Updates!

For my first post of 2010, I give you updates. Updates on the holidays, mainly. Next time I'll fill you in on baby updates.

So. Christmas.

This was the year we spent Christmas Eve at my in-laws' house, eating delicious spaghetti and meatballs made by my brother-in-law, Lou. We watched Julie & Julia in front of the fireplace and stayed toasty warm in spite of the impending snowstorm.

This was the year it snowed on Christmas Eve, a lot. Like a foot or so of snow, on top of a layer of ice. Andrew and I actually had to get picked up in my father-in-law's truck or we would have been stuck in our house on Christmas Day. Then it snowed all day, and maybe the next day, and then a day of sunshine, then some more snow. And it was cold. Very cold. And the roads were slick and hard to drive on, which made all the family-and-friend-visiting more difficult.

This was the year Andrew and I opened our presents for each other at home, early (we were supposed to be at the in-laws' by 9:00), in front of our non-lit fireplace. Our unborn baby got a Spider Man ornament. He gave us Arrested Development on DVD. Andrew gave me a fancypants diaper bag (the exact one I wanted) and some lovely nursing/maternity pajamas. I gave Andrew a hoodie and a cardboard deer head (I swear it's cooler than it sounds).

This was the year we spent Christmas morning at my in-laws' house. It was especially nice because both Andrew's sisters could be there, so we were all together. We took turns opening gifts, and kept laughing because we all got iterations of the same things, so as soon as the first person opened it, we pretty much knew what was coming. But that made it all the more fun, because it was sort of a race to open something first.

This was the year we only opened our stockings at my parents on Christmas afternoon. We saved the rest of it for when my sister and family could join us. When they arrived, we celebrated Christmas a few days late--but it felt like Christmas Day. We ate our traditional brunch, drank hot chocolate, and opened presents. Baby got lots of presents, too. And Andrew and I were pleasantly surprised to receive both the crib and rocker from my parents. Now as soon as we get it all put together, the room will be practically complete. But I digress, because this post isn't supposed to be about baby updates.

This was the year that my company closed its doors from Dec. 24 through Jan. 3, and we all had to use four days of PTO whether we wanted to or not. I wasn't a big fan of this policy from the start, but it turned out to be a nice break. I spent some time sorting through a bunch of junk and starting a garage sale pile. I slept late, or at least as late as I could with this 2.5-pound person squirming around in my mid-section. I saw lots of friends and spent lots of time with family. So in the end, I enjoyed the long break from work.

Oh, and one more--this was the year my sister announced that she is pregnant with Baby #2. Hooray for her! So next Christmas we'll have three babies in the family. How fun will that be?