Um... Merry Christmas!

Abby went through a phase of saying "um..." in a drawn out way like she was completely stumped by a simple question. To borrow her expression, "um..." pretty much sums up the depth of what I have to say for myself regarding an unanticipated and well, uncalled for, ten-month break in posting on my blog. Oh sure, we've been busy. I could even drum up a list of a few things that might justify a blogging break of a week or two, but not ten months.

*Abby dropped her morning nap. It was easy for her but I had some adjusting to do.

*We moved out for a week to refinish the original hard wood floors that had been hidden under carpet for decades.

*I've been deliberating some changes I want to make to the blog.

*I reached a peak of three part-time jobs for about 6 weeks in late spring, but now I'm back to one.

*Summer brought Abby's first trip to the beach.

*Fall brought Abby's second birthday party and accompanying festivities - first haircut, Halloween, Sesame Street/costume party.

*In November, we undertook Operation Thundercloud (aka potty training) where the threat of imminent "rain" put a damper on our activities for a little while. While I believe we've seen an end to major hostilities (...I'm pausing to knock on wood as I type this), I'm not presuming to an unfurl a mission accomplished banner just yet. Seriously, I'm very thankful for the amazing progress Abby has made & so proud of my big girl for learning an important new skill. Apparently, she has taken our praise of her efforts to heart. She has now started saying, "He's such a big girl," in reference to her Elmo doll.

Maybe I'll revisit a few of these events in detail later. But what really caused me to break the silence? My sweet girl in her Christmas dress and her new red swing coat (a birthday gift from Aunt Jan) - such an image must be shared. Oh how delightful to have a little daughter to dress up for the Christmas season! I have Christmas portraits to unveil at a later time, but this hasty snapshot after church will have to do for now.



Last weekend, we attended "Breakfast with Santa". Abby liked the breakfast, the balloons, the face painting, and the candy cane. But she did not like Santa Claus at all.









Abby loved the Christmas parade too, especially the marching band and the fire trucks. I wasn't loving the frigid weather but Abby looked so sweet bundled up in her hat and gloves. The parade was pretty lame but thankfully quite short. We went to a much better Christmas parade the previous weekend - it was at night & the floats were lit up. However, I didn't get any pictures because I took Abby by myself and was too busy keeping her out of the road.