Merry Christmas

We took Baby J to the mall last night to get his photo taken with the Big Guy--totally cute! We also went to Christmas Eve service at church and the Wassail hour afterward (in other words, we stayed for egg nog and cookies!) Jensen was the hit of the evening in his santa suit! What a cutie. (And, we met a 4 month old that was there for the first time. Uh, Jensen is bigger than him!)

Today was very easy going...no pressure, no rushing, no stress. We exchanged gifts--Jensen loves his new swing and has already fallen asleep in it twice today.

Tomorrow we're going upstate to see the family. It seems like Thanksgiving was only yesterday! We're looking forward to a scenic drive, and overnight stay and then coming back home in plenty of time to recoup and get ready for the new year.

Happy holidays to all, love you lots!

Momentum

I guess there's always going to be "so much" to do. I worked really hard last night, and got a lot of the bedroom decluttered and found homes for some things left out. I cleared off the top of the dresser and reorganized all the drawers. Now the bathrooms are done, and all 3 closets are finished and the dresser is finished. Still, I get frustrated by how much still is left to do, even more now with Christmas coming. And the City is helping me out, too. They're working on the water lines tomorrow, the second day in a row. So, my water will be off again from 8 to 4. No laundry, no dishwasher, and all of J's bottles have to be fixed before then. I mean, if I had to, I could use the cold water we keep in the fridge, and there is some water still stored in the tank, but I'd rather make sure he'll be fed.

I shopped over the last few days, and almost everything there is taken care of. I ordered my nieces and nephew's gifts and they're on the way to Texas and should be there in enough time. Same for the Aunt in Reno. The other 2 Aunts, Grandma and cousins were ordered online and are coming to the house so I can wrap them for when we go to visit at the end of next week.

Tonight was an almost-final run. I got Michael's stuff he wanted to give Celine and some packing supplies to finish the boxes to go to Goodwill and the odds 'n ends I'm sending to my G Girls.

Finally, I sat for a while and went through all my scrapbooking supplies. For some reason, looking at all the pretty paper and stickers makes me really feel good. Then, I realized that I haven't put any of them together. The only scrapbook that I totally finished wasn't even for ME, it was for a friend who was getting married. I'm not sad about it, but I figure if just the supplies make me smile, I would get a lot more joy out of looking at a completed book. Also, I don't want Jensen to be turning, say, 10, and still have an incomplete baby book. If I don't finish his, there's an even greater chance I would never get around to finishing a sibling's book. I've just got to get it together. I'm started, with my little office area, but I need to keep the momentum going.

Unflipped?

Yaawwn. I was up last night until about 3, then came and took a nap until J woke up at 5, then went back to sleep until he woke again at around 6:30. From there, I was up all day, even though I did lay down for a little bit while he napped. Therefore, I am quite tired and about to crawl under the covers. The good news is that for all of my discomfort being exhausted today, it seems that I have successfully reset my sleeping rhythms and I took advantage of being awake by doing the following:

*took a bath (as opposed to a 5 minute shower)
*put on makeup and clean clothes
*snuggled Lena
*snuggled Jensen
*read him The Velveteen Rabbit, the uncut version (was very emotional-what a great story to revisit at Christmas!)
*showed him flash card of colors and shapes (no pressure, just for fun)
*hung the new curtains for my bedroom
*did laundry
*changed my sheets and made the bed
*made a healthy dinner
*watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
*received J's swing at the door and lugged it up the stairs
*unpacked my suitcase (um, yeah, from Thanksgiving)
*started setting up "my" office in the bedroom
*gathered and taped all of the many, many catalogs floating around my house

And now I am going to bed. A day's work well done, I say.

No fun

Today was J's second doctor's appointment, for his 2-month checkup. He is doing beautifully, ranking in the 95th percentile for weight AND height. He's now 13.8 lbs and 25 inches long.

Unfortunately, the second checkup also begins the dreaded year-long round of initial vaccinations. He had two today, and I am not looking forward to any others. Not only did he scream the most pathetic, heart-wrenching little cry, he was also fussy and unhappy the whole rest of the day. It's awful to hear him so upset and know that there was nothing I could do about it, and, in fact, aided "them" in doing "it" to him. To be perfectly honest, I knew what was coming and made Michael be the "bad guy." And, kudos to him, he also was the major factor in getting Baby J to settle down later. Both are now totally passed out asleep, leaving Momma to peace and quiet.

Onto to happier news...so many people have said how beautiful Jensen is, which we all know to be totally true, although I may be a bit biased. So, we're going to find out just how biased I am. If the weather isn't horrific tomorrow (we're scheduled to get hit by a N'oreaster) we're going to the mall to take J to see Santa (for which he will wear-what else-his Santa suit!) and have his first round of baby pics taken, as well as our first family photo. After those come back, I'm going to select the best ones, as well as some casual shots, and send them to a few modeling agencies that work with babies. It's really just for fun, and I realise that everyone thinks their baby is adorable. However, I also realise that with the way commerical advertising works (residuals, residuals, residuals!) it's possible that if he only got a couple of ads, it would be possible to have college paid for before he even finished kindergarten. So, no pressure, just keeping fingers crossed for luck. As you can see, he's very easy going.

He loves his baths and tries to eat the bubbles. If we don't lay him back so he can "float" he starts to get fussy. We call this (above) "going stealth." It is one of his favorite activities! (Don't worry, we are very careful! Michael is in the tub with him, holding his head and Michael never goes in the "big tub" with J unless I'm nearby, just in case.)

Flip flop

Jensen is still good. He was up late last night, due to a little too much napping during the day. I think I have successfully, though unintentionally, flipped most of my day and night hours. I am not going to bed usually until after his 3 am feeding and sleeping on and off until about noon.

I need to flip it back, because now very little is getting done. There is very little motivation at 2 am. But, I still need to prepare for Christmas. We are staying home for Christmas Eve and Day(Jensen's first!) and then will probably go upstate to visit my family. Although I am very happy to go see them again, it also means that we can't go empty handed (not that I would shirk getting them gifts anyway) but everything has to be bought, wrapped and organized asap. I also have to send something to the 3 kiddos in Texas. (I still can't believe I haven't even met Emma, my second niece! She'll be 3!) Well, thank god for the internet. Everything can be done online!

Poof!

I went to the doctor today for my post-op checkup. I have been declared fit to do whatever, including exercise.

I was happy to discover that my pregnancy weight has disappeared, like magic. Simply giving birth apparently took with it whatever pregnancy had brought on. That doesn't mean that it's not going to take some work to get things closer to normal-my shape has changed a ton, and even with the actual weight gone, my old jeans still don't fit right. But, I am going to work on it. Slowly, carefully, easing back into things.

Michael and I have also been doing some serious talking about our family. Most of you know that he is a bit older than I am, and the idea of being an "old man" (his words, not mine) when the baby is graduating from high school makes him very uneasy. So, if we're going to have others, it will have to be relatively soon. Although I still have a TON to learn about being a mom, I think I could handle two at the same time, if I had some help here and there. The doctor told me I should wait a bit, he said 6 months should be fine, since I'm still pretty young and in decent shape, and then we can start aiming to have another if we want. We're still in talks, and we have at least 6 months to continue discussions without feeling like we're under the gun.

Sigh. Must sleep. Things are good, but busy. Our new washer and dryer have been humming constantly since installed this morning, and then I basically went straight to the doc. He was at the hospital delivering someone else's baby, so I had to wait nearly 2 hours before seeing him. I am glad the day is over. I. Am. So. Tired.

Besides that, having it be tomorrow means it's Amy day!!