Merry Christmas

Today is my last day of work until Tuesday, so I wanted to make to wish you all a Merry Christmas. We have a heavy schedule of activity kicking off tomorrow and running through Monday. I'm actually kind-of annoyed that we have to run around so much, but I know it will all be worth it in the end... My presants are wrapped, my cookies are baked and I'm all set for Maddy's first Christmas, I think. I'm really ready to be done at work too. I doubt that I get very much accomplished today. Nobody's really here either, which makes it even harder. I might try to sneak out a little early. But seriously, is it really sneaking if there is nobody here to catch you? Hmmm...

I'm really annoyed today though because I forgot my cell phone at home. It's only 8:30 and it is driving me insane. I used to never really care too much about having a cell phone, let alone using one, but ever since I've started this new job, my phone has become like another right hand. I asked for that BlueTooth thing for Christmas, because I spend much of my hour-long commute home on the phone.

OK. I just got off the phone with my boss, and I've gotta run. It is going to be a CRAZY day. Big news stories to get out.

At any rate, Happy Holidays to all of you and your families!

Memoirs of a Geisha

Books are dangerous for me. Once I start reading one I just can't stop until I'm finished. This used to not be such a big deal - Jerry would get a little annoyed with me, but that was ok. Now, with Maddy, it drives me nuts because I just don't have the time to read as much as I'd like (hell, I don't have time to a lot of things I'd like to), but this all brings me to the events of the last few nights...

Last week while Jer and I were at the mall, I bought Memoirs of a Geisha. I started reading it over the weekend. Now, I have to preface this with the fact that I am a very fast reader, and used to read an entire book in just one night. Well, I started reading this one on Saturday, and I just finished it last night. I was determined to finish this book. I loved it all, and poured over the beautiful descriptions of the kimonos and the amazing sisterhood of the geishas. It was truly a great book, and I really cannot wait to see the movie. But anyhow, back to being a mommy and trying to read... You see, I was obsessed with this book, so I would tell Jerry to watch Maddy because I had to go to the bathroom, and I would sneak the book in there just to read a few chapters. Then, I would read while I was feeding Maddy a bottle or folding the laundry or while the baby was sitting the pack-n-play. Every second I could sneak in some reading, I did. And, I finished the book. However, I have to ask... is this crazy? I stayed up late every night reading for a couple of hours after Madeline went to sleep, to the point where Jer was ready to sleep and I still had the lights on... this is highly unusual, as I usually get mad that he's still up watching TV when I'm ready to sleep.

You know, my thought on it is this... Reading is something I do for me, and I haven't had time to read a book since Madeline was born. I don't think cramming in one book from time to time is so bad?

TIME OUT FROM BOOK POST: My husband just called me... I have to vent. You see he is home from now until after New Year's, so he has Maddy with him. Now, I told him a few days ago that I really needed to do Maddy's laundry or she wouldn't have clothes for him to put on her... Well, I haven't had time to get to it because I was busy doing the piles and piles of laundry of ours that we had been hoarding all over the house. (Plus, you know I was busy with the book). So, there really isn't much in Maddy's closet right now that will fit her... so, he called to bitch to me and ask where clothes were that he could put on her... And then he proceeds to ask why there are all these clothes still in the closet and her drawers that are too small.... Now, I told him weeks ago that was a project I really needed to tackle; however, with the holidays I was just too busy and that I would work on after the craziness subsided. He goes on to tell me how easy it was to do and how he couldn't believe she had all these clothes, blah, blah, blah... I am so fuming mad at him right now. Who the hell does he think he is???? He has never in Madeline's 9 months of life done a load of her laundry or put it away or packed her bag of clothes for the week or kept up with the constant need for new clothes in bigger sizes... Now, he's complaining about her closet. Oh my gosh. I am going to kill him. So, I told him that her laundry really needed to be done... His response, "I'll keep looking and find something to put her in until you get home." Asshole.

Yes, for those of you that think I'm insane about mentioning the other day about having another one.... Yes, I am. I need to kick Jer's ass into gear if that's even going to be discussed any time soon! Ugh.

OH, and here's another good one for ya... He's off for like 2 weeks, right? Do you think he would get up with her last night when she woke up at 2 a.m.?? OH no. Mommy was up for like 45 minutes with her, while he snored away. Do you think he helped me put her to bed when she was screaming bloody murder because she's teething so bad, even when I yelled down and asked him to come help me? OH no. He was snoring on the couch, curled up with a blanket while I gave her a bath, fed her, changed her, and spent an hour trying to get her to sleep. OH, and for the record, I actually cooked a meal for dinner last night too while his ass sat on the couch!!!!!! Bah. The dishes will still be in the sink when I get home, I'm sure.

Santa

I cannot believe Christmas is this weekend! Madeline will be 9 months old on Christmas day. Wow. Where does the time go?

At any rate, this year is the first time I have to play the role of Santa. I know Maddy is too young to really understand any of this stuff, but I still feel like I need to start off on the right foot and I know in my heart that she will at least understand that Christmas is a really special time in our family. So, I bought her entirely too much stuff - toys and clothes and books, oh my! I cannot wait to put it all and set stuff up for her to see on Christmas morning, but here's the catch... I really want my husband to put together this ride-on thing we bought her and have it sitting out and make it all look really magical for her, but I know my husband is going to think I'm a wack-job since Maddy will really have no clue what's going on...

I would love your feedback on what you've done for your child's first Christmas or what you think about the whole thing...

Proud Mama Wants Another One

I have to update you all on some things my precious Maddy is doing these days:
Claps her hands
Opens her mouth and "gives kisses"
Says: Mama, Dada, Hi
Waves her entire arm whenever she hears the word "bye"
Frantically "flaps" her arms up and down when she's excited about something
Crawls like she's in a speed race
Stands up on everything
Can drink out of a straw, and absolutely loves doing it
Wants to eat "real" food and throws a hissie if you don't have something you can share
Is teething fiercely - her top incisors are coming in now
She tries to whisper - this is my personal favorite and is soooo cute!

I am telling you that girl is the absolute greatest little thing on the face of the planet!! My parents kept her overnight on Saturday, so that Jer and I could go to his friend's Christmas party. And we both really missed her. At the party, Jer was so cute showing everyone pictures of her and talking about her. On our entire drive out to my mom's to pick her up, we couldn't stop gushing to each other about our little princess. As soon as she heard us come in, those arms started flapping and she raced on her hands and knees to come and get us. Soooo cute.

She's such a wonderful baby, and I am totally getting the itch to have another one. Oh my. It's the same feeling I had when I knew I wanted to have her... Jerry is trying to fend me off with a stick, no more or less he keeps reminding me of the realities that make another one not such a good idea for at least a few more months. We'll probably start trying again later this summer. That way they will be about 2 years apart. I really want a boy, but Jer would prefer another girl. Weird, hah?

Anyhow, I will have to post another time about the party we went to on Saturday. THat was absolutely the craziest party I've been to as an adult out of college. I'm not even kidding - people got naked and all these chicks were flashing everyone. It was insane. The worst part, the majority of the guests were teachers!

Yesterday was a really great day. Jerry was in a really great mood, and it totally showed. We had a nice morning together before picking up the baby, and we ended up staying at my mom's all day and baking cookies. It's hard to explain why that was so great, but really it was just nice to have Jer make me feel so good about everything without even trying. Plus, last week he sent a really nice email to my mom thanking her for watching Maddy for us a lot, and asking her to help him shop for me... Too cute. This weekend was so nice, and I am truly blessed to have such a beautiful daughter and great husband, now I just want to add to our little family :)

Hubby's Misconceptions

I am utterly exhausted today, and my back is killing me. The stress of being a working mom is really taking a toll on me with everything we need to get done to the house and for Christmas. Ugh. Last night, I got home from work and cleaned the upstairs of the house, made blueberry muffins for my whining husband who has been asking me to make them for weeks, gave Maddy a bath, played with her for a while, and spent 45 minutes getting her to bed. Oh, and in the middle of that, took out all the trash, had a stamping customer stop by to pick up her order, and went through all the mail from the past few days to see what things needed to be handled.

Now, do you know what my husband did last night? He hung out at his mom's house after work, so that he could time getting home at the same time as me (thus, not having to watch Maddy by himself). I get home and she's in the Pack n' Play, and he's on the couch watching TV. He leaves her with me and runs out to pick up some Quizno's for dinner. Comes back and takes a nap with Maddy while I clean - they are both snoring away in the recliner while I make the damn muffins. He watches TV while I give her a bath and then heads out to the hot tub while I put her to bed.

Now, I realize there are a few good things about what he did last night - he handled dinner and he kept her occupied while I cleaned upstairs; however, I have to remind you all that my day starts when I leave the house at 6 a.m. and I get home from work at 5:30 p.m. I make about 35% more $ than my husband. I have an hour commute each way. Our arrangement is that he is supposed to make dinner and do the dishes every night, and I honestly couldn't tell you the last time he cooked a meal. Dishes will sit for a long time before he does them, but the last few times I've ended up doing those too on the weekend.

Every time I've gone Christmas shopping, I've had Madeline with me. Every time I have a stamping function, I have Madeline with me. Jerry doesn't change diapers at home like ever.

You know what he tells me all the time, and this is exactly what he said when I asked him if he would put her to bed last night, "No way - I have her every morning."

Every morning, he does have to get her out the door. But, I leave at 6, and he leaves at 7:15. He takes her to his mom's in pajamas, because at the beginning of each week, after I do all of her laundry, I pack a bag of clothes for her and send it over there. So, really he has one hour to entertain her and put her in the snowsuit and snap her into the car seat. Yet, when I get home she's basically attached to me until she goes to bed 4 hours later.

Blah. I know I'm being petty. And I know Jerry thinks he's doing a lot, but I have to tell you that I am in desperate need of some alone time. I just want some time to do something without the baby and without Jerry asking every 2 seconds if I'm done yet or when I'm going to be home. Bah.

He doesn't get it. I am really feeling stressed out.

Happy Monday Morning!

Good morning everyone. How was your weekend? Mine was action-packed as always. Friday night we had Jer's work Christmas party. It was at another teacher's house, and oh my gosh was this house amazing! Her husband is in medical sales, and you could definitely tell he'd makes some big bucks, but I will also tell you that our new house doesn't pale in comparison... I think we may one day be having this party at our house! Saturday morning we had family pictures taken with Jerry's sister and their baby and a few of his cousins. Crazy. The pictures are great though, and we took our first official family portrait of the three of us. I just love it so much. Maybe I'll post it soon. Then, after pictures, Maddy and I went shopping with my dad all day for my mom's gifts while Jerry helped his sister move. Maddy and I spent the night at my mom's, and then yesterday morning dad and I got up and ran out to one more store to finish up, and then I had to drive my brother to go pick up his car, and then we finally got home around 2 p.m. Only to turn around a couple hours later to go to Jerry's parents for dinner. We got home at 8 p.m. last night. I gave Maddy a bath, put her to bed, and went right to bed myself!! Insanity. I am so tired this morning. Wow.

While out shopping over the last week, I've begun to notice that my daughter is an incredibly well-behaved child. Since Thanksgiving, Madeline has accompanied me on three all-day shopping marathons - in and out of the car, eating in the food courts, the whole deal, and she has just been excellent. She loves to see all the people and look at the decorations in the mall, and she generally just likes all the action going on around her. Occasionally she'll get fussy, but it's usually because she needs her diaper changed or needs to eat a bottle. Moms have it rough this time of year, and after these marathon days, I am becoming much more grateful that I have a "good baby." It is so hard to maneuver the stroller in the stores, and trying to focus on shopping while remembering to feed and change the baby, while entertaining her and trying to pay for things and packing the stroller totally filled with gifts. It is just amazing, and it is such a different endeavor than when you don't have children, and you just have to think about the shopping task at hand. But you know, even though it is a ton of work and she makes shopping a truly exhausting experience, I wouldn't change one thing. I am so happy to have her with me when I'm out and about and she babbles and smiles at everyone. She totally deserves the way too many presents her mommy has bought her!! :)

Have a great day!

The illness from hell

Today is the first day I've been to work this week. You see over the weekend I came down with the illness from hell, otherwise known as strep throat. Saturday morning my throat was a little scratchy. Saturday afternoon I was achy and tired. Saturday night I sat in the hot tub hoping my aching neck and back would feel better. Sunday, my throat felt like someone had installed spike strips for my saliva to pass through - seriously it hurt so bad to swallow, I couldn't bare it and spit in the sink a lot. Sunday night I woke up sweating from a fever. Now, remember that I now work in a hospital. So, coming to work was not an option, and I knew I really needed to go the doctor. So I did, and I now I'm taking penicillin for 10 days. Was still contageous and still felt like crap yesterday. Today, I feel a little bit better. My throat has, for the most part, retracted the spike strips and is allowing me to swallow with minimal irritation. Now, I just have to get back into the swing of work... Bah.

The last time I had strep throat, I was in college. It was right after I moved into the dorm my sophomore year. I ended up missing my first three days of class that year because I had to wait for the dr. to show up on campus to give me drugs. I was so sick. I remember just laying on the floor and crying. I also threw up a few times then. Thank God that didn't happen this time around - I did feel nauseous off and on, and this lovely penicillin has turned all of my bodily waste a nice bright orange color though. Anyhow, I remember this because it was the first year that I lived with my now very best friend. What a great impression I made as a roommate - totally sick and puking the first days. Plus, being sick made me get really homesick and then I missed Jer a whole bunch and was having this total breakdown and debating about transferring schools. I was a mess. Once I got through the illness from hell, I realized I didn't want to transfer schools and that to help me get through it all I would just graduate a whole year early.

You see, I get sick when I get really stressed out or have some big decisions going on. Hmmm.... Now if you've been reading this blog for any amount of time you can understand why the illness from hell was bound to strike again.

The truly great news is that the dr. told me that children under the age of 2 very very rarely get strep throat - so Madeline should be safe. I was really freaking out about that. Jerry, on the other hand, is not so safe, and I truly expect him to come down with it very soon.

Well, I probably won't post again until Friday. Gotta get caught up today, and yeah, as bad as this sounds, I'm out of the office again tomorrow. I took this vacation day a long time ago, because I have a follow-up appt. with my ob/gyn and then will be hooking up with my mom, my cousin and my aunt to go shopping. (They all took tomorrow off too). Should be fun. I need a little pick me up and some "me" time. Madeline will still be going to MIL's house. I've had her with me while I was home sick, and she's been great. She's so much fun, but the break sounds really nice.

Scrapbooking & Stamping

It's been quite the busy week. Work is crazy - 10 hour days, coming in at 6:30 a.m.! Insane. We took Madeline to see Santa on Wednesday - that was the funnest part of the week. Tonight, I have MAJOR stamping to do. My club's Christmas meeting is tomorrow, and I have a lot of things to get ready for it. Of course I haven't started at all. My mom is coming over tonight to stamp as well, and help me get ready for tomorrow.

I am finding it harder and harder to really focus on stamping because I want to spend all of my available crafting time SCRAPBOOKING. I never thought that I would really get into scrapbooking. Stamping was such a passion, but then I started Maddy's scrapbook and it has become a new obsession. I have so many pictures and page ideas, and not enough time to do it! I might have to become one of those women that I used to think were crazy, staying up until all hours of the night working on pages. I really want to scrap her Halloween pictures, and some really great pictures of her and Jerry. I also want to go back and do some more pages of her earlier pictures. I think after the holidays, I am going to have to ask Jerry to let me have some real time to devote to it.

Ugh. So much to do. I need to put up my Christmas tree too. Maybe Sunday. I am only putting up one this year (I usually do two). I am only going to put the one up in the basement because Madeline is just too quick and too smart to have one upstairs. I know she would try to pull herself up on it, and it would probably come crashing down around her! No thanks. My tree in the basement with all of my collector's Disney ornaments will do just fine. We're finally get the house listed with the realtor too, so I need to spend some time cleaning and packing up some "clutter" too. When the hell I am supposed to do all this I have no idea! I am also supposed to go shopping with my dad for my mom's Christmas gifts. This is an annual tradition. Hmmm... that's a good topic for a future post. Holiday traditions. Next week. I actually need to go do some work now.