Today I realized was the first day Mackenna and I had been by ourselves since December 21st when John worked one of his last 24 hour shifts at Marion County Ambulance District. The last few weeks have been full of fun times, family, and many miles logged in the van. The last couple weeks have made me appreciate my parents more for many different reasons and love the fact that I have two brothers, 3 sisters-in-law, and 2 brothers-in-law.
Our Christmas Eve was spent with my family, and as usual Grandma and Grandpa Hendren spoiled their grandkids. Mackenna loves being the center of attention at family gatherings, and Christmas Eve was no different. Whether she was laughing at her cousins or sitting on Pa Pa Ron's lap, she was in her happy place. She was even well behaved at church, although sitting next to Uncle Andrew was a temptation. She did occassionally laugh at him or push herself backwards in the seat to play peek a boo with him. However, there was no yelling and no screaming and no burning the church down by grabbing Mommy's candle. I think we all let out a collective sigh of relief when the candles were blown out during the candlelight service.
John worked his last 24 shift at Marion County Ambulance District on Christmas Day. His first 8 to 4 day is tomorrow. We will see how much adjustment this takes in the following weeks. It will be great for him to be at home every night; however, I've gotten used to his 24 hours away from home and the 3 days in between to play. We will actually have a "normal" schedule like other families. It will take some getting used to.
Since John had to be at work at 6am on Christmas Day, we got Mackenna up at 5am. We sat her in front of the tree and waited for the magic that is Christmas morning. Instead, we got a very tired toddler who opened up one book, noticed a toy made noise, and pretty much fell to the floor in exhaustion. It was back to bed for her, and Daddy left for work. Fortunately John did get to come out to my parents' house later that day for a couple hours during lunch and the opening of gifts. My family did something a bit different this year: the adults each brought a gift and we drew numbers to see the order of who would get to open, as well as steal, from others. I think we each had a lot of fun. I ended up with a very nice vaccuum, and John got a very nice set of screwdrivers and other tools.
One of my favorite parts of Christmas Day is just sitting around visiting with my brothers, sister-in-law, niece and nephew, aunts and uncles, cousins, my parents, and my grandma. Another favorite for me is pulling leftovers out of the fridge about 7pm, and helping ourselves to turkey sandwiches and leftover mashed potatoes. I was just sorry that John did not get to join in on all the fun. This is one downside of being a public servant; my brother Derek only got to spend a couple hours at my mom and dad's as well. Their abscenses were definitely felt by the rest of us. Christmas Day also ended on a bad note for me. Unfortunately, this year John's mom overindulged herself in Christmas goodies, and she ended up getting sick at our house Christmas night. There were a few other things that occurred in the mayhem, but I will not go into all those details here.
On December 26th, John, Mackenna, and I started out on our annual trek to Texas. We stayed in Oklahoma City the night of the 26th after dealing with a crib fiasco at the hotel. I spent most of the morning sleeping in a very uncomfortable chair with my daughter. Finally at 5am, I was able to put her in a crib. On the 27th we arrived in San Angelo, Texas. It was great to be able to visit with Hillary, Robyn, Jim, Larry, and Colleen. Since they do not get to see Mackenna very often (Jim hadn't seen her in a year), it was a great time for her to reconnect with her aunts, uncle, and grandparents. She loves her Aunt Robyn and Aunt Hill, and we have a beautiful picture to hang on the wall in her room that will remind her of that fact.
For those who may not know, my uncle is an auctioneer. I am now an auction junkee. We decided this year that it would be fun to buy items for our family members from auctions. Some of the notable gifts we gave was a Roger Maris baseball card to Derek, a brass, antique fire extinguisher to Andrew, and for Hillary a Life Magazine from the week Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. As a speech teacher Hillary uses many of Dr. King's speeches. We've often said it is much better to give than to receive. The look on Hillary's face when she opened up her box and saw her magazine made the hustle and bustle of Christmas all worth it. She took a long moment to look at it and realize what she had in front of her. We were so happy to give her a gift that she will truly cherish!
While we were in Texas, we also got to meet the newest addition to the Clemens clan, our future sister-in-law, Karisa. As a surprise, Larry and Colleen flew Karisa in to San Angelo on the 29th of December. She and Jim are getting married February 28th, and we really had wanted to meet her before they were married. John and I were able to take Jim and Karisa out for lunch one of the days we were there. We got to hear about how they met, and saw firsthand how much they love each other. It made us reflect on our first meeting, our first year of marriage, and how exciting new love is. It is hard to believe our first date was over 12 years ago! It seems just like yesterday some times.
It continues to amaze us just how smart our child is. While we were in Texas, she started the action of pointing to items. For example, she was looking at a Winnie the Pooh book and when I asked her where Tigger was, she pointed to his picture on a page. She also played the piano with her pointed finger. My mother-in-law, Colleen, teaches piano. She told John she has not seen a child Mackenna's age play the piano with one finger. Most babies just bang on the keys (and yes Mackenna did that as well). Mac truly enjoyed her evening of playing piano on Aunt Robyn's lap, banging the keys and at other times daintily playing the keys with one finger.
Our trip was not masked in complete bliss though. I cleaned up puke and poop during our time in Texas and on the way home. All part of being a mom huh? In fact, one of these episodes lent itself to be a rather hilarious New Year's Eve. John's brother, Jim, is set to start college in Provo, Utah on January 5th. Jim, Karisa, Larry, and Colleen all left the morning of the 31st to take Jim and his belongings to Utah. Hillary, Robyn, John, Mackenna, and I spent New Year's Eve together by eating at a local Texas Roadhouse. The service had not been the greatest, with Hillary even getting us silverware because no wait staff had. At the end of the meal, Mackenna had one of the worst diaper episodes I have ever seen (too many refried beans from lunch). A mad dash to use paper napkins and wax paper from the bread baskets ensued. After some time in the bathroom and a new change of clothes, Mackenna was finally poop free. And a new tag line emerged....A $3 tip and poop on the table. I can not do the justice to the story that my sister-in-law Robyn told on her Blogger page so I will leave the story telling of this tale in her very capable hands. Let's just say that the four adults involved laughed more than we have laughed in a very long time!
The only thing missing this year in Texas was our brother-in-law, David. He is serving our country in Iraq. His abscence was definitely felt by all. We missed his laughter and his jokes, and we know his niece, as well as his canine niece and nephew, missed him too. He is just such a fun uncle that Mac definitely missed out. It will just make next year all the more special!
Another highlight of our week was getting to meet our friends, Steve and Mendy, in Abilene, TX for lunch. It has probably been 5 years since we had last seen them. They used to live in Payson, IL, and Steve was a professor at Hannibal LaGrange College. They have a six year old daughter, Emily, and a brand new son, James Alexander. Alex, as he will be called, is truly a most wonderful Christmas gift for Steve and Mendy. He was born on December 17th, and he got to come home on December 24th. They are adopting little Alex, and I don't think he could possibly have a better set of parents than Steve and Mendy.
After writing this novel, I will put my fingers to rest (one that is still numb from being shut in a garage door-another story that came from our time in Texas). We hope that each of you will have a wonderful 2009! We just feel so blessed to have our family and friends! Each of our family members is truly special and unique, and we've enjoyed the time we've spent with each one!
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