Really I wanted to be in bed at 8

I am forcing myself to stay up. I know I'm tired, cranky, achy....but I can't bring myself to go to bed before 9pm...again.... So here I am. Re-checking all the blogs that I checked last night. Luckily there are quite a few out there that are very diligent in updating their blogs and others I caught on the right time. Problem is, its only 9:50. Not quite 10. Do I just swallow my pride, climb in bed, turn on the hypno-birthing cd (although I probably wouldn't need it) and call it a night? Maybe by the time I quite contemplating about it it will be time for bed.

Or, I can push past it and tell you some stories. Then I run the risk of getting all wired. Awe, what the heck.

I had three little girls rubbing their hands all over my belly today. The first, a very inquisitive 4 year old, wanted to see my tummy. I didn't know she wanted to see skin because I was a little taken aback when she proceeded to lift up my shirt. Lucky me I was wearing 4 layers. Yep, 4! It really has become quite a process getting dressed in the morning. First there are the huge preggo unders, then the preggo jeans with huge "secret fit belly" band. I have no idea what is so secret about it. Then another band to help hold my pants up. Then t-shirt. 4 layers!

Well, I got over the shock and my personal boundary issues to allow said 4 year old to disect all the layers to get to belly. Once there all I got was an "oh."

I don't know what I expected. I'm just glad she didn't ask what all the red marks were! How do you explain stretch marks to a kid? I'm still trying to figure those out.

Yep, that was my story. Anti-climatic? yep! That is my life these days. Next time I'll tell you the one about my 2 year old shoving a tutu in my face at 7:30am demanding she be the green fairy. It is actually a continuing saga since Sunday so I'll keep my fingers crossed that we move on to something else then I'll give ya'll the re-cap.

My baby's "baby"

I know toddlers are impressionable and mine is no exception. Since mommy has been trying to convey the concept of having another baby Silvia has taken to the idea pretty easily. She's old enough to associate my changing body with the growth of a baby. So I shouldn't have been surprised when she started talking about the baby in her belly. Yep, my daughter has a baby in her belly. At first I'll admit I was a little weirded out and thought about curbing my belly rubbing and talking about the baby. Then I thought, "hey, this is completely natural and this is how a 2 year old works out that whole baby business." Then it just got funny.

Example #1: Rubbing her tummy, Silvia looks at me and says "My belly hurts, My baby is kicking." (Immediately I recognize that I am obsessing about my belly and the active child within too much!)

Example #2: When asked what sex the baby that mom is having she replys: "Mom has a boy and I have a girl." Great. I'm already a grandma.

Example #3 and topping the cake. Silvia has been going to my midwife appointments with me and at the apppointments I get measured and we listen to the heart beat. Julie, my midwife, was gracious enough a few weeks ago to let Silvia help with the tape measure and help put the goo on the microphone. I loved it because I thought it really helped her feel involved. Two weeks ago I mentioned to Julie that Silvia has been talking about the baby in her belly. Once I brought this up and Julie asked her about it I opened the gates. Then Silvia said it was "her turn" on the table. Julie obliged and then measured her belly and even got the microphone out to listen to the baby. Silvia even insisted on the goo! Hilarious! I didn't have my camera that time but I went to my appointment on Monday prepared.

Here is my baby, getting her baby check up:

Don't worry. She's not all grown up just yet. She has insisted on being a "green fairy" for the last few days (hence the tutu seen in the photo). A good sign that she is still in the throws of her childhood.

Holiday Review

I just had to check the calendar to see what day it was. I knew it was January, but the exact date seems a little foggy. Maybe it was because we started off the new year with a puking child. Maybe it's because the bug she had then spread to me, jon a day later grandma, aunt tawnya and cousin savanna. If you too have been spending 12 hours straight in the bathroom....I'm sorry. It's seriously a crazy bug!

Enough bathroom talk. I really wanted to review the good times we had the last few weeks.

We mixed up the traditions this year. Because my mom has a crazy work schedule mi familia got together on Christmas Eve. We ate soup and let the kids decorate cookies. I tried to capture the mess but the camera doesn't do it justice. It was padilerium! Sprinkles should not be in the hands of young children (where is the warning on the label?!!!)

And no, the chaos of cookie decorating didn't contribute to the messy hair. That's just how we role.

That night we got our little family together to tell the story of Christmas. Jon had the fantastic idea of using the nativity to tell the story. Super cute! Christmas day was nice. When Silvia woke up I thought I'd just sit back and see how she reacted to the lit tree and presents. So what does she do? She spies the lit tree walks toward it only to notice not the over abundance of wrapped packages (seriously, how many toys does a two year old need Dianne! ((I'm chastising myself so next year I'll be more restrained)).....ahemm...so she's headed for the tree when she diverts and heads right to the plate of goodies laid out. Once she stuffs a jelly ring into her mouth she comes back to me and tells me about the treats. Treats, really? Do I deprive my little one of chocolate so much so that it warrants ignoring Christmas presents? In her defense, she takes a little while to wake up in the morning.

Once the treat distraction was removed and daddy became more alert (now we know where she gets it!) we all moved on to the opening ritual. She really enjoyed opening up gifts and was genuinely excited about every little thing.

It was really nice to be able to take it easy Christmas morning. That evening we moved the party on over to the Olson's where Silvia got to see all her cousins, we ate more yummy soup and exchanged family gifts.

All in all, we had a lot of fun and I think we were able to maintain the spirit of the holiday too in remembering the birth of Jesus Christ. What a beautiful moment in the history of the world! I can't put my feelings quite into words. That's why I've retyped this small paragraph three times and am now giving up. Let's just say I'm deeply touched by the event of Jesus Christ's birth on the earth.

Fin. for now.

Crazy December

Well, December is almost over so I thought I'd make an effort to make at least one post this month. Really we've been busy playing, working, shopping and Jon's been out of town quite a bit. He even went back to our home in North Carolina, without me....ah hem! His excuse for going back was to work on our home there to get it ready for the terrible realestate market. What he really did was visit all our beloved friends and call me 20 times a day to tell me how great it was out there while I was sitting in our tiny apartment whilst it snowed for 2 days straight! It did give me a chance to reflect on the past year and I realized we've been in a huge holding pattern ever since we left our green home on the east coast. I guess it was meant to be that I get pregnant to force us to stop looking back and start looking forward. I know come March I won't be able to pine over Greensboro any more. I will be able to look back on it and our friends fondly though as I wipe up spit up with these cute burps that Kelly sent home with Jon.

On another, less whiny more Christmas cheer note...We are really excited for Christmas. Silvia has already been so excited these last few weeks. She knows who Santa is and that he likes hot cocoa, she can sing "Jingle Bells" and keeps asking for presents. I have had a hard time keeping myself grounded and have tried to restrain from buying everything that I think Silvia needs/wants. The last few months I haven't been purchasing any toys thinking that I'd wait for Christmas. Luckily I have a limited budget and a hubby who tells me when I've over done it. So, in the true spirit of Christmas and the american consumer, I am taking a bunch of stuff back tomorrow. I promise!

Enough revelations from my overly active concious. Here a few shots from the last few weeks.

Silvia's puppy that she asked me to take a picture of. How could I resist. I ran as fast as I could to find the camera!The picture I probably should have used for Christmas cards but I editted it and couldn't figure out how to get the color picture back. Argh! I need to take a class.

Signing off with a performance of Jingle Bells. Get aload of the socks and shoes. Dress up gone nerdy!

It doesn't get better than this

Really. A holiday focused on food. What more could a girl want! I woke up like a little kid on Christmas. Ok, ok, it's not just the food. Any excuse to get family and friends gathered together makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. I live for these things. I can already tell you next week is going to be the pits as I come down from my Thanksgiving high. I know, Christmas is just around the corner and although we have managed to drag the holiday out for a whole month I always feel like everyone is in a hurry to be somewhere else. At least at Thanksgiving everyone is in a turkey coma and unable to leave! Man I'm a control freak!

The Audacity of Hope

Politics aside...I am so inspired by our president elect. The vision that he has of a unified nation, of people stepping up their involvement in their community and government, and for moving this country forward has increased my patriotism ten fold.
I look forward to what is to come and I know that I we all will have a role in it. Its not about one man. Its about what we can all do together.
YES WE CAN.

The Big Day.

Halloween. Finally. What is it about these holidays where they just work up for ever. Then you finally get there, enjoy, and then the let down. Nothing left to look forward. Until the next holiday. We are looking forward to Thanksgiving and already menu planning but now I can see why people start the Christmas shopping so early. They just need something to occupy that holiday void.

Any whooo.... Here are a few shots of our fun Halloween day/night. Silv was a trooper (not litterally) and was all about Trick or Treating (i.e. going door to door grabbing candy from strangers. What a weird tradition!) Silv has a friend whose birthday is on Halloween so we went up to this great farm for her party. We saw animals, went on a hay ride into the fields, picked our own pumpkins, ran around a hay maze, and my girls favorite, the cow train.

Trick or Treating.

The only picture I could get of her with her hat on. It's kind of a funny sassy face. All day she would run around saying "I'm a witch. ha ha ha." I was surprised at how into it she got.

All in all it was a lot of fun and even hubby who isn't shy about his distaste for the holiday had a good time.