The Zany Zukowski Weblog

We bought a Wii this year, and I have to admit it’s a ton of fun. This was Michael’s idea, and Stephen’s at a good age to play, but as the pictures tell, the Wii is for everyone even big 6 ft 2 inch kids!

 ”The most vivid memories of Christmases past are usually not of gifts given or received, but of the spirit of love, the special warmth of Christmas worship, the cherished little habits of home.” Lois Rand

How true this quote is! At least once a year Mike and I play ‘what did I get you for christmas last year?’ and we usually can’t remember exactly what we got each other, but we remember it was a great holiday. Still each year we find ‘the perfect gift’ for each other. This year we bought a new refrigerator and dishwasher, as they were both sorely needed. Given that we have young kids, we also bought a few token gifts to open on Christmas morning. Come June, we probably won’t remember that either. We had a great Christams, and as always enriched by our kids and family. 

We follow Mike’s family traditions for Christmas in a lot of ways and as he so eleoquently put it, I can drive up north to see my parents and he can’t, all he has are the traditions passed on to him from his parents. We open one gift on Christmas eve, an ornament, that someday will decorate our grown boys  own christmas trees. My parents, Mimi and Pa, came over for a simple dinner, and family time together. We tracked Santa’s progress on NORAD, Stephen was so happy to go to bed on Christmas eve, knowing he would awake to more gifts under the tree! We don’t have a fire place or chiminey, so we have a magic key that we put out for Santa each year, this allows him to enter the house easily. 

I take pictures but of course it’s nothing like being there, to see the pictures. Stephen got just what he wanted, a spiderman robe and slippers. Several days later he’s still wearing the slippers each morning. Michael took the boys down early to go through their stockings, and I slept a little longer to make up for Teddy’s play time from 2am to 4am. Of course on such a big day Teddy and I would have a busy not sleepy night. I was tired all day, but caught back up quickly.

After some doughnuts and early naps on Christmas morning, we headed to Mimi and Pa’s house for more Christmas fun! Aunt Mary and Uncle Ed were there, as were more presents from Mimi and Pa. Great food, a prime rib, and Dad made his mother’s special spice cake, which is delicious as always. The boys played and played, Freddy even took a second nap. Teddy was as sweet as could be and made the rounds. We had a wonderful day and will remember the spirit of love all year round! 

I know it’s a crazy time of year, and most would say not an ideal time to deliver a baby, but it works for us. We’re home, the house is decorated, the shopping done, and not much is on the agenda. We can and do lay around the house and consider it an accomplishment if the laundry gets put away. Teddy is on his own schedule, and thriving. He sleeps alot, even though the boys insist upon kissing and hugging him. It’s so exciting to see his features change daily, and no matter how many pictures I take, it doesn’t quite capture the sweetness of the moment. Babies are just special. Today Teddy’s eyes look blue/grey and Michael is hoping Teddy’s eyes take on his eye color. We’ve got one with gorgeous brown eyes like his Mama, one with beautiful blue like his Grandfathers, and one yet to be determined. 

Stephen and Freddy just love our new little bundle, although it is a little tough being cooped up inside with the cold Christmas-y weather outside. They do manage to entertain themselves by inventing games about eating cookies and running around the house. I haven’t quite figured out the point behind the game or if there is a goal other than running off extra energy. They are entertaining to watch, until of course someone gets hurt. 

Enjoy the pictures below they’ve been taken over the last couple of days!

Well, Lynese here and I wanted to chime in and add to the good news Michael so elequently wrote about earlier. Theodore Audric is here! Yeah! He arrived in record time at 38 weeks gestation, which is full term, but earlier than our first two boys. Stephen and Freddy were both overdue. Everything worked out perfectly, and we couldn’t have planned it any better. First Theodore, was born on his great grandmother’s birthday! The boys both awoke early on Theodore’s birthday, which is great because if they got up at their normal time, Michael would have delivered. I was able to organize my helpers (read Mimi and Pa) before anyone got to work and had to return home, and was able to contact the parents of the kiddos I take care before their work day started as well. He managed to be born on the coldest day of the year, possible the century! So staying cozied up in bed all day was a great way to spend the day! 

What Michael didn’t elaborate on is how great he has been in taking care of us! He picked up the slack around the house, so I could rest with my feet up. He took over and watched all the kids, ours and the day care kids. This was so I could follow doctor’s orders, and submit to lots of monitoring due to low amniotic fluid. On the morning of Theodore’s birth, he thought of everything, he warmed the van, and I have never been more grateful on the coldest day of the year. He got the two big boys rounded up into the van, along with all the essentials, boys clothes, toys, puzzels, my bag, the camera, and ipod for labor and delivery. (Turns out we didn’t need much in the way of music for labor since we only had about an hour in the room before Theodore made his appearance) He had coats and hats at the ready and remained calm the entire time. He has run around and gotten us our essentials, like newborn diapers, creams, lotions, gripe water, and so much more. He is a rock star too! During labor and delivery, he was my cheerleader, and communicated with me silently reminding me to stay relaxed and let my body do it’s work. He held my hand and listened to me moan and groan through labor. In short he’s awesome. It’s not easy to watch a loved one in pain, or struggle through even the normal processes in life, and he jumped into help where ever he could. He too deserves praise for a job well done. He is now exhausted and taking well deserved cat naps on the couch. We’ll keep you posted on our latest bundle of joy, we’re over the moon about him!

We are celebrating the season with lots of activities, besides the commercialism of buy gifts. We went on Saturday evening to the Wildlife Experience. They have a wonderful outdoor light display, christmas movies, kids crafts, and of course Santa. Aunt Mary and Uncle Ed invited us to go. We were fortunate to go on a relatively warm evening. I did not understand that the light display and Santa were located outdoors, and all the boys and I brought were light jackets. It wasn’t crowded so we were able to move  along at our own quick pace. The boys loved the lights dancing to the music, but they don’t stop to gawk at anything for very long. We weaved our way through the lit up wonderland and into the museum for some fun crafts. The planners had some great ideas for the kids except Freddy has his own ideas. They had a letter writing station set up so the kids could write to Santa, knowing some kids don’t yet write,  or even draw much they had stamps for decorating the letters. Clearly if you are 3 years old, these things must be experienced, so when decorating the letters FReddy tried out the stamps on himself, and they work! He still has about 2 polar bears on his tummy, despite the showers. The snowflakes stamped on his hands have washed off though. Stephen grinned from ear to ear through out the experience. They also had reindeer on display, although they looked to be resting up for the big night. 

Now Stephen is 5 and outgoing, so he was all ready to ask Santa for gifts for Christmas, but up until now Freddy has been very shy. On this night Freddy found his voice and actually talked to Santa. To some extent there is some commercialism, but when you look at the pictures, you’ll see Freddy giving Santa some pictures he drew for Santa, this was Stephen’s idea and Freddy too drew pictures for Santa. Santa to his credit didn’t promise any gifts, but instead told the boys to pick up their toys, get along with each other, and tell their families they loved them. I was impressed. The boys were listening because when we got home and were getting ready for bed, Stephen told Freddy that they needed to pick up because Santa told them to. It was sweet really! The best part of the evening was spending it with family. The boys loved spending time with Aunt Mary and Uncle Ed. 

We also attended an advent concert by my Dad’s choir. It was a great evening, and the adult choir was interspursed with the children’s choir. Stephen saw the kids and thought he could just go up and join them. I had to explain that he hadn’t practiced with them so he had to sit and listen. Stephen spent part of his time on Mimi’s lap. Given it was a good hour and 20 minutes long, the boys behaved very well, and loved seeing their Pa, sing and play his guitar. 

No new baby yet, these things take time. I usually go over my due date, but we’ll see. I feel pretty good and baby looks good. I have lots of random contractions, but nothing organized or regular, so for now we’re still waiting. (And still being monitored a lot, but such is life)