The Holidays Begin

We're always ridiculously busy this time of year.  Spike's birthday comes right after Thanksgiving, and then, before I can blink,  it's Xmas!  And this year it's been even busier than usual since Auntie G had her gallbladder removed and came up here to recover the week before T-day.  Plus, we managed to misplace our USB cable and haven't been able to download photos for quite some time - so put all that together and you've got a mother load of pictures and yet another light on the writing blog post.    

 

Ryan made home made cinnamon rolls the day after Thanksgiving. 

Spike's old hat.

 

If Fluffy can do it...

I can climb one, too!  (She really felt this way. She absolutely tried to RUN up that tree.)

Taking Fat Baby (her doll) for a little stroll outside.

Loving Mab. 

Having some tea.

These two are awesome together lately.  Their relationship only gets tighter and tighter.

 

At Spike's school for a little pre-T-day celebration.

The aunties come for Thanksgiving.  FF is reading Vogue with them.

Smothered with Auntie love.

 

 

 

Our friend Johnny comes to T-day every year.  This was the first time he met FF.  She liked him much more than this photo suggests.

In fact, as soon as he broke out his clarinet, FF thought he was damned cool.  (Spike tends to have the same reaction. As evidenced from the previous video, Johnny can play almost anything by ear on his clarinet.  Last time he was here he was playing Iron Man for Spike.  It's good to know professional musicians.)

 

 

Johnny also brought Spike a week of fake moustaches, which Spike totally LOVED  - and which freaked me out because I know it's only a matter of time before Spike grows some real facial hair.

Thanksgiving morning!  Time to get cooking!  FF loves to sift flour.

 

And roll out pie crust.

Auntie Ren and Fat Baby - by FF

 

Spike by FF

Sammy by FF

Baba by FF

Mama by FF

The Aunties - not by FF.

Auntie Ren is doing her best to indoctrinate FF into loving ramen as much as she does.

It might have worked...

Auntie Ren and Spike play their traditional game of Uno.

 

Spike's birthday morning! 

Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend.  I've been thinking a lot about where we were at this time last year - - just waiting to hear when we were going to get to China and finally meet our girl in person.  Today I was driving and thinking about the first time I ever saw FF's little face - those sweet, sad pictures of her in her crib - and how much I suffered waiting to finally get to her and hold her and kiss her sweet little face in person.  And now she's here - climbing on everything, getting into constant mischief, ruling the household with her saucy baby ways, making us laugh a thousand times a day... and I'm so grateful for that.  I'm so grateful for both of my beautiful children. 

I took FF to the mall the other day, and as I was carrying her around, she kept lifting her tiny little hand and laying it onto a bare patch of skin on my chest - just above my heart - and it just felt... like she was touching me with so much possession and tenderness - like she was trying to express the relationship between us - the love and connection between mother and daughter.  And I was so moved by this gesture.  Loving her, being her mother, truly is a transcendent experience.  She is a child with so much heart.