Fa La La La La

Christmas was a big hit at our house.  The pierogis were made and eaten; the gifts were all wrapped, Santa's cookies were baked, and he made it down the chimney without no problem whatsoever.  Katherine was little Miss First Christmas playing with her toys and taking in the whole scene.  Jackson enjoyed opening and investigating his gifts and Alex - what can I say?  She's an old hand at this Christmas gig so she's got the drill down.  I hope she liked her things as much as she seemed to given there were fewer toys and more big girl things this year - cool boots (Ugs style), jacket from Limited too, couple of outfits from H&M, art supplies, etc.  Nary a doll in sight except for Kate's new babies including a Madame Alexander babydoll from Aunt Julie and a Cabbage Patch Kid with blonde pigtails that I fell in love with.  Mass was great and not the usual mob scene thanks to  the wonderful new pastor and his planning of 6 Christmas liturgies, four being on Christmas Eve.  The jumbo glass of egg nog spiked with Makers Mark went down very nicely afterward.  Which brings me to the next topic - my progress on Weight Watchers.  I'm bracing myself for backsliding at this week's weigh in and hope to at least stay at the same weight.  I've lost 2 lbs./wk over the last three.  I'm just praying that the appetite I have for the extra points I'm allowed as a nursing mother goes away when Kate weans.  I went into the holiday weeks with the mindset that I was not going to make myself miserable following the program until after the first of the year.  I am very glad that I started beforehand though so I'm not in the pack with the other newbies next week.  I didn't exactly go crazy either.  In general, I think the WW program is fantastic. 

One of my munchkin is calling for some snuggle time so I'm off.  More later on the new job prospects.  Wish this laundry would fold itself and disappear into our dressers.

Definition of Insanity

My plan is to get up tomorrow morning and commence making homemade pierogi then get all of my gift wrapping done, prepare the breakfast for tomorrow so that all I have to do is pop things into the oven, go to 8:00 mass tomorrow night.....I finally finished folding last week's laundry.  I'm happy with my executive decision to not wrap Kate's gifts....if I wrap Jackson's and Jeff wraps Alex's then we have to also wrap for each other....should be able to accomplish that...I want to be substantially done by the time I get home from Mass so I can pour a big glass of eggnog, spike it with Makers Mark and sit on the sofa to look at the tree...This is going to be one fun weekend but I need to prioritize the giftwrapping....I'm stalling though...

More Precious than Diamonds & Gold

I don't know why it is but the sight of the curve of my little baby's arm gives me such a rush of love.  She just oozes sweetness and never fails to bring a smile to my face but the sight of that chubby little arm encased in whatever pink material she's wearing - terry, fleece, velvet, cotton knit, I just love the the curve of that arm from the shoulder to the wrist.  Why is she making me crazy tonight and insisting on burying her face in whatever is available so I'm afraid she won't be able to breathe?  Maybe I'll go disturb her just so I can pick her up and snuggle her some more, cherishing each moment of her...

Tomorrow

  Katherine is 8 months old tomorrow.  Yippee!!  I've reached the point where I'm ready to start focusing on getting myself together much earlier than I did with Jackson.  I started looking around for new job opportunities when he was about 15 mos. old and this time I'm already working it.  I have interviews next week for both an internal and an external opportunity.  I keep coming full circle to the point where I love everything about my job but for a few things that I'd change and those are the things that I cannot control.  So guess what?  I've had the kids, enjoyed the flexibility that I needed to be able to pull this motherhood after 40 with stressful job thing and now I'm ready to break out again.  I was sad to think that I'd maxed out on my career and hopefully something will come about where I can take steps forward again, both professionally and financially.  When it reaches the point where you have not an ounce of respect for the people who control your income and your advancement, it's time to move on.  Unlike before, I think I'm coming to terms with leaving before I even have the interviews.  This is a good sign that I'm ready I think.  It hasn't been fun for a really long time and I'm starting to feel like I've been left in the dust by those who've had the good sense or the good fortune to find new opportunities.  We'll see what the coming week brings.  So much for not having an interview suit as an excuse, huh?   

 

And the other big step that I've already taken is to join Weight Watchers now vs. waiting until I stop nursing the baby.  I was going to keep it a big secret and magically slim down before everyone's eyes but it's been slipping out in conversation and so what?  It's not something to be ashamed of.  I am actually proud that I took the matter in hand and decided not to wallow in the excuse that I got flabby having the kids and until Kate is weaned I'll just have to live with it.  So far so good.  I dig the program and found it easy enough to transition to.  I never used to be the type of person things "happened" to but when I was younger of course it was easy to take charge of things like dropping a few pounds.  Honestly, I never really put much effort into watching my weight at all - I just burned off what I ate naturally through normal activity and exercise.  So now I have to put effort into it but I have finally realized it's something to do for myself, not a punishment.  Right now there are always half a dozen things competing for my attention in the same block of time and some of them just have to get done but I realize from the few times I've taken the time for a walk or to do some yoga, the world didn't come to an end because I wasn't folding the laundry or god forbid, WORKING!!!

Progress

It's after 2:00 p.m. and I have not had a shower yet today.  I've been busy with the baby and in between her feedings and naps and her bath I've addressed the envelopes for the holiday photo cards & put the return address labels on them, wrapped and packeged the gifts that have to go into the mail, put a bow and some fresh holly & berries on the plain green wreath I bought and hung it on the door, cleaned up the kitchen from lunch, put away Jackson's laundry.  Doesn't sound like a big accomplishment, I know but the fact that I had the gifts for four people together and now packaged to mail, all my addresses in one place (ok 3 places but I knew where all the places were), the cards ordered and here, etc. is major for me because now I can focus on the loose ends and the little extras that make the holiday special this week instead of panicking and being a grinch..

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Now to grab a little "me" time and have a shower....Jeff took the older two and went out to get the Christmas tree.  We'll decorate it later, probably before and after dinner.  I'll put up some decorations around the house while Alex gets the majority of the ornaments on the tree.  After she goes to bed I usually rearrange them but she's a big help in getting them out of the boxes and onto the tree.  My shopping is substantially done but for the gift certificates I buy for the daycare ladies.  I have a shopping list for the Christmas dinner and I'll do that grocery shopping Thursday afternoon.  Tomorrow I will start wrapping the kids' things and if necessary come up with a list of things for Jeff to pick up this week when he's out.  He has the next two weeks off.  I have no extra time off because of that nice long maternity leave at the beginning of the year.  I'm going to take a week in January I think, to do whatever I feel like doing.  I would love to take the kids to PA for a few days to do some visiting.

Jackson and Kate have been incredibly cute together.  I took some great pics of the two of them last Saturday.  Yesterday, Jackson had on my straw gardening hat and was playing "Old McDonald" with his stuffed animals.  He'd hold one up and I was to sing the song and add whichever animal he was holding.  Of course I wished I had the video camera handy and didn't.  Note to self, pull it out and charge the battery so we'll have some video of the tree trimming.

Selfish

We were invited to two parties tonight.  One was an adult only gig and I started looking for a baby sitter way too late so scratch that one.  The other was an open house that began at 5:00 p.m. Jackson's nap lasted until 6 and then Kate fell asleep.  I really wanted to stay at home anyway.  It's not that I didn't want to go.  I did.   It's just that I'd rather stay at home.  After a lovely day together I wanted to just hang out with my boys and my girl.  I hope the kids like us when we're older because we won't have any friends left.  Seriously, we get so little quality time together as a family that I just revel in it when we have a day like today.  We went to the mall to get Jackson's hair cut, did a little Christmas shopping, had lunch, came home and relaxed a bit.  I must wrap Jackson's birthday presents as we are celebrating at home tomorrow.  I'm also baking cupcakes and making party bags for him for school on Monday.  I want him to feel really special with this birthday as lately he's been wanting to be the baby, be Kate, be in the crib, etc.  How my life has changed in three years.  These kids really center me and also love my husband all the more for making it possible for me to be their mother.  I am one of the luckiest people in the world and count my blessings every day!