Surprise!

I know that at least for a few of my readers the new additions on the right side of the site are out of a blue so...SURPRISE! Erin is going to be a big sister! She will be great at it. I noticed that she often prefers younger children for company than the older ones. I guess if they are younger than they are less likely to take off with her possessions and Erin can relax around them.

We had a lovely Christmas and New Years! We cooked a full turkey dinner completed with mashed potatoes, gravy, salads, rolls, jello and other yumminess. I had fun roasting ze beast, I even pretended to be a devout cook and smeared the turkey under its skin with rub. I'll tell you though that sticking my hand underneath turkey's skin up to my elbow...just kidding, only up to my wrist was weird. I am willing to do it not more than once a year. By the way Andrew and I discovered that we both are not huge fans of rosemary, our turkey rub's main ingredient. Funny thing was when I was working on turkey I really wished it was a big juicy ham, it sounded much yummier. I don't believe I'll ever be a huge turkey eater. As they say "It ain't my favorite fowl!" ( Isn't it lovely how you can attribute any saying to Them, hehe).

Erin as usual did not want anything to eat (the kid runs of air:), though she drank Martinellis. This is the drink of her choice at any time of day if we would allow it. She also sampled some jello. I really hope that her eating habits improve, I hate mealtimes. I cook for her and she does not even taste any of it, she gets nothing instead and just goes hungry. I am thrilled on days when she gets 2 meals. But back to Christmas. I don't recall what we did after the meal (blame the baby who is messing with my memories).

Christmas morning was so Christmasy! We got Erin up (no waking up at 7 am in this household) around 9 am and went to open our presents. Andrew took pictures and I helped Erin get her gifts unwrapped. The kiddo got way too many presents for a 2-year-old, hehe! Her favorite plunder included

Go, Dog,Go! book (this is currently Erin's favorite book and did you know that it was not written by Dr.Suess?)
wooden fish puzzle with a fishing poll (hours of entertainment and just 4$ at Target on sale, haha)
little Elmo doll
stuffed tiger that roars if you press his paw
a pair of Sunday shoes with heels (Erin looves running on hard floors in those and hear the tapping of her heals)
Elmo blanket
Little ponies
Elmo book
A beautiful cross stitch Dragon wall picture

This is probably a half of what she got. For Erin this was not a recession Christmas. We are blessed! We have all that we need and beyond that. I know that there are too many parents for whom this Christmas was bitter sweet. Erin and I were in the Dollar store a couple of weeks before the holidays. We were just killing time while our car was being services. There were a lot of Christmas shoppers in that store. I particularly remembered a gentleman in a bright orange beanie hat probably in his late 30s. He was going up and down the toy isle trying to choose with the look of deepest frustration in his eyes. It is close to impossible to give a happy Christmas morning to your kids expecting Santa's visit when your wallet sends you to the Dollar store...

After we were done with the presents we went over to the Dyers for the traditional Christmas morning breakfast of scones and finnan haddie.I love Christmas breakfast with the Dyers! Erin got to see baby Evelyn and even was able to give her her present, a doll stroller. She actually hoped she'll get to push Evelyn in it around the house, haha. Some other time!

For New Years we stayed home had a lasagna dinner (again! Erin did not eat, though she nibbled on garlic bread and washed it down with Martinellis). We watched movies and just did nothing, which was rather pleasant. I had no energy for any sort of activity requiring me getting up, so it was nice to have a quiet New Year's this time around.

This was a wonderful holiday season for our family! The best part was finding out that there is not just three of us anymore. I declare that 2010 will be a wonderful year for the Mortensens!