Merry Christmas...

Sorry it took me a while to follow up on my last post. We've been very busy, if you can only imagine, and blog posting is definitely on the back burner. In addition to our Christmas celebrations, we've been battling a little 20-month old who has decided she doesn't like to sleep anymore. She cries when she goes to bed, she cries...er...screams...in the middle of the night, and fights her nap-time too. It's now become a norm and we're trying to figure out what's wrong; we don't know if she's scared or just wants attention or what. So, experienced moms out there, any suggestions???

But, we had a great Christmas with both Patrick's folks and my folks. We ate well, too (prime rib, potatoes, pineapple-cherry upside down cake, homemade yeast rolls, spiced wine, etc, etc) and I absolutely loved being in my kitchen.

We head out today to celebrate Christmas in Elberton with my sister, bro-in-law and parents. We're looking forward to some relaxing and hopefully some much-needed rest! I'll have to post some more pictures soon...

Christmas is right around the corner!

I'm getting excited about our Christmas celebrations...starting tomorrow (hopefully). Why I say hopefully is because Patrick is supposed to be off tomorrow though he may have to see a patient. If he's off, I think he'll take Mallory to the gym, which she (and he) both love to do! I have to do my Christmas grocery shopping tomorrow because there is no way I'm going out into the stores on Saturday unless it's an emergency!

So, I've been looking through recipe books, trying to decide what to make for our meals around Christmas. Which, I guess, leads me to outline our plans for the coming week. Patrick is supposed to be off from Friday through Tuesday. His folks are planning to come into town on Sunday sometime, though I'm not sure when they'll leave. So, we'll have probably have our family Christmas on Saturday morning and then Christmas with my in-laws on Christmas Eve morning. My parents are coming in town either Christmas Eve night or Christmas morning and will stay through Wednesday sometime. It will be fun to have both grandparents here on Christmas Day. I'm looking forward to baking, roasting, mashing and sauteeing holiday treats and meals to fill our bellies, which help from Gram and Grandma though I'm hoping to have a lot of stuff done in advance so we can enjoy each other while they're here. BUT, for those of you, like me, who love to be in the kitchen, I want to spend some time there over the holidays.

Once I figure out what we'll be having, I'll share. In the meantime, I'll be doing an inventory of my cupboards, sifting through recipes, and making grocery lists. Fun, fun!

Helping Mommy in the Kitchen

I made Ginger Snaps the other day and Mallory "helped". She's getting to be such a big girl.

Recent pictures of Ethan

Ethan is becoming a chub. He's eating really well and is getting the hang of evening sleep, though there are still a few nights during the week where he fusses a lot. But, he's getting better. He's a cutie and I'm enjoying being a mommy to a boy (though changing his diaper is another story!!!)

Long time, no blog

Finding time to blog is hard for me. But, I enjoy keeping my blog updated with pictures so my out-of-town fam and friends can see my beautiful kids. We're all doing well and are looking forward to the holidays!

Oh, and we have been doing our Advent traditions I outlined in my December blogs from last year, I just haven't had a chance to post about it. I'll have to do a mass post of all of our sessions after Christmas sometime. I love the Advent season!

...to Grandmother's House she goes!

I called my mom on Saturday and asked her what she thought of keeping Mallory for a few days for me while I caught up on some much-needed rest. My mom and dad said that their schedule at the restaurant was pretty flexible this week, so it worked out well. I know I'm going to miss her, but I'm so tired and my naps are catch and go with Mallory and Ethan's schedule. I've missed several days of naps and with only averaging 5 hours of sleep and STILL trying to recover from Ethan's delivery, it's been physically exhausting for me.

My main goal while Mallory is at her grandparents is to rest. But, I'd also like to clean bathrooms, vacuum and mop, finish my shopping, start wrapping presents, order new checks at the bank, organize the huge pile of papers on my kitchen counter, and, and and...we'll see how much I get done.

For now, though, Patrick and I are going out to dinner tonight with our little E. Though Ethan has his moments when he's inconsolable, he's very good for the most part and will sleep through just about anything, well, except for the dog parking half way through OUR nap today and Ethan waking up from the dog barking with a poopy diaper (hence no nap today!). I'm looking forward to being with my boys tonight.

Anyway, we'll see Mallory again on Thursday. And in between now and then, I KNOW she'll have a great time with her grandparents. I'm sure she'll love all the attention that I haven't been able to give her as of late. I'll miss my girl. Tons.

A new diet

Well, after a few days of having a fussy son (and I mean FUSSY...almost every waking moment!), I think I have determined that he has trouble with my intake of dairy. I have been cutting back for the past week and just recently cut it out completely and I have already seen a marked difference in his behavior. Also, the ecsema that had broken out pretty majorly on his face is also going away. Hm. It amazes me how truely interconnected we are while I'm breastfeeding. It's a wonderful bond I have with him! But, it has been a challenge for me to cut out cream from my coffee, milk for my cereal, chocolate, cheese, sour cream...anything with dairy. It's going to be a challenge for the next several months. I did buy some soy milk yesterday and it's not bad in cereal, though I don't see myself chugging down a glass for fun. It will do, though it doesn't replace the taste of half in half in my coffee!!!

Ethan is doing very well now that I'm monitoring my diet more closely!!! He's got is afternoon routine down pat; he has his feeding, is awake for about another 45 minutes and then is out for a good 1.5 hour nap. At night, it's a different story! He wakes every 2.5-3 hours to eat and is fussy from about 5-6:15 am. Needless to say, I'm lacking in sleep! Anyway, I'm hoping we'll get on a good nighttime routine soon!!!

So, goodbye ice cream, pizza, and cheese on my sandwiches. I'll see you in a few months.

Christmas Pic with Gram and Pops

While my in-laws were here, we attempted to make a Christmas picture. But, with hungry kids and an ansy father-in-law, we only had 3 pics and this was the best one. :-)

Picking out the Christmas Tree

We went out as a family last Thursday and picked out our Christmas tree. It's always fun with kids!!! Patrick and I really enjoy hunting for the perfect tree. I think we found it!

Mallory's new outfit

Thanks, Gram!

Reasons why I haven't been posting lately...

1. I have 2 kids (OK, you moms with 2+ who blog more faithfully...I'm getting used to this!)

2. We've been decorating for Christmas
3. We've had company for the past 6 days (Mosses on Fri - Sun, my mom from Mon - today)
4. With only approx. 15 minutes on the Internet a day, and having LOTS of Christmas shopping to do, blogging was put on hold
5. Sleep is more important that blogging. Really.
...

There are more, but I'm currently eating dinner while blogging and I don't want it to get too cold, which I guess means eating and blogging are equal?

Here's a picture taken tonight. Here are my kids watching Baby Einstein in their PJs. Melts my heart!