December 30-January 6

On the 1st day of Christmas...  We opened presents with Bryan's family.  Bryan got tools, I got cooking things, and Olivia got toys.  She also got a new carseat, which was my favorite gift because she's just about grown out of her old seat.

On the 2nd day of Christmas...  We drove up to visit my family and also managed to catch brunch with friends.  Olivia was displeased that she was required to SIT (in a chair, no less) during meals.  Presents were opened later in the day.  Movies, more cooking supplies for me (my kitchen will explode), and some books for Olivia.  Bryan and I enjoyed seeing if our predictions of excitement levels were accurate for each gift.

On the 3rd day of Christmas...  We hung out with my family.  Lots of movie watching and game playing.  I also took my sewing machine to a shop to see if they knew what was wrong with it.  They're going to get back to me someday.  In the meantime, I am sewing-machine-less.

On the 4th day of Christmas...  Mom, Justine, and I went shopping for granola ingredients (there's no bulk foods store conveniently close to me) and a new crib mattress for Reggie (also no Babies'R'Us, and I had a coupon).  We left the babies at home with the daddies and all survived.

On the 5th day of Christmas...  Justine and I got to play duets, Alison graced us with her presence (probably due to Bryan's incessant nagging), and Olivia felt under the weather.  That evening, we came home.  Seth and Amanda stopped by our house on their way back to Virginia, bringing their golden retriever, Apollo, with them.

On the 6th day of Christmas...  Apollo came with me to get Olivia from her crib in the morning.  Much excitement (Olivia's) and apprehension (Apollo's) ensued.  The emotions reversed when Olivia was down on the ground and realized how big Apollo was.  Our annual Eve of New Year's Eve party happened, and we got together with friends to play games.

On the 7th day of Christmas...  We slept.  And lounged around, refusing to leave the house.

On the 8th day of Christmas...  Bryan and I accidentally celebrated the New Year at midnight because we were both used to being up late from the last few days.  I was reading and he was on the computer when suddenly we heard... fireworks?  Here?  Oh, yeah, it's the New Year.  We felt old and went to bed.  After sleeping, we headed to church and then to the store to get Olivia a toy box of sorts to hold all her new toys.

On the 9th day of Christmas...  Bryan went back to work.  Olivia noticed that we still had unopened presents under our tree and decided it was probably her job to remedy this.  Will she the remaining presents make it the last 3 days?

On the 10th day of Christmas...  I finally mailed our Christmas letter.  It was written on the 21st of December this year, and some people even received their copies BEFORE Christmas (shocking, I know), but I didn't make it to the post office until today.  The plus side to doing it this way is that I only had to buy 12 stamps, because we'd seen all our other letter recipients during the holidays.

On the 11th day of Christmas...  Olivia got a new book from Fr and Presbytera (at the Greek church) that quickly became her favorite.  She actually got it yesterday, but it didn't ascend to favorite until today.  Where's Spot? by Eric Hill.  Best book ever.  She's very careful as she opens the flaps to look at each animal.  She's also learning what sound monkeys make.  Bryan says, "ooh ooh aah aah" and Olivia replies with, "ooh eee ooh eee."  Okay, maybe she's learning what sound daddies make.

On the 12th day of Christmas...  I finally finished catching up on dishes and laundry from our vacation.  I would have been done two days ago, but the 11th day was my normal laundry day and it was time to wash diapers again.  Olivia finally caught on to our "move the wisemen one step forward" routine and didn't try to exile the wiseman she was moving.

I added pictures to last week's post.  I could use some from our visit to my family (hint hint, siblings).  I also updated two of the earliest posts, July 31-August 7 and August 7-14, so feel free to go check those out.

Pictures:
She has her head under the couch.  No one knows why:

Wearing a headband from Brom:

First reaction to the strangers (Amanda, Seth, and Apollo) in the living room:

With Apollo (later in the day, once they were used to each other):

Opening her "big" gift from mom and dad:

Olivia shuts mommy out (Bryan apologizes for the mostly sideways presentation of the first video):
Playing With the Door 1
Playing With the Door 2

Showing off her pigtails.  She got hairbands for Christmas:

Keeping Baby and her koala warm.  ...Until the dog showed up to crash the party:

Our giant icicle: