AKA: travel.
This year’s Easter festivities included a barbecue, a brunch, an Olympic-scale easter egg hunt, a metric ton of candy and enough champagne to inebriate the entire state of Rhode Island. I guess you could say it was about the perfect holiday.
Don’t believe me? Click on the photo below…
Although Stella has proven to be an exceptionally good traveler, we came to the conclusion that there is only so much you can really expect from a 3-year-old when it comes to being trapped in the car for 10 hours at a time. And so it was, we rounded out 2006 by adding a portable DVD system to our arsenal of kid wrangling tools. What this meant to me:
How is it that generations of children have had to survive road trips with nothing but coloring books and second-hand copies of car bingo and NOT DIED OF NEGLECT? I remember when I had to walk uphill both ways in the snow barefoot on car trips. Or was that ride in the back of a pick-up truck while it was raining? I can’t remember because the hypothermia diminished my ability to accurately recall such events. In any case, we do these things because if we didn’t, we’d all still be hoofing it across the plains in dust clouds while staring at the wrong end of a horse. It’s progress. At least that is how I am justifying it to myself.
That is also how I am summing up the year that was 2006: Progress.
Ah, 2006. Or, as I like to refer to it: The Year I Got 4 Hours of Sleep. I should have known that when I brought in the New Year pregnant, with no electricity and a toddler who was inches from sucking every ounce of sanity I had left, it was setting the pace for the rest of our year. I couldn’t have been any less prepared for the giant twist our lives took once we became a family of four. I guess I could sum it up by saying that everything in our lives was stretched to it’s absolute breaking point – emotional, physical, you name it. I say this with no sense of frustration or sadness. Instead, what I found is that it became a great equalizer – allowing me to prioritize and reflect on the most important pieces and parts. From there it was (sort-of) simple: Allocate energy accordingly. Adjust when necessary. Progress. Or something like that.
As we head into 2007, the seas will begin to settle. I feel it. In many ways, they already have – not because routines are any easier, but because we have all managed to begin adjusting. We are figuring out how we fit into each other’s lives. We have managed to retrofit expectations with reality. Stella both challenges and charms me on a daily basis but more importantly has adjusted to sharing life with a brother. Little McGoo has continued to change it up on me in regards to routines and schedules, but has also settled firmly into a personality that is his, and his alone – while giving me the opportunity to experience just how much fun it is to have a little boy. (Dude! Do you really have to go for the jewels every time I change your diaper?) All the while, Steve and I continue to work on our relationship, and all the new intricacies that having two children has added to the mix. One thing I know for sure – I am forever grateful to have such a dedicated and participative partner in all of this chaos.
I guess what I am trying to say is: No, it hasn’t been easy. Yes, we are getting better at it. Yes, it is worth it. And, yes, I’d do it all again in a second.
And, as for 2007: Bring. It. On.
This year’s Christmas holiday had us on the road for 14 days. While gone, we did rounds to both the Anderson and Walston households, took a side trip to the Walston Cabin, and then Steve and I took a mini-trip to Las Vegas. You could say that we are crazy, or you could just chalk it up to plain old garden-variety, family-related holiday travel. When it comes to holidays and family, this is just what you do.
Each year, Christmas with Stella gets more and more fun. This year was the first year that the concept of Santa even registered on her radar. I’m still not sure that she completely understands how the whole puzzle fits together, but she was an excellent sport about playing along. I may actually take her to see Santa next year – but no promises. Uncle Scott even made her some reindeer food to sprinkle out on the front yard. (It was made of oats and glitter and was consumed – in entirety – by Lily who then left beautiful and sparkly presents all over the lawn the next day.)
Although we received many, many wonderful gifts, one of the most touching moments of my entire Christmas season was receiving a bag full of hand-made gifts from Stella. When I went to pick her up at school on the last day before break, she excitedly handed me a blue gift bag with a little note attached addressed to Mommy and Daddy. As we were walking out to the car, she excitedly explained to me how she had wrapped them all by herself with paper and tape. Her enthusiasm and genuine excitement in explaining that these were her Christmas presents to us immediately made my eyes start to water.
I have always remembered something Annie once said about her mom. “I could have handed her a stick, and she would not only tell me how much she loved it, but that it was the most beautiful stick she had ever seen. And she’d mean it.” After meeting her mom, I have no doubt this is absolutely true.
Later that night, as we opened all of our gifts to each other, Stella ceremonially presented us with her little blue bag. Inside were two small balls of tissue paper bound together with about 6 feet of scotch tape. In the paper we found a small, decorated baby-food jar with colorful paper glued all over it and a tea light inside, an orange studded with cloves, and a little yellow fleece scarf. “Look Mommy, I made these for you and Daddy. Do you like them?”
To which, I said, “They are beautiful. I love them.” And, with all of my heart, I couldn’t have meant it more.
(click on photo to see entire set)
The trip to the cabin went something like this: Stella, this is snow. Snow, this is Stella. I am sure you will both be fast friends.
I have always remarked that I think Stella was born with an impaired fear instinct. As in, she seems to fear nothing but the vacuum cleaner, the hand-vac and the hairdryer. Snarling dog? Doesn’t phase her. Careening down a hill on a toboggan? Bring it. She even went so far as to get mad when the afternoon snow got too slushy to provide adequate speed. I fear she is going to head into her adult life with a dirty house, bad hair style and as a career contestant on Fear Factor.
Building a snowman was a fleeting pass-time until she could once again go out front and scale the snow-mountain that had been created at the end of the snow-plow route. She scoffed at the steps that were loviningly carved into it by her doting Gramps, and opted to scale the opposite side like an arctic mountain goat.
And don’t even get me started on the pleasure she took in getting free reign to throw snow at anyone who would come within 10 feet of her.
As an added benefit, Stella’s need to leave no snowflake unturned provided Porter with ample opportunity to indulge in his favorite pass-time: watching his sister.
As for photos, yes there were many, but here are some of my favorites…
