Mayhem

We got Jane *a few* things for Christmas.  But there's only one thing that Michael really, really wanted to give Jane.

And that was hundreds of tiny plastic balls.  Yes, Michael wanted to give Jane a little ball pit for Christmas.  So we ordered the plastic balls online.

"But where will we put the balls?" Michael asked me.

"Oh, in the porta crib or something," I said.

But on Christmas when we took the balls out of the box, I realized that she was going to go down for a nap in the porta crib pretty soon and I didn't want to have to dig out hundreds of balls from it.  So I suggested, "Maybe in the cardboard box?"

So we did it, and we put Jane in there, but we soon learned that it wasn't a good idea, as you can see in this video:

Nooo structural support.  Hmmm.  What to do, what to do?

And that's when I remembered that friends had once (6 years ago) given us an inflatable kiddie pool as a kind of joke.  Hah!  So we blew it up and put the balls in there and presto:

Instant ball pit!  And there were added bonuses to this ball pit.  The sides are so low that Jane can actually crawl in and out, which Michael told me but I didn't believe it until I saw it with my own eyes!

The next night I was sitting working on something and suddenly I realized Jane was playing in the ball pit behind me.  I had to get a video!  The video below is about 4:30 long because it's so darn cute.  You could skip to about 2:45 to get the idea if you like.  The last minute you can see her going in and out of the pool a few times.  Crazy girl!

Christmas Day

Santa came to our house!

The stockings just gave up and laid
right down on the floor.

This has been pretty much the best Christmas I've had in years.  Not that the past Christmases have been bad, but there was a whole new joy in watching my daughter open her first gifts and see her smile shyly at the toys as if to say, "Is this for me?" and start playing with them.  I'm sorry that the next few pictures all look like the same thing, but I had to include them because you can see Jane sort of figure out how to open up the paper.  (Also, the scarf around my neck was a gift from Michael.  Isn't it pretty?)

I was surprised that Jane could actually handle opening everything we had for her, we just went very slowly.  We let her figure out how to pull off the paper (and kept her from putting it in her mouth).  Then she'd play with the toy for awhile and when she got a little bored we just brought out a new gift.   We were actually done opening everything in about a half hour.

This is the only toy that didn't work out.
It scares Jane to death.
We'll try it again in a few months.

Michael even got some fun things, too!

When Jane was done opening everything, she just laid back against me on the couch and started playing quietly with her toys.  Moments like this make me almost giddy, like when she's watching a show and lays her head against me, or other times when she takes my hand in hers and I think, "My baby is holding my hand."  I get a thrill like a teenage girl having her hand held by a cute boy that she likes.  Except it's my daughter and it blows me away that I've created something that is now holding my hand and smiling at me.  It was extra special to have a moment like that on Christmas morning.

This book was Jane's gift from Santa!  She loves it.

Christmas morning was just our small family, but later in the day we had Michael's Mom and Dad over for Christmas: Part Deux!

Jane got this pretty red dress from Grandma, who bought
it before she was even born!  That's thinking ahead!

We opened a few more gifts and then we had a dinner that I made, Norman Rockwell style.  Okay, it's not a turkey, but if you look closely you can see that chicken is stuffed with a juicy orange and surrounded by a rendition of my Dad's famous dressing.  Yum!  We also had a cranberry salad (red and green is the way to go on Christmas), a yummy corn dish from Michael's Mom, sweet potatoes, and an apple pie that I didn't get a picture of.

After dinner Jane played with toys some more and then Grandma helped me give her a bath and put her to bed.  I think Jane had a very merry Christmas, and we did, too!

Christmas Eve

Every year on Christmas Eve my family gets together at my Mom's house to open their gifts from grandma and uncle Adam, and also my siblings and I exchange simple family gifts. This year there were about 24 people there, I think.

That's a lot of people!

Here are just 16 people - looks crowded, doesn't it?

Well, 16 people and one dog.

Uncle Doug didn't even have to pay
Ella to give him hugs this year!

Uncle Adam had his hands full with Alex.

Literally.

Nikki got caught showing Jane some looove.

Jane liked to play with the paper!  After the first hour or so of
shyness, just threw herself right into the chaos with her cousins.

Both Jane and I got some pretty things to wear from Grandma.

Jane also got one very LARGE package from Grandma.
What is it?
(Watch your head, Michael!)

The tension mounts.

Oooh a fun scooter thingy!
Thanks to Daddy for spending what felt like an hour putting it together!

My sister pointed out on her blog how grateful we were to have uncle Doug and my Mom with us this  Christmas.  Doug has struggled with cancer for years and underwent major surgery this year, and in October my mom suffered a serious stroke.  They are both doing very well now, but it just made this season a little more meaningful.

In light of my mom's stroke, we put together a special calendar for her, decorated with photos of her children as children, and her grandchildren, and added a few memories from each of us.  I felt like it was important to take a chance while still have her here to express appreciation for a few of the things she's done for us and remember good things that she's brought to our lives.

Merry Christmas!

Best Christmas in Years

I absolutely loved Christmas.  One of the best parts about this year was being able to write this on a package:

A photo-laden Christmas post is coming, but I just had to share this first.

Trapped

A few days ago Michael was talking to me in the front room, and my mommy-meter wiggled and I said, "Where's Jane?"

Michael went to find her and brought her back with two glue traps (meant for mice) stuck to each arm.

I wish wish WISH I had thought to take a picture, because the look on her face was so hilarious, like "Um, what's going on?"

But instead my first thought was to release her from the mouse traps as soon as possible, while teasing her that we caught something much bigger in those traps!

Family sing-along, with lots of pictures!

Each year my family gets together for a Christmas sing-along where we all sing carols, the kids perform, and everybody brings a dessert.  This year was Jane's first time, and she had so much fun even though she was pretty tired.  I still managed to take a bunch of photos, even though I was taking care of Jane a lot.  I didn't get any pictures of the Smith kids performing, I'm sorry!  I'd be holding Jane and as soon as I got her taken care of their songs were over.  Maybe I can train Jane to be the family photographer someday.

The same night my co-workers had a party that we went to, and there are a few photos from that at the bottom.  Videos are also at the bottom.

Cousin Cameron held Jane several times, and Jane loved it!

And I forgot to tell Cameron that her hair rocked!

Matti did some amazing playing and gave Erika a break on the piano.

Merri on violin (beautiful!)

Will on violin (amazing!)

Jack on the piano (when did he learn how to do that?!)

Everyone wanted to help Jane feel better, but sometimes
the sight of Mommy not holding you is pretty upsetting.

But at least she looked cute as a button!

Jane thinks Matti is pretty fun!

Jacque, did I mention that your tree looked beautiful?!

Uncle Adam even made an appearance, and he brought Emily!

The next several photos show Uncle Doug playing with Jane.
He would laugh and she would giggle like crazy!
It was pretty hilarious!

Jane liked bumping heads with Merri.

That girl gets around!

We actually had a second party the same night.  Yes, we are fun gluttons!  My co-workers were having a Christmas party just a few blocks away, so we stopped in for "a few minutes" (which became an hour) to say hi and to chow down on the yummy food!  Jane was the only kid at the party (Grace doesn't count), and she was generally passed around and adored, which is her favorite activity!

Jane is being held by Danette, next to her daughter Grace in the blue shirt.

Kelly is kneeling behind the table in the blue shirt,
and Ann-Marie is next to her in the brown shirt.

This was just after Jane bumped foreheads with Adrienne.
You can see she is eyeing the forehead again thinking,
"Maybe just one more time..."

Butt ruffles!

And what's an incredibly long holiday post without videos?!

This first one is Doug cracking Jane up.  This went on for several minutes and was completely hilarious. I only caught the end of it. =(

The next one is Cameron dancing around with Jane.  Cam really knows her waltz!

The whole night, Jane would bump foreheads with people.  Practically every time I looked at her she was bumping foreheads with somebody.  It's like her way of giving a kiss.  She did it to everybody!  At my co-workers' party she found a cute boy, Todd, and did it like 10 times to him.  What a flirt!

I managed to catch a video of her doing it to Merri.