December 25: Merry Christmas!

Santa found Emma Claire in Alabama for her first Christmas. He left plenty of toys, her favorite of which were the wooden blocks and the ride/push lion and of course "Calin", her babydoll. Then, there are the little pink Uggs. Every Minnesota girl needs Uggs!

For the first time in Fabianke Christmas history, we drew names. This is one of the best new traditions we have implemented in some time. Opa was set up with a Internet camera and Skype from Brad (which was presented in a riddle created by Brad); Rowie got an original painting of her childhood home in New Albany (which caused tears); Brad got just what he wanted...bedroom shoes and sweats from Dad; Emily got clothes from Greta (thanks, again Gret!); Greta got clothes from Mom and Jason got a Garmin forerunner from Emily (let me know if it doesn't work out for you, Jason and I will still be glad to take it off your hands!).

Brad and I spent the afternoon searching for Rock Bridge Canyon. Never found it, but enjoyed the drive in the AL country. The area in and around Red Bay is very rural, but also very scenic. Lots of hills and trees and land.

A fun Christmas...better than ever now that Emma Claire is a part of us. She loves to mimic. Her Opa taught her how to "fake cough". She now says ma-ma-ma and da-da-da with intent.

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Sunday, December 21: Christmas in Minnesota

Santa made 2 stops for Emma Claire this year. First stop, Radisson Road 4 days before Christmas. The goods...a beautiful little red kitchen.

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Adventures of the Squatlies

Here we are in Alabama on New Year's Eve. Cool by Alabama standards...40 and sunny. What a week it has been. We started our adventure last Tuesday (December 23). It was my intent to document our travels as we went along, but I obviously have not. So, I will try to highlight our holiday in the posts that follow.

We have felt like the "Squatlies" lately. For those that aren't familiar, a squatly (or squatlie...not sure if there is a correct spelling) is a person (or group of people...most likely a family) that is a little disheveled, unorganized, "Cousin Eddie"-like (National Lampoon's cousin Eddie). This is a word that my mom coined. Brad and I like to use this word and have felt true to the term since we left Minnesota on December 23.

Our first "family" vacation has been a long, but special, trip. We loaded up the volvo wagon (complete with the car topper for luggage, which was tied to the top of the car with rope and old dog leashes), the bags, the gifts, the toys, the snacks, the books on CD, the dogs, the dog food, Sophie's cough suppressant (an essential), the diapers, the toys, oh... and the baby.

We pulled out of the driveway before 7pm (better than we had expected) and 17 hours later (around noon on Christmas Eve) arrived in Red Bay at Rowie and Opa's. Brad drove most of the way. I managed 3 hours in the middle of the night. Emma Claire was a trooper. She slept on and off. No major meltdowns. We stopped when she needed to eat. She was actually sick. I got a call from daycare the day we were to leave that she had a fever. So, I left work and took her to Doc Hobbs. We got the OK to travel and an antibiotic prescription and hit the road a few hours later.

We left the house in true squatlie form as well. One day before we left MN, we signed a contract to remodel our kitchen. This is a project we have been planning for a couple of years now, yet it all happened so quickly. The good thing is that they are able to start the demolition while we are away. The bad thing is that we had less than 2 days to pack up everything in the kitchen and most of the front of the house. The house was a disaster when we left. Can't imagine what it will look like when we return. No kitchen, minus a few walls. The next few weeks, the "adventure" will continue. We will stay there and camp out as long as we can.

So, to follow...more of our adventure.

Target

I was home with Emma Claire yesterday and our only outing all day was a Target trip. Target, at the right time of day, is a favorite errand. Only problem is you usually end up with double the amount that was on your list to begin with (for me, anyway!).
Emma Claire bundled up in her new pink snowsuit. Usually she enjoys Target, too. What could be better than riding in the buggy and seeing all of the people and things there. Today was different. She lasted about 10 minutes in the buggy and would only be held after that. So, that is what I did. Held Emma Claire in her puffy, hard to get traction, snowsuit and pushed the red buggy around Target. It was all fine and good until we got to the check out line. I needed her to sit in the buggy again. She screamed. I gave her the beloved maraca (which is always good for entertainment in a crunch). Next thing I knew, the maraca was across the aisle...she threw that thing with some force. Was not expecting such a reaction from my sweet Emma Claire. Isn't it too early for that sort of thing?
Anyway, the rest of the day was great. Emma Claire is into dropping (and I guess throwing) things now to see what happens. She plays peek-a-boo with a book or the shower curtain. She was climbing all over Sophie and sharing and whacking her in the face with Pat the Bunny (which Sophie took to mean that Pat the Bunny now belonged to her).
So, Emma Claire is increasingly communicating and interacting and letting us know what she wants (or more what she doesn't want!).

-20...really?

The actual temp this morning was something like -20. Really, it gets that cold here? At least it was windy...
Needless to say, no morning run yet this week. The pups don't even want to go outside.
Emma Claire couldn't move in the new snowsuit, but she sure did look cute!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

We attended Emma Claire's debut performance in Calvary Lutheran Childcare Christmas Program "Happy Birthday Jesus". I have been really excited about this for some time now. Emma Claire and her classmates in the "cuddly bunny" room entered in the red buggy and were in front of the tree while the other children sang...Priceless.

I have attached the video (as any proud parent would...it was like the paparazzi in there with all of the flashes and video).

Enjoy! (FYI...it is about 10 minutes long)

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Happy First Fiesta, Jonah

We made it to church this morning for the children's Christmas Pageant, which is always well done. We decided to try taking Emma Claire with us to the service, rather than to the nursery...worth a try, right? Thought she would like watching the children and hearing the music. She lasted all of 15 minutes and then we joined all of the other parents with babies in the lobby to watch the remainder of the service. She is just too active right now. She wants to be on the move. She was awfully cute for the first 10 of those 15 minutes, though. Entertained the people on the pew behind us.

The Grodnicks invited us to join their family to celebrate Jonah's first birthday, fiesta style. They had fiesta music, pinata, LOTS of balloons and a taco bar. Always a good time. Jonah enjoyed his very own cake, sat in the center of the table in diapers and dug in. Hard to believe it has been a year. It is amazing to me how fast this year has passed. Since Emma Claire arrived, the days have been in fast forward. Just want them to slow down sometimes.

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Looking forward to near blizzard conditions here in Minnesota tonight. -30 wind chill predicted for tomorrow morning. Got Emma Claire's snowsuit just in time. Brrr...just over a week until we escape South to thaw out.