Christmas Goodies

I had a good Christmas. I'll leave it at that. Mostly.

The kids had a really good Christmas too. The only thing was Bear needs a manners course. He kept asking for more presents after he had opened all of his. I was not impressed. Still both him and Smiles made out like bandits. Too many presents, toys and clothes and books. Coming back from Hubby's Uncle place on Christmas day we almost did not have enough room in the trunk for everything. The same could be said for when we came home from the farm on Boxing Day. Yes I did actually make it out to my parents place, Yay!

I did not get a lot of presents but the two that I did get that made it worthwhile for me were the cookie jar and the serger. YAY!!! A SERGER!!! Of course I have no room for one but I now have one and Raven and I might be able to set it up at her place so more sewing can be done. hehe. Or I might just use it here and have to set it up on the kitchen table every time. It'll be a pain but I could do that. Knowing me though I won't because it'll be too much energy and I won't have time. Especially with Eyes schedule still so wacky.

She has been more awake during the day which is good yet my sleep schedule is still a 3 am type. Which means I still sleep longer during the day than at night. Sigh!

Home for the holidays

For the past two days I have been trying to go out to my Mom and Dad's only to be too sick to do the 1 hour drive out to the farm. The kids are disappointed and therefore more irritable and likely to get into trouble. Smiles already broke the wrapping on one of her presents that I had wrapped the night before. Sigh! I really dislike peppermint but right now my stomach is so upset that's what I going to have in my tea. The ginger ale doesn't seem to be as effective anymore.

So Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everybody.

Christmas Concert

Just to get the complaining out of the way. I'M SICK AGAIN AND HATING IT!!!!!!

Okay I went swimming with Raven on Tuesday after the kids Christmas Concert at school. I enjoyed the swim and I really liked the Christmas Concert as well. The kids sang beautifully (off key, too loud or not on the beat) but the best was the Orff ensemble that the new music teacher used for the concert. The reason being you culd actually tell what song the kids were playing. Many of the kids performed really well and I was quite happy with it. Bear was happy to show off his instruments playing and Smiles got to shake her bells and sing for her songs. All in all a good time was had by all.

P.S. Don't tell my husband but the new music teacher is HOT! He has that Asian, wavy black hair that needs to flipped out of his face thing going for him. Hehe.

On the note of my newest daughter I am not impressed with her nighttime schedule. In fact I think that is why I am so sick right now. Yesterday I only got 4 hours of sleep and most of that was after the kids had gone to school. 6:30 am is not a good bedtime. Last night I was determined not to have it happen again so at 3 am I simply let her cry til she stopped. 4 am I went in, fed her, swaddled her and then went to sleep myself. Yay! So I have had some more sleep today but not enough still. Tonight if she fusses again the lay down time will be 2 am. I am hoping!

Otherwise Eyes has been absolutely adorable. She has started smiling and is sooooo cute!

Broken Ornaments

So the Christmas Party on Friday was fun. It was at the Community Center Hall and the kids had a lot of fun. There was crafts and other kids to play with. There was even a magic show. And of course Santa himself came to deliver presents to all the kids that attended. What I liked the most was that the presents were age appropriate and had the kids names on them. The magician was okay. He was no David Copperfield but as an amateur he kept the kids entertained and that's what mattered most. Bear almost got up on stage for a trick but chickened out at the last second. Oh well. His choice.

Yesterday was the baby shower and boy was that alot of fun. Star was a darling and totally made of awesome (even if she was late for it!). All in all it was a small affair with the girl pack and my mother in law attending. I wouldn't say quiet for that it certainly wasn't. The gifts were cute and I am so happy more booties for Eyes! Yay!!! I need to pick up some more socks for her. The food was delicious and there was more than enough for everyone. Star outdid herself baking and I really liked her brownies even if there were structural integrity problems. Eyes gave some very cute pictures and I love the one of her staring at Red Necked Rabbit. I really enjoyed myself talking to my 'girlfriends'. I never really thought about it before but I have some awesome female friends and I am starting to treasure them more and more. Even the ones who move away (Like Baby Jail and Nfld K).

Today though I really want just one more hour of sleep and I don't think I'll be getting it any time soon. Now that Hubby's home let's see if I can get him to take care of the kids and I'll try and disappear for an hour or two. I can wish! As long as the kids don't knock over the Christmas tree again. We have already lost five glass ornaments. Luckily they mostly went under the couch and that made it easier to shoo the kids out and clean it up. Sigh! Can I take down the Tree please!? Oh alright I'll just take the glass ornaments off, hopefully that'll help.

Advice

Last night Raven tortured my baby keeping her awake so she would hopefully sleep longer after I fed her when I got home. Okay maybe not tortured but played with her and tickled her and talked to her. My favorite part is when I went upstairs and Raven was talking to Eyes. (Paraphrasing here) "Now that mommy has gone I can do unspeakable things to you!" Eyes response was to stick out her tongue and go "pbbbltt!" I found this out when I came back down with a tart. We did not get much sewing done but we did decide on some colour decisions and turned the flannel that I bought into receiving blankets.

But on another note as I was watching Raven torment Eyes I was also talking to Lady Mike (Yes this is very close to one of my knicknames but in this case it works for her as well) Lady Mike is talking about how she would like to get pregnant some day and I wish her well in that endeavor. Some of the things we talked about though was what a new mom should do with her newborn. I realized that I was doing one of the things on my list. Which was get out and do something to save your sanity. Woohoo!

So here's a short list...

1. Give the baby eye time. Meaning look at your baby for as long as s/he is willing to let you.
2. Tummy time. Every baby needs to work on their crawling and head control. Best to start early!
3. You time! This is just as important as giving your baby attention. If you do not relax and do something for yourself you will flip and do something stupid. This is why you hear most new moms go "Adult company! I need to talk to someone who can say more than 'gaga'" This usually happens around the three month mark. I should know I did that after my first two pregnancies. This one I am going swimming and getting out of the house at least twice every week. Since I know I am post partum depressive suspect I do not want to be inactive.

Still I could go on about things like sitz baths or singing to your child but you know what that would go under the best advice I can give any new mom. Of course I will admit I have been very good at offering it out to anyone who I think needs it! Trust your instincts! You will get so much advice (most of it conflicting) that it is simply best to listen, smile and throw away the ones you do not trust or know will work with your child. Believe me it makes the world of difference.

Sleep Deprivation

So I am at the point where I just want sleep and Eyes is not letting me get any. Her schedule is not conducive to our household. Sigh! And I can't keep expecting Hubby to take the kids to and from school. Also my after school care child is also waiting for me to take her back. Time for me to try and sleep Eyes finally went down. Lets see if I can one or two more hours.