One Snowy Morning

The snow is falling so peaceful this Monday morning. It is absolutely beautiful. It provides a calming effect despite the chaos inside my house right now: Sylvia is fussing, the cats are getting into trouble, and Chloe is decidedly discontented. Yet, I look outside and see the steady fall of light fluffy snow blanketing our trees and yard and it relaxes me just enough to continue with life.

And life has been busy. Yesterday Dave's Tante Ria and her son, Johan, returned to the Netherlands. I will miss them so very much. I adore Ria and enjoyed the time I got to spend with her this past week. She was so smitten with Sylvia and I am glad that she got to spend some time with my daughter.
This was the first time I met Johan, and he is a real pleasure. Neat guy, and I was amazed at how much he seemed to enjoy the baby. Not typical for a twenty-year-old, I don't think. We also went to the Santa Clause parade in Grand Rapids Saturday morning. I dressed Sylvia in her Santa shirt and her "Old Man Pants" (see previous entry), and we carted her off for the festivities.

This was how she spent the first half of the parade, but she still made out with a candy cane! (Which Daddy ate.) Then we had a bit of a catastrophe when Sylvia had one majorly wet diaper and we had to change her clothes and spent the rest of the day swaddling her in blankets because she got her snowsuit wet too. (How can a bladder that tiny hold so much fluid???) Still, we always consider her wet diapers a blessing, because it means her kidneys are functioning well. After the scare we had during the pregnancy this wet mess is actually a wonderful reassurance.

And our Saturday continued after that with a shopping trip to one of my favorite stores to meet some of my favorite people, including my dear friend, Stephanie. Then we headed for Schuler's Bookstore to meet up with my mom while Dave and my dad went to the new James Bond flick. I was thrilled that Ria and my mom got to meet and it was pretty cool to have Sylvia be with all of her Grandmas: Oma, Oma Ria, and Grandma.

And this is a special picture. Even though I look a little ridiculous (but when don't I?) I just love having a shot of Ria, Sylvia and me.

And despite my utter exhaustion I guess I am doing well. I am beginning to fall into motherhood and routines are beginning to develop. Sylvia is also becoming more responsive and that makes the job a little more rewarding. I am sad that my Christmas decorations are not up and that the Halloween stuff still is. I have ventured into the back room to get the boxes out of the closet a few times now, but each time I look at the containers and think about all the work involved and realize that I am just too tired to do it. I love having the house decked out for the holidays, but I have a feeling this year we may just have our tree and our music out and our Halloween village still in place to bring in the joyous occasion.