Middle of the Night Observations

OK, so if anyone has a real reason I should NEVER sleep again, please let me know. Otherwise, I'm seriously irritated. I went to bed at 8:30, finally fell asleep around 10:30, woke up to go to the bathroom and thought it had to be like 3 or 4. Nope. It was 11:02. WHAT?! I went to the bathroom and cursed Christopher as he slept soundly, snoring and drooling, as I grabbed my pillows and made my way out to the couch. I went to sleep and woke up again to go to the bathroom, convinced it would be like 5 this time. Um, wrong. 2:02. Great. I just watched a show on HGTV about Ed Bagley, Jr. installing some satellite irrigation system and $400 plugs in his house to shut everything in his house off by flipping one switch when he leaves. Swell. Interesting to know, but I'd rather be sleeping.

Who believes this crap on television in the middle of the night? Does anyone REALLY think that Penny on this infomercial bought this information about how to be a power seller on EBay, quit her job, and made $3700 her first week working from home? If you do, you need the "Auctions for Income" system for only $39.95. You can probably buy it on EBay. Patrick is making up to $12,000 a week in sales. He clearly is up in the middle of the night too. And uses Meth so he can be on his computer 24 hours a day to make that money. And DAGMAR averages $5,000-$8,000 a month, which is more than she makes at her full-time job. I think that's a damn lie, because if she really made that much money she'd get her teeth fixed and a new hairstyle before she went on television. Even if it is on in the middle of the night. And what the hell kind of a name is Dagmar?

And I just read an article on Yahoo news about a gang in L.A. The first paragraph made me laugh out loud. Not funny laughing, but laughing because it's so ridiculous. The headline is LA gang F13 accused of targeting blacks. "In a murderous quest aimed at "cleansing" their turf of snitches and rival gangsters, members of one of Los Angeles County's most vicious Latino gangs sometimes killed people just because of their race, an investigation found." HELLO! It's a damn GANG!! Not typically known for their nice behaviors, helpful ways, and tolerance for other people, is it a freaking surprise to anyone that they'll kill someone "just because they're black?" This is the headline article on Yahoo news! Stupid.

I'm sure I'll have more observations, but quite frankly I would rather try to go to sleep than expound about their virtues. . .

Christmas Recap

Well Santa did indeed come. . . the boys were SO excited Christmas morning. Chris and I were actually up before them, and I pointed out that this would probably be the last year we were sitting around on the couch waiting for them to get up. It's so difficult for me to believe that next year at this time David will be almost five (?!), Henry will be almost 4, and Jack will already be almost a year old!!! Seriously, how is that possible?

The boys got LOTS of very nice gifts. Their approach to opening was as different as their personalities are! David went directly to the stocking, dumped it, and opened everything. He really didn't stop to play with anything, with the exception of some cars from the movie "Cars". (Yes, he's still obsessed with that movie.) Henry, on the other hand, went straight for the big guns -- the goodies under the tree. He kept grabbing boxes saying, "It has an H for Henry! I'm opening it." He still had stocking presents to open three days later! Henry is more of the I'll-open-this-and-play-for-a-while-before-moving-on opener. The favorite gift by far has been the Little Einsteins Pat Pat Rocket. (For those a bit removed from the Playhouse Disney scene, you can see it here! http://www.target.com/Little-Einstein-Pat-Rocket/dp/B000NVW07M/sr=1-1/qid=1198928562/ref=sr_1_1/601-5821251-0932114?ie=UTF8&index=target&rh=k%3Apat%20pat%20rocket&page=1) The boys are SO into this show and the characters, and they've been playing with the thing non-stop since it was opened. It has created a bit of a dilemma however, since we only have one. David was saying every day for probably 6 weeks before Christmas, "I want Santa to bring me a big Mack." (This enormous Mack truck - again from Cars - play set.) Of course Santa came through and got it for him. Early. Then about 3 weeks before Christmas he started saying he wanted a Pat Pat Rocket. Well, the Pat Pat Rocket is a Target exclusive toy and had been very difficult to find. And had been purchased already for Henry. . . Are you feeling Santa's issue here? We ended up sticking with the original plan and giving David the Mack and Henry the Rocket. With minimal fighting, it's been a success. The Mack, at $40, has sat virtually untouched. It's really sort of a piece of crap, but how could Santa know?! Also a huge hit has been Thomas the Train felt colorforms (which I also love!), a Little Einsteins book, tracing workbooks, and their new clothes. OK, the clothes have been a hit with me.

Chris and I got some very nice gifts too. The one that nobody can put down was this puzzle from finditgames.com. If you have about 3 days to kill, get one. It's addictive. I got some money for Christmas which I used to buy a new sewing machine. My old one met an untimely death when I dropped it on the floor, and I was very, very excited to get a new one. I also got the Jessica Seinfeld cookbook "Deceptively Delicious" which is basically to trick your children (and husband?!) into eating more vegetables by adding veggie purees to recipes. I can't wait to start.

Christopher has been on vacation this week, which has been so nice and very helpful. We've not done anything very exciting -- lots of playing with Christmas stuff, the boys got their hair cut (finally!), we've done some after-Christmas shopping, and just hanging out. David and Henry are spending the night with my parents tonight, and Chris and I are planning to go to dinner and the movies. It will be the last time, I'm sure, we get to do anything alone before Jack's born. I hope I can stay awake the whole time!

I didn't take many pictures on Christmas -- I was so caught up in everything going on I forgot all about it! I'm hoping my dad got some others. Here are a couple I did take, and a shot of the boys with their new haircuts having a "horsey ride" on Chris. (Notice Henry's wearing underpants! He's doing really well with my half-assed potty training!)

Merry Christmas!

Let me start by saying it IS possible to stay up all night waiting for Santa. . . that's what I've spent the last night doing. I literally did not sleep a minute. I'm not sure what that's about, but rest assured Santa came and dropped his stuff of at our house!

Here is a photo of the gingerbread house we made. The Simpsons will never be seen on a Food Network gingerbread challenge! I assembled the house while David and Henry were sleeping, and the next morning it promptly got yanked onto the floor. David asked, "Do you have anymore of the white glue to put it back together?" So cute. I did, so I put it back together. . . we waited a while and decorated it. Chris, Henry and I did most of the decorating, while David spent most of his time eating the candy!

Last night my mom and I took David and Henry to church for the Christmas Eve service. They were so well behaved and sweet. At one (very quiet point) David said, "How do we get out of here anyway?" That got a little chuckle from everyone around us. I was so proud of them. David said, "Daddy, we go to church and I saw baby Jesus on an island!" They had a display with baby Jesus in a manger with palm trees, and David equated that with him being on an island. After church we went to my parents house, and Chris' parents met us there. We had a nice, relaxing evening. David and Henry were ALL about opening some gifts and kept asking where the rest were. There had been baskets full when we were there earlier in the day, and they didn't forget that! Today should be completely overwhelming for them with all of the gifts they'll get to open.

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Questionnaire

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends. Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE!!! Just copy (not forward) this and change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person that sent it to you... 'Tis the Season to be NICE!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? 90% wrapping paper, 10% gift bags. I try to only use gift bags for things that are odd shapes or when I get really lazy! I like to open stuff.

2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial. I'm not into cleaning up needles.

3. When do you put up the tree? Thanksgiving weekend

4. When do you take the tree down? Usually pretty quickly. Definitely by the 1st of the year.

5. Do you like eggnog? No

6. Favorite gift received as a child? This Barbie type doll that had slits in her arms, legs, etc. and came with fabric so you could design clothes for her. I remember she had huge purple shoes that I loved!

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, two of them. Neither of which were put up this year because of Henry's destructive ways. David keeps asking when we're putting up "Jesus' barn".

8. Hardest person to buy for? Chris

9. Easiest person to buy for? David and Henry

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I can't really remember a bad gift. . . I'm pretty good at getting the point across regarding what I'd like. As in, a Christmas list with websites, stores, prices, etc. I did get some ugly brown shoes like 15 years ago.

11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail. Christmas cards are perhaps my favorite part about Christmas

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Miracle on 34th St. or A Christmas Story

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Whenever I see something. Usually around October.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Not that I remember.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Hi, I'm pregnant. I think everything's my favorite right now.

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear on our big tree, colored on the boys' tree.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Ave Maria (although not really just for Christmas) and Silent Night. Or We Wish You a Merry Christmas, as sung by Henry.

18. Travel for Christmas or stay at home? Stay home

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? Dasher, dancer, prancer, vixen, comet, cupid, donner, blitzen, rudolph

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? A star on both of them.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? We open one (typically Christmas pjs) on Christmas Eve and the rest on Christmas day.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? People are crazy and rude in the stores.

23. What I love most about Christmas? The excitement David and Henry have now that they "get" Christmas.

24. Gift you most want this year? A healthy baby in January. I'll take a delayed gift this year!

Not much to report

Like the title says, not much going on these days around the Simpson house. Well, nothing exciting anyway! We went to Playhouse Disney Live on Friday, and the boys loved it. They were mesmerized, and I was shocked they sat still for the entire time. After the show we went to Chuck E. Cheese, where Henry was THRILLED that he was able to ride the rides "because we brought money".

Saturday we just hung out at home. We were all pooped! We watched Polar Express (now David's favorite movie?!) three times. Henry never got out of his pajamas and then fell asleep on the couch at 5:15. Our friends Joe and Nicole had a Christmas open house that night, so David and I had a date and went together. It was a nice time with lots of yummy food.

Sunday was a recovery day for David and Henry. They were both exhausted. They took a nice long nap, then we went to see Gigi and Grampy for a while. I wrapped presents last night, and am more than half done. Thank God, considering Christmas is NEXT FREAKING WEEK. How the heck did that happen?

David made a "Christmas mouse" at school today. They do the best crafts. When I picked him up he said, "I want to hang this on the tree. HIGH on the tree, so Henry can't get it." Good idea, since Henry likes to destroy anything he can!!!

D. has his Christmas party at school on Wednesday, which is his last day until after Christmas. Chris will be off starting Friday until after the new year, and it will be nice for the four of us to be able to spend some time together before Jack comes. It's getting so close now!

T-I-R-E-D

OK, for real, when did I get hit by a truck? I realize and understand in my mind that I'm having a baby in 41 days. However, that doesn't really matter in my real world. I still have two busy children, a husband, a house, laundry, dinners, cleaning, grocery shopping, errands, bills to pay, Christmas gifts to wrap, playing with D&H, blah, blah to take care of. Damn, I'm tired! I've been letting David and Henry stay up a bit later than normal lately to watch the Christmas movies that have been on television. Tonight they WOKE ME UP at 7:15 to tell me that they wanted to go to bed. I fell asleep snuggled up on the couch with them! I can't wait to go to bed tonight.

Tomorrow we're going to see Playhouse Disney Live. Don't be jealous. If you weren't yet, when that's over we're going to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner. I know -- you're insane with jealousy. I wish I could drink beer, because I think they serve that at CEC and I might need some. Chris will be working, so he doesn't get to join in the fun. I think he's probably never been so happy to work on a Friday night! It's for D&H's best friend JT's birthday party, so I know they'll have a great time. I hope I can stay awake for the whole thing.

January 23

Unless he has other plans, Jack will make his arrival Wednesday January 23, 2008 at 8 in the morning. I had a doctor's appointment this morning, and other than that news there's nothing to report! That's 44 days. . . it certainly doesn't seem long when I put it that way. Here's a picture of his room so far. We still have quite a bit to do, but we're making progress!

What the heck?

Why are the lights on the bottom portion of my pre-lit Christmas tree not working?? This is the second area of the tree that has gone out on the "if one light goes out the tree stays lit" Christmas tree since Sunday! WTF? We've only had this tree for five Christmases, and we paid MUCH more than we should have for it. I didn't expect to have to re-light a freaking pre-lit Christmas tree!!! Man that's irritating.

Good Thoughts Please!

Most people reading this either know personally or have heard a million stories about my good friend Michele. We've been friends for over 10 years, and she is most definitely considered and loved as part of my family. She and her husband Mark are expecting their first baby, which is due in early March. She's waited a long time for this baby, and has had several complications during her pregnancy. She's been on bed rest for nearly the entire pregnancy and has been hospitalized for the last three weeks. She will stay in the hospital until the baby is delivered. Yesterday she came very close to a very early delivery, and nearly delivered the baby 14 weeks early. Michele and the baby are both doing well, but this is obviously a very, very scary emotional time for Mark and Michele. Please keep Mark, Michele, and their unborn baby in your thoughts -- she can use all the positive thinking she can get!

Christmas Parade

My parents and I took D&H to the Smyrna Christmas parade today. It's times like today that I really wish Chris didn't work nights, because he misses out on things like this with the boys. They had never been to a parade before, and kept calling it a circus. I'm not sure what that was about! They were very good boys and enjoyed it a lot. Henry loooooved that people were throwing candy, and he ate every piece he picked up, as soon as he got it. Well, after asking, "Dis chocolate?" About 90% of what people threw was Tootsie Rolls, so he was out of luck for a long while, but he got plenty of other goodies. That was the first time I've felt like he was missing out on something because of his allergy. He didn't care, but I thought it was a little sad for him. He was so excited though to just pick it up and give it to David or my parents. He's such a sweet boy. Their absolute favorite part of "the parade" was when a train went by on the train tracks. I think I could just take them downtown to sit near the tracks and they'd be thrilled.