dual personalities

Greetings from daughter #2 in Maryland, where the doses of darling will continue even if we are back to our isolated lifestyle. Needless to say, we miss our family and all the extra cuddles (for baby and mommy alike!) terribly. But Katiebelle provides a great example of waking up each morning with a smile on her face, ready to have fun wherever she is. I will try to follow suit!

Katie was a road trip angel, with only a couple of meltdowns — and who can blame her for those? We were in the car for nearly 16 hours. She missed sleeping in her crib and kicking freely! We do have plenty of time for that now, and we have been making the most of it.

Since campus is closed this week and I am off from work, I am trying to get organized but also take a chill pill. Equal parts folding laundry and reading in bed, reorganizing the coat closet and painting my nails. Happy new year to me!

Katie says, Happy new year to you, too!

*Katie’s anthem, “I’ve Gotta Crow”

It’s 8:48 on Boxing Day morning and Tim and I are up and drinking tea, while the other two still slumber and outside the snow is falling steadily. Our Christmas was full of good cheer, wonderful gifts, too much food and loads of fun — so I took only a couple of photos. Here’s the tree before the unwrapping:

and a surprisingly creepy pic of my sons wearing the socks that Santa left in their stockings.

In case you are wondering, those are dinosaur feet and cat paws — exactly what everyone needs.

We talked on the phone/Zoomed with our far-flung loved ones, ate too much chocolate (okay, I ate too much chocolate) and had an uproarious time playing ‘name that tune’ late into the night. This morning I am too tired to describe my presents or take more photos. That will have to wait until next week. Suffice it to say that we hope Boxing Day is as quiet as Christmas was jolly.

Let us remember that although our celebration is over, Christmas is not. The story goes on. The Wise Men are still traveling and Jesus and his family still need to escape Herod’s murderous plot. Their roads will be difficult and full of danger.

As we wind up this year, which for most of us wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been, let us commit to keeping Christmas all year long!

After our busy day on the roads of mid-MO, we took it easy with some long naps and cuddle sessions. In fact, we didn’t make much headway on our holiday-prep to-do list because we were too preoccupied by our baby hangouts. Is there anything better than a smiley babe?

“Not that I can think of!”

Tonight, we watched Meet Me in St. Louis, featuring the original “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” The lyrics are a tad too apropo.

My Missouri pride was really in effect today as we also took a jaunt to Jefferson City to see my Christmas decorations and the Capitol. I roped one of my co-workers into giving the fam bam a VIP tour including a trip up to the rotunda Whispering Gallery. On the way, we peaked out one of the windows overlooking the floors from the third to the first floor. As you can see, Katie was quelle interested.

Legend has it that the Missouri Capitol Whispering Gallery is the first one of its kind intentionally designed so that a person whispering on one side could be heard by those standing on the other side. We climbed 54 steps (!!) to get up there, but I think we all thought it was worth it.

A trip to the Treasurer’s Office is not complete without a visit to the VAULT. Although, we realized that a vandal had literally stolen some of the handles from the spinny wheel. The State’s cash money is no longer stored in the vault, but the excitement of opening the heavy door is still real.

Sadly, we did not take any pictures together, nor did we take any pictures outside under the clear blue sky. However, I’m pretty sure the quick stop to downtown Jeff City and nearby Fulton, MO did impress our worldly visitors from back east.

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas, muddling through or not.