'Twas just days before Christmas

G said before we went to a Hanukkah party Friday :

“ I am excited to celebrate ‘harmonica’ with my friend Tal.”

A Christmas classic was born. The second of the week…

Tuesday evening, G stared as Chicken Cacciatore in the Christmas Pageant at school. It was a priceless performance complete with 2 -4 year olds picking their noses, crying and waving to their parents from the stage. Our little chicken (dressed in a mighty fine homemade costume) projected his two lines perfectly over all the noise. Ironically, the play was called Starry Night, Noisy Night.

Annual wrapping and wine drinking with gal pal Sarah was excellent. All wrapping is done... Just moved Halloween and Thanksgiving photos to computer to make room for the thousands that I am sure to take in the next few days. Bought a coffee cake at Costco and am calling brunch done. Need to make some jezebel and buy several blocks of cream cheese and boxes of wheat thins. Hostess gifts almost done… Things are shaping up. And there is a day or two to spare.

“Free and Easy down the road we go” into the Heart of Darkness… eh-hem, I mean, this joyous season.

No, really. I am looking forward to it… it’s always chaotic but in the best way possible. I know I would be miserable if it were any other way. Shrek the Halls (which we’ve watched 25 times so far) reminds me so…

Some of the fondest memories where once described as "incidents." Like the time mom went flying down the driveway and into the ditch on my new bike one beautiful Christmas day in Colorado. Or the time Laura nixed EVERY SINGLE gift that came out of the stocking Nennie thoughtfully put together for her. OR the time we stuffed like 17 people into our apartment for brunch... what were we thinking?

Yes, there was an “incident” (or two) last holiday where I totally flipped. Namely the "f’ing casserole"… Isn't at least one freak-out tradition?

How about an early New Year's resolution? When I start to lose perspective and worry about any of the things that can overwhelm a control freak just trying to make reality match the mental image of the perfect Christmas dancing around with the sugarplums in her head – I will embrace a three step method for dealing...

First, I will look to Deeda. My rock and smile store. I will perhaps roll my eyes or open them super wide. This unspoken "venting" may simply be required to ensure my head doesn't explode. He’ll smile and we’ll laugh but no one will know why… And I will remember why I love him and his total zest for the holidays so.


Second, I will look to my big little boy G. I will take in his enthusiasm and wonder… To see Christmas through the eyes of a four year old is such a treat!


And last but not least, I will look to baby B. Miracle. What a miracle! ‘Tis the reason for the season. In just nine weeks (time is flying by) he’s come so far. 13 lbs now. Smiling. And such a snuggle bear.

Happy Holidays! I will report from the flip slide on the success of the system. :)

what's the formula for success?

Friday

Quote of the day: “Jesus lives in the sky with God and Santa Claus.” We needed that giggle... it's been a long week.

Let’s hope this new formula brings some change about the casa. This is how it goes presently: B eats, spits up a bunch, hangs out briefly and then the gas starts. It comes over his face with the saddest most pitiful expression and then the crying. It’s horrible. Poor kid. Was seeming like he was crying a lot… wondering if it was just my perception or true, I started logging our days specifically...he officially cries if he’s awake. Long story short, today we made the formula switch.
Happy seven week birthday B! You’re growing waaaay too fast. You hold your head up like mad and you’re starting to share those smiles that take away all the frustration the crying creates.

G is on his best behavior these days. MOST excited ‘bout Santa’s pending visit. He keeps telling us he’s being a good boy… and he is all about the mams and sirs. It’s borderline kiss-ass… but I’ll take it. We should have been leveraging this all year long. At any rate, he’ll do just about anything we request right now. Let the dog in, go fetch a bib or burp cloth… Bedtime still leads to some stalling but the screaming fits we were encountering a couple months ago seem to be behind us (for now). I’ll say it again, that boy is soooo sweet.

Thanksgiving was excellent. Mellow for the most part and it was great of the fam to trek down to H-town this year… I learned some super trade secrets from Nennie (Master of the shrimp dip, cornbread dressing and sweet potatoes to mention a few of my favs). Deeda made the most excellent turkey in some new fangled ultraviolet cooker… We topped off our dinner with the Football game of the year and pie, followed by a New Moon movie brunch on Friday. A little dose of that Cullen vampire I adore… I think we should make it a holiday tradition forever more.

On Dasher and Dancer – Christmas is practically here. The tree is decorated. Tomorrow is tamale Saturday and my Amazon shopping cart is getting full. And as if that wasn’t enough, it snowed today in Houston. All day! Big flakes. Real snow, not freezing rain.

It was Halloween just a minute ago… time flies when you’re on maternity leave. Our days (and nights) are busy but not, if that makes sense. I mean, I am not napping or eating any bon bons… I also haven’t even managed to sign up for Netflix, much less watch all the movies and TV shows I had grand visions of catching up on… And I haven’t read any of the books I have on my list…or done anything with the thousands of corks I’ve been collected for some craft. I did take a day on Tuesday. I let the laundry go unfolded, skipped the shower, decided we’d eat pizza for dinner and put my crackberry away… I watched a whole movie (Marley and Me) with baby bear in my arms. It was perfect! Soaking up that baby smell.

Saturday

Uhm, this new formula stinks. No yummy baby smell. Smells like dog food. Literally. I gagged and nearly vomited when he spit that smell up on me overnight.

So we switched again. (shhhhh don't tell the doc) Now let’s hope this one works. Soy (play on word) far, soy good.