Christmas was enjoyable for us this year. Robert?s step-mother arrived last Tuesday and has been spending her days with Sammy. She also proved to be a god-send on Christmas eve by preparing the meal for us. I had the menu planned out, but between sleeping only three hours the previous night and having to work that day, I wasn?t fit for preparing the feast. We enjoyed a spiral cut ham, green beans, and a scalloped potato casserole with dried tomato pesto. (It?s funny how all my grand plans for the holiday ended up petering into very modest things. Pregnancy is taking its toll on me. :slug: )

Anyway, Robert?s brother and sister joined us for dinner and Sam kept us all entertained with his antics. Afterwards, they all surprised me by settling down to unwrap presents. I guess it?s always been the tradition in their family to unwrap them on Christmas Eve. My family always waited to the following morning before tearing into the glittering pile of goodies. I hadn?t even finished wrapping everything, lol! It turned out well, however, since we were able to enjoy two gift exchange sessions.

Sam received many wonderful gifts. :present: Diane, Robert?s step-mother, gave him a t-shirt from her trip to Mexico, Bob the Builder training underpants, and a karaoke machine! Rich, his uncle, surprised him with a box full of balloons and plastic frogs. As simple as it may sound, it was a big hit. Robert and Rich kept sticking the balloons all over Sam after working up a lot of static electricity on them, which Sam thought was hilarious. He also liked the frogs so much that he held onto them when he finally fell asleep for the night. My parents sent him a huge wooden easel with a chalkboard on one side and a dry erase board on the other. He?s had a lot of fun drawing on that and loves it when I draw pictures of cats and other mischievous animals for him. Robert and I gave him a couple of things as well. He didn?t seem too impressed with the books on becoming a bigger brother. The comments on Amazon mislead me into thinking they would be appropriate for someone his age, but they seem too complicated to hold Sam?s attention for long. Does he really need to know about zygotes, for heaven?s sake? :boggled: By far, his favorite gift was his Thomas the Tank Engine figure eight track and the engines we bought to accompany it. Except for the time he spent napping, he played with that all day long. I haven never seen anything keep his attention for so long. He even sleeps with the trains.

I made a martyr out of myself and gave Robert a video game called Warcraft III. If it?s anything like Diablo, I won?t see him again for months at a time. I also gave him several political books he had on his wishlist. He seemed very happy with his gifts.

I told Robert to not bother getting me anything this year, but he did give me a subscription to Interweave Knits, which was really nice. I bought several books for myself, including Socks, Socks, Socks by Knitter?s Magazine; Cool Socks & Warm Feet by Lucy Neatby; the Knitter?s Handy Book of Patterns by Ann Budd; Debbi Bliss? Family Knits; and The Art of Fair Isle Knitting by Ann Feitelson. Now I have a nice little knitting library!

Robert?s Health Report: Robert?s doctors gave him thorough check-ups and both agreed that all he?ll need to do is take an aspirin a day. He?s also decided to cut caffeine from his diet, which they thought wasn?t a bad idea. He hasn?t had any episodes since then, which is good. I?m so grateful that the big scare we had last week turned out to be something easily manageable and not cause for ongoing alarm.

Knitting News: I started and am almost finished with a pink mohair sweater for baby Claire using some yarn from my stash.. I followed a pattern from Minnow Knits, but despite my care in swatching beforehand, my gauge somehow got off and the sweater is turning out larger than it should have. Luckily, I can just wait for her to grow into it It also may turn out to be a bit scratchy/ticklish for her, but if so, we can always put it on a teddy bear, so all?s not lost!

Entertainment News: Robert and I took advantage of Diane’s willingness to watch after Sam to go to a movie theatre and watch the Return of the King. It was as wonderful as the first two LOTR movies. In fact, I was so determined to watch every minute of it, I didn’t even run out to the restroom–which is really amazing, considering that Claire seems to be perched on top of my bladder right now! It was a real treat being able to go out on a “date” with Robert :lovestruck: