Wow! Another year has ended. And what a year it was--2009 was packed full of events/changes for the Blane family. It was at times a bad year, for a while it was a sad year, but mostly it was pretty terrific. Yes, we did A LOT in 2009-- we moved clear across the country, Paul got a new (much more grueling) job, and we had a baby!
It just seems as though the weeks are flying by. I can hardly believe it is January and that Christmas has already come and gone. A year ago this month Paul and I started house-hunting out here in PA--a rather melancholy experience in itself (shouldn't looking for a new house be exciting?). A year ago it didn't seem real that we would be living clear out here so far away--but here we are. And, believe it or not I have actually sort of gotten used to living here (after 9 months and a lot of tears). Anyway, we had a wonderful Christmas with the Blane's in VT even though we dearly missed our loved ones in UT.
Here are some pictures of Max helping me un-decorate the Christmas tree. He loves picking things up with tongs, and he started removing the ornaments the day we decorated the tree. All of the ornaments that he could reach were slowly and strategically moved from the tree and placed around the house. At first I was a little upset with this, but then my mom reminded me that the real reason we even have a tree is for him. She was right. Thankfully, I only put up shatter-proof ornaments this year!
We had a HUGE snowstorm right before Christmas. It snowed over 20 inches. And of course, everyone here keeps saying how abnormal that is--it never snows or rains here according to the locals, but whatever. We had tons of snow and a huge driveway to plow. Here is the difference between UT and PA: in Utah our neighbors would just show up with a snow blower or their 4-wheeler and clear our driveway and sidewalk in a genuine and neighborly gesture; in Pennsylvania a neighborhood kid charged us $60 to snow-blow our driveway and he ruined a couple of our new solar lights. But, anyway...
Here are some pictures of Max and Paul out in the first snow storm of the year...
See the grin on his face--he is loving this.
But, the next day Paul took Max sledding with his friend Mark and his two kids. They went to a very steep hill--too steep for a 2-yr-old-- and apparently Max got a face-full of wet snow when he and daddy went soaring down the huge incline. Not surprisingly, after this experience Max decided that he doesn't like sledding after all.
We took a road trip to Vermont to spend the holidays with Paul's family and we all had a spectacular time. However, the car ride was brutal. What would take the normal person maybe 6.5 hours to drive took us 9 hours. In a car. With two little ones trapped in their carseats. The extra 2 1/2 hours came from a couple of really long stops we had to make just to allow Max to stretch his legs and let Sam out of his seat. I don't think I need to elaborate too much on this other than to say it was painful--for all of us.
However, when we finally got to Mimi's house we all really enjoyed ourselves. The day after our long drive we thought it would be great to give Max some outdoor time. Mimi had a couple of sleds and we took him to a little hill (very little this time).
In the above picture Max is trying to make it perfectly clear to daddy that he does not want to go sledding. "No, daddy, I don't like it," he kept saying.
But, what mean parents we are...we thought if he would just try it on this easy, slow hill he would actually realize that sledding is quite fun. We were wrong. He wore this worried/frightened expression at each attempt. I think Paul has scarred him for the remainder of the winter.
Sam loves his Auntie Joey...
I am trying to teach Max how to peddle. He actually got it down pretty good by the time we left Mimi's--but he can't steer yet. Max and Koa spent so much time on this little tricycle making the rounds at Mimi's house and having such a blast (when they weren't disagreeing over who's turn it was). We have the exact same tricycle at our house and we brought it in when we got home thinking Max would continue with the fun--uh, of course he hasn't touched his. I guess it must need Koa with it in order to be fun.
We let Max open the present from Papa and Gramma Jill on Christmas Eve. They know their grandson so well--tractors are his favorite.
And of course he had to take this huge tractor case to bed with him that night.
Christmas morning pictures...
Even though sharing proved to be a little challenging this time for Koa and Max, they really do love each other...
Mimi gave the boys these darling little trains full of presents. They had fun wheeling them in to open their surprises.
The picture Mimi is holding will go down as one of the most difficult gifts we've ever had to give. We had this great idea which turned into a nightmare. I will never take a toddler to get a professional portrait done ever again even if someone were to give me a million dollars. One of the worst experiences of my life. Okay, I am overreacting a little, but it was very painful.
My two boys...
Paul enjoying some quiet time with Koa and Max (quiet time was rare)...
Max may not like sledding in the snow, but he sure loves to dig in it. He had Mimi's driveway cleared of snow in a matter of minutes! Now we can put him to work at our house when the next snow storm hits and save $60.
Koa had a great time jumping and sliding in this saucer...
The boys had some fun times in the tub! Max got to bathe with Sammy...
And with Koa. He and Koa had a blast in the tub...
Sammy is growing so fast. He is bearing a lot of weight on his legs now, and loves to just stand in our laps. So, we decided it must be EXERSAUCER TIME! I can't believe he is big enough for the saucer...
Such a beautiful baby...
My two handsome guys...
Max actually climbed out of his crib for the first time today. Honestly, Paul and I can't believe it took him so long to do it--he is such the climber and explorer we expected him to do it a long time ago. I put him down for his nap and, as usual, he cried a little bit. But the crying sort of went on a little longer than normal and sounded a bit off, so I decided to check on him. I walk upstairs, open the door, and there he is, standing right in front of me. "Hi Mommy," he says with a big grin on his face and his cap on backwards. He had climbed out of his crib, turned on his light, and he was ready to "go-go-go"--only he couldn't get the door open (thankfully he hasn't figured that one out yet). It was just such a funny scene--he's crying for me, I open the door, and he's standing there with a smile saying, "Hi Mommy!" Anyway, this means we need to transition to the big-boy bed--it will not be fun.
Needless to say, my little crib-scaler didn't take a nap today. That means that mommy didn't get any downtime, let alone any time to clean. Sammy didn't nap very well, either. So, I am looking around at my messy house thinking about the days when I had all the time in the world to mop the floor and dust and vacuum. Now those days are long gone--but I wouldn't take them back for all the money in the world--I'd much rather have a messy house and the two sweetest boys ever to play with!
1 comment:
Your boys are so dang cute. Looks like you had a fun Christmas.
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