Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Friday, December 18, 2009

Now I lay me down to sleep...

At bedtime..."Thank you Jesus for mommy, and daddy, and Paul. Thank you Jesus for Nonna and Grandpa, for Mimi and Poppy, for Uncle Sean, and my kitty...and my cousins...and my toys...and for my Thomas Engine, and for my dinosaur blanket, and for my Lightening McQueen car..."

Mom yawns, "Okay, Luke, it's time for bed."

"No, no I'm not done. Thank you Jesus for my....for my....for my...door. Thank you Jesus for my...for my...for my...curtains."

"Um, yeah. Goodnight, Luke!"

*I LOVE LAMP*

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Magnificat anima mea Dominum

Adornments


Something, or rather Someone, is (appropriately) missing from our Nativity. In the meantime, Come Let Us Adore....coasters?

Monday, December 14, 2009

Admission.

I haven't even started Christmas shopping. I can't cross a single person, including my own children, off of my Christmas shopping list.

You might be thinking, "Oh, Hesitant Homemaker, surely since you only work outside the home maybe 16 hours a month you must have all the time in the world to shop!"

Not so fast!

I suppose that I could go shopping in the middle of the week, kids in tow, when the stores aren't nearly as busy as the weekends, I just have no desire to. It's not that I think I can't or that the kids are too crazy or that I'm a procrastinator. None of those things.

There's just something about the fun of shopping that has fizzled out over the years. Could it be that I don't like to shop? That seems almost wrong to even write about! I like clothes, and I used to like to shop for clothes, but as time goes by I've come to buy my clothes exclusively online. Last Christmas we bought every last gift online--with free shipping.

This year we redeemed some of our credit card points for specialty gift cards. Being that we live in the middle of nowhere, we'll have to take a day to travel to make sure the boys are covered for Christmas. We'll be cutting it a little close and are hoping that Toys-R-Us stocks Gordon the Useful Engine and a Parasoralophus, but I'm trying not to stress about it.

What a funny concept that as children we counted down the days until Christmas! We were just joking yesterday how we wished Advent were six weeks long!

***UPDATE*** I am thankful for Nanny, who loves to shop, and on the day I loathe about having to shop, I get a get a package full of beautiful Christmas clothes for my boys. They'll be well-dressed on Christmas :)

Are you ready for Christmas?

Friday, December 11, 2009

There's somethig about him...

I know, I know, you could eat him right up.

House Art

My Christmas Mantle. (Just because Kendall was so gosh-darn impressed)

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Signs of the Season

I had a treat waiting for Luke after he made tracks with his boots outside in the snow.

A "good mommy" moment :)

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Positive Progress

Way back in the day I used to write a Wednesday post-baby update. In late August when I had a medical scare I really got off track and stopped worrying about little things like baby weight. I stopped blogging for a time and just focused on the kids and our home life.

Since we've had a tough week and my posts have a negative vibe, I'll spruce things up a bit by saying that, after 8 months, I'm happy to report that I'm 45 pounds lighter than I was nine months ago!!!!

I'm done!!!

The funny thing is that even though I was running like crazy and watching what I was eating, I've realized that it was really more an issue of time as opposed to anything that I was going. I dropped a lot right away, held on to some for almost six months, and then dropped a lot again. I don't understand it, but I'm just glad that I was patient instead of racing to lose every pound as fast as I could.

Didn't I say something about "nine months on, nine months off?"

:)

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

All The Live Long Day!

It certainly feels like I'm running a train station!

This weekend we chopped down a Christmas tree that would make Clark Griswold proud. And, while I wish I could say I was filled with Christmas cheer, the fun of decorating our tree and making our house bright and merry has totally overwhelmed me this year.

Sometimes your plate just gets too full!

Trying to get to the bottom of his digestive issues, PJ had to be brought in twice for blood work over the weekend. Today I had to take him in for a barium enema. There's nothing like two nurses holding down your screaming eight month old to rack your nerves. To top it off, PJ has a nasty chest cold, which has congested him so badly that he can't sleep in his crib. For the last two days (and nights) he's been upright in our arms, miserable from all his boogers.

When it rains, it pours, and our perfect darling, Luke, has been a three year old terror to boot! The wrath of three comes in waves, I think, and just when I think I have the most mild-mannered, loving and well-disciplined boy in the land, I have a day that proves quite to the contrary. At least the cat still has his tail...

I'm tired and cranky and can't seem to get it together this week long enough to make a decent dinner for my family or run a load of laundry so we can wear socks with our winter boots.

Have I mentioned that I feel the beginnings of mastitis coming on?

Oh boy.

I'm going to take a deep breath, make some hot tea, put on the Vienna Boys Choir and then, realistically, try to get some stuff done...all with baby in tow and the three year old begging for another candy cane off of the tree.

I know I have some chocolate around here somewhere...

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Prehysteria

Hoe is the resident scape-goat in our family. A mouth-retracting T-Rex affectionately named "Hoe" by Luke, Hoe has been a bad influencer from the start. After a naughty word, we'll ask Luke were he heard such a word, "Hoe said it," he'll answer. When asking why Luke pushed his baby brother, he'll reply, "Hoe did it."

Hoe's one terrible T-Rex.

Last night Mark wasn't home for dinner, which means Luke gets to decide what we'll eat. His choice, Velveeta Shells and Cheese. Kinda gross, but one of his favorites, and I'm willing to give consolations when he doesn't get to see daddy at dinner.

"Mom," Luke asked, "Can Hoe eat your Shells and Cheese?"

"No, Luke, he may not," I answered.

"Well, Hoe is NOT a carnivore," Luke replied.

"Yes, he is, Luke. He's a T-Rex and he eats meat."

"He IS a T-Rex, but he's not a carnivore, he's a Velveeta Shells and Cheesiore."

How can I compete with this?

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Close-Up

My sweet Paul

Resignation

My house will never be clean, and if I clean it, the evidence will be gone in the morning.

A nice dinner will always be interrupted by a boy who insists he doesn't like applesauce, or a baby who can't sit another minute in the constrictive highchair.

Getting out of the house will never be easy, my hair will always be pulled back, and once we're in the car I most definitely will have broken a sweat.

The laundry will never be done, someone will wet the bed the day I change the sheets, and a perfect planned phone call during naptime will be the one day that the kids revolt their rest.

There will never be enough time to do anything.

However, while it's never easy and there's never enough, I think I get the good end of the deal.

:)
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