The Course of True Love

Now that the mess of Christmas is behind us (or still on the kitchen table *cough*Hubs*cough*), we are working hard to get the house and the kids on a normal schedule again. 

Christmas Morning!

Both boys were spoiled rotten for Christmas - even though Vegas was not having anything to do with opening presents. His first gift was a stuffed tiger chair, and the shock of unwrapping his gift and seeing the tiger staring back at him was too much for him. Any time after that when someone would bring him a gift, he went running!

Nope. NOPE. Don't wanna touch this.

By the time Christmas Day ended both boys were in full on meltdowns and ready for bed. Luckily my in-laws live super close so bed was a quick drive away. Never underestimate the peace that comes of a daily schedule. Change is bad, change is bad!

Christmas Night!
Ignore my terrible posture, I was slightly distracted by the screams.
Also, yes, Little Man had an outfit change.
No it wasn't planned.
(Oh also, I got a haircut!)

After Christmas and New Years and a million events and parties, Hubs had to go back to work and I went back to house-management. We all have clean clothes again and the kitchen is a lot less crunchy when you walk. And my ear is constantly warm from being on the phone 24/7 with all of these doctors/therapists/VIPs.

Little Man's therapy schedule was the first big item on the agenda. He's still doing once a week home therapy, a full day at school, and every other week he has behavioral therapy. He finally bounced back from the plague that hit the house around Thanksgiving, and we're hoping that will help get him back on track with his other long term goals too. During the school day he is wearing cotton splints on his hands for certain activities to help him remember to keep his hands by his side (instead of on his ears). This is (understandably) very annoying for him and makes him very angry, so it's definitely not something we want to have to have him do forever.  He also discovered over vacation that because he'd been so good about not taking off his diaper at night, we'd stopped taping his waist and ankles. He has lost all the progress he made on the diaper department, and we are back to nightly duct tape. Unfortunately, he's taken to getting into it during the day too - hence the Christmas outfit change - and even been doing it at school. Ugh. 

Everyone is looking slightly to the left because that's where the Target photographer held the iPhone.
Can't win em all.
Merry Christmas.

Our other big news is that Vegas met with Infants and Toddlers over winter break and is now going to have his very own IFSP. We contacted them because he still has no words and doesn't really babble much. He went to his big test yesterday at Little Man's school, and passed... or I guess failed?... with flying colors. Speech therapy it is! He is at 7 months expressive language and 12 months receptive language, which means he has the 25% delay in development that qualifies him for therapy from the county. Other than his speech delay, he is on track everywhere else - I definitely have my hands full with this smart and curious little guy. But I have no problems with him being in speech therapy, and I'm not worried or freaking out about it (much). I know having a non-verbal sibling and being home with only me most of the time probably contributes to his delay, and so I think this will be very helpful. I'm not looking forward to squeezing in another therapist to the schedule, but we'll make it work. We've been down the Infants and Toddlers road before, and I have a lot of faith in the program and in early intervention. 

Vegas' First Day at Hogwarts.
Er... I mean preschool testing!

So don't take it personally if I seem frazzled in the next few months. It's because I am. Two kids in therapy, two shows at our local community theater, running a household, and possibly taking up a new 'job'. It's all going to be a caffeine-fueled blur. If you are one of those people that likes to help - I graciously accept k-cups and Mountain Dew.

My Darling "Baby Vegas"

My littlest "bug-bug", Baby Vegas,

This morning you woke up cheerful - you always do.  You love to rock back on forth on your chubby little feet and give me a big grin to start the day.

We had a big breakfast of oatmeal and yogurt, and I turned on my phone to play some music from the Disney station on Pandora.  The first song that came on was "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, and I cried because I knew your uncle was watching over you and wishing you a Happy Birthday.  I don't have the song saved on my phone and had never heard it on the Disney station before... so I knew it was him right away.  I had called your grandma last night missing him so much with your birthday coming up - he would have loved learning about you and being your friend.  I watch you growing into your name (your real name, my little Vegas), and I laugh sometimes at how much you honor him without any prompting necessary.

You are my explorer, you are the little boy who doesn't quite understand "no" yet.  You are sunshine and big hearty belly laughs.  You are my healing.  You are the spitting image of your Daddy, with a smidge of Mommy thrown in.  I have never loved any baby boy quite the way I love you, you are unique and special and brilliant.

Some days I can't put you first, some days it is all about your brother - and you already seem to understand this and accept it.  You already watch out for him, and you make sure his DVDs never stop and he always has a wrestling buddy.  You want to do everything he does - eat what he eats, drink from his cups, watch his movies.  You are patient and loving when he cries, and a bit of a pest when he is calm.  In other words - you are a great little brother, and it makes my heart grow six sizes when I watch you two together.

Every month as you grow up and get bigger, I think that I want to keep you this way forever.  I want you to always be snuggly and sweet and innocent and beautiful forever.  Then every time you change, and every time you surprise me with a new milestone - I know I can't wait to watch you become a little toddler, and soon a little boy, and then a little man.  I am so proud of you Baby Vegas.  Today you are not a baby any longer, and even though that breaks my heart a little... this next year is going to be magical.  I love you oh-so-much Vegas.  I am so glad I get to be your Mommy.  Happy Birthday buddy!

Love You Forever -
Mommy

IEP Update and Christening Photos!

School is nearly out and we've just had Little Man's last IEP meeting!  We received a list last week of new goals for Little Man, and it was pretty intense - most of them are completely new goals since he met almost of his goals this year.  All of the new goals make sense and we are excited to think of him meeting any of them!! We kept a few goals like 'toilet training' and 'participating in classroom routines', and added things like 'sitting and attending to classroom activities' and 'sorting and matching blocks/colors'.  This new IEP is gearing him up for eventually heading into the first grade classroom where he will have to sit at a desk for longer periods of time, and be able to follow along to group instruction.

The only hiccup in the process has been that his PT recommended reducing his therapy to once a month (down from once a week this year).  While I agree that gross motor skills are his strongest right now, I definitely don't think such a drastic reduction in therapy is good for him.  He still has a significant limp and turns out his feet while he walks, and has trouble balancing himself when he wears his backpack.  We mentioned this at our meeting and they let us keep the once a week for now, even though we agreed that every other week would've probably been fine.  But apparently the process for changing it was all-or-nothing*, and since we were disagreeing with the recommendation now, we had to keep the previous amount set on the last one.  Oh well!

Eating a ham and swiss sandwich.  So proud of him for trying a new food (and thanking my lucky stars I can alternate lunches between this and his usual PB&J)

*Little Man's PT was out of town during this meeting and so we couldn't make the changes without her present to accept them.

Last weekend was also Vegas' christening!  We were so happy to have him christened in the same church my husband's entire family has attended for ages! He was a little angel during the service, and because he was the only baby being baptized he was pretty much the star of the sermon.  Granted, I have no experience with baptisms, but this one seemed pretty special to me.  Afterwards my mother-in-law planned a great luncheon for everyone and we had enough leftovers that I didn't have to cook for days.  A double win!

I Googled "Baby Christening Outfit".  It came with a jaunty little hat.  The bib/shoes were a gift from Grandma!

A little sleepy.  The organ music kept him up.

Little Man stayed home during the service with his first not-family babysitter!  My mother-in-law's good friend who has worked with special needs kids for many years came and sat with him for the couple hours we were gone.  He was apparently very behaved as well!  Maybe we just need to spend more time in churches?

3/4 of the family.  1/2 if you count the dog and cat (which Hubs certainly does)

 

When camp starts in a couple weeks we will have to relearn our morning routine, and I'm already kind of dreading it.  I have to drive Little Man to a drop off site, and pick him up there as well - drop off is earlier than we leave for school, and pickup is earlier than he usually gets home.  So we'll be waking up earlier, feeling groggier, and having less time for errands/quiet time at home.  I'm trying to psych myself up for this by noting that this will force me to get dressed and out in the world every day, and so maybe I'll get tons more done... But we'll see how that works.  I foresee a lot of coffee in my future.

Speaking of coffee... Back to the daily grind for me - Vegas is starting to get more and more mobile (he's crawling all over the place now!) and causing a little more trouble than he did even a few weeks ago.  The poor cat and dog have been lovingly squeezed multiple times today, and everything is now fair game for touching and nomming on.

"Look Ma!  I'm gonna do the splits!"

Age Ain't Nothing But A Number

Time keeps plodding along despite my attempts at slowing it down.  The little baby Vegas I held in my arms 8 months ago is now a chunky, giggling 8 month old.  Even more shocking though... my Little Man is a few months away from being 6 years old.  SIX!  It takes my breath away any time I say that out loud.  The usual "he's still my baby" thoughts fly through my head, followed by... "Holy shit, soon he's going to be too big to be a baby."

I guess I just mean that it's no longer "acceptable" for me to carry him into a grocery store without shoes on, knowing he's going to take them off in the cart anyways.  Or for him to melt down in the middle of the mall. Or to watch a DVD and eat food from home at a restaurant so he doesn't scream bloody murder.  All these little things that are tolerated for parents with toddlers are things that more and more invite a frown or concerned looks from "well-meaning" outsiders.  I feel their stares on my back and I want to blurt out - HEY!  We're good parents!  We know this is a shitty parenting technique!  But it is the only thing getting us through this hour, this day, this week of crazy.  Cut us some slack?  

He's not a baby anymore, right, I know. We're making it possible for him to enjoy this outing, or this event that is probably more stressful than it is fun for us.  And he might look like a "big kid"... but yeah... I guess he's still my baby.

Speaking of family outings, Easter this year was really special.  We spent time with both our extended families and had our annual beer-tasting.  I even got my life together enough to make the boys Easter baskets with all their favorite things in them.  I am not a particularly religious person, so we don't do church and dress-up - but the boys got cleaned up for the family dinners and had brand new outfits for their first Easter as brothers.  

Baskets and Sunday outfits

I'm so proud of both boys for being well-behaved and freakin' adorable all weekend.  

Gotta catch this guy when you can...

This weekend coming up is our annual Day Out With Thomas - it will be Little Man's third and Vegas' first!!  I've seen Thomas the Tank Engine "live" more often than I've seen any of my favorite bands or Broadway musicals.  Sigh.  Parenthood is awesome kids, everyone should do it.

Back to the grind - chicken nuggets don't microwave themselves ya know!

Welcome to the New Year! Wrapping up the old one first...

Well it has definitely been a minute or two since I have had a chance to update the blog.  Life has certainly not been dull around here, so I will do my best to make this as concise and interesting as possible!  I'll try to start from where we left off...

Our wedding anniversary dinner in November had the tiniest little hiccup to it.  Ex had promised to pick up Little Man for an overnight visit.  I reminded him multiple times that he needed to be at pickup by 2:00 PM at the latest, so we could make sure we made our dinner reservations.  Somehow between 10:15 PM and the next morning, his car broke down, he lost his phone, and was unable to contact me in any fashion til 3:30 PM.  To say I was livid would probably be abusing the word livid.  In true Ex fashion, he wasn't able to form an apology - but he had plenty of excuses. He insisted that we wait for him to come get Little Man, which would have put pick up time at around 6:00 PM.  Yeah, that wasn't happening.  This was the straw that broke the camel's back for me (and Hubs wisely lets me deal with Ex solo).  We'd given him so many chances over the past year and he just kept letting us down over and over again.  I said some not-so-nice things on the phone to him and told him to get his life together and contact us again when that happened.

That was November 16th and we haven't heard from him since.  No Christmas wishes, no New Years greeting - he has just vanished.  We got a check for $100 he mailed a day after the phone call, but even with that check it puts him behind in child support by 4 digits.  At this point, Hubs and I are just so exhausted with the lies and the excuses that this is almost a relief. While the occasional babysitting was nice (5 times in 8 months), it wasn't worth the amount of work we had to put in to ensure Ex saw Little Man.  I'm not sure what his plans are and whether or not he wants to continue to be in Little Man's life, but at this point if he walks away we aren't planning on chasing him down.

Whew.  So that was a heavy first topic!  Moving on to more fun things - December was jam-packed with activity!  Hubs began his 2 1/2 week vacation by driving us all 16 hours up to my grandparents in Wisconsin!  My grandfather had a pacemaker put in days before we went out, so it was wonderful to get to see him and be assured that he was doing well.  He adores the boys (us grandkids are pretty much chopped liver when the new baby is in the room) and was tickled that we spent a few days with them.  My grandmother has pretty bad Alzheimers so while she enjoyed seeing us too, she was very confused a lot of the time. We spent two days there with my mother and sister and had some great family-bonding time.

The boys are adorable.  The afghans are older than all 3 of them.

Of course, it wouldn't be Christmas without a plague of some sort - so Little Man brought some sort of snuffly/coughy/sinus thing from his kindergarten class and passed it around to everyone except Hubs.  That meant not only was everyone cranky and tired for the drive home, but I was utterly useless.  So the drive took much longer and was broken into two parts.  Little Man doesn't sleep in hotels very well, so that was a nightmare within the nightmare.  Lets just say we mostly used the hotel to stretch our legs, because no one was sleeping.

The calm before the storm.

Once we got back, it was almost Christmas!  My mother and sister came down and spent Christmas Eve here, where we did our annual beer tasting and dinner.  I was so excited because last year I had to miss out on all the fun (read; alcohol), and this year I was very ready to relax and have a great night after our hellish drive home.  My sister even cooked dinner, so it was really one of my favorite parts of Christmas. 

Now I'm craving lasagna again.

We got through 2/3 of these and then someone fell asleep feeding the baby so we called it a night.
Don't worry, we had the rest a few days later.

Christmas Day was spent with my Hubs family, which was extra awesome because they live so close to us. His mom cooked (I cannot believe I got out of cooking anything this year!) and then we just relaxed and enjoyed the holiday.  

[Well, Little Man had a bath midway through the evening, but luckily it was after dinner and presents, and it was just family around for that little disaster.  The diaper problem has since been solved, albeit very unconventionally.  Duct tape on the legs of a footie pajama put on backwards with the feet cut off.  It is the only thing working for us right now.  We have several brightly colored rolls of tape to match his pajamas, and we put the tape loosely around the ankle so it keeps him from being able to pull up the pajama leg any higher than his calf.  He still tugs at the diaper but now it can't really be released from the pajama itself, so even in the rare case that he gets it off most of the mess is contained within his pajamas.  Not an ideal solution, but a solution.]

So Christmas came and went, and we were all spoiled rotten.  Of course the boys got everything their little hearts desired, despite Mommy and Daddy only getting them one gift each.  Between grandparents, great-grandparents, and god-parents, these kids will never go naked, hungry, or be bored.  Hubs and I can't complain either - I was so touched at how much thought all our families put into our gifts.  We both said that after this year it will be hard to top the gift we found for our mothers - we made them photo blankets with a collage of the last few years of our family.  I couldn't wait to watch them open them on Christmas and was so close to spilling the beans about them early - luckily UPS made sure they didn't arrive too early and so I was spared having to keep them a secret for too long!

We spent the rest of Hubs vacation partying with friends, having our first New Years Eve as a family, and lazing around the house watching Redbox and Netflix.  Our resolution this new year is to eat more dinners at our table (instead of on the couches in front of the tv), and we've managed to do that... once!  We'll keep trying though.  I also auditioned for a local production of "The Wedding Singer" and received the role of Holly, so these next few months I plan to viciously attack the treadmill and get back on the clean-eating wagon.  One of her lines is about wearing "my skin tight bustier."  Yikes!

On that note, I leave you with Little Man's holiday photos.  I got some taken at Target too but haven't picked them up yet - whoops!  Even though he is such a happy baby, I seem to always catch him being so serious.  Most of our friends have nicknamed him "The Judge-y Baby"... and I'm thinking that might stick.  Happy New Year!

I actually took this because I was laughing at how many people do this pose because of Pinterest.
Then I fell in love with the photo.
Hypocrite.  I can't even apologize, because I like it so much.

This is my favorite Christmas photo ever. Feet.

So much for posting every day

Today is the 50th day of school in our county, so Little Man's class is celebrating with a 50's dance complete with root beer floats and hot dogs.  It should be fairly hilarious because A) a kindergarten dance?  And B) Little Man hates ice cream and carbonated beverages.  But I dutifully dressed him in his greaser costume and tried to slick back his mop of hair before school... it turned out more flock of seagulls than greaser, but I think I got an A for effort.

To add to my morning craziness, every day for the next two weeks he is supposed to be in a different color outfit for their color unit. This is after I spent all last week dressing him in outfits for "Spirit Week".  Considering he could care less what he wears, it's really a pain in the ass.  But I feel like if I don't do it, then the other moms and teachers will judge me for not caring about this super fun Color Unit.  *Sigh*  So I am organizing a bunch of special outfits for this week and he will be the cutest and most involved kid in his class.  

We all had a great extended Halloween weekend!  Saturday was lunch with my grandmother-in-law and a costume party with some of my favorites. Then yesterday we invited some more friends over to watch scary movies and eat our leftover candy.  Hubs laughed with me later that I never really held Baby Vegas for more than a minute or so all night - he was everyone's favorite party guest.

Last but certainly not least - I finally started my exercise program again!  I am hoping I can keep up with it, and I know that I can as long as I put my mind to it.  I love how great I feel when I'm keeping up with my workouts and eating well, and it is always a nice bonus to see the pounds drop off.  My goal is to lose 15 pounds by January.  All about willpower.

BloPoMoNaNoNa ... Or whatever this month is called...

In November, some bloggers will take the month to challenge themselves to make a post every day - National Blog Posting Month or "NaBloPoMo".  While I doubt I will be able to have a post-a-day with little ones running around and prepping for the Halloween to Holidays Death Spiral, I want to at least try and post a little more so that my updates are a little less "OMG 3 WEEKS OF CRAZY UPDATES JAMMED INTO ONE SENTENCE!"

Not my chart, but its accurate/funny.

Celebrating Halloween on a Thursday is much trickier once you are out of college. The "grown-ups" went to our Halloween party last weekend, and this weekend we are keeping it a little more low-key and having a few friends over. Really though, I am just happy that Hubs and I managed to scrounge together a couples costume to wear, since this holiday always seems to sneak up on us and I have so little try.

Caesar and Cleopatra

Last night was finally Halloween and we enjoyed it as much as you can with two kidlets who give no craps about the holiday!  The houses in our 'hood are pretty spaced out and so we didn't get too many trick or treaters.  Leftover candy may derail my diet plan just a little...

Anyways, the boys wore adorable outfits and Little Man even wore a mask (for thirty two seconds while I held his hands for the photo).  Hubs' parents came over and gave them special Halloween pajamas. Gramma even adapted Little Man's pjs with a hidden hook-and-eye that will hopefully keep them from being removed during the night!

Little Man had some fun themed clothing for school the past few days, but somewhere between the bus ride and getting home he must have lost the cape for yesterday's school costume.  [Because of his hatred of Halloween sensory issues, I had his school "costume" as a shirt with a shiny blue cape attached.  That way he wouldn't have to wear his costume all day.]  I'm kicking myself for not taking a picture with it before he left for school.  But here is the cute outfit he wore Wednesday!

Festive without the itch.

In true Vegas fashion, Baby had a costume change mid-Halloween evening.   He had this gem that I picked up at Target a few months ago...

What. Is. That?

And then his fancy costume.  Spoiled rotten kids.  Although really, the outfits were definitely all for Mommy's amusement.

Pumpkin boy and Captain America!  Photos are deceiving, that mask was not appreciated.

And so we stayed up late watching Ghostbusters and eating pizza, celebrating Halloween in the quiet of our own home.  Maybe we'll go trick-or-treating next year if Baby Vegas is up for it, but for now we are enjoying not having to work too hard at this holiday.  

Although by the look of this sleepy little boy, some of us worked very hard this Halloween...

Had to pry him out of bed this morning

See you tomorrow folks!

Little Man turns 5 today! Happy Birthday!!

Little Man, you are five years old today!  I can't believe my little bitty baby has grown into a big boy, who will be starting school in the fall.  Mommy cried a little bit last night when she thought about how fast the time is flying by.

Not a bearskin rug, but still pretty darn cute...

Little Man, you came popping into this world a full three weeks before I was expecting you... you were in a rush to come out and meet us!  You gave Mommy a rough time during your birth, but she forgave you pretty quick because you were the cutest baby she'd ever seen.

Meeting Mommy

After just a day with Mommy you left us in a fancy ambulance pod to go to the NICU.  Turns out some of the cute poses you were doing were actually seizures, and you needed to get your brain fixed right away.  Mommy hated that you had to leave without her, she had already fallen so in love with your little chubby cheeks and gorgeous lips.

A photo of you before you left on your trip to the NICU

You spent six weeks in the NICU, and you had two brain surgeries, a blood transfusion, and several other "smaller" procedures.  Mommy counted the minutes til she could take you home and everything would be "normal".  Little did she know that we would make our own normal, and that you would be the biggest challenge and adventure of her life.

First Birthday at the park near Grandma's house!

You surprised everyone with every milestone, pushing past the limits your NICU doctors had said you might achieve.  You refused to be a vegetable, you were a fighter!  You learned to adapt to your right-side weakness and you kept Mommy on her toes.  You also discovered you loved sugar.  After Mommy took away your smash cake you bawled your eyes out.  I bet you would've eaten the whole cake!

2nd birthday at Mommy's townhouse!

You became Mommy's climbing daredevil at 2 years old, causing all kinds of trouble!  We spent a long part of your 2nd year dealing with nighttime sickness, and nobody knew what was causing you to puke so much.  We also spent a lot of this year running around from one babysitter to another, because Mommy was working full time and we had moved to a townhouse far away from Mommy's family.  It was a pretty stressful year for Mommy, but you took it in stride!

3rd Birthday at Mommy and Daddy's house!

By your third birthday we had moved into Daddy's house!  Now you had two daddies who loved you very much, and you had a Mommy who could stay home and take you to a million doctors and therapists and find out what was bugging your insides.  Turned out that you'd been having a shunt malfunction and you needed Brain Surgery #3!  Your Mommy and both of your Daddies were there for that long week in the hospital!  You also learned to walk this year, which Mommy had been waiting for for so long!!  She was so very proud of you (and still is!)  This is also the year you slept through most of your birthday party.  Whoops!

Not your 4th birthday, but close to that time

I can't find a picture of your birthday last year, because we didn't have a party and I didn't take too many pictures.  You ate a cupcake and "blew out a candle" at our kitchen counter.  Pretty low key as far as birthdays go, but you didn't seem to mind - you still got tons of presents and love from family and friends anyway!  You spent most of your 4th year relaxing in between therapies and doctors visits - we decided to keep you home from school this year and I think it was a very smart idea.  You've gotten so much more social and fun to be around in a crowd because you feel safe and loved. 

For your fifth year Little Man, I hope you learn to talk.  I can't wait to hear your little voice someday - I hear your squeals and sounds now and know that you WILL talk, and I am being so patient!  I hope you love school the way Mommy loved school, even though it will be different for you.  I hope you learn to love your baby brother who is on the way, he is due on the very same day 5 years ago that you came home to Mommy from the NICU.   But even if none of these milestones happen this year, we will keep being patient and see what other fun things happen for you.  You are your own person, there is no one like you in the whole wide world - that is why Mommy is so lucky!!

Mommy can't wait to celebrate your birthday with you tonight and this weekend Little Man!  I am going to post this blog and then we are gonna watch some Thomas movies on the big screen and have a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch - perfect birthday times! 

The One With Plastic Hearts and Cupid Arrows

Happy Valentine's Day!

I am absolutely the worst person at celebrating holidays.  Ever.  I buy gifts last minute, I am terrible at picking out cards, I often forget the day entirely.

Of course, I married my complete opposite.  My husband is fantastic with holidays.  He remembers every one months in advance, he listens to what you've said you wanted all throughout the year and magically remembers it in time to get it for you as your present, he gets you cards for no reason...  Oh, and he writes Thank You Notes.  Yeah.  He's that guy.

So as usual, Valentine's Day is here and I have done... very little. (Read:  I am doing things now)  And my husband started giving me gifts last night at midnight.  Because he is so excited HE COULDN'T WAIT.  

It's not like I don't love seeing people enjoy the gifts I get them, or thanking people when they give me gifts.  I get the warm fuzzies just like everyone else.  I am just a huge procrastinator, and holidays are so easy to keep putting off... until they are there, staring you in the face.

So this year for V-Day, I am glad we are keeping it relaxed.  Yesterday we got to hear Baby Vegas' heartbeat again and the doctor told us things are still moving along great, so today is extra special.  Tonight will be a steak dinner and catching up on DVR in our pajamas.  My kind of holiday!

Gotta go, Hubs called to let me know that he had flowers delivered and they are waiting outside.
Damn he's good.

The One With A Merry Christmas!

We're back!  Its been a crazy few weeks for our family since I last wrote.

We decided to go visit my grandparents who live in Wisconsin right before Christmas.  Of course we only had about a 4 day time-span to fit all the traveling and visiting in, and we decided it would be best for Little Man if we drove up (planes and a screaming scared toddler don't mix well)(Also I am still kind of nervous about air pressure changes and his shunt).  We were also all recovering from the plague that had been sweeping through my friends group around that time.

The drive was about 14 hours each way and we spent just two days with my grandparents, but it was well worth it to us.  My grandparents are both 89 years old, and my grandmother is in the mid-stages of Alzheimer's, so any chance to spend a little time with them is precious.  I hadn't seen them since Little Man was a year and a half old and I was still married to Ex, so it was definitely time to catch up.   Grandpa was tickled pink by everything Little Man did, and he seemed to really like Hubs too - if their night drinking beers at the local tavern is any indication...  My grandmother was pleasant and in a good mood the entire trip despite being a little confused most of the time.

Little Man and his great-grandpa

Of course there was a teensy downside to vacationing with Little Man.  His insomnia is much more obvious when you share a bedroom with him.  Over four days we got maybe 12 hours of sleep total, and it was awful.  Little Man was up all night singing, rocking, talking, and generally being a huge pain in the butt.   Part of it was probably the new place/bed situation, but still - we're not going to be sharing a room with him again anytime soon!

After we got home from Wisconsin we had just two days til Christmas with our families!   Our house was clean, thanks in large part to my amazing brother-in-law who steam cleaned the entire house while we were away, but our shopping and wrapping wasn't close to being done! So we scrambled a bit and were finally done about ten minutes before my mother and sister walked in the door on Christmas Eve!

Christmas Eve was a delicious night of Southern food, card games, and one of my family's favorite pastimes - a beer tasting.  We know how to party out here.

All questionable beers probably picked by Mom - who is not a professional beer drinker.

This of course caused a late start on Christmas morning.  But presents were opened, all of us felt loved and spoiled, and we managed to get over to the in-laws by 1:30.  My mother-in-law had an amazing spread of appetizers and we stuffed ourselves on deviled eggs and clam dip (ahhhh I want more now!) and opened even MORE presents before we left for my godparent's house and our last stop that night.

Somehow more food was eaten and more Christmas was had - and everyone was very happy.  Oh - and not a single picture was taken on Christmas.  Embarrassing.   I made Hubs take Little Man's picture in front of the tree the next day, but seriously I think they're going to revoke my Mom-Card for this one.

Merry December 26th.  Not even in cute clothes.

That pretty much catches you up on life for now.  Hubs is off work til January 7th, so we're spending time together watching movies and being lazy while Little Man spends a week with his dad for the holidays.  I'll probably be back later this week with another big post.  Happy New Year!!  

The One With Presents And Heartache

I'm taking a break from updating about the wedding to talk about something that always weighs heavily on my mind this time of year.  Jim from "Just A Lil Blog" touched on it today and now I can't stop thinking about it.

Christmas presents are hard.  Any present for Little Man is really hard.   Every year it gets harder and harder to buy him things that he will show any interest in...  Or that is appropriate for him to play with at his developmental age.

We have piles and piles of toys laying around the house for him to play with.  There is a toy organizer that has books, blocks, light up toys, pop up toys, ride on toys... every toy you can imagine, we probably have one.

Unfortunately, Little Man gives no &*@#! about toys.  We'll wake him up in the mornings and lead him over to the boxes of shiny new toys and he walks away to bounce repeatedly on the furniture and hum to himself.  If I (gently) force him to play with a toy, I can sometimes get 20-25 minutes of (constantly interrupted) guided play before he loses his schmidt.  But there is nothing that holds his interest, or that he seeks out on his own.

Every year just before his birthday or Christmas come the phone calls.  "What would Little Man just love for Christmas this year?!!"

In past years, I tried being creative.  "He loves Thomas!  Get him Thomas toys!"  But then we end up with train sets geared for 2 years+ that sit untouched in his closet with their teeny tiny plastic parts.  

Then I got a little smarter, or so I thought.  "Toys for 18 months or younger, he chews everything."   Most of those toys are sitting in our toy pile, occasionally chewed on or played with Mommy/Little Man/therapist style.

His birthday in July was the first time I finally accepted what I'd known all along.
"Little Man does not need toys or books or anything kid related.  Clothes or gift cards would be great."

Of course, he ended up getting some toys from well-meaning friends and family.  And I tucked them away in his closet, hoping that one day I will get the chance to pull them out and watch his face light up with joy.  I want so badly for him to be able to play with anything, enjoy something other than endless repeats of Thomas DVDs.  But Little Man is who he is, and he likes bouncing around watching trains on television, and toys would just be a distraction from his daily jumping routine.

So for Christmas this year, Hubs and I aren't buying Little Man any more toys that will remain untouched, or books that he will rip to shreds, or stuffed animals that will get their faces chewed off.  We are redoing his bedroom with bright blue paint.  We are putting up wall decals of his favorite trains.  We are getting him a brand new Thomas rug and Thomas sheets, and a "big boy" bed to put them on.  We are getting him a Dutch door for his bedroom to make him safer at night.  (And by "we" the grandparents and great-grandparents are helping too, that's a lot of big ticket gifts for a four year old!)

He won't open these gifts on Christmas morning, and he won't hug us and tell us what great parents we are for getting him exactly what he wanted while he plays with the toys for hours.  But I think that when he sees that giant Thomas the Train looking at him on his pillow, or his wall... he will walk over to it and just stare for a minute or two.  And he might even give him a kiss.  And then I will know that we got him something really wonderful for Christmas this year, even as it hurts my heart a little to watch him walk away as we unwrap our gifts without him.

The First One In November

Halloween at our house was pretty quiet.  I was in a funk all day yesterday, so when Hubs got home from work he ended up being the one dressed up and handing out candy while I made baked mac and cheese (whoops wedding diet, but so worth it).  I'd gotten all the Halloween out of my system earlier this month with a couple Halloween parties anyways.

 Me and Hubs as Sally and Jack from "The Nightmare Before Christmas"

 

I went to another party that weekend and did full face makeup for Sally.  Credit to one of my bests for helping me get it all just right :)

 

 

 

See, I didn't skip Halloween!   Although my mother called that night and insisted that Little Man should trick or treat.   He didn't seem too interested in the idea...

 

Managed to sleep through all the doorbell ringing and dog barking that accompanies Halloween Night!

Little Man passed out at exactly 6 pm, thereby missing all the designated tricking and treating time.  Obviously I was heartbroken.  As I ate my mac and cheese in my pajamas and watched Survivor.  Yep, totally heartbroken.

This was actually the first Halloween in three years where Little Man hasn't been sick and cranky, and where I even managed to get him in a picture where he was remotely interested in keeping his costume on...

For some reason I keep trying to put him in costumes with a hood or headpiece, and he just hates those.  It isn't my fault, he got one picture as a baby in this Winnie the Pooh outfit where he is so freaking cute that I want him to take another just like it... and instead of getting cute, I get miserable shark/dog/frog/whatever it is that year. 

So Happy Halloween from our house to yours!  I'm going to get back to eating leftover candy and pretending like I'm getting housework done today.