Another Christmas come and gone

So Christmas 2006 is over. Stella's first Christmas was a resounding success, in fact perhaps too much of a success. We're going to Ikea Sunday to get bins to store all her old loot and new loot. We had a great time with everyone we got to see. Stella is so special she got 3 Christmases: one with her Aunt Caroline, her boyfriend Daniel, her Aunt Christine and her Uncle Brian, one at home with Daddy and Mommy, and one with her MeMe, Pappy and Uncle Keith. Wow, that's some serious Christmas overload! But she handled it in style.

I got some great stuff this year too. Actually, that's an understatement! Tim got me the most beautiful ring as an "upgrade" for my original engagement ring, which I haven't been able to wear since I took it off exactly a year ago because I was afraid it would get stuck. I'd been reading horror stories of pregnant ladies who had to go to the ER to get their rings cut off. My Christmas ring is just amazing, I love it! Tim did a great job! (okay, we went shopping together) I also got a new digital camera from my parents, and it totally rocks! It's a Canon PowerShot A630, 8 Megapixels, and it has manual controls, which I have not learned to use yet. So if you've noticed an increase in the quality of my pictures, it's the new camera that's responsible. It's got a kids and pets setting that takes kick ass pictures of both Stella and Lucy (I haven't tried it on the other furry kids yet). AND you can focus what you're looking at, then just wait for the photo you want to present itself, and snap almost instantly. I cannot believe how good pictures are when you can take them exactly when you want them, rather than having to wait for my slow camera to decide to snap a shot. The only downside to the PowerShot is that it's much larger than regular digital cameras, but that's so that it takes better pictures AND can fit Canon's lenses. Plus it has a really cool swivel LCD, so you can take pictures of yourself (handy for when Stella and I are playing photoshoot at home).

I was also happy because everyone seemed to really enjoy what I got them. I got my Dad some new varieties of beer for him to try, based on the recommendations of Bill, beer expert extraordinare, and my Dad really liked them. I got my mother some jewelry that my friend Nicole had made, and she really loved them too, especially the necklace that I was kind of on the fence about whether she would like it or not. I was very pleased.

So onto 2007, I guess. We'll be going to Bill the Beer Man's New Year's Eve party because my Mother is coming to watch Stella. This is the first time we haven't hosted New Year's since we got married (7 in a row) , so that's going to be kind of weird. But I'm proud to pass the torch to Bill!