Very Belated Christmas Post

Sorry its taken so long to get these up - we had over 300 pictures to sort through, and that doesn't even count videos! Those will come soon...

I put captions on the pictures to give you an idea of where we were and what was going on, so hopefully you'll have a good idea of what we did while there. We took several fun day trips around the LA area, enjoyed spending time with family, and relaxed. It was pretty low key and wonderful! It was pretty hard to come back to Omaha considering that when we departed it was -7 degrees, and it was 52 when we got to LA.

Early Christmas with Gma Bonnie

Grandma Bonnie came to visit for a long weekend to celebrate Christmas early. She is also so wonderful to have with us - Gregory just adores her! She always brings lots of surprises like new books and a couple of toys - I guess spoiling him is her prerogative! This being Christmas, though, she had a few special surprises in store. A whole mountain of Christmas books - I think she read him each one 10 times while she was here! A wooden train set from Grandpa Rod, and some other trains from cousins Anna and Gracie, and a lot of other little things... She also found a cloth nativity playset with finger puppets and a stable that doubles as a carrying case - Greg loves to take everything out and then put it all back in! But the coolest thing was something she mail-ordered. You can see it in the pictures below - it arrived just today! We couldn't wait to open it and he doesn't know that you usually have to wait until Christmas morning to open gifts - I guess we'll have to institute that rule next year when he can understand it. Anyway, the present was a huge hit!

While Grandma Bonnie was here, we went to the Capitol for one of our Nebraska Friends of Midwives lobbying days. We passed out M&M trail mix to all the senators' offices along with some information about our upcoming bills. They were having a tuba concert in the rotunda and Santa was there. It was fun to enjoy all the holiday festivities and Grandma and Greg ran all over the halls exploring.

I have to teach classes this weekend and then on Monday we head out to sunny southern California for Christmas as usual. We are particularly looking forward to it considering the huge storm we had last night. It was Thunder-Snow...rather unusual - kind of a cross between a snowstorm and an ice storm. Really fun to drive in - gotta love a white Christmas...

Christmas Photo Shoot

Shoot! is right! Enjoy the bloopers reel below!(I made it bigger so you can see his facial expressions...) For some reason, Greg got it into his head that he does not want to be in any pictures. These are the result of 3 different attempts over the past 2 days. We finally got one that was acceptable, but you'll have to wait to see it until you get it in the mail! Which will obviously be a little while since we just ordered them...hopefully you'll get it before Christmas!

Ah! Oh no!

I was considering changing the template of my blog but I decided not to. Unfortunately, as a result of my experimentation, I lost my list of Blogs I Read. I have recovered a few but if you know I read your blog, would you mind adding a comment with your URL so I can put it back on my list? Thanks!!!

Follow Me!

I added the button to follow my blog, so please do join! It'll help me know who is out there!

So much traveling!

Well we have barely been home for the last several weeks, hence the lack of posting, my apologies! Here is the catch-up, but before I get started, I have long neglected to announce my first blog award! Many thanks to Annie of the Junior, Mints and Reeses blog for the honor. Apparently there is a whole world of blogosphere stuff like this that I am not aware of, and honestly, its a bit overwhelming! Its odd to remember that there are actually people out there who read this!

So I am supposed to send this award on to 5 blogging friends: Michal, Sarah, Becca, Anne, and the Smart Baby Sign Language Holly.

The Gold Blogging Friends Forever Rules are:
1. Only five people allowed.
2. Four have to be dedicated followers of your blog. (I only have 1 official follower, so I'm just picking people I know who have their own blogs)
3. One has to be someone new, or recently new to your blog, or live in another part of the world.
4. You must link back to whoever gave you the 'Blogging Friends Forever' award.


OK, now to the updates! Gregory and I spent a week in Cincinnati with my friend Michal, her husband Jonathan, and their new baby Alexander, Xander for short. He is adorable and a really nice baby! I can't wait to see him grow and see him and Gregory playing together. Greg already likes him - every morning when we got up, the first thing he would say was "Baby? Hiiieee!" He liked to get down close and wave at the baby and give him hugs. The second thing he would do was loudly make a high-pitched screeching meowing sound, indicating he wanted to see the cats...he also loved the cats, but I am not sure they liked him quite as much, especially when he made that noise! Michal and I had a great time hanging out and doing mommy things together. We went out a lot, Michal practicing her wrapping and nursing in public skills. Traveling alone with Greg was not too bad either, I think I have it basically down to a science now! And remember how last time we went to Cincinnati we got stuck overnight on the way home? Well we got home a day later than we planned this time again, but at least we found out early enough that we were able to just spend the extra day with Michal and Jonathan. So all in all, a really great trip! Boy do I miss living near Michal!
Alexander:


Cincinnati Children's Museum: Greg was so focused on playing that I don't think I saw him smile - just a very studious concentration all day long! If anyone is ever in Cincinnati with kids, you have to check this place out!


Chicago Midway Airport Layover: This soccer ball has been all over the country!


Only 2 days after we got home from Ohio, we drove to Canton, Kansas, to visit my great uncle Lawrence and great aunt Irma and their family for Thanksgiving. They live in the home that my grandpa's mother and her father built! Of course, it has been somewhat renovated since then...you know, indoor plumbing and things, but it was really special to be in the old family home. Greg and Lucy both had a wonderful time playing with Austin and Leah, two of the grandkids who live there as well. We had a great Thanksgiving dinner and also did a little sight seeing. I have to say, I am totally impressed with a little town called Newton, nearby, which had a fabulous health food store and a natural baby shop to die for. Check them out online: http://www.healthybabyboutique.com/

Kansas Thanksgiving: The only problem was we didn't take enough pictures - hello, it might have been good to take pics of the people we saw in addition to the places! Sorry!


We are going to be home now for 3 weeks before the annual California Christmas trip. In the mean time, I am beginning to teach this quarter for the community college again, 2 sections of Intro to Biology, Tuesday and Thursday nights and Saturday and Sunday afternoons...what did I get myself into? Between that and the preparations for the 2009 legislative session with Nebraska Friends of Midwives, I will barely have a moment to spare, but I'll try to remember to get the camera out a little...

Recent Fun

We've had a busy last couple of weekends. First Grandma Bonnie and Cousin Stephanie, with Gracie, came to visit from North Dakota. Grace and Greg had so much fun together! We went to a little family dairy farm and they had a great time climbing on a tractor...ok, it was a riding lawn mower, but hey, it was a John Deere! We visited the zoo, and we went to the mall playground...we kept ourselves really busy. We had to stay out of Dan's hair as it was his last weekend before his big exam. It wasn't too hard with such nice company!


The week was pretty tough as Dan was preparing for his exam on Thursday. But he lived through it and on Friday we all piled in the car and went up to Minneapolis. Dan's cousin Angie was married on Saturday, but had a Halloween Party on Friday night. We had a great time at both events, and just spending time with the Fix clan, especially Grandpa Mike. Grandpa and Dan also caught a Vikings game on Sunday. We took our time coming home on Monday which was a much needed chance to spend some good family time just us. Now back to the grindstone, but with a lot more together time since Dan doesn't have to study for a while now, thank goodness!!! I can't say how great it is to have him back!



Here are a couple of videos from some fun we had running through the downtown St Paul skyway system. We were trying to get Gregory to burn off some energy so he would have an easier time going down for a nap. He played some soccer and also enjoyed looking out the windows at the passing cars and people below and the pigeons roosting on the ledges.