I am really envious of my friends who find the time to blog between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have no idea where all the time goes. It seems like a blur.
But now that I have a few moments, I thought I'd recap the end of 2011.
With the new job at Kaiser Permanente, I didn't have much time off, so I was working the weeks leading up to Christmas and New Year's. But there was plenty of people at the house to help get things done. Steph's parents came into town the week before Christmas, so we were able to visit with them, and they were able to help watch the kids. They will be staying with us until the 20th of January. So lots of help.
With that said, Cecy has moved on to a new job. It was very difficult to let her go as she's been with us for about 4 and a half years now. But with Ellie starting to go to preschool 5-days a week, and Lukas going to Ellie's school's daycare program a couple days a week it was just time. Lucky for us she will still be available to watch the kids in the evening or weekends if we need her. Her new job will be with another family in Santa Clara.
Christmas Eve was fun, but a blur. I was glad to have it at Grandma and Grandpa Risser's house. Earlier in the year both of them were having some really tough health problems, so we didn't know if we would be having our traditional Christmas Eve dinner over there with everyone. But they've made good progress over the last couple of months and everyone chipped in by brining a dish for dinner. Because the Niners were playing on Christmas Eve, Steve spent the day in Seattle, and wasn't able to join everyone. But everyone else made it. And it was the usual, drinks while watching football, then dinner (ham of course), for some reason I ended up at the kids table with Ellie, Hannah & Freddy. Weird. Quick presents with everyone, some cake and we were out of there. Phew!
Christmas day was a similar blur. Ellie was super excited this year for everything. She enjoyed decorating the tree, looking for the Elf on the Shelf (Jelf), and putting out cookies and milk for Santa (carrots for the reindeer). And she held firm with what she wanted. From day one she said she wanted a pogo stick, a cookie maker and a remote control helicopter. And what a lucky girl, she got all three (and many more). She was out-of-her-mind excited on Christmas morning. Running in to tell us about the Christmas presents that had arrived, and that the cookies were gone. And I'll steal this from one of my friends (thanks Marisa), if everyone was as happy and excited about things as a 4-year-old is on Christmas, the world would be better. It was so much fun to see her rip open presents, and pass out others.
We did Christmas dinner at the house. Got a prime rib from Costco and did that up well. And I'm not going to lie, it was pretty outstanding!
Lukas was chill, he enjoyed playing with the already torn-up paper. He also go his first poster, one with all the NFL helmets on it. And that's up over his crib now. So he can start studying. He also got his first complete set of football cards. That's sort of a traditional gift. When I was growing up, I could always count on that being one of my Christmas presents. I also remember spending time on Christmas day organizing them by team and putting them in a binder. So since Lukas isn't quite there, I renewed my football cards skills and did it for him.
On another Lukas note, he's on the verge of crawling. He's able to scoot on his belly, but not yet a full crawl. Probably only a matter of time.
New Year's Eve was a clear demonstration of getting old. I was getting tired, but thought I could tough it out for another 30 minutes. Then I looked at the clock and it was only 9:45. Clearly I wasn't gonna make it to midnight. And I didn't.
Bauer was pretty sick for a few days. We aren't 100% sure as to why, but I'm thinking he got an avocado seed and ate it. And that's not good. The seeds are pretty dangerous to dogs. But Bauer is tough. After a few days of being very lethargic and down, he bounced back and was back to his rambunctious self.
Quick notes. Saw Mission Impossible 4 with Katelyn. And it was really good. . . Saw Sherlock Holmes 2 with Steph, also very, very good. . . Niners finished the season at 13-3 and have a first round bye in the playoffs. So exciting to talk about, and see them, in the playoffs. . . Ellie's remote control helicopter is really fun. I'm not a very good pilot yet, but we'll get there. . . In my few free minutes, I've been putting my InDesign class to use and doing an NFL Draft Digital Magazine.
HAPPY 2012!!!
But now that I have a few moments, I thought I'd recap the end of 2011.
With the new job at Kaiser Permanente, I didn't have much time off, so I was working the weeks leading up to Christmas and New Year's. But there was plenty of people at the house to help get things done. Steph's parents came into town the week before Christmas, so we were able to visit with them, and they were able to help watch the kids. They will be staying with us until the 20th of January. So lots of help.
With that said, Cecy has moved on to a new job. It was very difficult to let her go as she's been with us for about 4 and a half years now. But with Ellie starting to go to preschool 5-days a week, and Lukas going to Ellie's school's daycare program a couple days a week it was just time. Lucky for us she will still be available to watch the kids in the evening or weekends if we need her. Her new job will be with another family in Santa Clara.
Christmas Eve was fun, but a blur. I was glad to have it at Grandma and Grandpa Risser's house. Earlier in the year both of them were having some really tough health problems, so we didn't know if we would be having our traditional Christmas Eve dinner over there with everyone. But they've made good progress over the last couple of months and everyone chipped in by brining a dish for dinner. Because the Niners were playing on Christmas Eve, Steve spent the day in Seattle, and wasn't able to join everyone. But everyone else made it. And it was the usual, drinks while watching football, then dinner (ham of course), for some reason I ended up at the kids table with Ellie, Hannah & Freddy. Weird. Quick presents with everyone, some cake and we were out of there. Phew!
Christmas day was a similar blur. Ellie was super excited this year for everything. She enjoyed decorating the tree, looking for the Elf on the Shelf (Jelf), and putting out cookies and milk for Santa (carrots for the reindeer). And she held firm with what she wanted. From day one she said she wanted a pogo stick, a cookie maker and a remote control helicopter. And what a lucky girl, she got all three (and many more). She was out-of-her-mind excited on Christmas morning. Running in to tell us about the Christmas presents that had arrived, and that the cookies were gone. And I'll steal this from one of my friends (thanks Marisa), if everyone was as happy and excited about things as a 4-year-old is on Christmas, the world would be better. It was so much fun to see her rip open presents, and pass out others.
We did Christmas dinner at the house. Got a prime rib from Costco and did that up well. And I'm not going to lie, it was pretty outstanding!
Lukas was chill, he enjoyed playing with the already torn-up paper. He also go his first poster, one with all the NFL helmets on it. And that's up over his crib now. So he can start studying. He also got his first complete set of football cards. That's sort of a traditional gift. When I was growing up, I could always count on that being one of my Christmas presents. I also remember spending time on Christmas day organizing them by team and putting them in a binder. So since Lukas isn't quite there, I renewed my football cards skills and did it for him.
On another Lukas note, he's on the verge of crawling. He's able to scoot on his belly, but not yet a full crawl. Probably only a matter of time.
New Year's Eve was a clear demonstration of getting old. I was getting tired, but thought I could tough it out for another 30 minutes. Then I looked at the clock and it was only 9:45. Clearly I wasn't gonna make it to midnight. And I didn't.
Bauer was pretty sick for a few days. We aren't 100% sure as to why, but I'm thinking he got an avocado seed and ate it. And that's not good. The seeds are pretty dangerous to dogs. But Bauer is tough. After a few days of being very lethargic and down, he bounced back and was back to his rambunctious self.
Quick notes. Saw Mission Impossible 4 with Katelyn. And it was really good. . . Saw Sherlock Holmes 2 with Steph, also very, very good. . . Niners finished the season at 13-3 and have a first round bye in the playoffs. So exciting to talk about, and see them, in the playoffs. . . Ellie's remote control helicopter is really fun. I'm not a very good pilot yet, but we'll get there. . . In my few free minutes, I've been putting my InDesign class to use and doing an NFL Draft Digital Magazine.
HAPPY 2012!!!
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