Judecorp.

We're not getting a Christmas tree this year. It doesn't really make sense to do it and Hurricane Tukey would destroy it, I think. The living room (the only place we can really put a tree) is kind of his safe space where all of his toys are, and I would have to move half of his toys and keep him out of his safe space, so that doesn't make sense at all. Maybe I will hang some garland on the ceiling and hang ornaments from it. I don't know. It's kind of sad, but I guess there is next year.

Punk is sad about not having a tree so I think I will buy a small fake tree and put it in her room. Maybe I will put her presents under her own tree, wouldn't that be something? I'd have to sneak into her room though. That could be disastrous!

Aaah, it's that time again.

Tuke had his first birthday party yesterday. It was a smashing success. Pun intended.

Thinking about scheduling a portrait session for the kids to order our holiday photo cards. I could schedule it tomorrow and get it out of the way BUT their matchy-match holiday formal outfits have not arrived in the mail yet. However, I do have matching elf pajamas from Crazy 8 that they could wear.

Or I could wait until next Wednesday afternoon to do the portraits and the outfits probably will have arrived by then, BUT the cheaper photo card pricing promotion will be over.

DECISIONS.

[Poll #1796050]

Merry Christmas, y'all.



I have two kids.

I brought Punk to child care this morning because I have A Lot Of Things To Do Today.

It is really, really hard to get started. Sigh.

ETA: I'm clearing out all of the baby/early toddler toys in preparation for the onslaught of new toys. Man, this is exhausting! My kid has STUFF in every nook and cranny of the house! AUGHHHHHHH!

For three days a week, I life out my greatest fantasies. And then, for the other four... not so much. But especially around this time of year, and especially /this/ year, some parts of my life are exactly the way they're supposed to be, because I'm finally some little person's mama. I'm quite sure I dreamed my whole life about these moments.

Oh sure, I've been a mama for 2.5 years now, but this year, THIS holiday season, I'm the mama of a kid who "gets it." She is holiday crazy and it is /perfect/. Holiday life with a toddler is the most amazing thing in the entire universe.

On Friday evening, my child got a visit from her grandparents on Jen's side, and as usual, she charmed the pants off of them and they filled her to the brim with Disney merchandise. Which, by the way, she is in love with. On Saturday, we took her to the mall to get her holiday portraits done, and she was so awesome about it, and so charming and adorable, that they were super and we ended up ordering the overly pricey photo cards from them (instead of making our own) because the pictures were just THAT cute. While at the mall, the grandparents proceeded to buy her more licensed merchandise.

But oh! She has the holiday spirit for sure. We have written a letter to Santa. We have discussed what she wants Santa to bring her. (A "crown and shoes.") We have sat on Mall Santa's lap and she delighted him with her excitement and her wishes. My SIL has provided us with an "Elf on the Shelf" which has been named and loved and is looked for every morning. We have purchased a plate specifically to leave Santa some cookies and milk. Every drive through town in the evening is brought with a chorus of, "Mama! Pretty lights! More pretty lights!" It is a good time.

This morning I took my little child to the post office to put her letter to Santa in the special Santa mailbox. (Our town is so cheeseball and I love every second.) And in that moment, every piece of my heart was whole. This is exactly what I was meant to do, and I could do it 10 times more.

If only I didn't have that stupid job.

I got Jen a Roomba for Christmas and it is currently running around the house.
It's kind of creepy.
But it is going to make my floors clean so I will learn to love it.

I think she should name it.

Jen made me the most awesome Jack-Skellington-as-Santa that you have ever seen. Even though I haven't taken pictures yet, trust me, you're jealous. You are. It is awesome. <3 <3 <3

~//~

I just don't have it anymore. Holiday spirit, I mean. Or maybe not this year? I don't know. I am just lonely, very deeply lonely, right down to my very core. It is so hard having my dad's birthday be a week before Christmas. It is so hard having a job that just creates stress and doubt. It is so hard watching my grandparents' health decline so rapidly right before my eyes. It is just so, so hard and all I really crave is intense physical and emotional contact. But what I got instead was a night of picking up Christmas trash, putting away 80 kabillion toys, cleaning litter boxes, and taking out the trash while Jen is in bed with a migraine.

I should be in bed, too, since who knows when Punk will wake up since her sleeping was shot to hell today. But I just can't bring myself to go in there. I just feel too alone.

Whee.

So since we can all agree on "Baby, It's Cold Outside," how about:

Now bring us some figgy pudding
Now bring us some figgy pudding
Now bring us some figgy pudding
And bring it right here.

We won't go until we've got some
We won't go until we've got some
We won't go until we've got some

Oh, the hell you won't. Who do you think you are? You can't just go up to someone and demand some figgy pudding!

Tree = Done
Cards = Mostly Done
Shopping = Almost Entirely Done
Wrapping = Half Done
Clean House = Not Even Close

Phew!

1. My grandmother was admitted into the hospital yesterday. She was with my grandfather and was headed to get her new hearing aids (FINALLY, the ones she had were giving awful feedback) and she wasn't feeling well and didn't feel like she could get out of the car. They called the ambulance and she was taken to the ER. They ruled out heart attack and stroke stuff, which is awesome, but she was ridiculously dehydrated. They put a bazillion bags of fluid into her and she was feeling better, but was going for a kidney ultrasound this morning. It's hard to get accurate information from her because she isn't wearing her (feedback-y) hearing aids, so phone conversations are challenging. My grandfather said something about the medication she was taking for a major arthritis attack she had been having (prednisone, maybe some other stuff) was affecting her kidneys and causing them not to work properly. God, I hope it's nothing permanent. They were thinking she might be released today. I am going to call later.

2. Punk and I are having a very social day today. We went for a walk with rexlezard this morning; he was home because he got rear-ended this morning and was shaken up. Also, Punk's friend Moey and his daddy, Jason, are en route and will hang out for a bit. Then tonight I am supposed to hang with a former coworker.

3. Speaking of the walk this morning, I hereby SUCK at being a winter mama. I don't really get very cold and Punk and I were going to hang briefly at the dog park with Andy and his dog, so it didn't occur to me to really bundle her up. In fact, I actually debated whether or not to put on her heavy winter coat (but then finally did). Her trunk and head were nice and warm (she had a hat, too) but she was whiny and clingy which I attributed to hunger. But maybe she was cold! I didn't think to put on a layer under her jeans and she was only wearing thin little socks. When I went to put her down for her nap, her feet were like ice cubes. Poor little punkin! I guess I need to be better about bundling her up. Whoops.

4. I can't believe we're already almost a full week into Advent and Christmas is right around the corner. I have started to put up some decorations and I think we will get a tree this weekend (there is a small tree farm right down the road). Our church put together an Advent devotional this year that I am really enjoying. I can't wait until Punk is old enough to dig the spiritual preparations, too.

5. I love our church. I can't even say that enough. I just love it there. The people are so awesome and everyone is so nice and I am so pleased. It is exactly the kind of place I was hoping to bring Punk up in. She gets so excited to go down into the children's play room and is so comfortable there. I just love going and I love being a part of it all. There is a christmas dinner and tree-trimming thing tomorrow and I am excited. It is nice to be a church dork again.

6. I can't find last year's holiday cards yet (they are in the basement somewhere) so I haven't been able to get started on addressing this years cards. Argh! I was hoping to be done by now!!