...and I think we finally have some! After two weeks, we finally have decorated the little tree we bought. Angel on top, lights and garland. We have a 5 month old and a 2.5 year old. Do I really need to explain what took so long? ;) I'm still addressing Christmas cards and need to get thank you notes out for baptism gifts. Leila was baptised almost two weeks ago. It was a beautiful baptism. Here is a photo:
Those are my first cousins, Elise & Eric, who we asked to be her Godparents. :) We had a double baptism with our friends, the Sperbers, as we were asked to be the Godparents of their son, Charlie, who is only 3 weeks older than Leila. The afternoon was lovely and Nicolas and Eddie behaved. They even got to hold the lit candles. We all held our breath, but they were good and didn't burn anything down. LOL After it was over they ran all over the church. Ha! The boys were so adorable.
I digress...back to Christmas.
So, here we are 8 days from the big event. I have yet to hang the stockings, but they are out. It finally felt like Christmas today. We had to go to SM to take Mr. N to the optometrist to check his eyes/glasses. Now we get to patch him for the next month (oh joy. oh rapture) (read that like Eeyore) 6 hours a day, 6 days a week. It's supposed to help the strength of his "lazy" eye catch up to his good eye. The glasses are doing their job, though, which is wonderful. He is good about wearing the glasses. I'll let you know how he does as Pirate Nicolas. Oy. Wish us luck!!!
So, off to SM we go. After the optometrist it was to Starbuck's with our gift cards (thank you, Heidi!), then to the SM Mall to have Miss Thang's photo taken with "Santa," or as we told Mr. N, "Santa's helper who dresses up like him, but is not really him. But, he can put a good word in for you." Right before we got in line Santa went on break. For like 45 minutes. What the heck are we supposed to do at the freaking mall with our tiny ones for 45 minutes?! Soooo, we just made the best of it. Fed Miss Thang and changed her diaper. Played with them. Talked to strangers with kiddos waiting for Santa, too. Met a mommy and her cute girls whose husband is in the secret service and stationed in Korea for a year. Gosh, that brings it all to reality, doesn't it? At least my kids' daddy is home for Christmas, right? We may be broke. We may not have a job or know what is next for James or still not know exactly what is wrong with him medically yet. But, at least he is not overseas. He's here with US.
So, we told Mr. N that Santa's helper/Santa could put a good word in for him with the real Santa at the North Pole. He wanted NOOOOO part of that dude. So, we said, ok, well we can tell him for you when Mommy takes Leila up for her photo. "NO! Daddy do it!" "Why? Are you afraid Mommy will tell him the truth? That sometimes you are naughty?" (nods yes) "Daddy do it!!!" "Ok Daddy can tell him." (James and I are laughing hysterically at this point to ourselves.) So, here we go, and I take Miss Thang up to see "Santa" for a first photo, like Nicolas had two years ago when he was a baby. It's a surprise gift for James' folks in KY because they are totally into this stuff. Anyway, she's farting away some really nasty smelling farts and smiling at mommy, and our photo...well, I'll post it tomorrow so you can see. If I could photoshop I would put bubble thoughts and she would be thinking, "look, mama, I toot on Santa!" and he would be thinking, "omg what do they feed this baby?!" Then I start to put a loud, good word in for Nicolas so he can hear that I am only telling him what a good boy he's been yada yada and he would really like a chair of his own from Santa, yada yada. He's yelling on the sidelines at me, "NO! MAMA! DADDY DO IT! DADDY DO IT!" It was like a scene from what would be "A Christmas Story...The Traditions Continue."
After the mall it was Arby's drive thru for lunch and I received an e-mail on my phone telling me that my toys r us order for my son's freaking chair was cancelled because it was out of stock and we are so sorry for the mistake. ARGH!!!!! So, off we go. In search. In SM. For THE CHAIR. I did Big Lots...don't quite have what I want. We hit a furniture store. Nope. We head home, head hung low. Mr. N has to pee. We pull over...at none other than Toys R Us for him to pee. I decide to call inside (AGAIN...did it two weeks ago) about the chair while J takes N to potty. Maybe the kid I talked to before didn't know his head from his tail. Turns out I was right. He didn't. They came out of the bathroom to the car and I went inside. Ordered the chair.,.they order from a different warehouse and had ONE. It will arrive in 7-10 days. She's putting a rush on it and hoping it gets here before Christmas. If not, I will leave a creative note from Santa. ;) James can't wait for it to arrive. He will get to drive for two hours all by himself to pick it up... Let's just say he is talking about wouldn't it be great if he could find a 60 hour/week job? hee hee Not cut out for being a SAHD. I don't think there are many men who are, though.
This post doesn't do our day justice, but it really did feel like Christmas today. It was fun. We laughed a lot. We dealt with Mall Santa fears. Nicolas got some reindeer ears from the Mall Elf who took our $11 for one 5x7" photo (from a printer no less) and that made him happy all the way home. Miss Thang got lots of naps in, so she was in a great mood this evening while I decorated the tree, and Mr. N had 30 minutes of sleep (as opposed to his normal 2-3 hour nap) so he was grouchy and having meltdowns all evening. Ha! See? It all balances out.
Roman had fun with the lights on the floor while I checked them. When the tree was done, Emmett did something he hadn't done in a long time. He lay on the floor at my feet, put his chin on my feet, and stared at the tree and sighed. It was adorable. It was like he was saying, "Ah, NOW it's Christmas." I told him we would put his Christmas collar on tonight. He looked up, cocked his head at me, wagged his tail, then laid back down on my feet.
Leila is growing both in size and skill by the hour it seems some days! I can't believe my baby will soon be one. Thankfully, she is very cuddly (both my kiddos are) and still loves being held a lot even though she seems to be in a hurry to run with Nicolas and keep up with him! She is working at crawling. It's like watching someone work at physical therapy every day getting stronger and stronger. Right now she kind of resembles a beached porpoise of sorts up on her hands, scooting around in circles and backwards...it's very cute! Today she sat at Nicolas' old Dinosaur Roll Around toy and he showed her how to put the balls in it. She tried to do it, but mostly screeched and danced sitting there to the noises and music it made. She LOVES music and Baby Einstein, just like brother Nicolas! She is singing now, and has great pitch! She also loves to dance, and does her own sort of interpretive dance to music (almost liturgical like) when you stand her on your lap with music on. Funny, given her namesake (middle name Ann after my good friend, a dancer). :) Here are some of my favorite photos of her from the last month. Check out how big Nicolas is in the last one! :O That was Easter Sunday. The one of her laughing is from Nicolas making her laugh...their favorite game any time, anywhere is who can make the other one start laughing. It's so precious and I've taken lots of video of it. I just can't get blogger to load it, not even when I record it in compact mode. Anyway, they totally adore one another. I feel so blessed about that!
