Cindy always has a party at her home following the fireworks. We look forward to this every year too; the food is always so good, her home is always so beautiful and festive, and there is palpable joy in every room of the house. I know how much Jonathan loves this little get together too, because in the days leading up to it I hear about a hundred times, how Cindy is making her Swedish tea ring and how much he loves it. One year, Cindy gave us a generous helping to take home...it didn’t make it home. I had so much fun watching, from a distance, Holt relocate Cindy’s collection of Nutcrackers from the buffet and arrange them in military formations on the floor. Harper Ann was a trooper, staying up late without making a peep, and going right to sleep the second her head hit the carseat. Holt stayed awake talking about Christmas on the way home that night, but when we got home he and Teddy went straight to bed and slept all night. (This was not the case last year. Holt was so wound up from talk of Santa Claus and reindeer and presents that he wouldn’t go to sleep. We finally gave up at midnight and put him in our bed, so that we could get the presents assembled and under the tree. It took 4 months to get him back to a healthy sleep routine.) Harper Ann didn’t make a sound when we moved her into her crib.
Jonathan got Holt a tent for Christmas this year and he and I set out putting it together. In other words, Jonathan started pulling pieces out and putting things together while I sat down and read the instructions. We then disassembled Jonathan’s hard work and followed directions. The whole time Jonathan is saying, “that’s not right...that doesn’t look like the picture...are you sure?...I don’t think you know what you are doing.” Until finally it is up and I get a “huh, you aren’t nearly as useless as I thought you were.” I should have been a girl-scout. We had stockings stuffed, presents put together and under the tree, and were in bed by eleven. Not to shabby, and I slept like a baby. Holt was certainly excited about all his stuff and Harper Ann’s too. It was so much fun watching him “show” her how all her toys worked. I am so glad they have one another.
We enjoyed the early morning hours of toys and “camping” and then gussied up and headed to Grandmom and DD’s for Christmas lunch and of course more presents. This is where Holt got, only the coolest present ever. I have mentioned before Holt’s favorite song, “Snoopy vs the Red Baron.” Every old WWI era plain is the red baron to Holt. Well, Jonathan’s parents have a friend, Sharon Bishop, who bought a “real” Red Baron Airplane in hopes that she would have a grandson. As providence would have it, she has been blessed with a troop of granddaughters, and we are the benefactors of this chromosomal outcome. She offered the plane to Pam and Paul, and you should have seen the look on Holt’s face when they brought it in the house. I think he is going to put a lot of miles on that odometer.
Harper Ann enjoyed the morning too, and aside from a cat nap on the drive from Cleveland to Sumner she stayed awake the whole time. Of course, she and Holt slept the whole way down to Mamee and Papa’s lakehouse. At Christmas, Harper Ann was just starting to sit up on her own, without any extra support. We still surrounded her with pillows, as she would topple, usually in slow motion, every now and then. She has since mastered the skill, and I don’t think it will be long before she is trying to crawl.
What a cutie pie. She really didn't need the pillows, but I did.
The above picture was taken with my Christmas present, an iPhone. A Christmas present that I spoiled. I have been in need of a new phone for some time, as the back of my old one wouldn’t stay on and the battery would come loose without my knowing it, and I had been telling Jonathan that I was thinking about getting an iPhone (Necee, the other Clerk in the Magistrate’s chamber had just gotten one and loved it). Jonathan knows me well enough to know that I will talk myself out of spending money whenever I am given a grace period to think over purchases (I’m cheap...er...frugal). Well, on the 23rd, my last day of work before Christmas, as I am on my way home, I realize that my phone isn’t working and no matter what I do I can’t get it to make a call. I called Jonathan from another phone to tell him that my phone was acting crazy and I was headed to Cingular to get them to fix it. He immediately starts hemming and hawing and telling me he will just take care of it when he gets home. Well, to make a long story short, I forced him into handing over the phone, which he had already had switched over, wrapped in a plastic grocery sack, because I couldn’t just “let it go.” I know I ruined the surprise, but I love my phone and it was still a surprise, just a few days early.
Trying on Holt's coonskin hat.
"The" Present
She loves Lovie/Wiffie (sorry Cindy...The best laid plans right?)
We got a little ahead of ourselves and started opening presents that were not ours...see exhibit 1 on the coffee table
Presents: Jonathan and I have the same, let’s call it difference of opinion, every Christmas/ Birthday/ Occasion where gifts may be involved. I want to limit the gifts we give to our kids. I figure between my family, his family and us (not to mention friends at b-day time) they will get plenty. Holt has more “stuff” than he knows what to do with and Harper Ann is, and will be for awhile, oblivious. Jonathan understands, but he loves those kids so stinkin much that he can’t help but try to give them the world (I love them too, I just have more self control). I say all this to tell you a very sweet story. We had gotten the kids presents and I was under the impression we were done. Then the Saturday before Christmas, Jonathan tells me he is running downtown. When I asked him what for, he told me he had one more thing to get for Harper Ann. I pressed him on the topic, preparing for our almost scripted debate, when he throws me a curve-ball. He tells me he wants to get Harper Ann a locket, like the one he got me on the Christmas we were in college together (we had been dating a year), and that he knows it won’t mean anything to her now, but when she grows up she will enjoy knowing it was her first Christmas present. The locket has her initials on the front and a sweet inscription on the back from Daddy. It is waiting for her on her bookshelf in her room. Above, is a picture of her playing with the box and bow in which it came.
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