We had a family “Megan’s Home/Anna’s One” party the weekend before Anna’s first birthday. We had a blast. Check out photos here. Here’s a video of Anna playing with her second cousin Joshua, and here’s us singing Happy Birthday to her. Anna also enjoyed playing with the wrapping about 20 times as much as the gift for, well, all of her gifts. Here’s a video of her playing with the wrapping from Grandpa Bill and Darlene.

Becky and Aunt Anna M came to visit, and enjoyed playing with a hedgehog hand puppet. I proved that I had completely memorized Dear Zoo when I caught Aunt Anna M skipping a page. Anna’s taste in books has widened a bit, thankfully, but she still loves lift-the-flap books above all others.

Rachel and Kent, who are in our area temporarily from Little Rock, came over for dinner. We hope they stick around!

We had the D family, the B family, Michelle, and Donna over for lunch. We didn’t pull out the camera until after the D family had left, but we did get some shots of crazy antics. This is the day Anna learned how to clap, which she now does when someone else claps or says “hooray!”. Serenity, Promise, and Katherine were all clapping, and they are “big girls.”

For the rest of the month, we were just hanging out…

We were in 5 homes in 5 days. Anna slept in all of them, though we only slept in two. Follow the links for many more photos.

Before we left home, the neighborhood carolers came around, and sang The First Noël to us. It was beautiful. I love the enthusiasm from the kids at bottom right here. And hooray for a camera that can take decent photos of people when it’s really dark outside.

Home #1 was Uncle Chip and Aunt Betsy’s house for Christmas Eve with John’s dad’s side of the family, his mom, and Gram. Emily (of Timeless Paper–shameless plug) made beautiful place cards, we opened the traditional Christmas poppers from our English cousins, and Anna even came down for a very confused visit before we went to my parents house.

Home #2: Over the river and through the woods, to Grandmother’s house we went! Thankfully Grandma and Grandpa’s house is only 15 minutes away from Chip and Betsy’s house, so we put a confused and bleary Anna to bed. Precisely a year after we first felt Anna kick, we saw midnight opening Christmas Day. In the morning, the first time we had my whole family together since last Christmas, we opened presents. Max played Santa, and Grandma and Anna showed off their hats that Aunt Megan made for them:

Home #3: my Uncle Mike and Aunt Lynn’s house, with my dad’s side of the family. Anna was delighted to meet my Aunt Gow. Mike and Lynn got my parents appropriate hats for lounging in their new hot tub in the snow (or rain, or sleet, or hail…). Max, Megan, and I were together for the first time in a year. Megan especially enjoyed her Anna time, as the last time they were in the same state, Anna was 3 weeks old. It was also the first Christmas for Anna’s second cousin Joshua (not to be confused with the other Joshua, in this post I’ve been meaning to link to since, oh, October). We then got in our sleighs and headed back to Home #2 for a more extended stay. And so we saw the midnight closing Christmas Day.

Back to home #2 for a more restful time. We saw Heather and Linda. We also saw Paul, Ann, Daniel, and Laura (we missed you, Rachel and Jason!), but apparently we were photo-ed out, because there is no record! (gasp!) Anna got in some good aunt and uncle time, and began playing with her most versatile toy yet–stacking cups from Grandma and Grandpa. They stack. They nest. They turn into 5 balls. Or one. They make spectacular sounds when rolled, smacked against other objects, or dropped. They also make julienned fries. Fisher Price (and Grandma and Grandpa), kudos.

Home #4: GramE’s house, with Great Gram. Anna had a wonderful time playing with Great Gram (who seemed pretty happy as well). GramE and Great Gram are kind enough to be very flexible with when they see us near Christmas, which makes things a lot easier. I really like the 4 generations (and Peaches in the corner) shot, and the shot of the closest women in John’s life.

Home#5: Our house (actually we went back and forth between GramE’s and our place). We were happy to see Uncle Bob, Aunt Michele, Paul, and Marie for lunch. Uncle Bob played peek-a-boo with Anna from across the room. Our last photo of 2010 is of Matt (of Matt and Melissa) with Anna, when they came to visit us.

And then we rested. That wraps up 2010 for our family.

I just know you’re sitting at the computer like me, right? I’m wearing my blue beanie in support of web standards. (Yes, my daddy is a web developer–why do you ask?)

My parents got a new washer and dryer. They are really old, because they are still excited about it. My favorite part is that it plays a song when it’s done. I like to watch the clothes tumble around in them, too.

Sarah, Andrea, and their Mommy and Daddy came over to play with me.

Grandma reads me the tastiest stories.

I had turned in early, but Promise (shown here with Mommy) brought her little sister and parents to spend the evening with my Mommy and Daddy. Next time I hope to be awake for the fun.

Great Granzi and Great Grandpop sent me my first doll!

Here’s a video of me playing with the busy box Grandpa Bill and Darlene sent me, one of my current favorite toys. They sent me a bunch of presents!

This is my favorite finger food–rice mum mum. I highly recommend it!

I was a bit confused when I arrived at Aunty Margaret’s house for dinner, but Mr. Kamesh made me feel better.

Aunty Margaret got me a little black dress with pearls!

Playing with Grandpa is so much fun!

I got to meet my great aunt Carol and great uncle Neal

Elliot and Miss Laura stopped in, mostly while I was super-napping.

I woke Mommy and Daddy up in the middle of the night just at the right time to see the lunar eclipse, which they appreciated. All I cared about was milk, though, so I didn’t see it.

Grandma and Grandpa got me a birdfeeder for Mommy’s birthday. Daddy calls this bird the Great American Shark Finch, but I know it’s just a Tufted Titmouse having a bad feather day.

Whew! Just wait until I get to Christmas and January! I’ve been busy…

When it came time for Thanksgiving dinner, we walked several houses up the street to our neighbor’s house, where we’ve had Thanksgiving for 9 (?) years in a row. Thanksgiving hosted by Mark, Chris, Amanda, and Garrett is always a treat. Here are some of my favorites from the trip.

Mark and Eileen taught Chinese Lucy and James how to carve a turkey:

Great Gram came to Thanksgiving too! You know you have gracious hosts when a guest can say “I went to Thanksgiving dinner at my grandson’s wife’s family friends’ house.”

Garrett helped Mark with his birthday candles:

Anna got a leeeetle bit of attention, including from Amanda (holding her). I babysat for Amanda beginning when she was not much older than Anna is now.

The next day, Chinese Lucy, with help from James and Max, introduced us to hot pot–kind of like fondue with boiling water.

There was much bustle to prepare the meal.

And even more once once the G family, Matt, and Ann and Paul came over:

There are more photos of Thanksgiving and the day after. Anna had a wonderful first Thanksgiving. Thank you, all!

Fun with Genna, Abby, and Noah:

Anna has discovered that if she stomps her feet in her bouncy seat, the mobile swings. She’ll do this for twenty minutes at a time, happy as a clam. We’re trying to get her to discover her hands as well as her feet, so we attached a toy that she can reach, too.

Anna got to see Karis, Anna M, and Kamesh, who were nearby for 3(!) weddings this weekend. Congratulations to Charlotte & Phil, Jon & Melissa, and Stephen & Grace! We’ll post our pictures of Stephen and Grace’s wedding (as guests!) soon.

We had a delightful time.  Our hosts agreed to a flexible arrival time so Anna was awake but not nursing. Anna recovered quickly from the trauma that is riding in a car that has the nerve to stop at stop signs and red lights. She was content when Abby, 8, presented Anna with a beautiful painting she had made just for her that day.  Abby became the youngest person to hold Anna yet.  Genna, Abby, and I chatted in the kitchen (and I do mean to include Abby, who kept up with the grown-ups conversations the entire evening with a maturity beyond her years) while Matthew and John toured the backyard and tended the grill.  Classic.

We got to be a part of the inaugural meal on their gorgeous new table.  Like us, their taste is for fine, solid wood furniture, and like us, they would rather watch used listings for weeks (or months) than pay full price. Matthew had picked it up that day along with chairs and a beautiful sideboard. This was one of several commonalities that fueled the evening’s conversation.

And so Anna nursed or slept contentedly in my lap while we enjoyed good food and good company. Abby taught us how to recognize mint plants (they have square stems), and told us about her painting and violin. Noah, 3, regaled us with the story of Jesus calming the storm. Later, Anna began to cry, so Noah rushed off to his room to retrieve his blankie to comfort her. When his mom explained that Anna was hungry, he offered to get her some food from the kitchen. What I had feared would be stressful was laid back and comfortable. Just another step towards rejoining the outside world as a family of three.

P.S. In some ways, text posts are harder than photo posts, as the majority of this was hunt-and-pecked with one hand while nursing. Just keep that in mind when you get e-mails from me that are rather short these days; it’s nothing personal.

23rd: Dinner with John’s Aunt Pat and cousins

24th: Christmas Eve with John’s paternal extended family

25th: Christmas Day with Lucy’s paternal extended family

26th: Brunch with Lucy’s family and friends

27th: Christmas with John’s maternal extended family

28th: Dinner with John’s Aunt Michelle, Uncle Bob, and cousins

29th: Crash on the couch and do nothing *all day*

Pictures are here.

I felt very spoiled and appreciated by mailed packages and/or cards from Megan, Max, Anna, Gram, and Granzi and Granpop.  Eileen hosted a birthday party for me at her place that included John, Sergio and Marcia, my dad (and my mom via phone who was prohibited by her doctor from coming because she was too contagious to be around her pregnant daughter), my GREAT Uncle Frank, and Margaret (a friend from church).  My mom still made my favorite cake and sent it along with my dad, which was a hit.

On my actual birthday, I woke up to a card and a gift from Sergio and Marcia, with my breakfast all set up.  At school, I was sung to several times, and during one class a whole group of seniors whom I had taught last year or the previous year burst into my room with a beautiful cake, singing.  I won’t post the photo of all of them since posting pictures of my students can cause legal issues, but I will post the photo that Sarah took of the absolutely delicious cake that Kent made for me!  One of the silly things that I do to attempt to make physics more engaging, memorable, and amusing is toss a small plush panda in the air and talk about various aspects of his motion as he’s in the air.  He’s the Freefall Panda, and he amuses my students.  So thanks to Kent, Spencer, Chris M, Chris G, Dan, Allison, Mike, Sophie, Anne, Greg, Angela, Sarah, Dave, Christina, Annie, and the guy I didn’t know who came during their lunch when they could have left campus just to wish me a happy birthday.  Kate, my 9th period class secretary (a person elected by the class at the beginning of the year whose main job is to keep communication open between my students and me, but who also celebrates everyone’s birthdays) made me brownies. Shauna stopped by to see me and drop off a hilarious card and a bracelet about being sisters.

John took me out to dinner at Penang, a nearby Thai and Malaysian restaurant that we go to the most often.  John bought me my favorite kind of chocolate (and, I would be very remiss to neglect–a positively gorgeous and fun bike that was delivered in June and is even blue to boot.  It was delivered in June   Sergio and Marcia came to dinner with us at my request to help celebrate.  It turns out that the hostess is in their English class and her dad is the chef, so we got personalized recommendations, especially good service and conversation, and dessert with a candle and the entire Penang staff singing to me.

All of this special treatment bears a stark contrast to the birth of our savior so long ago.  Every life, including my own, is a miracle.  But it pales in comparison to God in flesh, living a life without ever doing anything wrong, being betrayed by one of his closest friends, willingly submitting himself to separation from God and taking the punishment that I deserve, going to Hell, and rising from the dead to release the hold of death upon us.  Whereas I was born in a well-equipped hospital to married parents and treated to every comfort, the king of all creation’s humble beginnings included being born to an unwed teenage mother.  In a stable. In a foreign land.  Shortly before having to flee because people were trying to kill him.  C.S. Lewis compares the absolute humility of God becoming man to you willingly becoming a crab or a slug.   That sacrifice — his first of many — is what we celebrate this Christmas.  Merry Christmas.