Thanksgiving Day table with a plate full of turkey and stuffing, and talk about how she got food all over her mouth and clothes.  Unfortunately, I can't because she just wouldn't sit down at the table, and she sure wouldn't eat anything.  Sadly, Kasia is getting a new molar, and on Thanksgiving it was really bothering her.  So what made her feel better?  Pool!  She must have stood at that pool table for hours just rolling the balls back and forth.  It may not have put anything in her belly, but it did keep her from screaming.  And when she got tired of pool, she moved on to: 

SLOTS!

That's right, if it involved gambling in any way, Kasia was all about it on Thanksgiving.  It made her happy, and were all thankful for something.  Kasia was thankful for having something to play with, and I was thankful that Kasia is too young to gamble with real money.  Though in here defense, on the slot machine, she was winning quite a bit.  She may just pay off for us yet.

As for the rest of us, we had a great dinner over at Kaye and Ron's house and stuffed ourselves silly.  My personal favorite of the day was Kim's sweet potato dish.  I never thought (I mean, ever) that my favorite dish at Thanksgiving would involve sweet potatoes, but I am in the South now...  and I'm getting more southern every day.