Dear Blog,
(The boys are taking a synchronous nap…so here it goes…)
Productivity in our house increased slightly around Christmas time. This may have been in part to the fact I only worked 6 of the 14 days around the holidays. During one of those days off I managed to paint he second room in the basement and get a first coat on both closets. I’m happy with how the rooms turned out although we still haven’t set up/organized the office/craft room. I figure it took us two years to get it painted, so I have at least 6 months err 2 years, to get it unpacked. The next thing on my painting wish-list is the mudroom/pantry and basement stairway, although I’m not sure whether this will be a this winter, or next winter project.
The weather hasn’t been horribly cold in the last week or two so Jason has slowly been filling our garbage cans with rose bush and apple tree trimmings each week. It may seem like we do an excessive amount of pruning, but one has to remember the pruning was a bit behind when we bought the house, and we have a TON of roses and one really huge elderly apple tree in need of a serious haircut.
Right after the holidays this mama got fed up with a certain 8 month old and his nighttime sleep habits. He had gone from an average sleeper to a hungry monster that wanted to nurse every 3 hours at night and forget to eat while playing all day. So there were a few nights of crying in our house. He’s still not the sound sleeper his brother turned into, but he gets through a 12 hour night with one early morning feeding at most. The thing we’re struggling with is that he still wakes up around midnight and cries. Not sure what that is about, although there are two teeth that should make an appearance any day now. Hard to believe William had quite a few teeth by this age and little Christopher has none. All in due time I guess. In the meantime, it’s nice to not have to fight to brush another set of baby teeth. In other happy news, Christopher is eating about any soft table foods we give him. He manages pretty well given his lack of teeth. He’s also waving, and has started clapping (so cute!). At daycare last week when they sang patty cake, Debbie reported that he clapped along and even tried to “roll it” when they got to that part of the song. Christopher might also become my water bug as he still loves bath-time more than William ever has. Even if he’s having a cranky evening a bath settles him right down.
William is my funny bug these days. He’s developing a cute sense of humor. The other night he convinced me to snuggle him for a few minutes at bedtime and as I laid there next to him, eyes closed, I felt two little fingers tapping up my cheek. The next thing I hear is “mommy, smash it, it’s on your face!”. Made me giggle, although I decided at that point my snuggling wasn’t doing much to speed up bedtime. He tends to be a good helper and very polite. Lots of times at dinner we get “mommy did you make this?” and then “Thank-you Mommy (or Daddy) for making this”. Other than the fact he will be in diapers until he’s 12, I think William is doing pretty well.
I am reminded again this month that life is expensive as we ended up doing a couple thousand dollars worth of maintenance work on Jason’s vehicle. I guess you come to expect this with vehicles that are 10+ years old, but it doesn’t make it any more fun. We’re going to do our best to get through this without tapping into the money earmarked for a bathroom remodel later this year. I’m also keeping my fingers crossed for a sizable tax refund (aren’t we all?). Having Christopher last year should help a bit in the tax department. In other necessary expense news, we booked a set of tickets to WI so we can come and visit for KTP’s wedding and Christopher’s birthday in April. Now there’s some money spent on something to look forward to!
Last weekend I did a boat-load of cooking and was reminded that a cheese slicer will do the same thing
to the end of your finger as a potato peeler. I’m going to give it another go this weekend and hopefully all my fingers will stay intact. Current favorites in our house include apple crisp, homemade lasagna, and dried apple chips. I also bottled some more spaghetti sauce. It appears that 3 full batches will make 7-8 quarts canned. I can’t remember how many batches I canned in September, but we are on the last bottles from that adventure.
I’m not one for New Years resolutions, but we happened to find a Groupon for a year of unlimited yoga (yogadownload.com) for $30! I even convinced my mom and sister-in-law to give it a try. Jason and I could both use the exercise/flexibility and after the two boys there are parts of me that feel totally shot (like the entire area where my abs used to live). We’re a week in and really enjoying it. This might currently be our best exercise option, because A) We can pick the intensity B) We don’t have to leave the house/find a babysitter etc C) The class time is exactly when we’re ready for it to be and D) The only witnesses to our out-of-shapeness are each other and the cat. I hope we can keep it up although I know we’ve already done a lot more than $30 worth of yoga.
In a few days I will mark the start of my 33rd year. No signs of a 1/3 life crisis in the foreseeable future. I’ve got a great husband, an awesome house, two healthy little boys, and a good job. Things could be worse. I don’t have any specific birthday plans, although I would like to get out on a date with the hubby in the not so distant future. I’m also in the process of commissioning a new purse from my old roommate who has mad sewing skills. This girl really needs an etsy shop (seriously). So far I’ve learned that fabric is expensive, especially if you throw out all your original ideas and buy twice as much as you need. (Rumor has it, I get this particular problem from my mother). With any luck this some of this fabric will become a purse in the next month or two.
Happy January Everyone!