Post Christmas Update

I didn't mean to be gone for that long; sorry folks.  Between traveling for Christmas, the cleaning fit that came upon me once we got home (I don't look those things in the mouth; I just let them take me) and a visit from my parents, I've hardly been on the computer at all.  A nice change, actually.  While I was away from you, though, many interesting things happened.  Lucky for you, I was able to document most of them with photographs!

Item the First:

The penguins found their Christmas spirit:

 Sam was delighted with the tree and loved to spend time in his exersaucer just staring at it.  He actually helped me decorate.  I'd hold up an ornament and ask "How about here?"  He'd scream his excitement at the spot (or cry his disappointment) and I'd place or move the bulb accordingly.  It was So. Much. Fun.  He also loved it when the tree was lit up at night:

 He'd grab at the spots the light would make on the floor, like a cat with a laser pointer.  Since he's too young to grab the tree on his own and won't likely remember this next year, I sat him on my lap and let him touch the bottom branches.  He was so interested in the texture and the way the lights made his little hands turn colors.  Watching him explore and discover the tree made me so happy.

Item the Second:

Yes, Virginia, there IS a Santa Claus!  He sent Sam a present using the USPS.

 I'm not kidding, the box came with a return address of "Santa Claus, North Pole."  I have no idea who did this but thank you.  Sam loves the doggie and we are so grateful for the formula.  People have been so kind to us this year (well, not just this year).  "Thank you" never feels like enough to say.  This was just incredibly awesome.

Item the Third:

Sam quit his job as a drummer in a rock and roll band and got a job as a banker.

Item the Fourth:

When I wasn't cleaning, we goofed off.  We actually did this a lot.  It was awesome.

 

Item the Fifth:

NEW CAMERA!!!!!!  I am SO EXCITED!  Expect many, many more pictures in the future.  MANY.  Thank you, parents-in-law! (Canon Digital Rebel, for those who care.  I did not expect anything so nice.  And they got us another lens for it that I'm excited to try as well.)

 

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Changing Gears.

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Slowing Down.

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Feeling Sad.

Item the Sixth:

Emilie.   I am probably the last to blog about this because it's taken me this long to organize my thoughts.  Emilie was a new read for me so I feel like I don't have any right to be upset by her passing.  So many of you knew her well, loved her well, connected with her and stood with her throughout her all too short journey.  I was only there for a short time.  Even so, I feel her loss keenly.  She was so very young.  She was a mother, a wife, a daughter, deeply loved and cherished.  It seems so very wrong that her children woke up without her on Christmas Eve.  I'm struggling to make sense of it.  Every time I look at Sam, every time I am able to snuggle him, when he cries through his bottle and I am tempted to lose patience with him, I remember Emilie and how she ran out of time.  And I think how blessed I am and how it could all disappear in a heartbeat for any of us.  Maybe that's part of her legacy to me: the ability to see the blessings that pepper my every day. 

To all who knew Emilie, in person or through the computer, I hold you in my heart and in my prayers.  My tears are as much for you and the burden you bear as for myself.  And for anyone who remembers Cancerbaby, for anyone who feels the echo of that loss in this fresh one, I'm holding you and crying with you too.  Love and open arms from this house to yours.