Merry Christmas

WOW! Time gets away from me when I'm having fun. Maddox, Eric, and I have been busy celebrating the holidays traveling around to all our family. Last weekend we went up to Aurora to have an early Christmas with Grammy, Grandpa Dick and Great Grandma Berg. Unfortunately Maddox developed a double ear infection just 12 hours before we left. But, with a little amoxicillin on board she was a trooper. Maddox was spoiled by Grammy and Grandpa Dick with fun bath toys, talking books, and 18 month old clothes ( she was up to 20 pounds 14 ounces at the ear infection appointment). We had a great time and Maddox left their tree alone, just like she does ours. I can't quite figure that out because she is in to every other thing that doesn't move in our house. But, she hasn't ONCE touched the tree or any of the ornaments....hmmmm? Makes ya wonder. We got to see Grammy sing in the choir at church and hear the bells. But, not too long after the service started Maddox was ready to hit the nursery. This past week I worked 3 long days but we were lucky enough to have Grandma Jean come over to watch Maddox on Thursday AND she is coming back on Tuesday. Eric, Maddox and I spent Christmas at home just the three of us. Eric ended up having to snow blow the driveway 2 times because of all the snow we got on Christmas Eve. I think we ended up getting another 7 or so inches on top of what we already had. Thank goodness for snow blowers this year! Eric and I kept it pretty low key with presents. We got Maddox just 2 things that were under the tree when she woke up Saturday AM (unwrapped....from SANTA) They both involve music. She LOVES music. One of them is a Fisher Price piano that she stands up and plays. It hooks up to the TV so she can learn her numbers, colors, letters etc. She hasn't quite gotten the hang of it yet but with a little more practice it will come. She didn't seem to understand much about Christmas day other than both Eric and I were home all day long which of course is nice. And we had cinnamon rolls for breakfast and went out for a Christmas lights drive just before bed. It was a really nice day, just the three of us. The Sunday after Christmas we traveled to Washington to celebrate with Grandma Jean, Grandpa Jim, and Great Grandma Reta. AND BOY did we celebrate. Maddox received so MANY nice things. Her little eyes were as big as quarters when we walked in and saw all the gifts under the tree, MUCH different than the way our tree had looked just several hours earlier! She got a Leap Pad Pet Pal Scout and a Leap Pad Inch Worm, both sort of computerized talking toys that help her learn letters, numbers, colors etc. She also got some SNOW boots so we'll be saying good bye to the plastic bags and tennis shoes! Although they came in handy on Christmas Day. Maddox and I went outside to explore all the snow and she really enjoyed it so much more this time. She crawled around and even ate some of the snow this time. So thanks Grandpa and Grandma Knowles for the boots. The way this winter is going they will definitely come in handy. Maddox enjoyed watching Grandpa Jim's birds come in to feed on their feeder on the deck AND she got to have Great Grandma Reta's banana cream pie! YUM. It was a fun day. Then from Washington we drove down to Keokuk to have a quick Christmas celebration. It is always a TREAT for Maddox when we got to Keokuk because there are SO MANY cousins to play with. And this time the cousin closest to her, Nicole, was there and Nicole LOVES to play with Maddox. Maddox was in heaven with all the kids. She is a social little bug and was holding her hands up to anyone and everyone, aunts, uncles etc to pick her up. She is a friendly little gal. Hopefully she'll continue to be friendly when baby number 2 arrives. Maddox again got lots of nice things from the Kies family....a puzzle, a book and of course some really cute clothes. It was a quick trip down to Keokuk because both Eric and I are working tomorrow. But, WOW what a nice week we've had celebrating with all of our family. We are lucky to have everyone close enough to see every holiday. Thanks for all the goodies but most importantly your love! We love you all.