And we bid farewell to 2009.

This was a long year for me. We had some huge events: we bought our first house, we had our second baby (with no medication thank you very much), we moved, and I moved positions and started working from home. And then a million little good and bad ones. I normally like to reflect on the year but this year I’m not feeling it so we’re not going to do that.

Instead we look forward. Here’s to a fantastic 2010. May it be absolutely amazing in every way!

Today started our badly. I woke up at 3am cause Nathaniel refused to go to sleep after having eaten just a few hours prior. After a while of his wailing, I just gave up, nursed him again and thankfully we both passed out in our own beds. When I woke up, David had already taken his pullup off and put it outside (which he does every morning) but because something is wrong with our back door, it wouldn’t close. So he left it for me to do. And I couldn’t either. So I had to call an emergency line and they came an hour later to close it (not fix it. that won’t happen until after the holidays). While I am thankful that it’s now locked, I am annoyed that I can’t use it until January who knows when. I use this door 16 times a day. What crap.

Since I got so little sleep, I was in a total daze all day, even after two coffees. So finally, in the afternoon, I told David we should go take a walk. We all got bundled up and went out.

Since we were going to walk for about 20 mins, I got the dinky stroller we use for such occasions. I was worried Nathaniel might be too small for it, but it worked out ok.

I tried taking several photos of Nathaniel along the way:

But he either made funny faces or sucked his thumb. But the big one smiled wonderfully.

And then played around.

And then once the kids were down, I wrote some code. It was a long, long day. Hope yours was well.

Today I feel wiped. Maybe the laziness begets laziness. I am not motivated to do anything. Ugh.

I played around with Nathaniel’s photo today just for fun.

David’s still playing with his Christmas presents. Today he made a house with the screws. It was fun to watch him.

I am off to read a little while the little one naps. I hope your holiday weekend is full of laughter and joy.

Christmas in our house started last night when David got to open one present.

As it turned out, it was a science toy so, of course, we got to working on it immediately.

While Nathaniel hung out with Daddy and relaxed.

Then, everyone went to bed and Nathaniel decided today was to start at 4:00am which is when he began crying and would not stop. So after we all woke up, he fell right back asleep and slept all the way until 8:30.

While he slept, I set the table.

This year, I’d decided to make some pancakes. The recipe was from the Barefoot Contessa book I have and it’s baked pancakes. I had never tried them before and while they look a bit funny, they actually tasted quite good.

David got “full” immediately because he knew we’d open presents after breakfast. And as soon as he was allowed, he opened everything in his stocking and moved on to his presents.

Since Nathaniel showed no interest in opening his, David kindly opened all of Nathaniel’s presents, too.

Here’s a shot of our room right after all the presents were opened.

After all the present-opening was done, Jake fell into a deep sleep on the living room couch.

While the kids both played with their new toys.

And then while Nathaniel napped, we all watched Mary Poppins and then Jake and David made some of David’s new pirate legos while I relaxed and worked on some upcoming posts.

And we ended the day by making some royal icing and preparing our graham-cracker gingerbread houses so we can decorate them tomorrow.

Baths, nursing, stories, snuggling and the kids were both asleep by 6:30. Now it’s time for us to relax and enjoy the last few hours of Christmas Day.

I hope your day was full of delight and joy like ours. I feel very blessed today.

Today we baked the cookie dough I’d prepared yesterday. And David decorated to his heart’s content.

All the while Nathaniel sat in his chair with a teething biscuit which I figured would keep him busy for a while.

I didn’t really work. He ate for a while and then got really upset. So in the end he was a mess and crying at the same time.

but we did make some cute cookies.

The rest of our day was quiet. I didn’t feel like doing any art today but I did finish my book. I am hoping to work on my page 22, 23 and 24 tomorrow (mostly simple or digital now) and ideally on my two tags, too. Just feeling behind still, but I don’t care. I will eventually catch up. Even if it’s in 2010.

Happy Christmas eve eve.

Today was a quiet day. I spent most of the day working hard. I had some work tasks I really wanted to finish so I spent the day working on them. Jake was home so he spent time with the kids and let me focus solely on work.

David’s always been a great player. He can spend hours playing with toys, drawing, and entertaining himself. Since I work at home full time (and I did when he was a baby, too) I cherish that in him. I am delighted to find out that Nathaniel is, so far, similar. Of course, he has the luxury of having an older brother, too, but he also likes to play with toys, discover things, and entertain himself. He does put almost everything in his mouth, so I do have to watch for that, but otherwise, he’s a happy little camper.

I am off to bed. Tomorrow is full of to-do list items and more work. More posts coming, too. About my projects for 2010. December Daily pages. More on gratitude, etc.