Happy New Year!

Merry belated Christmas and a very happy 2009! I am sorry it's been a while since my last post. I was fortunate enough to have had the last two full weeks off of work and well, I've just been relishing every moment Matty and I've had together! As was obvious when I picked him up today from school and Mrs Webb was quick to tell me how Matty was rather clingy today. Oops.

Matty's first Christmas was nothing short of a spectacle! The presents, my god, the presents! Santa was quite generous this year as was the rest of his family and friends. We have one very lucky boy on our hands and believe me, we know it. Mama O and Daddy O rolled into Atlanta in their over-packed sleigh on Christmas Eve and we had the most wonderful visit! Matty received an awesome all-terrain Radio Flyer wagon! He's ready to take to the wilderness in this thing! Santa brought him a great Fisher Price jungle activity center that is so entertaining, it simply never gets old! And well a huge assortment of toys and wonderful gifts he has enjoyed so much ever since! We've finally set up the sun room to be Matty's play area complete with foam mat and all his toys and DVDs. It's so fun, it's practically Pee Wee's Playhouse! (That just aged me didn't it?)

Fun Christmas pics!

The rest of our Christmas break was spent just hanging out together, some days we didn't even leave the house. It was heaven. It started with Mimi and Bop coming for the weekend and our Atlanta Family Christmas which was wonderful. Matty got to have a nice play date with his cousin Ansley. We definitely need to do that some more! We got to spend New Year's Even with our good friends at Adam and Layce's and had so much fun! The little ones weren't up to ring in the New Year (thank goodness!) But they enjoyed their time together nonetheless and the grown-ups did too.

Matty also turned 9 months old last week! He is pulling up to stand like it's nobody's business. He is extremely comfortable with that, and I fear that letting go is only a matter of time. He is eating more and more new foods. I made him a recipe from my new Baby Food Cookbook that I got from Patsy for Christmas. And well, how do I say this nicely, he threw up. Patsy, I'm sure it wasn't the book...it tasted good to me! Perhaps it's that Matty's been battling an ear infection again that frankly has Ben and I scratching our heads. He is on his 2nd antibiotic this month and still is very symptomatic. I am running the risk of getting his file flagged under "crazy mother" but with another fever again today, I think another call is in order. Seriously, shouldn't we have some fever-free weeks?

The break was simply a joy. With the exception of a loss in my circle of friends that I wouldn't feel right not mentioning. Julie Hix, who some of you may have heard me refer to as "Fluffy", lost her tedious and courageous five-year battle with Ovarian cancer on December 28, two days shy of her 42nd birthday. She was truly a one-in-a-million person, a joy, a bright spot in all of our lives. Hilarious, generous, optimistic, accepting, and genuine; she will be missed by the many, many, many lives she touched. I was just lucky to be one.