Merry Christmas

December 26th, 2009 - VERY early morning

4am - my arm is asleep, which wakes me up. I need to 'wake up' my arm in order for me to go back to sleep (is this backwards or what!?) Kaitlyn is already up: Mama, is it morning yet?!?!? No, baby, not yet. Go back to sleep, okay?

5am - my arm woke up, and I went back to sleep. Rousing me from a deep sleep is my daughter: Mama, is it morning now?!?! Sigh...no, baby. Go back to sleep, okay?

5:30am - Zander is up and partying...

6:45am - my son is still partying, although my daughter's room is quiet. I sigh and get out of bed.
Fudge notices me putting on my pants, which means I am up and we are going for a walk!
The weather is beautiful; the sun is almost up and the cold, wet wind feels wonderful, waking me up fully and I take deep breaths of fresh air.

7:15am - I tiptoe back into the house with the paper, turn on the coffee machine and feed the pets. I am hoping to get in a few minutes of alone time before Christmas kicks off. Both children have dozed off. I do not have to worry about Aaron: he is a teenager and will not rise voluntarily before 10am...:)

7:20am - I get Fudge out from behind the tree, where a present with a bone in it for him was "hidden".












7:21am - I make room for Hootie to get behind the tree, since Christmas tree water is a real treat for him and he could not reach because of all the presents Santa dropped off.

7:25am - Jim wakes up, completely taking me off guard. Did you fall out of bed, honey?

7:28am - after reading an article in the paper I am immensely grateful for what we have. Thanking God for all our blessings.

8am - both Jim and I try to wake up the kids, which takes us a long time.

8:15am - finally! The kids are awake (Aaron qualifies as "awake", since his eyes are open) and we are heading for the stockings.

9am - Breakfast is in the oven and Ama and Poppy arrive to witness the opening of the presents. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Christmas card pictures

Reflecting on the year past

This is the letter I sent out to some of my family members and friends that live far away...
Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!

Dear friends and family,
I am trying yet again to stay ahead of the “get ready for Christmas” game and I have to accept defeat once more. Only six more days until Christmas…sigh
Another year passed, it seems it was even shorter than the one before. It is time lost, moments that cannot be repeated, only reflected upon and hopefully enjoyed while they lasted, however brief.
As Kaitlyn wonders how Santa makes his reindeer fly, I reflect on the year past.
Zander has made HUGE progress! His airway issues have disappeared (thank you, God!) and he is eating like a champ. He still has trouble drinking, but we know he will get there in his own time. He still has his mic-key button, which helps us give him the water and occasional medicine he needs. Also, he has started to LOVE baths! After all we have been through with his health issues, him screaming through bath time REALLY did not help matters…however, now he simply loves his baths and his newest game is to get as much water OUTSIDE the tub as possible. In August he started school (in his class are 4 kids with special needs, and 4 typically developing kids) and is absolutely loving it. His teachers Katie and Val are amazing, and he is starting to interact with his fellow classmates. His birthday party was great: we had a small gathering of family and let Zander go to town with chocolate pudding; he had a blast! On his birthday he started crawling, which had us scrambling to baby-proof the house. He is unstoppable, especially when he can chase the cat, dog, or his favorite, his sissy!
Kaitlyn had a great 6-year sleepover/unicorn birthday party. She invited several friends for her unicorn party and three of them were able to sleep over. On March 30th she got her puppy, a German Shepherd/Black Lab mix we found online at a shelter. She named him Fudge. They are inseparable and he adores her! He is also great with Zander and a wonderful protector and watchdog – maybe a tad too much… Kaitlyn’s transition into 1st grade at her new school went very well. She likes her teacher and has made many new friends. She also joined the Daisy Girl Scouts (with me as her troop’s co-leader) and is loving it! She still takes things literally, which is so very much her age. Today, when Jim was trying to train her how to sell Girl Scout cookies, he started his speech by saying: “you will need to hit as many people as you can”. She thought about that for a moment and said: Daddy, I don’t know about the hitting people thing; I really don’t want to hit anybody”… She is developing a great sense of humor, and is a master in spelling (no more spelling words to get things by her anymore!). Soon I will start training her to play Scrabble with me.
Jim and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary on October 31st, our first in our new home. We had many firsts in our new house and came full circle at Thanksgiving. Jim is still working as an official and liking it. I recently lost my job at the Symphony and am looking for something as we speak. God has a plan, even if we do not know yet what that may be, and I am confident He will guide us in the right direction.
I feel extremely blessed with my family and friends and wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Blessed and Joyful New Year!
Oh, and before I forget: Girl Scout cookies, anyone?
Sylvia

My boy, almost expelled from school

The "kids" were all lined up, sitting nicely on their chairs. There was a moment of panic, when a baby did not want to sit up straight and kept toppling over. Once she was positioned against the back of the chair, it was fine.
Class was about to start.
Ms. Kaitlyn's Kindergarten class, that is.



The school building is beautiful, naturally with the American flag!









Oh, and NO dogs or cats allowed! Sorry, Fudge and Hootie...










I asked Ms. Kaitlyn if my son could come to school. "Of course", she replied. "And if you want, you can stay with him since it's his first day. Giraffe's mommy is here too." That's all right, I said. He will do fine.
I did come into the classroom briefly to take pictures. I moved Zander's high chair a little closer to the others so they would all fit in the picture.










As I proceeded to take a picture of his other class mates, Ms. Kaitlyn looked over to him and noticed that he had grabbed Cheetah by the ear and was trying to pull her off her chair.
She ran over to him, got Cheetah to safety and then moved his high chair to where he could do no harm to the other kids.
"Don't do that again, or you will have to go home", she said sternly.











My son was neither overly impressed nor subdued by that statement.
I may have to look for another school.
Sigh...

Slick puppy

Meet Fudge, our newest family member:

He is a German Shepherd/black lab mix and is sooo sweet!
He came home with us from a shelter on Tuesday and has adapted extremely well. He does not like to be alone and will follow us around "like a puppy" you could say...:)
He tries really hard to be friends with Hootie, but Hootie doesn't want to have anything to do with him; he will hiss at him when he comes too close, or swat him. It will take that cat a little while to accept Fudge. Meanwhile Hootie has been snacking on Fudge's water and food to his heart's content.

Now, about the name of this blog...
Yesterday Jim tied Fudge in the garage with food and water, then brought the kids to Danyelle for Zander's speech therapy and went to work. I would pick up the kids from Danyelle's after work, go home and take Fudge for a walk (Zander in the stroller), since it was such a gorgeous day.
I parked the car outside, opened the garage door and there was Fudge, still tied to the pole where Jim had left him. He was yelping and howling, ecstatic with the prospect of being able to jump on us in greeting, happy to soon be released from his pole prison. I saw he had knocked over the bag of potting soil, but not much had spilled. Then I noticed the paw prints. Dozens and dozens of prints littered the floor and covered his leash, food dishes, and several boxes and picture frames around him.
Even though they were brown it did not smell like poop, so I got a little closer look.
Then it dawned on me: motor oil!
Last week Jim had changed the oil in my car and, since we did not have any container to put the used oil in, left the pan with the used oil in the garage until we would be able to dispose of it. I have to admit that my thoughts towards my husband were not very nice at that moment. Not very nice at all.
Okay, let's tackle this and get it over with.
While I tried to calm Fudge, who was trying his utmost to jump on my suit, I told Kaitlyn to run upstairs and put on her oldest clothes. Then she could walk Fudge in the backyard while I changed and together we could bathe him and attempt to get most of the oil off him.
When she came back down I untied Fudge, who immediately jumped on Kaitlyn, deliriously happy that he was finally loose. In his enthousiasm he scratched her arm, which prompted Kaitlyn to start wailing for me to get that dog off her!
Plan B
I tied Fudge to the pole again (sorry, baby) and brought Alexander, who had been napping in the car, upstairs and changed hurriedly into my old jeans and my Salon Maison shirt (the shirt I use when I dye my hair, since I ALWAYS seem to spill dye on myself). Then I ran back down and let Fudge give me a proper greeting, complete with wet doggy kisses!
Together Kaitlyn and I washed Fudge's paws, belly, and under his chin. Luckily he did not get any oil around his mouth and Kaitlyn went to fetch him some fresh drinking water, which he slobbered up the way only a puppy can. When I was sure I had gotten all of it, I rinsed him and Kaitlyn dried him off carefully. We let him run in the back yard a little to dry off completely and, finally, were ready to head into the house.
First things first: I poured myself a glass of wine and took a sip (okay, more like a few gulps...).
Then I fed Alexander, changed him, and got Kaitlyn's dinner ready. She wanted bread with butter and a boiled egg and asked if she could eat it while watching the dog movie (How to take care of your puppy). Needing a little time to myself I agreed (yes I know, the tv is not a babysitter. So bite me!) and told her she had to make sure Fudge would stay away from her plate. She sat down on the couch and Fudge promptly snatched a piece of bread from her plate and devoured it in 3 seconds flat. Okay, so maybe that plan didn't work out too well.
Later that night, after putting KK to bed, tidying up the house and getting things ready for the next day I plopped down in front of the tv with my son in my arms, ready to relax for a little bit.
At 11pm I fed him once more, put him in his crib, walked Fudge, and fell into bed. I think it took me a whole second to fall asleep.
I woke up sensing someone standing by my bed. I opened my eyes and looked at my daughter. Kaitlyn was wondering why Fudge was not sleeping next to her bed and where was he anyway and could she go get him and take him to her room? I slowly moved my head to look at my alarm clock. It was 4:15am...sigh
Whose idea was it again to get a dog?!?!?

A hair cut and then some...

Okay, so I have been cutting my boy's hair since he needed one, the first one when he was 2 months old. MONTHS, not years!
Now, since his hair grows faster than grass after a week of rain, I have given him numerous haircuts. So many in fact that I stopped counting. He has had one professional hair cut when he was around 6 months old, but I have cut it on all the other occasions. I asked Jim yesterday...he stopped counting at 12, and Zander has had a few more after that.

The day before yesterday I noticed that his bangs were hanging in his eyes and I got out my "Mommy" scissors. Only I am authorized to use those and I use them exclusively for hair: Jim's, KK's, Zander's and my own bangs.
So Wednesday evening I was able to get his bangs and the hair on top of his head done. All I needed to do was trim the back and sides, by his ears.
Now, this whole hair cutting business has become exceedingly difficult due to Alexander's moving around, pulling his head one way with a jerking motion when I try to get it to go the other way. I have tried to do it while he is asleep, but to no avail: he starts rolling his head from side to side in his sleep.
Kaitlyn has helped me by distracting him, which works up until a certain moment, when he decides I messed with his hair long enough.
Last night I decided to finish by cuting the back and around his ears. I did not want to postpone it in case I would not get around to it for another week or so and have his neck hairs long enough again for a pony tail - so not "in" anymore. I got the back done quickly and then proceeded to finish up with the sides.
Since Jim was busy, Kaitlyn volunteered to distract him while he was sitting in the high chair. She was doing a wonderful job and neither one of us was prepared for Zander suddenly throwing his head forward. I felt the scissors make contact with his ear while I closed the blades...
It took Zander a full 4 seconds to realize something hurt. Then "the lip". That's when he started squealing like a little pig getting slaughtered and the blood started gushing out.
My hearing is not too good to begin with and is now completely shot. I know my son can be loud, but this topped it all. Even the synergys shots, which are very painful, do not elicit a reaction like this one.
Kaitlyn rushed to get me a tissue, which I held up to his ear to stop the bleeding. Naturally, with him screaming bloody murder the attempt was futile, since 95% of his blood was in his head to accomodate his need for oxygen. In the meantime Jim had come running and, after I told him the cut was tiny and we did not need to make a trip to the ER, had fled the scene.
With Zander howling while I am holding him in one arm and trying to stop the bleeding with the other, I am trying to get a hold of a bandaid (I have to replenish the supply in my purse again). They are too far up for Kaitlyn to reach and impossible for me to get down without hands. Finally Jim comes back and I ask (yell actually) to get me a @#$#@$ bandaid...okay, I did not SAY that in front of the kids, but boy was I thinking it! My husband manages to find the tiniest bandaid in the box - it's a family size box - barely enough to cover the top of a pin, and hands it to me. Naturally, the second I put the bandaid on it is soaked with blood. After some more asking (yelling again, since my son is waayyy not out of steam yet) I finally get the size I want and promptly stick it on his hair. Zander has actually calmed down a little and there I go ripping the bandaid off his hair, pulling a few out of his head for good measure. There we go again!
Finally, after what seems like an eternity, I get the bandaid in the right place and Zander calmed down. Needless to say I was done with hair cutting! I even blamed my husband for an instant, since I mentioned wanting to take Alexander to a hair dresser and he said he is not quite ready to do that. I bet NOW he is!
A tip on how to get blood completely out of clothes without discoloration: hydrogen peroxide. It's magic.
This morning, as I was feeding my oh so sweetly smiling, cooing baby I contemplated getting the scissors to get to that little pluck of hair I missed yesterday.
And then I remembered what happened...or actually I saw what happened. He still had dried blood all over his ear and the side of his head. When I gather enough courage I will tackle that project.
Sigh.
And next time: hair dresser it is, honey!

Snow!

Trying to hit daddy...

Finally KK can make a snow angel!

Everyone is enjoying the snow...until Zander touches it! So much for that!

Are you sure it's the same baby?

That was the question from the ENT when he saw Alexander last week.
He said: I did not hear him when I was coming down the hall!
I know what he is talking about. He used to make a lot of noise breathing, kind of like a constant wheezing. We had gotten used to it I guess.

We are ecstatic because for a while now Alexander has been breathing silently. Thank you, God! I don't mind waking up in the middle of the night to go check on him, putting my hand on his chest, listening intently for any sound from him. A sigh, a movement, a yawn puts my mind at ease and I can go back to bed. Sometimes, instead of going back to bed right away, I sit in his rocking chair for a while, rocking lightly and listening to my son breathing softly. Sometimes I don't have to strain to hear him. He is a party animal, my boy, and once in a while, if he slept too much during the day, he will have lengthy and loud conversations with his ducky or bear. These are pretty much one-sided conversations, but incredibly loud nonetheless. I used to be a heavy sleeper until I had children. Now the slightest cry wakes me up instantly and I am by their beds long before Jim even realizes one of his children is having a nightmare. Even if I still were a heavy sleeper, there is no way I would be able to sleep through Zander's "parties". So I lie in bed and listen to him telling a story to his ducky.
Sure, it's annoying.
Then again, I'll take waking up to his stories over hearing him struggle to breathe any day...or night!

My life is...

A few hours ago I could have thought of a slew of words that are not even remotely close to any expression of thankfulness or happiness...the endless list included several very strong expletives in several different languages, none of those worthy of repeating here lest anyone speaking any of those languages might come across them and report me to the authorities. You know, the "bad language police", the one that would make me say "I am happy" 4,532 times, until I would be so sick of saying "I am happy" I would start grumbling and cursing once more and the whole thing would start all over again.
I was in a groove, but it was not a good one. I was feeling terribly sorry for myself and my miserable little life devoid of any pleasures, a full night sleep that was not induced by alcohol, or anything that remotely resembled the slightest hint of contentment. I had no intention whatsoever of crawling out of the pit of self-pity I was wallowing in.

What had started all this you might wonder? Even if you didn't wonder, I will tell you anyway. It's MY blog and I feel like writing it. If you don't want to "hear" it, stop reading. So there!
Anyway, my having to leave my baby at home and having to go back to work is what started all this. While Jim was away I got to spend four delightful, unfairly short days with my babies, of which two were alone with my littlest baby, while my older"baby" was at school. I am absolutely convinced that my days with them had been reduced to a mere 5 hours, instead of the usual 24 and I feel shorted much precious time with my babies. On top of that my dear husband had me driving around town to take care of the van situation (it needed to be dropped off to be repaired), which meant even less time to play...


Soooo, when Jim came back on Tuesday night I was thoroughly frustrated and mad with the world and Jim, back from his relaxing trip to beautiful South Florida, was conveniently there for me to unleash my fury onto. After all, I had to go back to work the next day!

To make matters a little more complicated, we had had a big scare on Thursday, when Jim took Alexander to the pediatrician who, to make a long story short, thought he had diabetes. So on Friday morning, while Jim left for the airport, I took Zander to a pediatric endocrinologist. After spending over 3 hours there, with a futile attempt at the very end of our visit to draw blood, we left with the good news that it was probably not diabetes. However, to be on the safe side I had to prick Zander's finger 4 times a day and write down the result of the blood sugar test, then call back on Tuesday with the results. I spoke with the doctor on Tuesday who, after going over the results, told me it was definitely not diabetes. Thank you, God!
The scare of Alexander possibly having diabetes put some intense stress on us on Thursday, though, with the result that Jim and I ended up fighting before he went to his DADS meeting. He had left the house a huge mess, which, OCD as I am, just had to be cleaned up on the spot in order for me to think straight. Also, kids had to be fed and bathed, lunch prepared for the next day, trash taken out, and I was completely exhausted by the time Jim came back from his meeting. Since he is a last-minute person with as little planning as possible, he did not have his bags packed yet for his trip. He proceeded to do that at 10:15pm, at which point I am usually in bed already. Add that to the thoroughly relaxing evening I had already had (grrrrrr) and voila! Miss Ticked Off Big Time (can't use any curse words...sigh), that would be me, went to bed mad. You know what happens when you do that, right? You don't sleep well! You have all these weird dreams that keep repeating themselves over and over, and you wake up from the slightest little noise about 37 times. Oh, and you suddenly wake up at 3:15am, having to go to the bathroom really bad and then can't get back to sleep until 15 minutes before the alarm is set to go off. That's how my weekend started and, as we all know, when you think you will be able to get a good night's sleep it ain't gonna happen...
Anyway, my days with my babies were wonderful and the closer Tuesday evening came, the more upset I got again.
It would be the end of my playtime.
Back to work, girl!
On top of taking care of the kids in the evening, including cooking dinner, bathing, brushing teeth, reading books, checking home work, cleaning up after kids and husband, laundry, making the grocery list and shopping, preparing lunch, taking care of the cat, getting gas (in the car that we both drive), fixing things around the house, paying bills, fixing lunch (for school and work) and breakfast, participating in whatever is going on at KK's school - book club, seasonal parties, special days, etc - keeping up with appointments (and reminding my husband of those)...wow, I guess I really do all that...on top of all that I also have to go to work and concentrate on things other than my family for 9 hours and battle rush hour twice a day as well. How many hours are in a day again? Can I request that number to be upped to, say, 45 hours? I would not mind including some time to actually play with my kids and have some time to spend with my husband. While I am at it, why not throw in some time for myself as well? Maybe learn how to nap while driving? Nah, I guess that would be pushing it!

I believe I sufficiently explained why I was in such a foul mood. Now, I was at work, doing some magnificent wallowing while working on the computer, when I saw it: the page from Rachel's blog that I had copied into a Word document. All I saw was the title, and I remembered what a great entry that was - and what wonderful responses! If you haven't read it yet, please go to Rachel's blog and find "My life is..." It is worth it!
Yes, my life is hard and it stinks sometimes, but more often than not it is simply...I cannot even begin to describe all the positive things about my life, they are too numerous!
So, I decided to "put my big girl panties on", thought about all the things I am grateful for, all the things that are NOT hard, and put a smile on my face.
And it is still there:)

Another haircut

I managed to cut Zander's hair today, for the most part anyway. It used to be so easy to cut his hair, but now that he is more mobile, it has become a true challenge.
It only took me an hour(yes, I am being sarcastic), and that's without the two half-hour interruptions, when I saw that bottom lip start to come out, followed by the wails of a baby being tortured...and the huge crocodile tears were not far behind. That child has no problem whatsoever with his tear ducts, or with his lungs for that matter. I think the people that live three streets over heard him!
Jim had to help me finish the job when he got home from work. He kept Zander's attention focused on him, distracting him from what I was doing, and I was done in a few minutes. Then, just as I am finishing up, Zander swings his arm and knocks down the container with hair clippings I had set on the table, sending the hair flying all over the floor I had swept a mere 30 minutes before...
I think next time I will head on over to the hair salon and spend $10. A small price to pay for the time (and sanity) I will save!

I am six now!

She says it as if she is all grown up, as if now she has access to all these privileges that were just out of reach a week ago. Now that she is six years old, she can do so much more than a few days before, when she was "only five". Amazing what power we have, how we can influence the way we think and feel about ourselves. The power of positive thinking...
I had decorated the kitchen with streamers and balloons and made a special "Birthday chair" the night before her birthday. It looked so festive and I was excited for her to see it. The next morning I woke her up with a huge birthday kiss and told her to go check the kitchen. She loved it!
We were on our way to school with the beautiful cupcakes in the trunk, the reward for our hard work the night before, when she asked me how I did it. Did what, baby? All those pretty decorations, mommy, did you do all that by yourself? Yep, I did all that after you went to sleep.
I am glad you like them, KK. And guess what? When you come home from school today, we will have some presents for you!
Presents? Wow...but where were the presents?
I hid them.
Where did you hide them, mommy? You can tell me, I promise I won't look!
How about...no!

Her sleepover party was a big success: the girls had lots of fun playing with each other and Guitar Hero later that night. It was 10:30pm by the time they finally went to bed...
I am exhausted, but so happy.
Good job, mama!

Sparkles

Yesterday morning I went for my walk as usual. I have grown to love my morning routine: I get up at 5:15am, put on my walking gear and shoes, scarf, coat, gloves, hat, put in the ear plugs, and turn on my audio book as I step out the front door. It is still dark out this time of year, and the birds are not yet awake. I only hear them on weekends, when I walk later in the morning than during the week. I usually don't see anybody on my half-hour walk. Not one person or car. Some houses have lights on inside, people just waking up, maybe getting ready for work. It is so peaceful, eerie at times.
Coming back from my walk I always look forward to that first cup of coffee, the one that tastes better than any other time...
It has been cold, especially the past week, but no snow. We are not giving up hope yet, though! Jim said that if we do not get any snow within the next few weeks, we will get into the car and start driving north...
I am just glad we are not in the same situation as those poor people in Kentucky, that are without power and might be for a few more weeks.

When I stepped outside yesterday morning, I was awestruck by the view: there were, as Kaitlyn put it later, sparkles everywhere! It was not snow, and it wasn't ice either... I am not quite sure what it was, doesn't matter at this point, but it was absolutely beautiful, magical. Everywhere I looked I saw the tiny silver stars: on the grass, the houses, the trees and bushes...simply breathtaking!
I especially enjoyed my walk that morning.
Coming back and continuing my usual routine (coffee, feed Zander, shower, get KK ready, etc.), I forgot about the sparkling beauty outside.
As we left for school and work, they were still there. It was the first thing that KK noticed as I drove out the driveway:
"Look, mommy, sparkles everywhere!
But, how did they get onto the roofs of the houses?!?"

Playing leapfrog in spring

Last night I was reading a book about ladybugs to Kaitlyn. It is a First Discovery book from Scholastic, a neat little book that explains all about ladybugs. It talks about what they look like, what they eat, and then we got to the page that shows one ladybug half on top of another. It says: "In the spring, male and female ladybugs mate so the female can make eggs". I started reading, but did not get further than "In the spring" when Kaitlyn remarked: look mommy, they are playing leapfrog!
I burst out laughing and had a hard time finishing the rest of the book...Kaitlyn started laughing with me, undoubtedly wondering why it is so funny to me that ladybugs play leapfrog in the spring. That did not keep her from laughing, though, and she brought it up several times this morning just to make me laugh again! Ooohhh, to be (almost) six again....

Then, at breakfast, Jim is about to say grace while Kaitlyn is trying to put the lid on her water cup. She is turning it the wrong way, and Jim says to her: "you need to screw it the other way, to the right".
He is about to say the blessing, when KK says laughing: Daddy, you just said "screw". Jim and I looked at eachother and just burst out laughing! Of course Kaitlyn joined in, all the while wondering what on earth was so funny. While we are trying to compose ourselves, KK finally asked why we are laughing. I told her we had to think about the ladybugs playing leapfrog in the spring...
I will have to ask her why she thinks the word 'screw' is so funny, since I am positive she doesn't know the "other" meaning!

Why I disagree with this post...

I found this blog when I was looking for the words to the poem "Welcome to Holland". My response is posted as a last comment...her blog has moved to a different site and I guess the comments don't move with the posts. So here it is: the blog and comments!

"Why I despise the "Welcome to Holland" poem"

Mamma

Mamma is het woord
waar het leven mee begint
mamma is het woord
dat hoort bij ieder kind

een woord om zacht te zeggen
niet om luid te schreeuwen
het hoeft niets uit te leggen
en gaat door alle eeuwen

mamma is het woord
waar de mensheid mee begint
mamma is een ander woord
voor liefde

Toon Hermans (ontbijten met jou)

A poem by one of my favorite Dutch poets...loosely translated it goes something like this:

Mamma is the word
with which life starts
mamma is the word
that is part of every child

A word to speak softly
not shout out loud
it does not need to explain anything
and lasts through the centuries

mamma is the word
with which humanity starts
mamma is another word
for love

Party preparations

The day after New Year's we "undecorated" the house.
The tree was untrimmed, all Christmas wreaths taken down, the lights unwrapped from around the bushes and deck railing. The ribbon, lights and bow came off the mailbox, the Christmas CD's were gathered, and all other miscellaneous decorations were collected and placed in the living room.
Then I started the tedious task of packing the Christmas boxes. Surprise! We have two boxes more than what we started with...okay, we did buy some stuff on clearance after Christmas. The more we have to decorate the house with next year!

When everything was packed, Jim took the tree outside to be dropped off at the recycling site, and I cleaned up the mountain of pine needles left behind. It is a small price to pay for having the joy of picking out a tree, that first scent of "Christmas" filling the car and house, and Hootie would not be able to have his favorite treat this time of the year: Christmas tree water! (now he's back to toilet bowl water...)
After the last box was put away in the garage, I sat down on the sofa and sighed...I missed our tree! I missed the Christmas decorations! Even the mailbox looked bald!
I guess I was not quite ready to say goodbye to Christmas yet.
But I had to, because I needed to start planning for a big birthday party coming up!
Kaitlyn has been planning this for months and she started crossing off days on the calendar, now that we flipped the page to the first month of the new year.
I sighed once more and got up to get a piece of paper to compile a list (I LOVE lists) of things to buy for the party.

Kaitlyn already knows she is getting a puppy. After changing her mind a few times she now settled on a German Shepherd. She may change her mind a few more times, but one thing that is constant is that the puppy needs to be a girl. She definitely does not want another boy in the house! If she would have had a choice, she would have had a baby sister. Don't get me wrong, she LOVES her little brother and delights in the fact that he lights up like a 1000 watt light bulb the instant he sees her. She simply would have preferred a girl, that's all.
So, we know the puppy will have to be female.
Basically her presents are easy this year. The challenge is the theme she chose:
a "Flying unicorn sleepover" party -
We have already decided on who gets to come for the sleepover. We have agreed on 3 girls. Now all we need to make sure of, is that the girls will be able to come. I know that one of them has her birthday the day I planned to have Kaitlyn's party (her birthday is on a Friday, and I was planning for the sleepover on Saturday)
So Kaitlyn already picked a "replacement". I will have to contact the girls' parents and try to figure out what works for all of them (we might do an "almost" sleepover), check if anyone has any allergies, then work out a menu.
Now, for the most difficult part: the decorations! You might think I am exaggerating here, but KK knows EXACTLY what she wants and how she wants it.
Well, at least I still have a few weeks to buy white posterboard, draw a "flying unicorn" exactly the way she wants it, and then make 2 more like it - I pray I don't have to paint them.
January promises to be not as relaxing as I was hoping for! I don't think I will be bored anytime soon, but then again the last time that occurred was...I cannot even remember!
I am guessing pre-children era?

Happy New Year!

Last night was the 1-year anniversary of Alexander being home! Kaitlyn had to go to bed, but I promised her I would wake her up before midnight so she could celebrate with us. She was all excited about the prospect and asked if I could prepare some snacks for us as well. Sure, I told her, I will have some yummy snacks ready when I wake you up.
She tried to get me to let her sleep on the couch, but I told her no, to sleep in her own bed. I said I might even take a nap myself since I was sleepy too - she had visited me the night before at 3am. She asked me all worrried: But then how are you going to get the snacks ready if you take a nap???

The holidays are over.
They were much anticipated, even if it was all a little (okay, a LOT) hectic, considering we moved into a new house over Thanksgiving break. At the same time I would not have missed any of it for the world! I feel satisfied and fulfilled.
I still have a few days to enjoy before the regular work/school weeks will start up again and I plan on enjoying those few days to the fullest!

God is good. He has been very good to us and I feel incredibly blessed and grateful. I have made some decisions careerwise, that are filling me with excitement and anticipation. I can't wait to get started working toward fulfilling my dreams!

Next big event: KK's Birthday!