Sunday, December 18, 2011

'Tis The Season


Its Christmastime.  I have always enjoyed this time of year--its even more fun now that we have children.  We take them to look at Christmas lights, watch Christmas shows and movies with them, make Christmas cookies, make crafts, and the boys sing the carols they learn at school to us.  There is always something magical about Christmas.

This Christmas we have decided not to travel.  Yes, I heard all the gasping--just hear me out.  Traveling is hard enough with two kids.  You drive two hours in the cold and hope you don't have car issues or a flat along the way.  You spend night after night in a place that isn't your home--in a bed that isn't your bed. You spend day after day going from place to place for scheduled Christmas gatherings.  Its always great to see people and we always enjoy ourselves, but this year we are tired.  We are up with Kaitlyn 3 or 4 times a night and I can't imagine doing that in some place other than home. I remember when Logan was 8 months old and we traveled for Christmas--it was horrible.  He screamed the entire way because he hated being in his car seat--Kaitlyn is the same way. I can't imagine driving with a one month old screaming the entire way. I can't imagine getting up with her several times throughout the night and then getting ready for another Christmas gathering the next day after being up with her all night. Alex and Kaitlyn both have runny noses and are congested and I don't want to travel in the cold with two snotty children. Kaitlyn's pediatrician even encouraged us not to travel too far because we need to stay close to Childrens in case something happens--this statement has our attention now that Kaitlyn has a runny nose. She said that since Kaitlyn's immune system is still building, something as small as a runny nose can quickly turn into something more serious.  I am reminded of one Christmas that Logan (as a baby/toddler) got sick and we were far away from home, far away from his pediatrician, and we had to drive the 2 hours back home with a screaming child who didn't feel well.

We have offered to have people come here for Christmas which has led to people getting upset that we're not going to THEIR place, people telling us that it will be crowded (which is code for "you need a bigger place"--don't even get me started on that one), and people getting their feelings hurt.
We want to be with our families for Christmas--we do--We don't want to hurt anyone's feelings or make anyone upset or be difficult, but no one seems to take into consideration all it entails on our end just to get where we're going with everything we need, etc.  We have done it every year in an attempt to be with our families for Christmas.

So, this Christmas, we have decided not to travel.  We know people are disappointed, some are upset, but we hope everyone understands. We love our families and want to be with them on Christmas, but just for this year we are choosing not to travel.  We apologize and hope you understand!

And, as always, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas!! ;)

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

A 6-year-old's View of "The Grinch"



I had the chance to sit and watch How The Grinch Stole Christmas with my boys this evening.  We had a picnic dinner (now that they are well--thank God) and sat and watched the movie.  The boys laughed so hard.  Alex seemed to relate to the Grinch.  He said, "I know why he feels mad at those kids.  Those kids are mean to him.  Kids are mean when you're different."  He paused to watch more of the movie and after a while he said, "I know I'm different from other kids."  I said, "How are you different?"  He said, "I talk different and my arm is different and I can't do things everybody else can do."  The mother wheels in my brain started turning and I opened my mouth to tell him just how perfect he is but before I could say anything he said, "The Grinch wouldn't have been so mean if he had a good mommy and daddy."  We watched a few more minutes of the movie--Alex laughed with Logan (because they think Jim Carrey is hilarious as the Grinch).  Then, Alex snuggled up to me, grabbed my hand and said, "If the Grinch had a mommy and daddy like I have then he wouldn't have been so mean.  They would have helped him and told him to be nice."

Alex also said that the Grinch's teacher wasn't nice and he (the Grinch) deserved to have a nice teacher like the teachers Alex has.  He said, "I have really fun and nice teachers and I don't want to be mean.  The Grinch didn't have a nice teacher, either. No nice mommy and daddy and no nice teacher."  I said, "You don't think she's nice?"  He said, "She laughed at him and didn't make the other kids stop being mean--no, she's not very nice."

At the end of the movie when the Grinch becomes nice Alex's face lit up and he said, "See, mom?  Cindy Lou Who was nice to him and his heart grew and he wanted to be nice."  He looked up at me with those big, beautiful blue eyes and said, "Everybody needs some one to be nice to them and love them. I have a whole family and a lot of nice teachers." I said, "Yes, you have a lot of people who love you."  He smiled and said, "That is why I'm such a good boy, mom."



I am so proud of Alex and I will never look at the Grinch in the same way!

Friday, December 9, 2011

Who Says

I heard a song today that I really, really liked.  The first thing I noticed was the music--it was a pop song but the music was fun and I couldn't help but like it.  Then, I noticed the lyrics and decided I really liked the song.  I haven't heard much by Selena Gomez--I actually know her mostly from Wizards of Waverly Place because Alex went through a phase about a year ago where he watched it.  I haven't really followed her singing career, but have to admit I really like this song.

Right now everything is crazy in our house--I am happy to get 3 or 4 hours of sleep in a row when it happens.  During the day I get so caught up in doing all that needs to be done around the house, getting ready for Christmas, getting ready for Alex's birthday, getting ready for Alex's surgery, and a hundred other things that need to be done, that I never think to lay down while Kaitlyn is sleeping.  By the end of the week I'm exhausted and after a while that can start to take a toll on your emotions as well. My incision is still hurting and hasn't healed 100% which I find to be extremely frustrating.  I want to do EVERYTHING on my own and don't want to NEED people to help me. I lost 35 pounds after having Kaitlyn and now it is as if I have hit a brick wall.  I gained 55 pounds with her so I realize that losing 35 is quite an accomplishment, but I also realize that I still need to lose 20 pounds to get my "old" body back--maternity pants are baggy now and, of course, don't fit right, and non-maternity pants don't fit and hurt my incision.  Its funny how many frustrating things you encounter after having a baby.  Because of all these things, this song, sung by a 19-year-old, really got my attention.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Christmas Photo

I wanted to take a picture of all three of my children wearing red and sitting in front of the Christmas tree to put on our Christmas card this year.  I put sweaters on the boys and Kaitlyn had a cute little red velvet dress and some red tights she got to wear.  The boys kept smiling and Kaitlyn would cry, scream, or make a face.  She kept giving me these looks like she was more than annoyed with what I was doing.  I kept saying, "I just need one good picture!"  The boys would smile and I'd say, "Let's try it again."  They would moan and sigh.  Aww . . . 'tis the season!  Photos have become more challenging now that there are three children in the picture instead of two.  The boys will look down at Kaitlyn instead of of the camera, one of them will have their eyes closed, Kaitlyn will be crying or screaming or wiggling around, her dress riding up nearly covering her face.  I was determined to get one good picture of them--eventually, I did.   Christmas cards are made and now I just need to send them out.  Christmas card photos are always so funny.  The children are smiling and look so happy when in reality they just wanted to be finished with the photo so they could go play.  I'm holding the camera and saying, "Okay, guys, look at me.  No, look at me!"

I remember taking photos for my mom's Christmas card growing up and by the time we finished we would all be mad at each other.  Our experience with this year's Christmas card wasn't anywhere near that bad but the boys had other things they wanted to do.  They were good sports about it and Kaitlyn was patient and cooperative for the most part.  Now we can wish everyone a Merry Christmas with our children's bright and smiling faces.

Brothers and best friends--looking handsome for the picture!

Kaitlyn all dressed up.  She was a good sport about it and she looked so pretty!

Another Christmas card out of the way!