Oh, bring us a figgy pudding, and a cup of good cheer!

Oh my. Where to begin?

The holiday season of 2007 was… well, I don’t really know if I can adequately describe. So I’ve posted a bunch of pictures (in no particular order... stinkin' Blogger) and give you a few highlights. Oh - and notice Jo's ultra-cheesy smile, in almost every picture. Any tips on how to get her to stop... pass them along. Please. Some things I mention are not Christmas or New Year’s related whatsoever, but are thrown in because if I don’t mention them now – they’ll be lost forever in the vast expanses of my forgetful mommy-mind.

This was the season of Santa Claus for Josephine. Everything was focused on his mysterious arrival, and the bringing of the magical presents. This came in handy when we needed a quick threat. “Go to bed, or Santa won’t come.” “Be good, or Santa won’t come.” “Eat your broccoli, or Santa won’t come.” Evil? Yes. Effective? YES. We did make it to see Santa at the mall. Jo was full of questions the whole way there. “Where will his sleigh be parked? Can we see it? Where are the reindeer? Will you stay there with me?” Apparently, she was afraid that we were going to find Santa, plop her on his lap, and make a mad dash. Tempting? Maybe. But we’re not THAT evil. And she did, in fact, sit on his lap, and ask him to bring her a rocking pony. Then she proceeded to ask him - no, not about his boy parts as I spent so much time fearing – but if he remembered the time the Central Park Rangers tried to get him on their horsies. If you haven’t seen the movie “Elf,” do so right quick. It’s Jo’s new favorite. We’ve watched it many, many times over the past few weeks. And the part at the end where the horsies try to “get Santa” is the source of much contemplation in Jo’s almost-3 year-old world. Thank goodness, Santa rolled with the punches and replied that he did remember, and then we forked over our life savings and gave vats of our blood for our 2 5 x 7 pictures of the girls on Santa’s lap, and went on our merry way. Oh – and in case you were wondering, Josie did remark as I was buckling her in the van that “Santa was having boy parts.” Sigh.

The constant drone of Christmas carols have helped urge Jo to sing. Now she’s singing all the time. Which is awesome, and I can’t get enough. But, painfully, she’s also asking us to sing all the time. More painfully, her only requests are “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and “Jingle Bells.” Over. And over. And over, again.

The daycare families all brought home paper chains to countdown to Christmas. Josie loved pulling off a chain each night, and saying, “It’s almost Christmas time!” I’m sure this will be a continuing tradition in our house in the years to come.

The family celebrations kicked off Christmas Eve with the Daly family gathering at Pat’s uncle Bob’s house. A good time was had. Josie and Eve left with a whole lot of loot – including very coveted play cell phones for each of them, which I think – judging from time spent playing with, and fits had if someone else touches, and the fact that Josie slept with her phone Christmas Eve - probably win the prize as best gifts of the year. We continued the night in Centerville for the Ashton family get-together at Pat’s aunt Val’s house – and envied immaculate, decorated, roomy, heated, attached garage. Perfect set-up for such a large brood. Jo is obsessed with babies right now, and Pat’s cousin Abby has an adorable little girl that fit the bill. Jo followed whoever was holding baby Ava EVERYWHERE. Didn’t matter if they left our sight or not, she was following that baby. Eve (why, yes, Evie was part of our holiday this year! I fail to mention her much only because all the hoopla is still a little over her head. Next year will be a blast for her when she gets all of it a bit more) had a good time sticking her fingers in, something, on the garage door that left grease all over her hands. It was a very late night getting back home – but we had so much fun.

Christmas morning we went into Josie’s room, and her first words were, “Is Santa here now?” And because she was a good girl and went to sleep, and ate her broccoli, she got the coveted rocking pony. Oh how fun it is to see someone whole-heartedly BELIEVE. And so the magic continues.

We opened gifts, ate waffles (made with Pat’s new Belgian waffle maker) and made it to church on time. Thank goodness for lots of music at the Christmas mass. The girls took much-needed lengthy naps, and then we went to Pat’s parents for dinner. And lots more presents. Bedlam ensued during the kid gift-opening portion of the evening, and thank goodness Sara suggested we take a 5-minute breather because I was getting really warm and my heart was starting to race and I think we all may have imploded if the excitement level reached any higher. It was a wise decision this year to let the kids open first, and play with their gifts while the adults opened. Although the excitement level escalated again when Pat’s dad opened his very own “leg lamp,” like in the movie “A Christmas Story.” I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone so excited over a gift before.

And so it begins… Josie got ice skates from Gramma and Grampa. She and Daddy went on her very first skating outing the day after Christmas down at Eastview, and she was able to stand up and glide a little. And more importantly, she loved it. Looks like Mommy is going to have to learn how to skate right along with the girls. Good thing I’ve got plenty of padding on my behinder.

On the Thursday following Christmas, we trekked to Newburg to stay for a few days with Gramma Sue and Erwin. There are cows there. And lots of snow. And tractors – one of which Jo got to ride with Erwin. And Eve decided to be Erwin’s buddy this year, sitting on his lap and letting him hold her without complaint. Maybe it was the fact that he gave her potato chips and cookies, and held her up to see all the birds at the feeder and the cows in the pasture that helped bring him into higher esteem in her toddler mind, but whatever the case, he was alright with her.

My family got together on Saturday, and it was so nice to visit and relax and eat without being rushed or thinking of where we needed to zoom off to next. An impromptu trip to Winona occurred in the middle of the day as Val needed to cheer at a basketball tourney. So Bob, Pat, Val and Em went on an outing while the rest of us stayed back for naptime.

Eve is talking up a storm. She’s added tons of words to her vocab – including “dressed,” “Elf” (gee – I wonder why?) “Santa,” “get up,” “talk quiet,” “stop,” “couch,” “ouch,” “moo,” “door,” “off,” “eye,” “nose,” “mouth,” “neck,” “doggie”… and the list goes on. We spend much of the time during our meals doing “cheers” with our cups, plates, and forks. That girl sure does like a toast. And toast. I think she’d eat toast all day long, if she had her druthers. Actually – she’d be most happy on the BRAT diet. That’s banana, rice, applesauce and toast – usually the recommended diet when one is sick. Throw in the occasional cookie, hot dog and pudding snack – and Eve would be happy. She eats about one solid meal a day. The rest of the time we spend watching her chew up her food and spit it out on the floor for the dog. Her eating habits are eerily similar to her cousin Emilie’s. There are a few similarities between my sister’s girls and my girls – including matching scars on Eve and Em’s foreheads from daycare mishaps. I only hope that we’re noticing the first of many similarities to such fun, pretty, and well-rounded siblings as my nieces.

As I mentioned before, Eve’s cell phone is the coveted toy above all others. A while ago, for some unexplained reason, phones became “Grampa.” She doesn’t talk to her Grampa on the phone, or anyone else for that matter, and it’s not like Grampa is calling us all hours of the day… so I’m not sure where this came from, but her phone is Grampa. And it makes her very, very happy.

Eve is a challenge sometimes in church, but we can usually manage to make it to the end without a major meltdown. Fruit snacks help. We’re the stereotypical family hoarding the back pew with the noisy toddler. When the singing stops, there’s Eve yelling “E-I-E-I-O!” One of us will whisper “shhh” or “be quiet” in her ear and she’ll exaggeratedly whisper right back at us. Or she’ll notice something out of place or a piece of paper on the ground and yell “UH OH!” until we acknowledge the offense and make an attempt to fix it. I have a hard time not busting up, and can’t say that I usually can follow along very closely. Eve’s favorite part is sharing a sign of peace with those around us. She continues to shake her hand at everyone until mass is over, and sometimes beyond. We even have to give “peace” at home and shake each others’ hands. We took the girls to church in Mabel while at my mom’s, and afterwards Gramma Sue mentioned something to the priest about her granddaughters being there and hearing Eve during the service, and the priest remarked, “oh, yes – the EIEIO prayer.” She’s a hoot, and she knows it.

We had a low-key New Year’s Eve. We took Josie and Eve to Como Zoo's Noon Year's Eve celebration, played and had dinner at home, an early to bed night for the girls, a movie, Matt Damon – well, IN the movie - Dick Clark and a shared bottle of champagne at midnight. It really couldn’t have been more perfect. New Year’s Day I woke up to Josie on top of me yelling “Happy New Year! It’s almost my birthday!” and Eve excitedly chanting “Mama, mama!” Again – couldn’t imagine it being any more perfect.

Now that I’ve bored you to tears with this never-ending novel – I wish you and your families a happy, safe and fun new year. And only 6 days late. Not too shabby.