Christmas

Christmas... Always ends up being a whole month of pure chaos, despite how much preparation goes into it months before.

Though, I did buy not-so-awesome cinnamon rolls from the local grocer for Christmas Eve because something had to go.  As it turns out, no one in the family really *likes* the local grocer cinnamon rolls, so they mostly went uneaten after a few bites.  And then the kids lived on candy for days.  Until I hid it, and then lost it, and then found it under Mitchell's bed 2 days ago.  That was fun.

So Ali had her very first dance recital which was adorable and the hormones made me cry like a crazy person.  She just loves her little dance class, and watching her on stage was fun for all of us.  Ali asked Mitchell at the end of the night if he liked her dance.  He responded enthusiastically, "Oh yes! Your dance was my favorite" They're so cute when they're not screaming and crying at each other. 

And then Mitchell had his annual school sing-along, where Ali and I watched him "sing", which really means we sat there and watched him breath and stick his hands in his mouth.

He really doesn't like the spotlight like his sister. And yet, it would have been disastrous if we didn't come and watch.  

For the first time ever, we had no plans Christmas Eve. We decided to spend the day just the four of us, which was just perfect.  Dinner doesn't happen ever when I'm pregnant (I have no excuses, (I mean, other than being huge, uncomfortable, and pregnant) and I'll be not pregnant and wonder what the big deal is, but it feels like a huge deal and I bake as little as possible.  Including bringing pre-made cheesecake and salads everywhere.  It's super great).  So we took the kids to ihop which is always entertaining for us and the waiters who have to put up with my 6 year old self proclaimed not-shy-anymore and insists on ordering by himself.  "Fries or fruit?" "How about just a pancake?" "You want mac & cheese and a pancake?" "That would be perfect"

Christmas morning is always the morning our kids decide to sleep in.  Well, or maybe they would if Mike and I would sleep like the adults we are.  I can't really sleep lately anyway, so I finally bought a new e-book to ward off the excitement and put me to sleep.  It didn't work. And when Mike woke up at 4:30, we held off a whole 30 mins before waking our kids up.

Happens every year.  And every year I think we'll grow out of it, but no. I'm just glad Mike gets just as excited and I don't have to wait until some ridiculous time like 7am, hahha.

Mitchell asked for "a BIG BOX of legos" and Ali wanted "pretty new dresses" (because of course that's what she wanted).

But when Ali opened her Madame Alexander doll *I* was so excited about she shouted "AN AMERICA GIRL!" I didn't realize she knew what those were, let alone wanted one, but she was so excited and I am sooo glad.  Santa also brought some matching pretty dresses for "Ashley" and Ali is still over the moon about all of it, which is just great.

And when Mitchell opened his BIG BOX of legos that santa hid in the very back of the tree, Mitchell was so happy to find they were batman legos, and that it came with 5 people.  We have yet to put all of it together, still.  So. Many. Legos.

Luckily, they've stayed in the playroom and off of our feet.

After some naps, we traveled up to my grandparents house "nana and papa tom" and they had quite a lot of snow.  Somehow, Papa Tom and Mitchell ended up outside building a snowman on top of a rock.  Mitchell kept knocking it down, so they never finished, but Mitchell hasn't *stopped* talking about it, and I just feel really lucky to live close enough to have moments like this.

My grandma (and mom) give all the grandkids new books every year for Christmas until they're 18 I think, so I have a bunch, and this year my kids understood the whole "grandma books" concept, and have loved reading all the old and new from their collection.  Their collection was stored on the top shelf in the basement next to my grandma books, which Mitchell noticed, "Wait, did grammy give you all those books?" "Nana did.  Nana is my grammy" "Can we read them?"

Yes! I'm sure I'm all overly emotional from the hormones and all this nostalgia, but there's seriously something super sweet about reading the little notes in the cover my grandma wrote to me when I was their age and telling them all about crying towels and rainy birthdays and other weird/super great moments from my childhood.

Meanwhile, Christmas ended, and I had mentally pushed back thinking about or planning or doing anything related to the baby  until *after* the holidays. I just kept telling myself to not worry about anything until January.  And now that the holidays are over I am freaking out.  Full on panic all around. We have nothing ready, which is amazing seeing as this is baby #3.  I mean, you'd think we'd have *something* or have it a little bit together, but no.  I keep making these mental notes in my head like "get baby nail clippers" and "figure out if we need swaddle blankets" and "find the dang thermometer like the responsible parent you pretend to be" it's super fun.  the other part of my head says "babies don't need anything" and then the other half comes back with "except a carseat, what is wrong with you"

I'm pretty sure these battles in my head contribute to the amazing non-stoppable mood swings that have overcome my life.

And then I see something on the internet and try to justify buying a $50 mobile made out of paper.  It's just so pretty.  (ahem. so yeah, I bought it)

So step one in this baby-is-coming endless list is moving Mitchell and Ali to one room.  This was talked about before it happened. Ali was really excited and Mitchell was really worried because Ali doesn't clean anything ever.  And her room is always piled high with clothes, and Mitchell lives in organized chaos (he thinks it's clean, but he's also a little bit of a hoarder).  So after making Ali promise she'll keep it clean, and hyping up the top bunk a lot, Mike and I managed to get both of them pretty excited.  And so we set "saturday" as "moving day" and Mitchell and Ali slept in the same bed the whole week prior because they were so excited.  And they slowly started moving Ali's things over to Mitchell's room, which was pretty adorable.

Now, I think they're both feeling a little misplaced, and also spending probably too much time together, but holy cow, the tears and the fights and the full out breakdowns are killing me. We're on day 3, so I'm hoping it all settles down soon.  Although, their fights are pretty funny (er, most of them. The meltdown Mitchell had today "YOU NEVER KISS *ME* WHEN YOU GET BREAD" after I kissed Ali.....while she was helping me get the bread out.... was *not* funny, and mostly alarming and strange.

Their fights about who is talking more when they're trying to sleep is pretty funny. "Stop talking" "I'm not talking YOU'RE talking" "NO I'M NOT" and on and on and on and on and on until *finally* they're both asleep.

The benefit is Ali really doesn't like being alone, so she's actually sleeping better/waking up less and Mitchell seems to really care about Ali's sleep for the first time ever, and hasn't been waking her up bright and early. Though that might be a side effect of them spending every moment together and his need to breathe. 

He goes back toschool next week (year round has him on a 6 week christmas break) and I'm really hoping things get more normal and less dramatic.  Between me and the kids it's amazing mike even comes home from work.

He thinks this whole "moving the kids to the same room" (and other random things like cleaning the fridge out) is "nesting" and it better not be, because, as previously mentioned, we don't even have a car seat.  And because Mike has labeled all of my movement as nesting, he's been humoring my every whim.  Which is nice. Unfortunately, it's not helping these moments where I randomly shout "8 weeks! How did this happen?!"

Eventually I'll get it together and everything will be fiiinnne. I mean, I'm sure.