Continuing the recap of the last few weeks.....

We hosted the annual Ganey Family Country Christmas in Wisconsin this year. I’m pretty sure that every one had as much fun as we did. The girls couldn’t wait for the party to start, and Maggie even exclaimed as she waited (not so patiently) “What is WITH these people” To her, the house was clean, the food was ready, SHE was ready, so she could not wait even a minute longer for the guests to arrive. Katherine was happy for the general chaos of the party which created enough distraction that her parents didn’t exactly realize how many cookies she was eating. As I tucked her in to bed that night and asked her how many cookies she had tried, she smiled guiltily and said “Mommy, I don’t even think I could count that high!” She's using the beer cooler as a stage in this picture, cookie in hand.

On Christmas Eve, we were grateful for rain instead of snow. Last year the snow kept our guests from celebrating with us. This year, we pulled out our rowboats and everyone was able to come. We had Italian - pasta, salad, bread, veggies – and it was delicious. It’s always a treat for me to see Chris’ grandparents with the girls. We are so lucky to be able to share those moments. After dinner, Chris’ Mom (Boom Boom) joined us at church, where she sang with Chris for 5pm Mass. Then it was home to leave out a snack for Santa and hurry to bed so he could come. Maggie really enjoyed watching Santa’s progress across the globe thanks to NORAD. She was a little sad that Santa hadn’t arrived in Brazil before she went to bed, but was relieved to check in on Christmas Morning and see that he HAD made it there, as well as across the whole globe.

I was surprised that they slept until 0615 on Christmas, delightfully surprised! And even better, they woke Boom Boom before Mommy and Daddy! After I came down to check, the girls ran downstairs to see what treats Santa had left. Maggie was pretty excited about her Jewelry box (to replace the egg carton that had held her jewels) Katherine loved her ‘Super Why’ Computer, and Abby seemed pleased to eat wrapping paper. Oh, and she loved her new stroller, but maybe not Katherine’s driving skills. The whole family was excited to see that Santa brought us a Wii.

We spent the rest of Christmas traveling to Evanston for more family time. There's never a shortage of laughter when we gather with all of the Geraghtys. It was a wonderful Christmas in every way.

Let's attempt to catch up before the new year.....to do that we go back in time about 2/12 weeks. (sorry about weird formatting, not sure what is happening, but I give up trying to fix it!)

Sunday December 13 was the feast of St Lucia. Chris had taken the girls to the Public Museum a week or so before that, and found a special exhibit on the Christmas traditions of other countries. In Sweeden, the feast of St Lucia is celebrated by having the oldest daughter wake the rest of the family with cookies. Maggie thought this was a fabulous idea, and so, (with a LITTLE help from Daddy) she brought us cookies and water to our beds that morning. It was a special treat.

Friday, the 18^th was CHRISTMAS CONCERT DAY! Katherine’s was in the morning, Maggie’s in the afternoon. It was quite an exciting day. I won’t bore you with pictures (that didn’t really turn out anyway) the links to the videos are here...Maggie and Katherine

That night, after concerts, Chris and I found the girls playing on the stairs. They took many of their “guys” and lined them up on “risers” so they could conduct their own concert. It was so sweet and cute. We’ve since had multiple other concerts, always WITH risers (apparently it’s not a legitimate concert unless you use risers) using either the stairs or the various stepstools in the house. It might be Maggie and Katherine giving the concert, or “Little People” and “Pet Shop” characters – but it’s always amusing.

And Abby has not been forgotten in this craziness. She turned 8 months on the 21st- so big! She is such a treat. She’s so easy-going and happy. We are so lucky. Her latest accomplishment is “talking” I have some video that I will try to post soon, but obviously she doesn’t TALK, but if she hears you clear your throat, she does the same, over and over again. Sometimes she’ll respond to other noises, but she seems to enjoy the throat clearing the most. She sits up all by herself, and will sit and play for long stretches of time. She still doesn’t like to spend too much time on her belly, She prefers to sit on her bottom and throw herself forward to reach things, scooting along as needed.She's also trying more "big kid" food. Here she enjoys a graham cracker.
Up next....The Christmas report......

I wasn't planning a blog post for today, but when I found this and snapped the picture, I figured I'd better post before the moment was lost!

This is what I found, propped outside the door to my room. Maggie is inside my room, napping. Apparently she does not want to be disturbed. (If you can't see it, she wrote "do not awake") Grammar aside, she is one smart and funny kid! And I won't wake her, or her sisters. They all stayed home sick today, Abby truly sick with snot/low grade fever and irritability. Maggie and Katherine stayed home because they have messy/sloppy colds/coughs and I can't trust their personal hygiene. I wish other parents would do the same so that we could STOP GETTING SICK!

This picture of Abby was taken earlier this week when she was feeling fine. She was happy as could be, playing with her toys as I worked around her. And she just had the duck in her mouth like it was no big deal, sort of "Hey, I've got a duck in my mouth, what's so wrong with that?" She'd move from toy to toy, but that silly duck stayed in her mouth the whole time! In other Abby news, she tried Cheerios and fruit puffs this week. She doesn't quite have the skills to grasp and maneuver into her mouth, but if you put it in her mouth, she's happy to devour. And it's cute to hear her 2 little teeth bite and crunch!

I don't have a new picture of Katherine, but I always have a story about her. She LOVES to play with her Little People. She takes all of the sets and creates cities and tells very interesting stories for them. The other morning, she and Chris had the following conversation:

K:Daddy, it's this girl's birthday today (holding up a plastic figure)

C:Great Katherine, how old is she today?

K:I don't know (with attitude of , silly Daddy how would I know such a thing?)

C:I thought you were that girl's Mommy?

K: (Now fully exasperated) No, Daddy! I'm just the one who makes them talk!

Where do they come up with these things?

A month. Wow. It's been a full month since I posted. No excuses, just life getting in the way.

Katherine and I went to Zoo School - "Apes and Monkeys" - It was fun as usual. Do you know the difference between an Ape and a Monkey? Monkeys have tails - notice Katherine's here.

We ran to Evanston on the Friday before Thanksgiving to bid Joe and Brenda "Bon Voyage!" It was great to see them, and also the Iowa cousins and the rest of the family as well. Katherine was especially sad that we didn't get to sleep overnight, but we had much to accomplish that weekend! (and there was no room at the "Inn.")

The next day we had Maggie's Birthday Party. She and her best friend Lauren shared the party with 5 of their friends at a local Gymnastics Gym. A good time was had by all, and for her first "real" party it was super easy for the adults - just bring the cake, nothing else - It was perfect!
Abby also celebrated her 7 month birthday. And by celebrated I mean, had her picture taken a few times and probably took a few naps. I try to keep up, but it's usually Maggie who reminds us of the date!

I just love this picture of Katherine after her school's Thanksgiving Feast.
Our favorite little Turkey before heading to Gram and PopPop's for Thanksgiving.
Abby spent a fair amount of time playing with her Uncle Matt's beard the day after Thanksgiving in West Bend. She's not used to facial hair. She was intrigued, not scared a bit!
Her other favorite pastime these days - reaching into her basket and choosing her own toys. She's a girl who knows what she wants!
Sometimes she looses her balance though! This picture was taken just after I found her face first into her basket. She lifted her head as I snapped the picture, but she had flopped over and was face-first and content when I found her!
And, last but not least, here you see Abby enjoying the first real snowfall since the day she was born.(If you recall is snowed the day she was born and was 80 degrees on the day we brought her home!) Katherine, no surprise, felt that pants were optional in the snow and that sunglasses were most appropriate accessory that day.
It is possible that Katherine had her glasses on to protect her eyes. She was home sick that day due to pink eye. Abby had it 2 weeks prior with a bad cold, then Maggie had it, then Katherine, and finally this weekend, Mom and Dad got it too. Seriously, I realize we're only just this week getting our first real snow of the season, and spring is a LONG way off - but we've had so many different illnesses in this house , I am ready for Winter to be DONE! I truly think we have only had 2 consecutive days of all 5 family members healthy since September!

So now we're on to Christmas....Cards, parties, school programs, cookies, shopping. The tree is up and the girls are having a blast playing with our Nativity pieces and ornaments. It's not unusual to overhear conversations between Jesus and Mary, Santa and Angels, or Joseph and Rudolph these days. All of the characters play together and the stories they create are ridiculous and so cute! Even though they are testing our patience daily- Christmas is a magical time with little kids!

Dear Maggie,

As we sat on the floor playing with Abby tonight, you climbed into my lap and said, "Mommy, I was your first baby." And it struck me that yes, you were my first baby, and you have taught me so much in 6 years. How is it that you are no longer a baby, but a bright, happy, funny, sensitive 6 year old?

I still remember bringing you home from the hospital, and putting your car seat on the floor in the living room, and then looking at Daddy and saying "Now what?" We had waited so long to have you there with us, but had no idea what to do with you!

Of course, you made it clear that you wanted to be fed, changed, snuggled, and fed again. And even today, you generally have no problem telling us what you want or need. You have really taught me most of what I know about being a Mom. Sure, Katherine and Abby have contributed, but you were my first baby, you still are my first baby, and I love you so much.

I am so proud of you at 6 years old. You are smart; not only reading well beyond your age, but so inquisitive and interested in every little thing around you. You seem to have a photographic memory as you never forget a single detail. And you like details, and organization, you're very much like Daddy that way. You are also very social - much like me. You want to be everyone's friend. I think that every day you have a story about a new friend, or can tell me that 'so and so' lives on this street, or gets off the bus here, or has 3 sisters, or went on vacation. You know everything about every one, and you care about all of them, worrying about them when they aren't at school, or when they get in trouble.

Most of all though, you are an amazing big sister. Certainly there are days when you fight with Katherine, or whine about having to run and fetch things for Abby. But, overall you are a wonderful big sister. I love watching you read stories to Katherine, or invite her to play with you. I love listening to you talk to each other before you go to sleep at night. I can't usually hear what you're really saying, but I know you're chatting, sharing that special sister time before sleep. And you are so gentle with Abby. She loves it when you bring her toy and make her smile and laugh. She watches you and looks for you when she hears your voice. You take care of your sisters, and it makes me smile.

When you were a baby, Maggie, I used to sing "You are My Sunshine" all the time. You ARE my sunshine, you make me happy (almost) everyday! I thank God for sending you to me 6 years ago. I love you so very much, Happy Birthday baby girl!

What have we been up to?

We carved pumpkins, and used Princess Potato Head props for the ones too small for carving.
We went away for one night to a waterpark hotel with an arcade. No good pool shots, but here you see Maggie trying her best to win tickets for prizes.
We wore Abby out!

But then she finally figured out how to sit up on her own!

We enjoyed Halloween, though we only had one family come to trick-or-treat at our house!

And the big girls went to the "Imagination Movers" concert. It was ridiculously fun for kids and adults. We ALL had a great time. Tomorrow my baby turns 6, where have the years gone?

It’s Abby’s birthday! Well, half- birthday anyway, 6 months already!?!? She’s celebrating today with a stuffy nose thanks to her sisters. Oh I know I can’t really blame them, but it’s more fun that way! Abby really doesn’t mind the snottiness, she fussed a few times in the night – but nothing major.

She’s very excited about her new tooth. How do I know? Well, because she’s constantly trying to feel it by shoving her hands and feet into her mouth every chance she gets. And she’s blowing raspberries during most of her waking hours. You really need a warning to be near her “You may get wet, possibly soaked on this ride!”

When she isn’t blowing raspberries, she is shrieking like a seagull. Honestly it’s cute and funny….until it gets old! She is LOUD! But she’s happy about it – it’s the best way she has to convey her enjoyment of the craziness around her.

She isn’t sitting on her own yet, but she is almost there. And she still doesn’t like to roll from her front to her back, but she CAN do it when she tries hard enough. More likely

though, you’ll find her scooting across the room by kicking/thrashing her legs while on her back. Last night she almost bumped her head on the doorway because I hadn’t realized she was THAT mobile with her body thrusting. It’s an interesting way to get around, for sure!The giggles and laughing are contagious. I’m not sure there is anything better than all three girls giggling –each making the other two giggle even harder. Never a dull moment around here!