The Stone Christmas

I spent my New Year's weekend working with the exception of today. I thought a 4 day weekend would be so much time to get a list of things accomplished. So much for that. I'm over it.

Today I made Ninfa's green sauce, put away all of Christmas, rearranged the living room, took Bauer for a nice freezing cold walk, and did some house cleaning - trying to pack it all into one day.

I'm just now getting to the shots we took over Christmas in South Carolina. The whole gang was there including Mamaw. She braved the trip despite a half-broken lift chair. But she pulled through and put up with us, except for the dogs. She had to get onto them a few times.

This Christmas was very different from the last one. Last year, we prayed for Avery to open her swollen eyes long enough to look at us.

This year was quite different...

she had us running around after her,

pushing her around in her car,

spoiling her,

worrying about her bumps and bruises,

playing with all sorts of toys,

putting toys together that should come with instructions written by an English speaking writer,

cleaning up all the food she'd thrown on the floor for the dogs (she feeds herself now),

singing songs,

watching animated television shows,

keeping her away from sharp edges,

and keeping her little fingers away from the Christmas tree and all of it's ornaments.

Heath and Erin worked Monday - Thursday, so we got to babysit. There was a lot of this going on...

Mom and Dad surrounding her, doing anything possible to win her over. I'm happy to say (for my sake, b/c it would have been my fault), they both succeeded with flying colors. Avery not only put her arms out for each one to take her, but she played, giggled, and loved them.

There was no shortage of snacks or food, but a major lack of sleep as always. We had a great time together.

Mom made Avery this adorable Raggedy Ann doll. I know she'll cherish it when she's older. I still have the set Mom made for me. Of course I don't play with them anymore.

I took Bauer for his annual check-up this past week. He's down to 73 pounds, which is about right for his size. He was 90 pounds last February. The new dog food has really helped. I hate it that he's getting older. He sure is a joy to have in my life. He was so sleep deprived from the trip that once we got home and walked inside, he did a celebratory dance all over the kitchen. He knew he was going to get some rest and uninterruped attention finally.

More pictures to come...