Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We have been having so much fun here at the Graham household. The babies are almost 11 months old now, and they are almost toddlers! Zoe is always pulling herself up to stand up. She can kind of take steps along the playpen while holding to the fence. Valentina is not far behind! Both are crawlers! We have only done very limited baby proofing so far. Mainly we just keep an eye on them and re-direct when they are approaching trouble.

We had a very lovely Christmas. This year I had the pleasure of hosting the big family Christmas at out house, which I have been wanting to do for years but have never been able to do because I did not have a large enough house/dining table. It was so fun staying at home and not running to multiple Christmases at various family member houses, especially with the babies it was nice to just stay home.

There are a few Christmas traditions I have decided to instill, including home made cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning and new pajamas for the kids on Christmas eve. I have not decided what to do about Santa Clause, I mean, whether to tell the kids they get presetns from Santa or not. On one hand, it feels werid and kinda wrong to tell the kids a big fairy tale like it's the truth. I don't like the idea of lying to my kids. But on the other hand...it would really suck being the only house that Santa never comes to when they are old enough to discuss with their friends...so I don't know. Good thing I don't really have to decide for a couple of years!

As we're approaching the kid's first birthday, I'm thinking more about what to do about weaning. I'm really excited to stop pumping. I'm down to just 4 pumping sessions a day now. There's a chance I'll have to go on a businesses trip before they turn one, and if I do I'll just wean before I leave. There's no way I'm packing around a pump while on a business trip. Otherwise I guess I'll just gradually lesson the amount I pump everyday until they are completely weaned, starting after their birthday. I've been toying with the idea of keeping one pumping session for an extended period, and perhaps creating a bit of a freezer supply. I've read that some moms find that a freezer stash comes in handy when their toddlers fall ill, they believe their mother's milk helps their children recover faster.

This has been one hell of a year. In 2014 I gave birth to two babies, switched jobs and then switched back, and bought a new house. So many life changes within such a short period! I don't have many goals planned out for 2015. I thought it would be great to invest in another rental property but I highly doubt I'll be in a position to do so this next year. Maybe I'll just focus on being a great mother to my children, wife to my husband, decent software engineer, and maybe, just maybe, I can get into some kind of yoga practice again. I really miss it and I'll need some way to burn calories as I stop lactating, haha!

Happy New Year, everyone!

And now for a few photos...