Sunday, December 24, 2006

The Princess Sleeps...sometimes

Since Morgan was born, my dad has taken to calling her the Princess. Well, she certainly is living up to that these days. Little Miss refuses to sleep unless she is rocked, bounced or otherwise cuddled. Sometimes she refuses to sleep unless she is in my arms or in my bed next to me. Me only...not daddy or anyone else. And if she is in the bed with me, she has to be touching me somehow. At the moment she is laying here next to me on the bed (we got a new laptop from Joel's dad) sound asleep right up against my leg. I know, I know, someday I will miss my little girl all snuggled up close to me, snoring her little baby snores, her fingers twitching...but right now, oh man, I could use a good night's sleep. I have been sick for what feels like weeks now. Colds, conjunctivitis (yuck!) and now a strange itchy rash-type thing on my fingers. I'm sure all these maladies would be cured with a few nights of uninterrupted sleep. I know what you are thinking, "Just get Joel to take over for a few nights." Ah, if only it was that easy. One - Morgan cries even harder if the person picking her up from her crib is not Mama, and escalates until Mama is fetched and she is placed in her arms, at which point she stops crying immediately and snuggles in and falls asleep. And B- Joel is pretty much comatose at night and doesn't really function well if he is awakened . Sometimes I fear for the children's safety when Joel is tending to them in his mid-night state. Most of the time he has no recollection of what happens, too. So, I am awake the whole time anyway making sure he doesn't put the baby in fridge and tuck the milk into bed or something strange like that. Anyway, any advice would be lovely for getting the princess to sleep all by herself.
Merry Christmas everyone!

Monday, December 18, 2006

Third Time's the Charm

So, after three applications and three interviews, I finally got a job! Hooray!! I'll be working for an after school program in the town I grew up in. The hours are great (2-6 most days) and the pay is good, too. I am so looking forward to being able to pay all of our bills with no problem. I just wish I had some of that money now so that we could pay our rent this month...
In other news, I am ready for Christmas. All my shopping is done except for my gift for my parents which is turning into quite a project. I am trying to make an appointment to get a professional picture taken of all of their grandchildren. Hard to coordinate with 4 families and find an open appointment. It is looking like Saturday is going to be our best bet. Cutting it a little close if you ask me. Oliver and Morgan opened their first stocking gifts today. We are carrying on a tradition from Joel's family of opening one stocking gift a day for the week leading up to Christmas. Fun for the kids and good for me because I cannot wait for Christmas morning. I might be tempted to let them open all their gifts early otherwise. I think I enjoy the anticipation of seeing someone open the gift I got them more than opening my own gifts. Especially my kids. I just can't wait to see Oliver's face when he opens his giant set of play food or his stuffed Elmo that Grammie got him. Ugh - can't I just give it to him now?!
This Christmas season has been great with Oliver being a little older now. He can really understand and participate. And with Morgan here now, I just feel like our little family is complete. While we were decorating our tree, I almost cried with joy because of my sweet little family. We had Christmas music playing, Joel was stringing the lights, Oliver was placing ornaments in the tree, Morgan was playing contentedly in her Exersaucer. It was so Norman Rockwell.
Best Christmas season moment thus far: Oliver kissing the Christmas tree goodbye when he was going out with my sister for a while. He's too much!

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Chicago Recap

We had a good time in Chicago. 2 weeks was definitely too long, though. On one hand , it was good that the kids were able to settle into a routine and get to know their aunt, uncle and cousins very well, but it was a LONG time to be away from home. The kids did so well on the plane that I am actually looking forward to flying again with them. ( February to Florida. Merry Christmas to us!!) We had a nice mix of down time and busy time while we were there. Our hosts worked alot, so we had that time to chill at their house, also known as Junk Food Central, and play video games while the kids were sleeping. We went to the aquarium and the zoo (twice) and that was so fun, especially since Oliver is old enough to enjoy it now.
I will say, though, that it is so hard being a guest at someone's house, especially when it is your in-laws and there is that weird in-law dynamic. My MIL and two SILs talked (read:guilted) me into going shopping with them at 4am on Black friday. There 's a reason it's called Black Friday. I think the closest thing to Hell that I have experienced is standing in line at the world's smallest K.B. Toys with about a million people around me at 7am. Not worth the buy2 get 1 free Fisher Price toys if you ask me. I will NEVER do that again. I think I would rather spend the full price on something than get up that early and fight the crowds. Ugh - I am not a shopper anyway. I have to really be in the mood and that is rare. When I do my Christmas shopping, I have to know exactly what I am getting and where I am getting it. Then I get in and get out. My family this year has decided to do some homemade gifts. I do believe that I have come up with the best homemade gift idea. I have made fabric covered bulletin boards, criss-crossed with ribbon. They are so cute, so easy and so cheap (shhh..don't tell) . 5 gifts crossed off with these beauties! Woo Hoo! My biggest dilemma is what to get for my hubby. He has mentioned a bunch of things, but I like to come up with something really thoughtful. So far, I haven't thought of anything fun - just boring things. I did have a great idea, but then I realized it was what I wanted, not him.

Anyway, I will try to be a better Blogger now that we are home and settled in. I promise!