All the Sun For You

A mom, two boys, a husband, and a whole lot of adventure!

Category Archives: Holidays


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Wrapping up the Holidays

Here we are, it’s 2014, and I haven’t visited my own blog in ages. So sad… so very sad.

Things have been busy with the holidays.  My parents planned a family trip to Colorado starting on Christmas Eve, lasting until the 27th, and that trip put a wrench in everything holidays-related.  We were scrambling to buy gifts in time to ship them to the hotel, get things for the flight (stroller, accessories, car seat bag), and pack all four of us up for a four-day trip.  The trip preparations put a damper on everything else, including decorating the house and getting the lights up outside (which never happened).  Needless to say, I was a total Scrooge this year.  It just didn’t feel like Christmas.  I felt robbed – and I still do – in a way.

The trip was great – well – great in an “adult trip” sort of way.  The resort was fantastic (a very special place to my family and a resort that B and I have travelled to many times because it’s special to us too!), the room was spacious (my father insists we call it a suite, which is sooooo not me!), seeing my sisters and their kids was unforgettable, and the food was great.  But my goodness – B and I spent so much time in the room suite with napping/sleeping kids that I felt like I wasn’t able to do the things we were there to do (spend time with my parents, sisters, and their families) and that made me very grumpy.  I wasn’t upset with the kids – they nap (and well) and go to bed early (thank God!) – I was upset that we took our kids away from home ON Christmas to spend it in an unfamiliar place.  The times we spent with my family WERE great and super fun, but I just felt so disconnected from the whole thing, including Christmas in general.  I have nicely told my dad that we will not be doing that again while we have small kids – and he gets it.  I think he knows it was hard for my younger sister and me (she has 3 young kids who nap and go to bed early as well).

(I do want to make a note here that both Matthew and Bryson were complete angels on both flights.  Matthew sat in the big seat without his car seat, and he sat still and was a good boy both ways (and slept the entire return flight).  Bryson nursed and slept on the way up for both flights and flirted with everyone once we reached our cruising altitudes.  The descent on the return flight got to his ears and he cried, but no one can be upset about that.  Poor baby.  We are going to fly again this spring and are super calm about it now knowing how well the boys did for this trip.)

We celebrated with B’s family the weekend before Christmas and it was nice!  There were some annoying things like our 4 year-old niece being nasty to Matthew and our nephew constantly referring to Matthew as, “that kid,” but I put a stop to both of those situations immediately so that we could move on with merriment.  HA!  Matthew still is not into opening presents and I had to give him a time-out to get him to come sit with us to open his gifts.  After doing that, I read that that was the entirely WRONG thing to do so relaxed a great deal about his lack of interest in his gifts both in Colorado and then at our house on the 29th.  I’m learning… I’m learning  😉

We got home from Colorado on the 27th and no gifts were wrapped, so we didn’t celebrate on the 28th.  On the morning of the 28th, we felt a strong need to see B’s parents and let the kids have some good interaction with grandparents who are into them (my parents are not into any of the kids – they just aren’t).  That was good for my soul – it was great to be with B’s parents who are so happy to see us whenever we can make it work (every other week or so) and it was nice to just be still with them.  I’m not sure that makes sense – but that’s how it felt.  I always leave them feeling relaxed, which was not always the case.  B’s mom and I have come a  very long way in our relationship and respect for one another.  It feels good!

We finally did our Christmas on the 29th.  The best part about it was wrapping presents the night before.  B and I setup shop in the basement and I put the art easel together as he wrapped, wrapped, wrapped!  He bought a bunch of fun little toys for the boys, things I hadn’t seen yet, and he wanted to keep it that way so that I was surprised when the boys opened their gifts as well.  That was fun!  I picked out the discovery tower (for the kitchen) and the easel and put them both together since they were my ideas and because I like putting things together.  It worked out great!  I got a little tipsy with my favorite beer – hooray!  The next morning, Matthew took forever opening his gifts which was A-OK with me.  He got some super fun stuff from B and it was fun to see his reaction to things.  B is an AWESOME gift giver for the kids!  And this year – he NAILED it with his gift for me.  It made me cry a bit.

I got a wild hair on (our) Christmas morning and asked B if he wanted me to make a big prime rib dinner if I could find a roast (being after Christmas and all).  Of course he said yes (he loves my prime rib… and I will say that it is pretty good thank-you-Williams-So.noma!) so I got to work and spent almost 7 hours in the kitchen cooking, cooking, cooking.  Oh my god, it was like the best gift to myself!  Cooking big dinners relaxes me a great deal – prepping food calms my nerves.  I made cheese fondue (gruyere cheese, Emmentaler cheese, dry white wine, salt, pepper) as our appetizer, endive salads with blue cheese and bacon, prime rib and roasted asparagus, and chocolate fondue for dessert.  It was awesome – so fun to sit down to a multi-course meal together as a family!  We invited B’s brother who is always a fun addition to the evening!

So our holidays ended much better than they started.  They ended with loving grandparents, a happy family unit, well-rested kids (finally!), perfect gifts, and a fantastic (if I do say so myself) dinner.  Finally – finally – it felt like Christmas 4 days after the fact.

Our tree is undecorated and ready for the wood chipper.  The kids are back to their normal sleeping routines (Bryson is sleeping almost through the night with an early morning feeding sometime between 3:45 and 5:45 before sleeping again until 7:00-8:00 each morning).  Our laundry from the trip (and afterwards) is almost all caught up.  All of the new toys have homes within our home.  NYE was celebrated in an unconventional way by letting Matthew stay up to watch The Po.lar Exp.ress in our bed and then sleep all night with us (oh the joy!).  And we’re now looking forward to a 2014 full of travel (starting Jan 9th to KC) and better fitness… and much-needed (and deserved) sleep.

As my Aunt Linda loves to say – HUZZAH!

 


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Stressful Week… Productive Week

I’m solo-parenting this week. I’m half-done. I feel like I’m coming apart at the seams. It’s really not that bad, but it’s tiring.

Bryson sleeps like crap, and I don’t even want to talk about it anymore. I think he is frustrated by not being able to stretch out in his rocker, but he refuses anything else. He’ll sleep 4-6 hours. Then is up every 2 hours. Midnight, 2:00, then 4:00 last night before I put him in bed with me. Then Matthew woke up and needed me (us) at 5:33. At 5:53, all three of us got up. Holy hell! It’s a good thing I napped yesterday!

It’s really just the nights that are killing me. And this morning. I’m just so tired. B can’t get home soon enough! He left Sunday morning at 10:00 and comes home Friday at 5:30. It’s essentially 6 days and 5 nights in a row on my own. It’s hard. I have so much respect for single parents, especially those with more than 1 little one.

I enjoyed alone time with Matthew when B would travel.  A week of him being gone never fazed me, because, well, one kid is easy.  Two kids… someone is always being ignored and that makes me sad. 😦  I just pile on the self-guilt when I can’t give either of them what they truly need and want from me.

I told B that Saturday is MY day. My only kid responsibility is to nurse Bryson.  I’m sure I’ll choose to hang out with them all most of the day, but I want to SLEEP and I want to go somewhere, anywhere, by MYSELF while they nap.

***********

The above was written this morning, when I was grumpy, tired, and… pissed off.

I’m much better now.

What changed?  I have no idea.  Maybe it’s the realization that despite the exhaustion and pissiness, I know that things aren’t that bad and that in all honesty, I get a lot of shit done when B is out-of-town.  I mean – I GET SHIT DONE!  Here’s what I’ve done that would normally go by the wayside when solo-parenting:

Sunday:

  • I tried out my new pouch maker!  I steamed up 5 apples and 4-5 sweet potatoes, pureed them, and pouched them up for Matthew to try (I got only 4 applesauce pouches and 4 sweet potato pouches out of that, saving most of the sweet potatoes for a later recipe and also freezing some in cubes for Bryson who starts solids after Christmas)
  • Met up with one of my best friends who moved away a few years ago, and learned that she may move back (YAY!)
  • Bought heaps of produce to make more pouches
  • Laundry
  • Everyone in bed by 8:45

Monday (Preschool Day):

  • Took Bryson to get his photos taken with Santa
  • Scheduled all 3 cats’ vet visits ($$$ ugh!)
  • Bought Christmas PJ’s for our trip to St. Louis after Thanksgiving
  • Ordered 12-18 month sweater one-piece outfits for Bryson (everything we have 12-18 months is for SUMMER)
  • Everyone in bed by 8:36

Tuesday:

  • Matthew’s dental exam first thing in the morning (went well!)
  • Lunch with my friend, K
  • Trimmed and steamed 1 large butternut squash, 12 apples (variety), 1 bag of blueberries, 2 bunches of fresh carrots, 2 large parsnips, and 4 bananas for pouches (with Bryson strapped to me on the front as he napped)
  • Blended 5 different types of pouches ending up with 34 pouches and 3 trays (36 cubes) in the freezer
  • Changed out all towels
  • Laundry
  • Everyone in bed by 8:30

Wednesday (Preschool Day):

  • Took one cat to the vet while Matthew was at school
  • Forced 2 pouches on Matthew who refused them until just before dinner
  • The cleaners came (yes, I have cleaners… but most everyone knows that)
  • Took both boys to see Santa (and Matthew rode the train)
  • Dinner at Chip.otle
  • Changed all sheets
  • Laundry (all done now)
  • EVERYONE IN BED BY 8:05!

Here’s what’s on-deck for the rest of the time while B is gone:

Thursday:

  • Gymnastics
  • Watch my friend’s daughter
  • Go to the grocery store for more produce
  • Steam up the produce I still have (peas, pears, broccoli)
  • Blend 2 types of pouches and freeze them

Friday:

  • Zoo activity at 10:30
  • Buy new sheets for Matthew (he’s picking them out!)
  • Lunch and naps before picking B up at the airport at 4:30!

I’ve come to realize that even though things get stressful, I like to stay busy when B is out-of-town because I get lonely.  You can only watch so much Bre.aking Bad before you want to just DO SOMETHING.  I’ve always been this way, which is why I have a ton of super crafty scrapbooks to showcase my travels as a single person.  When I’m alone, I don’t like to go to bed – I’m a night owl.  So if I’m going to be a night owl, I should use it to my advantage and get shit done.

I’ve also come to realize that I am really, REALLY good at putting my kids to bed.  I wasn’t sure how it would go with B out-of-town since he reads to Matthew while I nurse Bryson, but we figured it out and will actually modify bedtimes from now on because of what we’ve learned.  Matthew has RUN to his room every single night with B out-of-town because of one little change I had to make (let him watch 15 minutes of CG while I nurse Bryson).  He is excited to read his books now, rather than fighting us because it’s bedtime.  The break between bath and books is what he needs to not feel overwhelmed.  AND THESE KIDS ARE GOING TO BED EARLIER!  I always tend to roll bedtime back while B is out-of-town, but then it slides a little here, a little there once he’s home.  I’m not saying it’s all his fault.  But what I’m saying is that it’s all his fault.  😉  He just isn’t tough enough with Matthew, and I am.  Bedtime, from this day forward, is now 8:00.  Lights out at 8:00.  No toddler needs to be up past 8:00!

So yeah, I’ve been stressed, but I’ve also done a lot of good stuff.  I’ve loaded up our freezer with healthy snacks for Matthew (and some essentials for Bryson that he’ll need in just a month – WOW!), I’ve got all the laundry caught up (this is very important to me before B comes home), everyone is sleeping on clean sheets, we’re still getting out of the house at least once (if not twice) a day, I’ve gotten everyone (including the cat) to all activities on time, and bedtime has been moved back to a reasonable time.  Good things happen under pressure, I think!

***********

Whew!  It feels good to get all of that off my chest!  Now, it’s time for some Breakin.g Ba.d!

I’ll leave you with photos of my boys with Santa!  It went really well – my plan worked and although Matthew did not smile, he did go sit with Santa willingly and gave us some cute things to capture!

Awe... this is IT!

 

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The Monday Snapshot – Practice Run = Success!

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We will be meeting Santa again this year, but in St. Louis this time two weeks from yesterday.  Meeting Santa last year was not a great experience for Matthew.  We got cute photos of him being scared, which wasn’t exactly what we were going for.  HA!  When Matthew was Bryson’s age, we got cute photos, but he was rather stoic in them.  But man alive, they were cute!

Today, while walking the mall with my mom friends, I thought, “why not try a Santa picture with Bryson?”  He was dressed for the occasion (a darling sweater outfit because jeans don’t fit his little legs) and was in a good mood.  So I got in line (there was no line) at 9:56, waiting for them to let us in.  He did great.  He was so cute and had a great time – and yes – his outfit was pretty perfect!

Of course I bought all the digitals (say it with me, “of course you did!”) and a 5X7 that I’ve already shown Matthew, asking him if he wants to meet Santa too.  He says no.  😉  We’ll see in a couple of weeks.  I’ll keep using that photo as bait, and the Santa-dressed sock monkey Bryson picked out for him while we paid for the photos.

Our photos next week better work out – we all (and I mean, we ALL, including B) have matching sweater outfits for Breakfast with Santa!  I have officially turned into my mother (sigh).

 


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A Tear or Two

B just forwarded me an email from his mom regarding Christmas.  It was lengthy and complicated, and you could just tell that she hated sending it.  She knows the holidays are stressful for her married kids who have two families to appease.  She is rather sensitive to most everything, so her email had a friendly, “I’m sorry for doing this to you” tone.  (We would never get an email like that from my parents.  HA!)

When talking about activities for Christmas Day, she said, “Understand B that you, Courtney and the boys will be spending Christmas with Courtney’s family.”  You, Courtney, and the boys.  The boys.  THE BOYS.  Reading that made me smile… and it made me tear up instantly.  That one little sentence made me think about the fact that my dream – our dream – came true.

We have the boys.

We have OUR BOYS.

Not just one, but two!

Sometimes, the pleasant reality of my life hits me when I least expect it.  Sometimes, someone else’s words make me reflect on the life I’m living, and the people in it.  Sometimes, I pause for a moment and cry a happy tear or two.

 

 


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A Promise

2012 was good to me.  It was good to US.  We started out the year with the plan to start trying for Baby #2 in June.  I figured I’d stop breastfeeding Matthew in May and that my period would return in June.  I delayed ending our BFing relationship, though, out of pure heartbreak – that was by far the hardest decision I made this year.  I finally had Matthew weaned by mid-July and was back at the RE’s office in August planning our work.

I never thought our work would be successful so quickly.  I really didn’t.  After spending 2.25 years of trying to get pregnant with Matthew, and a full 3 years from start to finish before we brought him home, neither of us thought the first FET would work.  Of course we hoped it would, but we didn’t think it would.  We stressed about how much a fresh cycle would cost if/when we got to that point, we discussed how cycling would impact possible vacation schedules, and we talked about not letting myself get so wrapped up in TTC again that Matthew would feel the impact of it.

And then it worked, and all of that stress and all of those unknowns went out the window.

Instantly.

Which is foolish because of course this pregnancy could end tomorrow, but in my heart of hearts, I feel very confident that this pregnancy will work out just fine.  In fact, I don’t even think about it not working out – I just go with it knowing that everything is fine.  This is such a change for me.

So here I am, at the end of 2012, officially in a second trimester that I didn’t expect to happen this year.

I am grateful that it happened.  I am grateful that I will never have to do a full IVF cycle ever again.  I am so happy knowing that if we choose to be done with family building with this second baby – that yes it was hard-earned – but it was much simpler than last time.

I am at the end of my IF journey if I choose to be.

But…

I wear my heart on my sleeve.  2012 was apparently my/our year – but it wasn’t the year for so many others.  And you know who you are.  I hate that 2012 wasn’t the year to make all of the dreams come true of the wonderful men and women I follow daily.  I hate that it worked for me, but that it didn’t work for you.  I hate that one of my dearest old IRL friends just started her first IVF cycle this month as I’m possibly finishing up that chapter in my life.

Thinking about the uncertainties that these men and women are going through at this time makes my heart hurt, and it makes me angry.  I remember all too well what it’s like to spend every waking thought on IF and the fear that it brings into your life.  My life was on hold for years due to our infertility, and I know that no matter how hard you try, it often times is just too hard to stop that vicious cycle of halting and starting your life again as each IF cycle comes to an end and then starts over again.  I cannot sit here and be grateful that we are possibly done with our IF journey without feeling mutliple things for those who are not yet done.

I know that many in the ALI community are hoping beyond hope that 2013 is their year – because 2012 stuck it to them in a major way.  I want all of those men and women to know that I am in your corner.  I will continue to support you.  I will continue to cheer for you.  And I will continue to know in my heart of hearts that this will work for you – whatever “this” is.  We will all get there in some way or another – wherever there is.

Not a day will go by in 2013 that I won’t think of my friends who are still fighting to build the families they want.  That is my promise for 2013.

 

 


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In the Books

Christmas 2012 is in the books.  It’s over.  It’s done.

We I learned a lot.

Back in November when PAIL had their monthly theme post on Traditions, I skipped it.  I skipped it because I had no idea what I wanted our traditions to be.  I knew what I didn’t want them to be for the holidays, but I had no idea what my plans were for the traditions we would establish for our family.

What I knew (and still know) we won’t do:

  1. Christmas morning will never be spent away from home unless we are traveling somewhere special (this does not include my or B’s parents’ homes – I mean real vacations)
  2. We are not religious and we will not pretend to be during the holidays, like many families do  😉
  3. We will not exclude Santa from our traditions, but will try to keep ourselves in control when it comes to gift-giving
  4. We will not spend the holidays with both families – we will alternate between the two families every year so that we can honor #1 above

 

B and I have talked a bit about what each of our families did for the holidays, but until this year, those conversations were in passing and we didn’t really dwell on anything because we had no idea what we wanted our traditions to be.  This year, we did discuss what each of our families did and we incorporated aspects of each into our own holidays with Matthew.

These conversations were rather short – because B’s family had two traditions besides gift-giving.  They decorated the tree together, and B’s dad opened each ornament and gave it to the child who it belonged to and let him/her put it on the tree wherever they wanted it to be.  And they woke up to the smell of blueberry muffins on Christmas morning.  They ate muffins (and crescent rolls) and opened presents.  Sure, they went to Grandma’s the night before and their aunt and uncle’s every-other year for the holidays, but as far as their immediate family’s traditions go, tree decorating and blueberry muffins were it.

Easy!

My family’s holidays were a bit more complicated (but fun).  We spent tons of time making Christmas cookies together – all sorts!  Our favorites were the sugar cookies but we also enjoyed the Spritzes my mom would make (they are awesome in milk).  We would spend time as a family wrapping presents together, in disguised boxes so that no one knew what we were wrapping.  We decorated the house together (this was not fun – too much micro-managing from our parents every.single.year) and listened to Christmas music all season long.  We opened presents the weekend before Christmas so that we were free to travel and spend time with extended family on Christmas Eve and Christmas day.  Santa came to our house (he was a wonderful Santa and he came from the time I was 2 until I was 13) the Saturday before Christmas and brought us a very special gift at that time.  Our grandparents would come over and we’d get all dressed up (ugh), have a huge Christmas dinner, welcome Santa, and then open presents.  It was quite fun and memorable, aside from getting dressed up  😉

On Christmas Eve, we went to my dad’s folks’ house and had a great time with aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents.  This was yet another formal affair (ugh) but it was super fun, nonetheless.  My sister would play the organ and we would sing Christmas carols together.  We had another huge, formal meal, opened presents, and played games together with the sound of traditional Christmas music playing in the background.  My best Christmas memories are of this time, without a doubt.  We would go to Christmas service (not mass) as an immediate family at midnight (my dad’s family went to mass) and we loved that because all we did was sing Christmas carrols and the church had a fabulous choir!  We would come home, snuggle into bed, and then wake up Christmas morning to stuffed stockings (we knew that they were filled by Mom and Dad because Santa had already come to see us the weekend before) before loading up the car to head to my mom’s family’s home 3.5 hours away.  Once there, we spent the next day and night with cousins, cousins, and more cousins!  Even more fun memories there!

So – when you strip out the extended family events, my family had many traditions.  Some worth keeping (cookies, Christmas music) and some worth scrapping (making the decorating of the house a miserable affair).

So, without further delay, here is what we did, and what will continue to be traditions for our family:

  1. We will most definitely listen to Christmas music in the house (and in the car) from Thanksgiving through Christmas – all sorts of Christmas music as long as it’s peppy
  2. The house will be decorated by the family but it will be fun, dammit!  Any aspect of it that is not fun will be handled by me, myself, and I as to spare everyone the agony of my control issues
  3. We will always have Christmas lights in front of our house, and they will be the type that make our children happy (colored lights, lighted lawn ornaments) – not the ones that make me happy (white lights)
  4. We will go on several drives each week to look at Christmas lights
  5. The year that we spend Christmas with B’s family (they live close by), we will have a Christmas Eve dinner with our closest couple friends and their child(ren).  We did this two years ago and again this year, and it was the best part of Christmas for us both!
  6. Sugar cookies will be made sometime during the holidays.  I made the cookies the day before Christmas Eve and we frosted them Christmas night.  That was not my plan, but Matthew’s sickness made things hard on Christmas day.  Next year, I hope to have them done by the night of Christmas Eve *
  7. Christmas Eve will be spent with extended family before coming home for dinner with our friends
  8. Christmas morning will be greeted with homemade raspberry and/or strawberry muffins and boxed blueberry muffins (for B!)
  9. Christmas morning will always be spent at home unless we are on a fun trip
  10. B and I will wrap the kids’ gifts together – we did that this year and had a great time together!
  11. Christmas day will be loosely scheduled – up in the air.  It was nice being home but we also missed being with family this year.  We will definitely spend time on Christmas day with B’s family the year that we’re spending with them, but it won’t be as much time as we’ve spent in the past
  12. We will ALWAYS have backup food ready to cook on Christmas day in case we get snowed/sicked in.  HA!

 

So there you go – that’s my plan for our holiday traditions going forward.  I couldn’t have come up with all of that without going through the motions of a holiday season with a real, bona-fide toddler  🙂

Now, much of this won’t apply for next year because my dad has already Bogart-ed all of Christmas (24th – 27th) with a family trip to Colorado, but I’m willing to take one for the team (my family) next year so that I never have to do it again .  This will allow us to re-establish our traditions going forward from there.  Sometimes, you have to give your controlling parents what they want, so that you can ultimately end up with what you want in the end  😉

* B has ALWAYS asked me to make sugar cookies with red hots.  I have never done it.  I’ve never had the desire, until this year.  It made me really happy to do this for him  🙂


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Merry Christmas?

Matthew woke up at 1:36 on Christmas morning with an awful fever (104). I was up with him until 3:45 and then again from 4:50 until 7:30. I didn’t sleep much while I was with him – he was just too uncomfortable and shifty for me to rest.  It was a hard night for all of us.  B knew to get rest because he knew I’d be exhausted once we got up and that he’d have to be the primary care-giver until I got a nap in.

We had to call B’s family to let them know that we wouldn’t be making it to their family celebration and they totally understood.  I knew it was the right decision, but I hated missing it because it was at his aunt and uncle’s family farm this year (where B’s dad grew up) and we always have a good time out there and enjoy the big, country Christmas dinner.  We alternate Christmas every year between B’s family and mine, and I hate that we missed B’s family’s Christmas this year.  We did see them all the night before at B’s grandma’s house, but it wasn’t the same and I feel like they got the shaft.

I had intentions of making home-made raspberry muffins before anyone woke up, but that didn’t happen for obvious reasons.  I finally got them made around 8:45 or so before we opened gifts.  Matthew is still too young to understand presents and was feeling awful, so there were tears here and there because he just wanted to be held and fall asleep.  It was quite sad.  B and I did not discuss Matthew’s gifts this year and we both ended up getting him a lot of things – more than either or us would have planned had we discussed.   Needless to say, there were a lot of presents to open for a sick little boy.  By the end, we were rushing things.

Matthew got 10 or 11 new books (we seem to have misplaced one already) and as we were opening them, he kept wanting us to read him his OLD books.  So funny!  We stopped a couple of times to read his two favorite “old” books.

Matthew’s nap was short – he just felt terrible.  I don’t think he even slept 2 hours.  I napped for about 45 minutes before getting him up.  We spent the bulk of the afternoon in bed together, as a family, watching CG.  Matthew snuggled with us both and laid still for many, many episodes.

One of the biggest problem we had yesterday was that we had no food in the house.  We were planning on having a huge meal at B’s family’s and then just eating muffins later on.  Not a single grocery store was open (which is how it should be) nor were any restaurants, so we swung by a gas station that makes pizza and had taco pizza for Christmas dinner.  It was actually good – right up my alley!  Matthew wouldn’t touch his food and we assumed it was because he was so sick, but it turns out he was majorly constipated.  B’s grandma fed Matthew a TON of cream pie on Christmas Eve.  I only witnessed 2 bites but B and his brother said she gave him 10 or so when B was with him.  We think the introduction of gluten and refined sugar messed him up – which makes sense.  We learned a valuable lesson – we are the parents and next time, we will put a stop to it.  We let it happen because (at the time) we thought the joy she was getting was way more important than the damage it could be doing.  WRONG.

Matthew finally did his business after eating a pouch of prunes and much agony.  After that, he was in a good enough mood to snuggle on the sofa, eat some oranges, and read his new books.  We read all of Matthew’s new books to him and that was nice and cozy.  He was in no mood for a bath so we put him to bed at 8:00.  My poor boy literally woke up every 20 minutes after going to bed and would cry and cry for a few minutes each time.  I could not let him go through that any longer.  B and I finished up frosting sugar cookies, cleaned up quickly, and prepped for a roommate for the night.

At 10:45, Matthew joined us in bed.

I was up every hour or so helping Matthew settle himself, but that was better than him crying and being miserable alone every 20 minutes.  Matthew slept pretty well for the circumstances and B and I both enjoyed seeing him sleeping next to us.  There’s something very peaceful about having your baby sleeping beside you!

Today is better.  Matthew’s not feeling great and still has a fever, but he’s better and that’s what matters.  He went down for his nap with no problem and is still sleeping almost 2 hours later, which is better than yesterday!

Not the Christmas I imagined, but are they ever?  HA!

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