Christmas & good stuff about Sylvie (aka Fluffernutter)

Christmas was really, really fun this year. Sawyer is at such a magical age, and it's so easy to get swept up in her excitement. My family did a secret Santa thing for my sister's kids on Christmas eve, it was really fun to see them open their gifts and no one, including their parents had any idea where the gifts came from. My cute brother & his cute wife organized it, it was so fun to see them, I absolutely adore Doug & if he doesn't watch it, he's gonna get a baby boy named after him. At least the middle name, we're solid on that, we just can't agree on a first. I vote for Abram Douglas, and Matt wants to use his mission president's middle name somehow; Steele. I really like it, and you couldn't ask for a cooler person to be named after, but I've been sold on Abram since I was 13... But anyway, this is Doug with his punk-rock hair & lumberjack facial hair combo. Not too many people could pull this look off like he does. My parent's had had Sylvie for the last two weeks before Christmas, and totally fell in love with her. But that night we were going to be up there at their house, so that day I had to run up to their house & take Sylvie to our friends, the Williams' until Sawyer fell asleep. My parents came up to spend the night & open gifts with us in the morning. As long as I can remember we've lined up in the hall on Christmas morning for a little photo-op, youngest to oldest. It's a tradition I hope to keep up. (do you like Matt's newly cue-balled noggin? me too. Bald guys are hot. don't think so? let me illustrate my point: Bruce Willis- so much hotter bald. Patrick Stewart. Old? Yes. But try picturing him with hair. yuck. Kelly Slater? you don't know him, but you want to. Google is good. Vin Diesel? Say what you want about his acting, but he's quite tasty. Chris Daugtry. no explanation needed. except for his sideburns. WTH is going on there? Billy Zane. Yup, I win this little argument, now back to Christmas.)
We saved the puppy surprise until after Sawyer had opened all her other gifts. She got a super cute puppet theater, an "ice-skater doll", legos, movies, clothes, perfume & makeup, and a few dog accessories that made her decide that "one day I won't be 'llergic to dogs". She also got to open the gift that told us that we were having a boy!! I made two little shirts, one said "it's a boy," the other said "it's a girl" and took them to our ultrasound on Tuesday. We made the ultrasound tech put the appropriate shirt in a box & throw the other one away. It was really fun, she thought it was the greatest idea. I'm proud to say that none of us cheated, and that we all found out together that it is a little boy squirming around in there. Here is the video:

I would have been sooo surprised if it were a girl, I don't know how I knew, but I did. The first trimester was a little different than it was with Sawyer, a tad more prone to nausea, but now that I'm solidly into my 2nd, I don't really notice a difference. Sawyer wasn't really thrilled with the news, but she's okay with it now. I think my explanation that you get twice as many toys to play with if you have a brother sufficed for her. Plus we've been talking about people we know who have brothers, her cousins & friends & even me, and how fun they are, and she's getting excited.
Even more exciting is the fact that my good friend Laura, who has been trying to get pregnant for 4 1/2 years is finally knocked up again! I seriously cry nearly every time I think about it! I love you, Lola!
Anyway, back to Christmas. So, after Sawyer had opened all her gifts, Matt said that he thought that Santa had left one more present upstairs under her tree, so she hauled her cookies up there nearly flipped out when she saw a big fluffy poodle in her room! It was so much fun because we've been so sad about Charlie & Sawyer talks about her all the time. One day she was having a really rough go of it & in the middle of a tantrum, just sunk down on the floor & said, in between hiccups "...and I just wanna go 'nuggle Carlie!" oh for the love of my broken heart! Anyway, like I said in my last post, it been a few days to adjust. For me at least. But honestly, we really are so super lucky to have struck canine gold again. It's hard for everyone to believe that she's only 5 months old. Sylvie is so calm & sweet. She LOVES playing in the snow, and does her best to lure you out there with her, coming close to the door like she's going to come in, then as soon as you're close, she darts away, challenging you to chase her & kick snow in her face. She loves it I tell you. She struggles at coming when called, but it took us about a day & a half to teach her to sit, so I think we'll probably have that down in a few days too. She's got this super fluffy hair right now. Their hair doesn't turn all curly & poodle-y until they're about a year old, and so she looks like those lambskin rugs at Costco right now. Like someone killed a polar bear & draped it on a really skinny dog. She's a dream to pet. When it get's a little funky & starts to mat, I comb it out & she just lays there patiently while I work on her for like an hour. It's so calming. That's one thing we've missed the most; that repetitive motion is good for Matt & I's anxiety & depression. She's way fun with Sawyer too, she really loves her, and even takes orders from her. Sawyer asks me about 40 times a day if she can "teach her to sit & give her a treat". It's so fun to see that interaction again. I'm sorry about the last post, clearly I've got comparison issues and they don't just apply to myself. It's been good for me though to realize that it's so freeing just to love someone for who they are, and that my dear is what I'm taking into this new year. And guess who I'm applying it to? Me. Yup. That's my new year's resolution. To be nicer to me. Selfish? Maybe. But I've got a hankering that tells me that I'll be able to be nicer to others by doing this. I'll let you know how it goes.
Merry Christmas & a ridiculously Happy New Year to you. You deserve it.