Holiday Preparations

Just a few weeks ago, we had no plans on our calendar and now it is full right up to Christmas Day. We have decorated the house. The tree is set up, complete with train and tiny village. And Colby has recieved his video email from Santa. Now we are on to cookie baking, ornament making, and party going. Wow! I'm tired just thinking about it. But for now, enjoy these few photos of our holiday preparations. They include lights, a shephard, and a few other cuties!

Christmas 2010 Recap and a Big Wow (edited for the Big Wow)

Better late than never, right? We all here would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We hope the new year brings everyone much happiness and love.

Our Christmas was hectic but fun. We enjoyed spending time with both families. Thankfully everyone is nearby so our travel isn't very far. We spend Christmas Eve with Mike's family and Christmas Day with mine.

Christmas Eve we went to Mike's parents and then his grandparents'. Colby loved playing with Lizzy and her toys. And Lizzy loved Colby's toys too! He received an amazing hand-made book from Grandma Laurie. It is all about animals with a fact for each jungle animal and a cute saying about Colby and his family. It is something we will definitely treasure forever. He also received an Alphie, a cute learning robot that some might remember from our childhood. I know I had one but they certainly have updated them. At Nana and Poppy's he received a couple things but his favorite is his Hess Truck and Jet. Of course the jet is motion sensored so it goes off constantly!

Christmas we had fun opening our presents at home. Santa and the reindeer ate the cookies and apple (sorry, the carrots were bad), and the milk and water. Colby actually woke up late. He has been exhausted. He woke up and wanted to crawl in bed with us. I'm not sure he really thought it was Christmas. But after seeing the presents he was ready to go. Santa left him some dinosaurs, a LeapFrog Tag reader with books and a U.S. map (ok, yes, I am showing my teacher side), and a digital camera. He also left a remote control F-150 for Mike and Colby to share. Mike also got parts for his HO Model Train set and I got a new lens for my Canon digital camera. Colby made me a cute red apron and chef hat. We went to my mom's house for a late brunch with my brothers and sisters. Grandma Donna couldn't wait to give Colby his Cars Guitar. Yes, a guitar!!! Grandma's was followed by a trip to my Uncle Lou's to have dinner with my mom's family and of course more presents.

I'm not sure Colby knows what to play with. He is so excited about everything. He seems to really enjoy Alphie, the Tag reader, his GeoTracks, and of course the Hess truck. Thankfully the holidays were lots of fun and Colby loved playing with all his cousins. However, this post is late because I proceeded to spend Sun and Mon on the couch with a wicked migraine headache. Thankfully that has finally gone away and I can now spend my vacation cleaning, running errands, and trying to catch up with school work. We have lots of reading testing coming up and of course CMT's (CT Mastery Tests) to get ready for. Ugh!

But for now, here is the little man enjoying his Christmas and the blizzard we had the next 2 days after Christmas.

Ok. I posted this a couple hours ago and just came back to check on things. I noticed my timeline at the top of the blog. It has been just over 22 months since we brought Colby home. He has now been here for as long as he was in the baby home in Russia! Simply Amazing!

Christmas Fun 2010 in Photos

I really could write a lot. We have been very busy enjoying this holiday season. With shopping, decorating, visiting with Santa, and just having fun together. But, for now, I'll just leave you with some great photos. Enjoy!

Our Christmas Tree

Making some star ornaments

Yum! A very pretty gingerbread house.

Our First Family Christmas

This was our first Christmas as a family of 3! What a difference Colby made to the holiday. We actually had 3 days of Christmas and are just starting to get back to our routine. It certainly has been a whirlwind of fun, toys, food, hugs, and lots of laughter.

Christmas Eve we celebrated with Mike's family. We went to his parents' house around 3. Thankfully they live right down the road, so no travel. We had a small gathering with his parents and Mike's brother David, his wife Jocelyn, and their baby Lizzy. She is only 6 months old so it was thier first family Christmas too! Mike's sister Trisha and her husband AJ were the only ones missing. They live in Ohio, so Mike's parents left to visit with them on Christmas Day. After opening gifts and relaxing we all went to Mike's grandparents' house down the road. They are Mike's dad's parents and family. We had a big gathering there and enjoyed some appetizers and lots of goodies. Colby received a Hess car, some puzzles, a dump truck, and some great photos to hang in his room. Mike's Aunt Jo took pictures of Colby's stuffed animals (Pooh, Mickey, Goofy, Tigger, and more) and used those pictures to PhotoShop into some landscape photos she had taken. So Mickey is now fishing, Pooh is holding sunflowers. They came out great. Colby needed some big photos to decorate his room. Colby also got a trailer truck, bulldozer, and road grader made just for him by Grandpa! We didn't leave there until aroudn 9 so we had one tired out little boy. Thankfully we did get him to take a short nap before we left.

Christmas morning Mike and I were wide awake. We were like little kids on Christmas, both so excited. I was ready with the video camera as Colby opened his presents. He was so excited with the small drum and percussion set Santa brought. He also loved his 2 John Deere tractors and dump truck. We had to play with all his toys before we left for my parents' house. Until this year, we always celebrated with my mom's family at Mamie's house. Unfortunately, we lost her this year so everyone decided to have their own family celebrations and then get together on Saturday. So we went to my parents' house to celebrate with my brothers and sisters and their families. Not the usual 40 or so people but a respectable 16 people. We did miss my nephew Teddy though. He was with his dad. A wonderful meal and even more goodies to eat. And of course, more presents. Colby got a John Deere bank that light up and makes noise when you put money in it. He also got a new Thomas train piece, some great books, a few shirts, a race car track, and letter blocks that Mamie had already bought for him. I also received a beautiful silver necklace from Mamie. It is a heart with a mom holding a baby. It is so sweet and very special. No nap and a long day, we went home and relaxed watching Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas.

Saturday we had one more Christmas celebration. We went to my Uncle Lou's to celebrate with my mom's family. Not everyone was there but we had a great time. Cloby loved playing with his cousins again along with my cousins children. There were kids everywhere! More goodies to eat and even more presents. A few more books, a wooden tool box, some Legos, and we all received a ornament from my Aunt Linda with a picture of my grandparents on it wishing us a Heavenly Christmas. Uncle Lou lives next door to my grandparents house so we did go over there to look through some things to see if their grandchildren wanted anything. I took a few things, mostly cooking stuff, but it did give a bittersweet taste to the day. Boy do I miss them both. I just wish Poppy could have met Colby and that both he and Mamie could have spent one Christmas with us. Christmas was such a special time for Poppy. I hope that I can pass on his love for giving and the sense of joy he gave to everyone.

We spent Sunday relaxing and playing with all the new toys. We did go to Mike's grandparents' for a special dinner. It is his grandpa's birthday so Aunt Marie made home-made ravioli. Yum yum! Ravioli and ice cream. A great way to end a busy weekend. Now we are looking forward to New Year's Eve and my Aunt Doone's, and next month we are having dinner with a few of our fellow adopting friends. We met through our agency and through our blogs. I can't wait for all the boys to get together. It should be a lot of fun!

My Amazing Husband and Mom

I can't believe that it is almost Christmas. Just 2 days to go. And those days will be very busy. We spend Christmas Eve with Mike's family. We will go to his parents' first and then to his grandparents' for dinner. Then Christmas Day we will be with my parents and family. I am so glad that everyone lives close. The farthest we will travel is about 10 miles or so. And it is nice that Mike's grandparents have always celebrated with the family on Christmas Eve. They do the same thing for Easter, celebrating the day before. It is a big family and they want to make sure everyone comes together.

Today I am baking cookies. Yes, a late start. With a two year old, I got a late start this year. I made some with my mom and Aunt Doone but I still have more to bake. I like giving some to everyone for Christmas. I started yesterday making candy cane cookies but my hand mixer broke. I was so worried I couldn't make the Italian cookies because all I had was the hand mixer. So, I put the dough in the fridge and went to tutor. To my surprise, I came home to a brand new KitchenAid mixer! Wow! An early Christmas present. I have always wanted one but they are expensive so I wasn't going to buy one. Well, my wonderful mom and Mike bought it for me this Christmas. What a treat! So today I have christened it with Italian cookies. It works great! Two batches down and now to roll the candy cane cookies and make Spritz cookies. A bust day. If only a little boy would take his nap!

Holiday Fun

Well, it seems my family shared more than just turkey this Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful day together and then everyone ended up sick. Someone started it and just about all of us got a cold, sinus infection, or something. Colby had a slight cough and runny nose but seemed to be ok. Mike and I have been battling a cough, sinus infection for just over a week. Mine was bad enough my teeth were hurting. My mom still has her cough but my brother Chris got it the worst. He ended up with pneumonia. So, we have been trying to get rest and get better. We are now on the mend.

We have also had a lot of holiday fun the past few weekends. We went to Mike's uncle's house to buy a Christmas tree on the 5th and decorated it. Even with not feeling great, we had fun. Colby is still amazed that a tree is in our family room. He loves the lights and the candy canes on the tree. He was so cute putting the ornaments on. I think one branch got 5 ornaments! He would try to hang them and if he missed the branch, the ornament would just fall. And there he left it!

Wednesday Colby and I went to visit with our friends Jill and Nicholas and Sharon and Sean. It was our first time to see Sean since he came home around Halloween. The three boys had a great time playing together and it was fun for the mommies too. We love getting together. We had lunch together and shared stories. Another friend from our adoption agency just came home from Russia with her two boys. Christine lives in NY, not far from here. I am hoping to get all 5 boys and the families together for dinner in January.

This past Friday we went to the mall to see Santa. Colby loves looking at pictures of Santa but I wasn't sure how he would do sitting on his lap. We waited in line and he watched other kids sit down. When we got up to Santa he said hi to him. Colby has really been fascinated with his shoes lately. So he had to show Santa his boots. Then I put him on Santa's lap. He shyed away but Santa asked him what he wanted for Christmas. I told him to tell Santa about Thomas the Train. Then he lit up and started talking. The photographer had a stuffed monkey he held up and that caught Colby's attention. We got a great photo! I hope to scan and download it soon. After that we went to Meriden to see the Christmas lights at Hubbard Park. They are all different animals lit with white lights. The also have a huge globe lit up. You drive through the park and see the lights. We also like to get out and walk around. Mike and I have gone there many times, it is something we like to do this time of year. But it was amazing to drive through the park and here Colby point out the different animals. We walked around a little but it was cold and very windy! But we had fun!

Yesterday we had our first family Christmas party. We went to Mike's parents to get together with Mike's mom's family. We had a wonderful lunch of lasagna, some great dessert, and a fun grab bag. I'm not sure if Colby liked the cars or the plastic tubing they came in better.

This weekend we will have our parents for dinner, bake some Christmas cookies, and watch some Christmas movies. I have truly loved teaching Colby all about Christmas, from the story of the birth of Jesus to the legend of Santa Claus. What an amazing holiday. No wonder it was my Poppy's favorite time of year. And mine too!

Merry Christmas

My Sweet Boy,

Merry Christmas my little one. Although we are far apart this Christmas, you are always close to my heart. I hope you had a wonderful day today. Know that your family thought of you often and you were definitely missed. We will be together soon and next Christmas will be the best Christmas ever.

Love,
Mommy