Helloooo 2009!

Wow! It's 2009 dude! I can't believe it's already January. Christmas and New Year have come and gone, and so has my husband's time off :o( I like having him around, because we get to do things together, duh. Yes, but also, we get to work on the house, which we did. We painted the hallway green. I know, it sounds kinda weird, but I actually like it. Of course it would look much better if there were better lighting, a nice rug, and maybe some art, but hey, it's a start. You'd like to see our handiwork? OK, I'll post a picture:




Christmas was really nice. It was so much fun to introduce Sofia to the whole Santa story, and she really enjoyed making cookies for him and put them out on a plate together with a glass of milk and a carrot for the reindeer. You guys should have seen her face the next morning when she saw that they were gone, and instead there were presents! When it was time to unwrap the presents, she made sure we each had one to open. It was so nice to see that she wanted to share, which all of you who have toddlers at home know, is unheard of! It warmed my heart and it made it that much more special to me. Then, in the afternoon we had some friends over for Christmas dinner. We made a ham and potatoes and our friends brought something to share. It was nowhere near the event we had for Thanksgiving, but I so enjoyed to have them here and share some of the holiday spirit. We also had a good discussion about religion and what to do when you have children. Joe and I are spiritual, but not dedicated to one religion, and we both want Sofia to grow up exploring this subject herself and figure out where she feels comfortable. It is something that we both need to spend some more time discussing, and exploring and I look forward to doing that together with our daughter!



At this point, I'd also like to acknowledge some sadder news; after Christmas we learned that Joe's grandmother of 97 had passed away. She had a very rich life, living on a farm in Connecticut, being a teacher and a mother of two warm, loving and most of all caring daughters. After her health had declined, those two women took in upon themselves to care for her, which was a 24-hour job in itself. They made sure she was well cared for until she peacefully passed away in her sleep. I am very proud of them, because I know how much work it is to care for an elderly person.
So Joe flew out there for four days for the funeral. The poor guy was sick going and even sicker coming home! But we were glad he was able to go and be a moral support for his mom. It was nice having some time to myself, but I have to say I wouldn't want to be alone for longer than that. As for Great-grandma Margret, I'm positiv she is in a good place now, where she can enjoy all the things again that she couldn't do anymore here on earth. We love you and miss you!

Alright. So now that we've moved into 2009, I am, of course wondering, what it has in store for us: will it be a pet? a vacation? some more home improvements? a brother or sister for Sofia? Who knows. All I hope for is that all of us will stay healthy and the rest will fall into place by itself, I'm sure.

So thanks for being in my life, all of you! I look forward to doing lots of fun things this year, watch our daughter grow up, and cherish family and friends.