Post holidays

Well, the Christmas decorations got put away today, the tree taken down and thrown outside, and all the pine needles swept up. I'm a little sad to see the holiday season leave us, but slightly relieved at the same time. It is such a busy time of year having Anna's birthday 8 days before Christmas! Fun, but crazy.

It sounds like everyone had a joyous Christmas, and ours was no different. We hosted two Christmas's at our house which was a little tiring, but our families were so much help with cooking, it's hard to complain. My parent's were in town Christmas Eve through Saturday and on Friday we had Dane's parents over as well and enjoyed a laid back day of eating, drinking and being merry. Anna had a blast having all of her grandparents here and she wasn't spoiled in the least bit (ha!). Then on Sunday, Dane's folks came back over along with his brother and his family from Seattle. Again, there was more eating and visiting and being merry. :) And of course opening presents. Santa was very good to everyone and it was SO much fun watching the kids open the presents this year. Anna was actually very into her gifts she recieved and wanted to play with each one right when she got it. It took some coercing to get her excited about opening the next package, but she really loves it. Kids are truely what make Christmas special.

Sadly, I was not a reliable person to be in charge of the camera over the holidays, because I barely got any good shots. I get so wrapped up in the moment with the family and Anna, I forget to step back and take pictures. Any how, here are a few shots I got on Christmas morning of Anna. :)

Santa brought her bathtub crayons!!
Here she is trying out her new microphone - kind of annoying, but it's darling that she likes to recite her ABC's into it. :)
Okay, how cute is this dress? Thanks for lending the hand me down Sara!
Grandma and Anna taking a juice break.

Mama getting a little snuggle time; my lap space is quickly becoming smaller and smaller, but we make due. :)

So now that the holidays are over, our next focus is our super exciting vacation that we are taking to Hawaii!! The best part of it is that we leave in 8 days...count 'em...8! We leave on Jan. 10th and return on the 18th. It was a very spur of the moment decision which we just made a couple of weeks ago, but it was just too good to pass up. We have some good friends that live on Maui and they had sent out an email a few months ago saying that the house they're in has an extra room and were basically inviting friends to come and visit. Then Dane and I started talking about wanting to take a vacation somewhere before this baby is born. Once he arrives, it will be another LONG span before a vacation is possible. We started throwing around ideas, and believe it or not a long week in Hawaii was our cheapest option! A free place to stay, and we found a screamin' deal on the plane tickets. We already have a car reserved for the week at another great rate. Now is the time to travel, people!

As excited as I am, I will say I have my reservations as well. Am I excited to be on a beach all week, in a swimsuit, showing off this out of shape, 7 month pregnant body? No. Don't expect to see any pictures of me on the beach.

Am I excited about a 6 hour plane ride with a 2 year old toddler? Um, no. I think I'm as prepared as I can be, with things to keep her occupied, but there's no way to predict what kind of mood she'll be in. I am praying that our DVD player doesn't run out of juice. We could easily be THAT couple on the plane with the unruley, screaming child. Yikes. Please think good thoughts for us.

One other drawback is that there's a good chance I will have no signs of ankles by the time we get there. I'm already starting to swell slightly, so who know's what 6 hours on the plane is going to do to me. I plan on being the crazy lady that walks laps up and down the isle every half an hour.

Oh yeah, did I mention that the last time (and only time) Anna was around sand, she didn't like it? I'm a little afraid that we are going to be in Hawaii for a week and not be able to go to the beach because Anna won't touch foot on the sand.

I'm hoping that my fears are just me being silly, and that everything will be okay. Like Dane said "Are we going to stay home for the rest of our lives, for fear of what 'might happen'"? Good point, honey. Good point.

Our friends that we are staying with are Ramone and Brianna, and they have two kids Nyla and Niko. Nyla is about a year older than Anna, and when we saw them this summer, they had a blast playing with each other, so I think it'll be great for her to have a playmate for the week. Niko isn't even one yet, so Anna will get to shower the "baby" with kisses and hugs...she'll be in heaven. :)