Our Christmas Wish List for 2011...

Here's my follow up to our Christmas Post. I wanted to write down my reflections for our holiday next year so that we can hold onto some of the lessons of 2010.

1. Do stay home for the holidays again. Much as we love our families, there is something very sacred about creating our traditions here at home and the peace of not traveling that time of year.

2. Don't go to see Santa again. I could never really get behind this tradition but when I saw Eva's reaction to Santa it really confirmed for me why I think it's such a crazy set up to put our baby in the hand of a bearded stranger that she's never seen before. I love the crying Santa photos but I just can't do it again...

3. Do make Christmas cookies again. Eva adored making cookies with me and she seemed to get that it was a special treat. We hand delivered the cookies to neighbors which also felt really good to do with her.

4. Do go to the Children's Mass again but go an hour early. We know this lesson already but it really hit home to us when we arrived fifteen minutes before mass started this year and had no seats.

5. Don't bother going to the Garden of Lights again. This one cracked me up. I was so excited to take Eva to the botanical gardens that are lit up with a half a million lights in stunning visual displays. Eva was so over it in about two seconds flat. She just wanted to be free and explore, which wasn't possible with the number of visitors in the garden. So, we left after a lot of fussing. But get this: when we drove through our neighborhood she oohed and ahhhed as we past all of the holiday light displays like she was at the Taj Mahal. Go figure...

6. Do less. We were invited to a lot more parties than usual because of our little one. While the invites are always thrilling, our holiday energy started to wane quickly. We promised ourselves that we would do just a few gatherings that really mean a lot to us next year. It's that lesson that I continually re-learn: less is more. Amen.

7. Do order holiday cards before Thanksgiving. I love the holiday card tradition, especially now that we have Eva to show off with the lovely photo cards! I don't want to lose this tradition but I found it harder to get done with a busy toddler. My time is just not my own anymore so everything takes more planning time.

8. Do shop for gifts well in advance. And don't bring Eva. I tried Christmas shopping with her the one day I wasn't sick and after an epic meltdown at Nordstrom's Rack I was reminded why I never bring her along. I love my girl but my goodness she puts up a huge fuss in the stroller! It's just not worth it. That's why I usually don't do it. Holidays should be no exception even if I'm pressed for time.

9. Do a computer and phone fast on Christmas Day. I read this idea in one of my favorite mommy blogs and I think it's brilliant. I love the idea of completely unplugging for a day and playing board games and just enjoying one another's company for the day.

10. Do plan an elegant but simple dinner. We tend to get carried away in the entertaining department but food prep, as glorious as it is, can get out of hand and distract us from what is most important. And that is each other and the message of Christmas.

The Christmas Spirt Prevails...

The holiday season didn't start off well at the Walker household. I caught an upper respiratory virus that lingered for weeks. Eventually, it turned into pneumonia. I finally kicked the dang thing to the curb only to be hit again with a two by four with a stomach flu virus on Monday. At that point, I raised the white flag of surrender for Christmas and declared that what was done was done and it just had to be enough. My zeal for to do lists and checks in the box is legendary so you can imagine my struggle with letting so much go, especially for Eva's first Christmas. But you know what? It was more than enough. In fact, dare I say that it was perfect? It's a good lesson that we put these expectations on ourselves and we can( and probably should) be more intentional about how we spend our time during a month when we are being pushed and pulled in so many different directions.

We spent the entire day at home while Eva skyped with her Midwestern families. Later, we enjoyed a wonderful meal. One of the things I noted about Eva is that she was not overwhelmed by the gifts. Instead, she really enjoyed and played with what she had, which, again, was just enough. She was also calm and collected throughout the day and didn't show any signs of being overstimulated. It was really a joy to behold and I do want to embrace this memory and remember what this Christmas felt like so that we don't get caught up in the Christmas current next year. Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Evaspeak

Eva's burgeoning vocabulary continues to astound us. She's a verbal machine these days with her non stop chatter. She's saying full sentences, singing songs. I'm taking a moment to get some of the words that she has created before she masters the English language.

Moppies: I love to bake, and Eva loves to eat my creations. One of her first words was "moppy," which is her word for muffin. She obsesses over "pumpky moppies," and croons for them until I grab my apron and wire whip and start mixing away.

Hummy: Toddlers go through phases with foods but "hummy" never gets old in our toddler's book. She would seriously eat hummus and crackers for every meal if she could. It's out of hand. She calls anything that remotely looks like hummus "hummy" too. She broke my heart the other day, however, and called it by its true name. I vowed never to correct her again. I curse the teacher in me that has to model the correct word!

Mommy Do See, Daddy Do See: This one took us a while to figure out. Basically, whenever she wants to see one of us, or just sees us, she says "Mommy do see" and/or "Daddy do see." I think that she took the logic of my incessant prompting (again, the teacher in me) "Eva, do you see the truck?" and flipped it to a declarative sentence indicating what she wants or what she sees. It makes total sense, doesn't it? Talk about making your heart melt. Every time she says it, or I hear her say this phrase about one or both of us, it makes me weak in the knees. For the record, it is her preference that we are both in the same room with her all the time. );

Mahma: Jeff's mom, Grandma Kennan, made quite an impression on Eva during her visit in Cleveland. Eva asks about "mahma" all the time. Just about every time I open the computer screen she exclaims "mahma" (which means that she thinks we are going to Skype) or "babies" (blogs, facebook photos of our baby friends). To her the computer is a worm hole to friends and relatives. She loves her "mahma" and can't get enough of her.

Nosnow. Again, this is another Cleveland creation. Eva saw her first snowfall in Cleveland and parroted back "nosnow." Whenever we correct her she looks at us like we are crazy and says "nosnow" again. She does the same thing with airport. Whenever she hears an airplane, she points up to the sky and says "airport, way up high." I correct her and say, "yes, Eva, that is a plane in the air, just like the ones that you saw at the airport. " But she looks at me like I'm a crazy mama (I'm starting to get accustomed to this feeling) and then she says with greater intensity, "airport, way up high." What really kills me is that she loves to play "airport" with me even though it's actually airplane. What's a momma to do but love the girl and her budding language skills!

Winter Wonderland in Seattle

A blanket of white snow appeared on our lawn on Monday and it stayed for a week, which is unusual in Seattle. If we get snow at all, it's usually just a dusting of snow and it melts away as quickly as it came. But not Monday. We had below zero temperatures and the six inches of white stuff stayed with us until Sunday. Jeff's work was closed this week due to the weather so we had daddy home all week long. This was such a blessing because I was sick in bed with the flu for most of the Thanksgiving holiday. I finally got the virus that Eva's been sporting like a champ for the last month. Jeff got it too on Monday so we were a sad, pathetic crew.

When the snow appeared, we all bundled up and enjoyed our time outdoors despite our colds. It was Eva's first snowfall and we wanted to experience it with her. She was completely mesmerized by the snow and kept saying "nosnow " all day as she watched the snow fall from our couch that serves as her perch to the world. We aren't sure where she got that phrase. Typical school teacher, I kept correcting her and said, "No, Eva. It's snow. Not nosnow." She just kept looking at me like I was a crazy mamma and said "Nosnow" again with the same intensity and degree of certainty. So, "nosnow," you were lovely. We hope to see you again in these parts!