Here's to a happy 2012...

Well, I'm back. And I keep typing the year wrong. I'm a good typer, I took a typing class back in high school (do they even do that anymore? *feels old*) and yet I notice that in my head, I type "2012," yet what comes out is "2010." Apparently I want it to be 2 years ago. Well, it'd be nice to be 2 years younger, but other than that, I'm happy it's today and not two years ago. But I digress.

I had a very nice holiday, and most of all I LOVED just being home with my family. So, quick updates on everybody:

Anne - Thriving. Is now slowly cruising around furniture when she pulls herself up. *heavy sigh* She has also discovered the entertainment center and now attempts to push buttons when she pulls herself up over there. I think this has been genetically bred into modern babies. She can now crawl at the speed of sound and is extremely happy all of the time. Except when she's teething, which consumed a good amount of last week. During which time, our days consisted of (1) carry Anne around, (2) arms get tired, so set Anne down, (3) Anne bursts into tears, (4) repeat steps (1) through (3) for approximately 12 hours, with short breaks in between for one decent nap and one crappy one. Pretty typical for her age. But overall, she's doing very well. She loves her new Christmas toys and has been playing very cutely with them. Her favorite is a Fisher Price tea set, and she carries one cup around with her even when she crawls so that she can bite on it when she reaches her destination at the other side of the room.

Henry - Very cute and happy. He loves being home with us and being on break from school. He got lots of Legos for Christmas, and has been a very good boy playing with them, taking everything apart and putting them back together. He also loves board games, and he got a bunch of new ones for Christmas this year. We also took both kids to the our local botanical garden over the break, and Hank just loves it there. One thing that I really enjoy about him is his appreciation of beautiful things. He really has an eye for aesthetics in nature, and he loves showing his finds to others. It's really precious. He also memorized his assigned prayers from the Advent chain he brought home from school and learned to read them himself. He's such a good boy.

Mike - Thriving at home with the kids. And we couldn't stop talking about how much we loved all being together as a family all week. Although I work full time outside of the home, I feel lucky to have a job in which I get lots of vacation and holiday time, plus normal hours. So I'm home a lot. We enjoyed every moment of last week, and I have plans to take some additional time off in the coming months when Henry is off for his winter break and for Easter. The only mar in Mike's week was a bout that he had with some sort of throat infection. And we've been married long enough (7 years this coming Sunday) for me to know one thing about my darling husband: he is SUPER easygoing and easy to live with, aside from one thing, but hey, nobody's perfect, right? And that one thing would be that he is a terrible sick person, and he would be the first to admit this. He gets actually mad when he gets sick, because it incapacitates him and keeps him from doing things he wants to do or feels he should be doing. And hence, he's miserable to be around. He grumps around the house until I tell him to go to bed. Translation: "you're driving me crazy, so please go get some rest before I say something that will hurt your feelings." The next morning, the antibiotics had kicked in and he looked sheepish and back to normal. Thank God. He's really adorable, and I'm lucky to have him.

Me - I knit, and knit and knit. I finished socks, I crocheted myself a cardigan, I knit a scarf and I felted slippers. I was Super Compulsive Knitter. And I loved every minute of it, being inside on a chilly winters day with a cup of tea by my side. I played with the kids, and I snuggled lots with Mike. Life is very, very good.

And I need to keep that in mind when my birthday approaches next month and I move even closer to 40. But we'll return to obsess about that another day...