Happy New Year!!

It’s hard to believe that 2008 has come and gone. What a year it’s been! At this time last year we had just found out that we were having a girl and were in the middle of doing major preparations around our home for her arrival. Scarlett arrived in April, and life hasn’t been the same since.

She turned 8 months old this month, and she is growing up and changing so quickly. She’s sitting up on her own now, has 2 teeth, and has outgrown her little baby tub. She has also eaten her first Cheerio thanks to her Aunt Sonet and Aunt Carly!

Joe and I welcomed 2009 the same way we have the past few years by staying at home. Neither of us has any desire to battle the crowd at some restaurant, party at some bar, or take the chance of running into a drunk driver. We also didn’t have a sitter, and I really don’t think a bar is the most appropriate place for someone in my condition! Anyway, we had a great New Year’s Eve and a super relaxing New Year’s Day. So, 2009 has been started off on the right foot!

We’ve actually been taking it pretty easy since Tuesday. We got home from Nebraska the night before, and of course, we had been going 100 mph since before then.

Our Christmas celebrations started the weekend before Christmas. My mom and Larry drove from Atlanta so that we could spend time together for the holidays. They arrived with a car full of presents and toys! We all quickly learned that Scarlett LOVES wrapping paper. We knew that she liked paper, but she really likes the Christmas paper. It was not a good idea to take the paper away from her that she was eating or playing with as she would start screaming. So, we just let her play with it until something else distracted her. One thing that she really loved was her brand new Radio Flyer wagon. Joe especially loves taking her on rides around the neighborhood with her little hat and sunglasses. These wagons have changed a lot over the years. This one has two seats with straps, so it has plenty of room for Scarlett’s new brother or sister to ride with her next year.

Scarlett in her new wagon

Mom pulling Scarlett with Larry videoing

Peanut isn't too thrilled with the wagon....

This is how Joe has her dressed for rides around the neighborhood! :)

Our second Christmas celebration was on Christmas Day. Scarlett’s first Christmas morning was THE BEST!! She really loves this new mirror/sing along thing that I found. She played herself into total exhaustion on Christmas morning, so she was very easy to put down for her morning nap. This was great as I still needed to get ready and work on lunch. My dad, uncle, and Pat joined us for Christmas lunch. I was a little worried about a couple of new recipes that I tried, but they turned out great! It was a very nice day.

Scarlett with her new bear


The music/sing along toy that she LOVES


Her new giraffe that she can ride


Surrounded by everything she loves..... paper!

Christmas dinner with Uncle Jim, Pat, Scarlett, Joe, and my dad

As soon as we were done with lunch and rested a bit, we started packing up for our trip to Nebraska. In the past we usually leave around 6:00am or so. We had to wait until after 8:00am this year as we had to drop our dogs off at the doggie hotel. We usually do this the day before, but they were closed on Christmas, so that wasn’t an option. The drive up wasn’t too bad. It took us about eleven hours, and Scarlett was really good. Joe and I were both worried about how she would react, but it turned out ok. I was afraid that Scarlett would be too tired to do much of anything once we got there, but she was ready to play! She got to meet her Aunt Sonet, Uncle, Rick, Uncle Jeff, and all her cousins – Dalton, Sadie, Elizabeth, and Tommy.

Her schedule was really out of whack because she didn’t sleep much at all that night. It’s been A LONG time since either of us has had to get up with her in the middle of the night. She usually sleeps for 12-13 hours, but not this night. We ended up surviving and ended up having the best day ever the next day.

Joe had been talking about taking us sledding. I had never been, so I thought it was a great idea. Joe’s sister Carly really thought ahead and brought a pair of Elizabeth’s old snow pants for Scarlett. We all bundled up and headed out to sled. Oh, I think I forgot to mention that there was a lot of snow on the ground when we arrived. I mean there was more snow than I have ever seen in my entire life. When I stepped out of the truck at Joe’s parents, I stepped in snow, and it came half way up my leg. It was insane! Of course, everyone up there didn’t think that was much at all.

Anyway, we arrived to go sledding, and there was a pretty good walk to this big hill. So, we started trudging through all this snow. People, if you’ve never walked in high snow, believe me, it’s not a piece of cake. It’s like having cinder blocks attached to the bottom of each foot. Joe carried Scarlett through which was smart as I would have probably dropped her.

After taking a closer look at the big hill, I decided that there was no way in hell I was going down that thing and neither was Scarlett. So, we did a very small sled run down the bottom part of the hill. Oh, the thing we sat on, the sled, is not called a sled up there. It’s a toboggan. That’s what we call a stocking hat or sweater type hat. Anyway, Scarlett and I got on a small toboggan, and then just sat on it and watched the others sled away.

After Joe had gone down the hill a few times, we decided it was time to take Scarlett back to his parents. Our nieces, Elizabeth and Sadie, decided to come back with us. I decided to get a picture of them with Scarlett on the sled. Then Joe told me to get on there with them for a picture. I did and then he offered to drag us back to the truck. This was lots of fun and so much better than trudging through all that snow! I just don’t understand why I wasn’t pulled along to get to the hill when we got there….

All strapped in and ready to go to Nebraska!

Aunt Carly and Scarlett

Dalton, Scarlett, and Aunt Sonet

Scarlett with her cousins, Elizabeth and Sadie

Me, Joe, and Scarlett all bundled up ready to go sledding!

Joe, Elizabeth, Sadie, Dalton, Tommy, and Carly coming down the BIG HILL.

Me, Elizabeth, Sadie, and Scarlett as we were being pulled back to the truck. Check out Sadie's big gloves!!!

Grandpa, Scarlett, and Gigi

We had a really nice visit and headed back home Monday morning. The drive home wasn’t nearly as nice as the drive there. Scarlett did not like the scenery or being strapped in or something. It took us twelve long hours to get home. As Joe and I unloaded the car, I put Scarlett in front of her new mirror/sing along toy. I have never seen her so happy to be playing. I think she was just enjoying the freedom of not being strapped down!

I was completely exhausted, but woke up at 4:00am on Tuesday. I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I got up a little before 5:00am and started taking down Christmas decorations. Since then we’ve just been doing things around the house, going out to eat for lunch, and just relaxing. I’ve got three more days of this and then it’s back to the real world.

I wish everyone a Happy New Year and hope it finds you all well!! I have a feeling that 2009 will be just as exciting at 2008….