Holidays, Houses, Holy Cow!

So, yes, I am a slacker. It has been far too long since I have updated this blog and I guess it is a reflection on the sort of stand still that I feel like I have been stuck in over the last month or so.
Avery's new room is finished. It turned out great, as you will see. She loves it and that's all that matters. Of course when I started it we got a little thrown for a loop when the showings of our house picked up. In fact we were very close to an offer, unfortunately it didn't work out.
We have one month left of our house on the market. After that I am done. We'll just stay put awhile longer. I am totally ok with that. I am tired of the showings and worrying about keeping the house in showable condition with a preschooler. Not fun, and nearly impossible.
Thanksgiving
We had a really nice time with my family. Avery as usual was a whirling dervish and ran amuck with her cousins. I totally appreciated her long nap afterward.
Christmas
All I can say is FINALLY!!! Gifts have always been very foreign to Avery. She doesn't get very excited. Doesn't want to open them herself and dislikes the attention being focused on her. We have sort of spent the last couple Christmases coerceing her to open gifts, only to deal with fallout afterward, because she was overstimulated.
This year I made an effort to keep things simple. We only bought gifts that we knew she'd appreciate long term and stayed away from anything battery operated (except her new CD player and keyboard - what can I say the girl LOVES music).
Her first event was Christmas Eve at my mom's. The gifts were passed out and all the kids eagerly tore into them. Not Avery she sat quietly with the gift on her lap and waited for permission. Can I say I love that kid!
I told her to go ahead and she opened the first gift. Yes, by herself!!
On Christmas morning she saw her vanity and got so excited. She couldn't wait to go open presents. She opened them all wothout prompting and was just so excited over her new puzzles and board games.
More excitement followed at mt grandparents and she just had so much fun with her cousins and I had my favorite meal of the year, Christmas brunch.
No returns, no meltdowns, and a day with nothing but fun! Success, it took 3 years but we had success!
New Years - All I can say is my trooper made it through until 1 a.m. and was going strong! And she slept in, so it was a bonus for me! We spent New Year's day at a local indoor waterpark. She just had a blast and is quite the daredevil. She went on every slide that she was tall enough to try.
We are still plugging away at our paperwork and wont be done with that as soon as we hoped. Again, I have just been stalled on energy and drive this past month. LOts going on there, but I'll post more about that later.
So I guess that is all. Hope your 2008 is happy, healthy and filled with joy!