The Countdown

10 days to Christmas.

To Do List: Wrap, bake, decorate cookies, deliver gifts, caroling, watch Christmas movies, "make snow angels for two hours, then... go ice skating, then... eat a whole roll of Tollhouse Cookie Dough, and then... snuggle." -Elf (2003)

I do love a good Christmas movie...

So last year at this time I felt like I had a lot to do, but fortunately, I could pop MiniM.E. in the car, drive around the block, and be certain of a two-and-a-half hour nap in which to decorate cookies.  Or I could set her up in the swing and bake cookies.  Or I could put her on the playmat and she would contentedly watch as I frantically wrapped presents.

This year, I set myself up with an even longer Christmas to-do list thinking MiniM.E. was older, so it would be easier to get things done.

Apparently the Christmas season has rendered my brain useless, because really? Easier???

Our days have been busy with MiniM.E. friendly activities like building towers and learning new words, while every second of nap-time is crammed full of Christmas prep.  Did I mention naps are rarely longer than an hour?  AND MiniM.E. has recently developed a full-on case of mommy-itis that allows me to leave her side for no more than a millisecond before blood-curdling screams erupt?  Needless to say, my countdown is more than a little nerve-wracking; there just aren't enough hours in the day.

Aside from Christmas preparations, MiniM.E. is an amazing little learner.  She's talking up a storm and knows well over 100 words.  A few days ago she started stringing two words together, like "jammies on" and "bye daddy" and "all better".  It is so cute and all I want to do is show you all, BUT MiniM.E. cannot be video taped because as soon as she sees the camera she rushes over saying, "baby, baby, baby," because she wants to see videos of herself.

Not only are there no adorable MiniM.E. videos, but I've been so busy, I don't even have any photos.  For at least a week.  I am actually very upset and have added "take photos" to my Christmas to-do list...

edited to add:

Check.  Photos taken.  Best photos of MiniM.E. ever... no.  Not really even good ones.  BUT, they are pictures.  I blame the lack of being outdoors.  And also the fact that I haven't opened my Christmas present yet.  It might be a camera.  Shhhh... don't let on that I know!

Ready to go out

WITH her own backpack (full of toys, of course)

At M's house.  Best play thing: stairs.

Nice up-the-nose-shot.

Testing out M & G's nursery.

Rocking Tranquil Turtle in the swing.  Too cute!

Out to eat.  Best plaything: butter knife.

Ready to order...

or is she?  Maybe there were too many choices on the kids' menu.

Hope you are all enjoying the season and are crossing off more things on your to-do lists than I am.  But isn't being busy half the fun?

A NH Getaway: Day 1

Today we woke up early, as always, for MiniM.E.'s 9-month check-up.  Usually early is 6:30, but today I was lucky enough to sleep until 7.  Which would have been amazing had I not planned on being woken up at 6:30... My mom drove in Sunday to collect us and bring us back to NH for the weekend.  To make the trip as smooth as possible, we figured on leaving for MiniM.E.'s first nap.  Which would likely fall right after the doctor's appointment.  Which meant we had to pack the car.  And eat breakfast. And feed the baby. And change the baby. And get the baby in the car.  In one and half hours.  We did it... no time to spare... Fortunately, we had a break from vaccines this time, so I didn't have to prep myself for the inevitable embarrassment of crying in the doctor's office.  We chose an early morning appointment in hope that there would be little time for the appointments ahead of us to back up, resulting in us sitting in the tiny examining room for hours with nothing but tongue depressors to play with.  With the stress of packing everything up in such a short amount of time, I might have chosen the tongue depressors... but everything went smoothly and we were out and on our way to NH.

I was super excited to be home for the week.  Mostly because it's nice to have help during the day and have someone do my laundry and cook for me.  Also, as awesome as our kiddie pool is... on hot days sometimes you just want to go swimming.  In more than 3 inches of water.

As soon as we could we suited up and got in the pool.  MiniM.E. had a blast!

While drying off, we had a flower photo shoot with Aunt Jen.

All the swimming and fresh air tired MiniM.E. out.  Unfortunately, not so much that she slept through the night...

Recovering After an Awesome Easter Weekend

Stretchy, Bob and I had a great Easter weekend at my parents house in NH.  We got to rest (while not preparing Easter dinner), eat Easter candy, go shopping, visit with family and eat lots of good food.

Stretchy took her first wagon ride (altered with her favorite rideable household object, the laundry basket):

 Went on a swing for the first time:

She got to play in a giant bed:

And tried to use the camera:

Now, however, it is Monday.

I dislike Mondays.  I would say "hate," but not all Mondays are ALL bad...

Mondays are the days with the most chores- like changing the linens and towels and cleaning up after the weekend.*  We inevitably have to go grocery shopping because we eat all our food over the weekend (or worse, never bought any food for the weekend and have to resort to "pantry finds" for lunch...).  AND I'm always tired because we do extra stuff on the weekend and I can't quite catch up on my sleep with an almost six-month old hanging around.

Mondays after a weekend away are even worse.

There is definitely NO FOOD.  Especially milk.  Which I need for my coffee in the morning.  No coffee = cranky Mommy.

There is a GIANT PILE of crap in the foyer that needs to be put away.

There is a GIANT PILE of laundry... plus the linens and towels :(.

I am extra tired because we got home late and someone didn't want to go back to sleep once we got here and felt the need to wake up at 6:30.

AND it's always kind of a let down after a holiday.

So instead of doing anything about those chores, or those piles, or that lack of food, I will sit here in front of my computer and mope.

I wouldn't want your mood to be altered by my negativity though, so the following photo-splosion should lift your spirits!