Totally forgot some pics!

Tuckered out, sleeping in her highchair!

Christmas

Warms my heart!

Christmas is here.  The last 3 days were filled with running around to see family and friends and oh so much activity.   My Little Bear hung in there so well!  She had a couple rough moments, as did I, but we made it though.  Kevin of course flew through it with flying colors.  Always the composed one.  Being 39 weeks pregnant doen't help my mood either!  I'm huge and ready to get this huge child out of me and meet him!

Maya had a wonderful day on Friday seeing Riley Jo and Aunt Lara.  They played so well together and it was good to see that although there is a year and a half between them, they still seem to communicate in their own special way.  We got home late and Maya FINALLY went to sleep around 11...only to be woken up on Christmas Eve morning at 630am for our annual "family" breakfast at Shady Maple.  She wasn't thrilled.  Kev had worked the night before so he did not join us.  I was disappointed but I definitly understand the need for sleep. It was fun but unfortunately I couldn't eat as much as I normally do.  Apparently having a baby in your belly takes up a lot of room!

So we get home, take a nap and its time to put out the luminaries that I did 3 days ago (so I could be prepared and not have to do anything in case I went into labor).  Dumb idea and lesson learned.  This pic is from 3 days earlier.

Anyway, I made 72 bags of sand and candles. Our driveway is about 1/2 mile long. Well, all 72 bags were now bottomless.  The sand had so much moisture in it that it leaked into the bags and when I picked them up the bottoms fell out.  So now, there is sand all over the garage and driveway, and Maya has a new sandbox. I cried my eyes out.   Lesson #1:  trying to plan ahead isn't always the best plan.

Christmas Eve we were supposed to go to church at 4pm and then my parent's house at 6 for dinner.  Lesson #2:  When your child has the symptoms of an upper respiratory tract infection, put her in a diaper before getting in the car.  Just about ready and she peed in her carseat!  Ugh, the tears began to flow yet again (me, not her)!  Pregnancy=emotional=tears.  Not a good combo.  I felt like my Christmas Eve was ruined.  Nothing seemed to be going my way, I was still pregnant and utterly exhausted. We missed church and now we were going to be late to my parent's house.

We finally made it to my parents about 7ish.  Maya melted down as soon as we walked through the door.  Madde, Jake , Abbey, Catie, Ben, Jesse, Savannah, and Riley Jo= waaaay to much pediatric stimulation for a 2 year old.  If we had been there first it might have been ok, but since we were dead last, it was a disaster.  We were hungry, tired, and ready for the day to be over. On top of that, I had started contracting and was very uncomfortable.  After multiple attempts to calm my screaming child, even after dinner and gifts, we headed for home.  Straight to bed for all 3 of us!

Christmas morning, I was hoping, would be a fresh start.  And it was.  I was woken by the sound of a little voice chatting in my ear.  We got up, got in the tub to play with some new bath toys that she got the night before (an octopus that plays music and blows bubbles).  While we did that, Kevin slinked downstairs to start breakfast and make sure the tree was lit and the gifts were all under the tree.  We went downstairs and everything was perfect!  The smell of bacon and eggs and a beautiful tree.  My heart soared!  My little one squealed with joy at all the lights and gifts.  She immediatly dug in.  "This one's for Maya!" she kept saying. Kevin and I had exchanged gifts the night before so that Christmas day was all about Maya opening her gifts....especially because this will be the last year it is about her.  Little brother comes in just a few days....unless he decides to make an appearance a little earlier.

Best gifts!
Becca- New Chocolate UGGS
Kevin- box of Padron Anniversario cigars
Maya- everything!  Especially her new tricycle and American Girl baby
Baby Seamus-a couple new outfits

After gifts and breakfast we started cleaning and played a little bit.  We also planted our first tree at our new house which was a fun memory.  Mud + Maya = good times!  Kevin's sisters gave us such a wonderful gift.  Because of gigantic state, I feel like doing absolutly nothing.  So, instead of packing ourselves like sardines in my parent's house with 20 other people, we decided to stay home. And instead of driving to Mullica Hill, NJ like we normally do, we decided to stay home.  It was wonderful.  Everyone came to us....AND instead of us having to do the cooking, they brought the food to us!!!!! What a gift!  Everything was delicious and it was such a pleasure to be able to spend time with his sisters and their families.  The kids were all well behaved and had a great time.  It certainly made up for my crazy Christmas Eve!  Everyone left around 930 or so and the Walsh family was in bed and asleep by 1030!  Merry Christmas!

My little helper

The last 2 years we have made cookies and put them in tins for people who work hard for us all year long....the trash and recycling guys, the paperboy, our neighbors (they don't really work hard for us, but you know what I mean.)  People who you want to appreciate but that you don't know what kind of a gift to get them.  Coworkers etc.   Anyway, so here is the day we were baking away and my little helper was with me every step of the way and testing everything to make sure it was edible!  Of course being 9 months pregnant and a 2 year old probably shouldn't be consuming raw cookie dough, but that would just be absurd to not try it....but don't worry, I didn't eat nearly as much as I usually do!

And yes, baking in your jammies all day makes it so much better!

Christmas baking and such...

I was so excited to do a gingerbread house with Maya this year.  Unfortunately the icing in those kits really does taste like cement but luckily I had some of the really good Pillsbury frosting in the jar and brought that out for some tasty dipping!  Needless to say, we had a great time!

We went out to do some errands and when we came home, our poor gingerbread house, had a leaky roof....a really leaky roof.

It was fun anyway. 

Christmas photo