Since becoming a mother, I think it would be accurate to say that the romance and excitement of freezing cold weather has all but disappeared. Winter, on the Anna scale of like-ability, has definitely dropped to an all-time low. I find it hard to work up any desire to leave the house because I know what that means: lots of uncomfortable stuffing. Stuffing Grace into her coat and an unlimited amount of excess winter apparel, stuffing Grace into her car seat because all that excess apparel makes her gigantic, stuffing my cranky, cold self into a cranky, cold car, and then stuffing tissues up Grace's nose once the outdoor trip is done. It's just not all that appealing. It makes staying inside (all cuddled up in my Snuggie :) ) and watching endless hours of "Horton Hears a Who" seem so much nicer. (we don't really do that...but sometimes I'd like to)
That doesn't mean that I never leave the house. I do. I just do so crankily, recognizing that it is for the greater good. :) I'm sure that once Grace is a little older and more in to things like sledding and playing in the snow, I will like winter again. But until then...I'm just glad that we have so many exciting and wonderful events to celebrate during the winter that make the season fun, and distract me from all of that darned stuffing. :) Christmas and New Year's (and for me, my anniversary and birthdays) get me through the cold. :)
The first celebration to ring in the cold weather was my nephew Andrew's birthday. I've never been able to be with him on his birthday before, so I was pretty excited. Hooray for living in Columbus! The highlight of his birthday (besides going to a great little play place...pictures to follow), was Andrew's take on how you should respond after someone says "happy birthday." He, at age four, decided that the most logical way to answer was by saying "happy birthday" back.
His logic makes sense, when you think about it. His birthday is close to Christmas and when someone says "Merry Christmas" to you, you say "Merry Christmas" back. This is consistent with wishing someone a happy Halloween, Thanksgiving, New Year's, Easter, St. Patrick's Day, etc. You can easily see where he came up with his "Happy Birthday" response. Needless to say, when my birthday rolled around just a few weeks later, I had a definite urge to follow his lead. I didn't; but I wanted to, and I thought about it every time. :)
Grace loves slides and could spend every waking hour playing on them.
Stephen and the ball pit.
Another great love of Grace's.
And the birthday boy, who looks upset. I couldn't get a good picture of him.
Christmas followed shortly after Andrew's birthday. We were lucky enough to have my entire family come to Columbus to celebrate Christmas with us. Spoiled; I know. Our first Christmas away from home and home decided to come to us. :) I guess it helped that the Columbus area now has the majority of the grandchildren and the only other grandchild lives a mere seven hours away by car. We missed all the Bardsleys, but we were happy to be with the Merkleys. I was a big, picture taking slacker while everyone was here, but did capture a few classics:
The first Merkley family live Nativity,
complete with a very obedient and happy baby Jesus (played by Alex).
The traditional white elephant gift exchange. Spencer is proudly displaying the play-dough penguin he made with his gift. :) I sadly did not get a picture of the classy "New Moon" lunch box my mom was lucky enough to snag... :) We all tried to convince my dad to use it for his new work lunch box, but he was surprisingly uninterested. Man, that guy is no fun. :)
Grace "helping" grandma make scones on Christmas morning.
And...the chaos that was our Christmas morning.
Grace really enjoyed her presents this year, but was particularly enamored of this little interactive stuffed animal from her Aunt Emily. I don't know if it quite beat out the pasta pick-ups in her stocking (that she had to eat RIGHT THEN), but she loved it a lot. :)
I sadly missed out on my opportunity to record the many other lovely activities we enjoyed as a family (a lot of Beatles Rockband playing, an obsessive amount of "Boxers or Briefs?" playing, and an exciting trip to Amish country being among the highlights), but that's just the way the cookie crumbles. I purposefully did NOT choose to record by camera the stomach flu epidemic that sped through every member of the family the 23rd-26th. Mostly because I started it and choose not to be remembered as the sick girl who stole Christmas. But...I was. :( Luckily it made for a lot of good throw-up jokes (if a joke about throwing up can ever be called good) and at least was something we could all share... :) But enough of that.
Christmas was great, and I'm so greatful for everyone that made it possible, especially the Warnicks.
While everyone was here, Spencer and I benefited from having a plethora of baby sitters and spent an entire day by ourselves to celebrate our anniversary. Once again, no photos (lame!), but we had a great time. We went sledding, ice-skating, caught a dollar movie (which I slept through, of course), had dinner out, and hung out in the zoo aquarium (which I am obsessed with). It was wonderful. Happy three years to us!
As if we hadn't had enough celebrating already, my birthday rolled around just two weeks after Christmas. I celebrated by getting a brand new Ohio driver's license (woo-hoo), hanging out at the zoo again (I told you I was a little obsessed...), and going rock climbing. I'd never really been rock climbing before (or rock wall climbing, as the case may be), and I liked it. I don't think I'm going to take it up as a hobby (mostly because I was just happy to be alive each time I made it to the top...I know, I'm a chicken), but it was enjoyable.
In this picture, I'm most likely letting Spencer know that I'm "stuck,"
and need him to tell me where to go. :) That happened a lot.
Spencer was a lot better than me. What a surprise.
George Washington, is that you? :)
Love these birds. :)
Now on to Valentine's Day! (another very strategically placed holiday...) :)
