Christmas, Christmas and more Christmas!

We had a fantastic Christmas with lots of family and driving and more family and more driving . . . :). Lynsey had a great time at her Grandma and Grandpa Kroeker's without us (see last post) - and I got so much done on Tuesday! We drove up to Edmonton on Wednesday morning and spent a few days there with our Kroeker family. The kids were spoiled with great presents and it was a nice, relaxing time. Adam still has no interest at all in presents, but I had to take at least a few pictures of him opening presents on his first Christmas!

On Christmas day, we made the drive to La Crete. It wasn't too bad actually! Adam only slept for half an hour which was kind of unfortunate, but it turns out he's not a bad little traveler. I did have to sit back there with him and feed him a lot - that kept him quiet:). We had a great time in La Crete - Lynsey was quite sad to leave. The gathering on the 26th was chaotic as usual, but fun. I got to see some of my good friends up there, too, which was so good.

We left La Crete on the morning of the 28th and drove to Westlock to visit with our friends Ryan and Ruthy. From there, we went on to Edmonton to stay the night at Brian's parents' house (they weren't there). On the 29th (yesterday) we went to Martin and Angie's for yet ANOTHER family get-together! Another great turkey dinner and good times with family. We then drove home, and it was good to be home. We had a great time visiting, but it was time to come home!

This morning, the kids opened their presents from us, and while Adam again showed no enthusiasm, Lynsey loves her new stuff. She loves her new Woody doll, and the train set is a hit just like I had hoped. We got a whole day at home and tomorrow we're heading to Banff for the Penner Christmas gathering. It's great to have so much family at Christmas time!

Adam is becoming more and more confident in his walking, and I should also note that he is much more adaptable these days when we're away from home. He slept so well in his playpen, and even switched to a different playpen at my parents' house and did great. He's still a bit whiney these days, but I think we will just have to weather this phase and hope as he gets more mobile and learns to entertain himself more (and finishes cutting his teeth) that he will just get easier. Lynsey did so well on the potty front while we were gone that I was starting to think we should just stay away from home! I don't know what that little blip was a few weeks back, but she seems to have decided (for now at least) to try a bit harder on that front. Phew! She just loves being with her extended family. As hard as the trips to La Crete are logistically, I was reminded again this time that we need to keep making the effort to go as often as possible.

I should also provide an update on my whole weight loss thing! I have now dropped the last three pounds and am sitting right around my goal weight (some mornings a touch over, but right around there!). I didn't gain over Christmas either, which was a fear of mine. I ran on the treadmill at both Brian's parents' house and my parents' house, and in at my parents', I actually was able to FINALLY run 5k in around 30 minutes! Just had to brag a little bit about that, because it was hard work. I haven't really been training to run 5k, since for the last few months I've been solely on my elliptical for cardio, so I thought that was a pretty big accomplishment. There's my little pat on my own back for you:).

I feel a bit bad that I don't have more pictures of Adam for his first Christmas, but he was sleeping through many of the Christmas festivities! Oh, well - if he asks about it later in life, I'll tell him he didn't really care about presents anyway and was much happier in his bed:). Oh and if you're wondering why Lynsey is wearing sleepers in so many pictures, it's because that's all she wanted to wear the whole time we were away. I had just gotten her new ones and she was thrilled to pieces. It's a good thing Christmas dinner with Brian's parents wasn't too formal, because guess what she just had to wear for it!

Get-togethers, getting ready for Christmas

The past week or so have been a bit busy with Christmas parties and get-togethers. I went to a masquerade party which was kind of fun - Lynsey did not want me to wear the mask, though:). Coraleah and Larissa spoiled the kids with gifts again, and Lynsey and I painted the doll Larissa got for her last week. She had fun painting it, but she wanted me to clean off her face later because "she couldn't see" (as you can see from the pictures, she completely covered her face with paint). I think I will get her more painting projects soon, but I think it will be blank paper for now because she just isn't old enough to understand that paint is permanent! It was a fun project, though, and luckily it didn't bother her too much that her doll was in the dark:).

Things have settled down on the potty front (thankfully!). It seems she was just experimenting with her freedom for a time. My sister called me and suggested it might be a medical issue (bladder infection or something like it), so I think I'll get her an appointment in January and see if there's something to that. To be honest, it would be a bit of a relief to know that it's medical and not behavioural, but I sort of don't think it is. We'll get there!

Adam has been a bit unhappy again the last few days. I can't tell that there are any teeth threatening to come out any time soon, but who knows. He is gaining more confidence in his walking, even dropping his hands sometimes:). Somebody mentioned to me that maybe he was putting his hands on his head to give him some security, to feel like he's holding onto something. When he's in a good mood, he'll be holding onto a chair or the railing and he'll start squatting and even lifting one leg - I consider this trying to expand his mobility:). I'm hopeful that he'll keep testing what he can do and someday, he might even be able to pull himself to standing from sitting!

He had his last bottle yesterday AND we faced him forward in his carseat - a big day for him! The carseat actually didn't seem to make a difference - he's always been pretty good in his carseat, so he just kind of sat there, same as always!

Lynsey went with Brian's parents to Edmonton today. They were coming through Calgary on the way home from Banff, and asked if we thought she would want to come to Edmonton a few days early with them (we are going up on Wednesday). She was very excited about it! I think it's a great chance for her, one she doesn't often get since they live in Edmonton, so I'm glad it worked out:). I miss her, but I am excited to spend the day with just Adam tomorrow!