The last of our guests went home yesterday and this mama promptly got sick, so I guess Christmas really is over.

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Christmas Eve is now officially my new favorite holiday. Ry's dad and stepmom were with us until Christmas Eve morning, but then it was just the three of us for the rest of the day. Quiet, cozy -- Duke and I put A Christmas Story on repeat and baked truffles and cookies and cupcakes for the afternoon which is kind of my idea of a perfect day. When it got dark, I put the baby to bed, made a cheese tray for Ry and I, and went to work wrapping and stuffing things under the tree.

Hotel Hodges was in between guests on Christmas morning, so it was just Ryan, Duke and me for a few hours and it was so so so good. It's our first family Christmas opening presents together in our own home and just really solidified my decision to do this forever after. Spoiler though - Duke still doesn't care about opening presents, and this year, wasn't even into the tissue paper, so I had to force hold him in my lap to open his gifts. When he got into the stuff though, thoughts another story. Later in the day, we had some more family over for dinner and when Duke B opened a fun Little People barnyard from Great Grandma and he was lost to anything else for the rest of the night. He's still obsessed.





We had a full house until mid-day Thursday, which is right about the time that my Christmas cocktails turned to DayQuil shooters. It turned out to be perfect timing though, if there's such a thing as good timing for literally waving goodbye to your family and figuratively to the holiday season. Seeing them go made me sad because it feels like Christmas is really over, but it was also right at the time that I really needed to take a nap with my baby and not feel bad about it.

So now we're in that weird part of the year, between Christmas and New Years, when the episodes of the Fixer Upper marathon I'm catching up on just start running into each other and we're about three days deep into the mashed potato leftovers. But this is one of my favorite weeks of the year. A little bit of a weird jumble of days that don't mean anything, and a lot of fresh inspiration for a new year. I really love a good fresh start and believe in the power of resolutions. I'm still wallowing in the Christmas-is-Over-Blues, but emerging shiny and new with plans for 2018.

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Truly you guys, thanks for following along, clicking whatever it is you click to read this blog, and for caring and coming back. As I'm thinking about the future and getting excited about the new year, it's always how much I love writing here that makes me most inspired. I'll be back this weekend to write my favorite post of the year, The Best of.

I hope you had the best Christmas!

Duke learned how to pull his pants down, but not off, and so he walks around my house a good 90% of our lives with his pants around his ankles, penguin stepping around the dogs. Which is pretty tough to do when your walking skills are at a 2 out of 10 to begin with. So then he busts out his frustrated scream (and folks, it's shrill) and yells "Mom! Moooom! Mamamamamama" until I pull them back up.

And then we do it again. So, you can understand why I'm not much of a writer these days.

Also, I'm just lazy. There's something so appealing about Netflix. I promised myself that once I finished Friends for the millionth time, I was not going to just immediately re-route to the beginning and watch it again. So, I just started The Mindy Project for the first time after hearing her interview with Terry Gross on Fresh air earlier this week. I kinda like it.

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Happy Thanksgiving, by the way. We're laying low this year -- hanging with Ryan's family today and spending the remainder of the weekend at home, probably setting up the Christmas tree if I can get Shaq Attack out of my kitchen (let's talk if you don't know this story). My true plan is to move into pajama pants and not move back out until Monday morning. I've never been a black Friday shopper, but this year I actively prepared to not have to enter a single grocery store for so much as a gallon of milk. I'm just not feeling it this year.

2017 has been good so far and I'm particularly grateful for what is truly an easy life. The gift of motherhood especially, and a husband who is quick to forgive and can always be counted on for a Dad joke and is never too busy to hug me tight. I'm delighted to have a dog that helps me get my 10,000 steps in every day by being the absolute naughtiest thing on the planet and requiring constant supervision -- thank you George. You keep me lithe.

As I was leaving work yesterday, a bit early, I thought about how lucky I am to have a kind manager and a good place to go every morning. To see and spend time with people who motivate me and who value a questionable joke is not something to take for granted.

I don't want to get lost in huge diatribe, but basically it's this: probably like most people, I often think about what I'd like to have to make my life easier, and material things that I just sort of want. Days like Thanksgiving provide a good time to remember that I literally already have it all. I'm building a family with a man I love and we both have opportunities to provide for our son. I have no idea what else I could want.

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Happy Thanksgiving all! May the turkey be *shudder* moist and the pie be anything but pumpkin.

Summer's baaaaaack!

I have a post in my drafts about how that mother nature girl knows her calendar and hit the "Fall" button the minute Labor Day showed up -- or to be honest, a few days before because some over achievers think early is better than late -- but then we got hit with some 80+ degree days and I don't even mind.

Duke and I have some really important plans to beach it for maybe the last time this year, and get ice cream if anything is still open. We're going to make like it's July and just rock and roll with it.

***

Speaking of Duke, my little dude turned a year old on Wednesday.





The stunned look on his face when we sing "Happy Birthday" just cracks me up every time.


One is a pretty good place to be and officially my favorite age so far (but I say that just about every other week). He is talking to us all the time, babbles, but points too so we kind of know what he's looking for. The other day, he was crying pretty hard and I couldn't figure out what he needed. Then he pointed to the sippy cup out of his reach and calmed down as soon as I handed it to him, and now I'm convinced my kid is a genius.

Speaking of that, he clearly understands how the Apple remote works - sort of. He points it at the TV and starts clicking away and somehow, magically, 9 times out of 10, navigates to Sesame Street and I'm simultaneously ashamed and amazed at this.

Another fun party trick - he can open a toilet lid. So, we're in that place now where quiet is a bad thing. It means mischief is in action and a couple of days ago, it happened for a grand total of 2 seconds. I found my little sea turtle holding the lid open with one hand, and splashing away with the other. "Bath time!" I announced, marching up the stairs with that little turkey tucked under my arm.

He's just fun right now and makes us laugh a lot.

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Bringing it back around to Labor Day -- it was chilly-ish, but still 100% pleasant.


My sister-in-law and I packed up our kids - hers are practically adults now - and went to Sleeping Bear. Too bad for the kids, there's zero wifi, limited cell service, and the moms were talking so much, we missed the road and ended up in friggin' Glen Arbor. We made it eventually, but only after the first "how long do we have to stay?" was thrown out.

 

Happy Wednesday! I'm taking an extra day off this week to enjoy Duke and my deck and maybe George a little bit - and to put into action that watershed moment I had a few weeks ago. I'm turning 29 in a few weeks and I have a few things on my mind in terms of goals to achieve in this last year before turning 30, and thriving, rather than merely surviving is one of them.

So, fourth of July and a little currently enjoying post.

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Duke had his first taste of ice cream. We shared, obviously, so he got my fav - bubblegum - and he wasn't 100% sure at first. But give it a second, and he was all like, yeah girl! I was pushing him in his stroller and he was owl (or exorcist, whichever) turning that little head to remind me when he needed another lick.

Every time we have a three day weekend, I'm always like why isn't this like, a law?


But seriously, I don't want to be all kinds of "now that I'm a mom...new lease on life... understand the meaning....blah blah blah.....". But, that's kind of true.

On Saturday, I was pushing my baby in his stroller along the beach and he's cooing at everyone who walks by like a freaking movie and smiling at his cousins like he's been waiting his whole life to hang out with them. Also, he recently learned to clap and even though he has no idea why he's doing it, it's really cute. The suns out, it's 70 degrees, we're eating ice cream, cruising the pier with our family. And the obvious thing is that I looked around thought "this is what it's all about."

Because it is, right? What's more important than spending time with our kids and family?

But then I had this dismal raincloud of a thought about how much of a bummer it is that these moments are such a glimmer. The fact that these things happen maybe a handful of times a year because I'm so wrapped up in doing things that only barely matter, just suggests to me that I'm doing it all wrong.

I can't change a culture that makes a life out of chasing money, but I sure can change myself and I feel like maybe I had a watershed moment this weekend. Maybe the first one ever.

***

Moving right along from those life changing, priority switching, more ice cream and Saturday morning watersheds, let's talk enjoying, because we did a lot of that too.

We spent the weekend at Ryan's family's cottage in Frankfort with a full house, a handful of dogs, and  a few cases of shandy.

1.) The beach and a pineapple hat that he doesn't even mind. And also pretending it's not that cold.


 2.) Cousins. It's all he's got, and if he doesn't learn to sleep, it's all he's ever gonna have. #onlychildforever

I've got a four month baby update queued up and fifty percent written, so we'll catch up on how much my infant does not sleep these days (and nights!), but for now I'm going to skip that. I'm only acknowledging it early on so you understand the magic that is currently happening -- he's taking a nap.  Hallelujah.

He sure is precious though, isn't he?

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Sooooo, last weekend was a party. Remember when I mentioned that we were renting a cottage as a fam and power-packing it with everyone for a two day bender of cards against humanity and too much food? Well, kick in some Dance Dance Revolution and we're in business.




***

I'm a little sad, thinking about the future and how few opportunities there will be down the road to continue these get togethers. Most of the kiddos are grown up, venturing into college and spending their holidays doing their own thing. There's the obvious family stuff too -- disagreements that are either taken too seriously or too far, depending on who you ask. And distance, physical and otherwise.

If I could bottle this good part of our lives up and preserve it, I would. The parts where everyone is young and healthy. When we all have time enough to spare to dedicate one weekend to building and maintaining our relationships and just enjoying each other. The early part, when we're all scooched in close around a tiny coffee table with Trivial Pursuit cards laying on the floor, and a baby who just wants to eat the pie shaped game pieces. The middle part, when we're all tripping each other and jumping over couch cushions to eat some of whatever Luanne is pulling out of the oven. The late part, when there's Moscow Mules minus the copper cups (we ain't fancy) and simultaneous games of poker and cards against humanity, two separate tables, two separate games, that don't stop us from shouting across the room and laughing together. The best part, when Ryan is explaining to his big sister what some of those CAH cards mean, and she bursts out laughing "why is there even a word for that?!"

That's the stuff that I want. And I want it so badly for my son. If I could wrap it up and put a big bow on top, I would. And I'd give it to him year after year.





Last holiday post until next year -- I promise.

Happy Sunday, you guys!

So, I've adopted a little "better late than never" attitude on this one because Christmas was forever ago, but it was Duke's first and I'm not about to let that slide by without putting some words on the screen.

But to be fair, it's not totally over, so I might plead that one too. This year, with one side of Ry's family, we elected to skip the gifts and rent a cottage. This weekend we'll power pack that house with kids, games, booze and Doritos and kick a maybe new tradition.

Most of the kiddos on that side are getting to be grown ups, and so it's a little dumb to still exchange gifts with a $20 limit. It's like, here have this $20 gift card -- oh thanks, and here's one for you. And basically you just exchanged twenty bucks, except you also told them where to spend it. Personally, I prefer the Bloody Mary breakfasts and late night Cards Against Humanity.

Anyway, that's next weekend. Let's talk Christmas Day.

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Little Duke man has no idea what the eff is going on, but he does like the crinkle sound of wrapping paper so he was just about as happy as a gopher in soft dirt. His mom was too -- also I talk about myself in third person, I guess -- because his closet got exponentially more filled. I actually surprised myself by not losing my mind when I cleaned up his newborn and 3month baby clothes earlier this week, because there's so much cool new stuff for him to wear. I just folded the tiny little things, parked it in a box, and imagined the next baby wearing it. Makes it easier, you know? Also gives my husband heart attacks.

Speaking of clothes, there was some NSFW new items in our closets this year: