It's December, November 05 mamas!!! - Page 7

[Gunter]

i am so jealous of those of you getting snow right now.

those necklaces are so beautiful but wow, are they expensive or what? she and i both like green girl studios and russell wray, it seems. the tree pendant with knowledge written on the back...that is on the necklace i made on ezra's first birthday for myself. i used the leftover beads from my mother's blessing. love it.

we're supposed to be at a pool party right now. but, we couldn't find our swimsuits after staying up till 1am with friends in town. no to mention how tired we were. our friends are in a band that's playing tonight. (super awesome mom who breastfed on tour!) mil is coming to hang with ez so dh and i are going out by ourselves!!! this never happens for us so we're really stoked about it. seriously, we've left ez like three times in her two years of life and always with mil. two of those times are just in the past month. we went to a movie one afternoon then bought a jeep one evening. now, we'll get to hang with friends for a birthday celebration and a rocking concert. woo hoo!

forgot who wrote it but congrats on the dipe free nap! that is exciting. ez only wears a dipe at night now. it's so great not having to do all that laundry and it's way easier just peeing on a potty.

[3for3hb]

: We have snow too!!!!:

[Queen of Cups]

No snow here, freezing rain instead. YUCK! I hate, hate, hate ice storms. Luckily, though, we're four miles from my parents' house but we're on different power lines so hopefully even if one of our homes go out, we can all congregate (and party!) at the other house. We've turned up the thermostat and set out buckets to catch water in, so we'll make it okay if the power goes out. (bummer about living out in the country - when you're power goes out you have no water because your well pump won't work! and that means no toilet flushing. ew.)

We're all doing well here. Just in the last couple of weeks Ellie has most definitely become a two year old, she throws the occasional tantrum (no where near Killy's tantrum rate, though) and she's quite the instigator, poking and hitting Killy. And she's talking so well! She's just such a cutie, I'm loving being around her all the time.

[spughy]

No snow here, but gale-force winds and a weak, wintry sunrise below ominous black clouds. In other words, not so pleasant. I am praying daily (or more frequently) to the weather gods for snow on the eve of the solstice then a glorious sunrise over a poofy blanket of snow for the return of the sun - but the weather gods don't have a great history of listening to my prayers.

We're going to DH's family's annual Christmas brunch, which we do in lieu of major gift-giving. We still give little presents, but really little - like a book, or a pair of socks, or a box of chocolates. Which is nice, and fits in well with my home-made policy for gifts this year. Of course, Rowan woke up early this morning, which means she'll be wanting a nap right about when we get there. I hope the excitement of all her aunts and uncles and a restaurant and whatnot will overcome her desire to nap.

I need to go to the gym this morning I think. I'm feeling very grinch-like and I just need some exercise, and it's too windy to go for a bike ride. But DH seems intent on sleeping. So intent, that he's actually asleep on the couch, with the dog and the child on top of him. Sigh. That man could sleep through armageddon.

[barcelona]

no snow here, obviously, and how we miss it!!!
we are having a christmas-y day, having our neighbors over for lunch, and then going to their (the mom is in...) a christmas choral concert. so that'll be fun! we'll see how much of it finley can sit through.

i'm so impressed with all of your homemade gifts. we do a sort of homemade gift...alex cuts together our home footage from the year of finley into a lovely movie-type thing. he's so good at it. so that is our main gift, was last year, and this year, may be the only gift, as the funds are not in place for much else.

gotta go get ready for our company!

[flapjack]

To clarify, all my cards are homemade. NOT the presents And I'm not doing many cards, either

Well, today we ripped out our kitchen. If you're awake 13 hours from the time I post this, please cross your fingers that our builders turn up tomorrow morning?

[spughy]

Helen, I will get Rowan to perform a "builders please show up and finish Skye's kitchen" dance later on today.

It is SOOO windy here! I'm kind of enjoying it. Brunch went well, Rowan was adorable and ate a TON of watermelon (this is what happens when you try to keep a family on seasonal produce ) and fell asleep in the sling on the way home. She hasn't done that for a while!

I'm making soup this afternoon. It's just that kind of afternoon. Blustery - that's the word. Some of it is for a potluck at Rowan's playgroup tomorrow and some of it will get canned for presents.

[HoneyTree]

Originally Posted by spughy

I am praying daily (or more frequently) to the weather gods for snow on the eve of the solstice then a glorious sunrise over a poofy blanket of snow for the return of the sun - but the weather gods don't have a great history of listening to my prayers.

Originally Posted by barcelona

no snow here, obviously, and how we miss it!!!

I hear ya, sisters. Gulf coast Florida is no place for snowflakes, though I'd settle for a nip in the air and being able to see my breath in the morning! That said, the streak of mid 80's temps last week was broken today with a high of about 60. We opened the windows just to be able to wrap in our blankets!

[Gunter]

QoC- You and your babes are beautiful!

We had really warm weather all last week then it finally rained here (we've got a drought in full force with dried up lakes and water restriction in effect). since friday night, it's been chilly. i love it. i do want snow though!

we had friends in from nashville and got a night out although it was really only 3 hours. mil pulled some drama about not being able to come and we had to call her ans remind her that she was indeed coming! then, booked a train ride for her since her car had problems earlier this week and she didn't trust it. ugh! she lives less than two hours from here. she is just so scattered and stressed out these days. we keep telling her to get her act together b/c it's a bit ridiculous for a grown woman who runs her own business to be so loopy. okay, rant over.

in other news, we finally got our camera back and took pics of us decorating the tree today. we went to a different church this morning than our usual place. the long story short is we struggle with some of the things our church believes but try to address them and make change and be good examples. when we left the country, we were really not confident in going there on sunday morns and since being back feel even more strongly that our fam doesn't have a place there on sundays. so, we want a community of intentional spirituality which we do have in our little small group of friends from church that meet on wed evenings at each other's houses. but, we want it in a larger group, too. anyway, it was awesome to go this morn and feel like we fit in with some friends and hear great singing. i am really thankful to have gotten to do that today as it's been a long time since we did.

[Kavita]

All those jealous of our snow should wait until we have a nice fluffy snow . . . at least in my neck of the woods it was more like freezing rain--sort of like someone dropping tablespoons of a Slurpee from the sky. lol!

I have to admit, though, that after ten years in the desert we are enjoying the change of seasons and it being kind of cold, though. My fabulous news is that I finally managed to figure out how to light the pilot light on our gas log fireplace. (I know, I know, it's terrible--don't flame me!! I may eventually have a plumber take the thing out and cap it off and convert it back to being a real woodburning fireplace. But this is how it was when I bought the house, except that nobody including the home inspector, my husband and my dad, could figure out how to light the pilot and get the thing to work. So I was very proud of myself!) Anyway now our little living room is very cozy and warm, and we are having lots of fun sitting around the fire in the evening having tea. Last week I splurged and got Ella a really adorable child's tea set, so she is really having fun having tea parties with us too. I am also reading some really good mystery novels, and so it's all very cozy around here these days. I also ordered a couch for our living room and that should be here this week or next, so I am looking forward to that. We are getting a few long-procrastinated things done these days--after more than four years of marriage, I finally am getting our ketubah (Jewish wedding contract, which is a beautiful piece of art) framed and we will hang it in the bedroom. Next to tackle--our wedding photos!

I have to admit, I am enjoying the Christmas season, if in a sort of perverse way--mostly because since almost everybody else is so frantically busy getting ready for Christmas and other regular activities sort of slow down or take a pause around now (things like playgroups, meetings, etc.) that for us it feels like things actually slow down a bit and we have extra free time, and we can just relax and appreciate everyone else's efforts from afar--look at the pretty lights and decorations, eat special cookies, enjoy getting cards from friends--without having to expend a lot of time/energy/emotional investment in it ourselves. For the most part, nobody gets us anything and we don't have to get anything for anyone either. DH tends to get some time off around the holidays too beyond his regular vacation time, so that will be nice. We usually get a few little things done around the house around this time of year for that reason, and now that we live within driving distance of my family we are giving some consideration to going to visit my for a couple of days, or just to go take a few day trips to nearby cities. Haven't decided exactly yet but that's fun too!

[Queen of Cups]

Whew! I think I've actually finished all my sewing for Christmas! (okay, I have one last quilted door wreath that lacks about 15 minutes, but I have to buy the right color thread to finish it) I'm so excited to be done! I want to kick back and have a drink to celebrate, but I need to work out, I'm behind on my minutes this month. (My new year's resolution this year was to work out 1500 minutes every month, and I've made it every month so far!)

Poor Ellie is not feeling good. She was fussy and whiney all afternoon and obviously had a fever. I finally broke down and gave her some Motrin while I was fixing dinner and she was her usual cheerful self again 15 minutes later! I don't like to give the kids medicine, but it obviously made a huge difference in how she was feeling, so I'm trying not to let the mom-guilt creep in.

[flapjack]

Poor Ellie. Hope she feels better soon.
Well, the good news is that it's 4.14am here and I'm on the computer, so it looks like the insomnia has finally kicked in The bad news is that I'm starting to fret about Skye's cold- she's been a bit run down for a couple of weeks and it looks like she has some kind of sinus infection, because (tmi) it looks almost as if there's pus mixed in with the mucus. The homoeopath prescribed something over the phone for her, and I'm dosing her up with echinacea and zinc and vitamin C, but if we haven't had a response by the end of the week then it's going to have to be doctors and antibiotics. Poor mite

Kavita, we have a fake coal effect gas fireplace, I would never dream of flaming you. We also have gas central heating : Sorry, that wasn't meant to be a pun.

[Kavita]

Poor sickies, hope Ellie and Skye both are feeling better soon!

I am in a totally weird place sleep-wise too, although I don't have the pregnancy to account for it!! I got about a grand total of 2 hours of sleep last night, because the dogs woke me up at 3:30 ish and I couldn't get back to sleep, and then Ella woke up and *she* decided that she would like to get up, have breakfast, and play. At about 6 in the morning. Sigh. It has been a loooong, long day. I need to do something with my dog--he just barks at every squirrel, person, mosquito, bird, etc. within a block radius and it really disturbs life around here.

Oh, I forgot to say in my recent updates, Ella has been really into doll play lately, and it's soooooo sweet and cute!! She carries her baby around, hugs it, talks to it, and mostly makes *me* be it's mother--I have to nurse it, put it to sleep, help her change its diaper, etc. And fake nursing through the shirt or even a bra doesn't work--I have to actually pull my shirt up and undo the bra! But the other day she sat in her little kid-size rocker and was wearing a long-ish dress, and I looked over and she was holding her doll in a nursing position and struggling very intently to get the dress up in front so she could nurse her baby. Of course, she ended up tossing the baby to the side so she could focus on wrestling with the dress, and by the time she managed to get it free on both sides she was sort of over it and off to a new activity, but still, it was really cute and funny!

[MelW]

I keep half writing replies, then jettisoning them when I get interrupted. We're doing well- I work every day six days this week (only Thursday off), then will head to our cabin for the holidays either late Sunday or early Monday. I finish work at 11:30, and DH, Neela, MIL and BILs will be going out to the cabin on Sunday afternoon while I'm working. My DH was planning to drive back to town to pick me up and drive out after work, but since Neela has been sleeping w*ll lately (I'm still superstitious) it might make more sense to leave her with MIL. I had envisioned our first night apart to be something more romantic, though- a spa getaway or something rather than a late night at work followed by getting up and driving in the morning.

I hope the builders are working speedily, Helen, and that your pregnancy insomnia is mild. And healing vibes to both Skye and Ellie. Neela has a cold right now too, and coughed to the point of throwing up night before last. She seemed to take it all in stride and is looking perkier today.

Kavita, Ella sounds so cute! Neela likes to "put a baby in my breast", which means to button it in her shirt. It makes her look kind of pregnant.

I hope that those with snow enjoy it. Florida sounds kind of appealing right now, Teresa, since I'm among the snow haters of the world. A fine Canadian, indeed. My chronically cold hands and feet live for summertime!

[flapjack]

Well, the nose issue is resolved. It was a pompom I'm a bad, bad mama for not spotting it earlier, but something we did obviously eased the swelling so that it could drop down into the cavity, then I hooked it out. Now no more smelly boogers
The building work is hell on earth- the kitchen is in place, the laminate flooring will be finished by tonight and then we just have to wait for electricity and the two new rooms are ready. Unfortunately, our floors are apparently "the hardest we've ever seen" so what should have taken 2-3 hours yesterday took a few hours yesterday and all of today, so now the plumbers are a day behind. Just 3 more days to go, 3 more days to Xmas...

[MelW]

Originally Posted by flapjack

Well, the nose issue is resolved. It was a pompom I'm a bad, bad mama for not spotting it earlier, but something we did obviously eased the swelling so that it could drop down into the cavity, then I hooked it out. Now no more smelly boogers

A pompom- how festive! I hope you're both feeling better now.

We so far haven't had any things in noses or ears (knock on wood) but Neela cannot resist putting things in the slot of the electric heater. Now whenever I turn on the heat I try to remember to make sure there isn't any money in the "bank". Yesterday she confessed to putting "something" in it- a piece of apple peel. Perhaps the heater was hungry?

[spughy]

There are worse things to put in the heater than apple peel - that would at least smell nice, right?

I am thankful, thus far, that Rowan hasn't shown much interest in putting stuff where it doesn't belong - no nose adventures yet (is it wrong to find the pom-pom funny, Helen? and nothing in the VCR, the heaters (which we don't use anyway), etc. Rowan is all about taking stuff OUT of cupboards, drawers, the toybox, wherever. Yesterday I caught her playing with some memory chips for the computer (in a little plastic case, but still) - feeding them to Mousie. Frankly it would be nice if the concept of putting things IN other things would occur to her - our house constantly looks like some sort of toy-bearing cyclone hit.

Helen, how does a floor get harder than all the other floors around??? That sounds very odd. I'm still getting Rowan to do "finish Helen & Skye's kitchen" dances.

It is raining and dreary now, but I'm finally feeling pretty on top of all my present-making (one or two batches of chocolates to do) so it's all good. I sort of invented a lovely new body scrub - almond and coconut oil, sea salt, and Dr. Bronner's soap, with a bit of essential oil for pretty smells. It's all the goodness of a salt scrub, but it rinses clean instead of leaving an oil film. It still seems to be pretty moisturizing though. I'm sending some to my sisters so they can be guinea pigs.

And we're going to the neighbourhood dessert party tonight, which is always a great time. I love all our neighbours, they are all such fantastic people and we don't see nearly enough of them.

[kaspirant]

Originally Posted by MelW

A pompom- how festive! I hope you're both feeling better now.

We so far haven't had any things in noses or ears (knock on wood) but Neela cannot resist putting things in the slot of the electric heater. Now whenever I turn on the heat I try to remember to make sure there isn't any money in the "bank". Yesterday she confessed to putting "something" in it- a piece of apple peel. Perhaps the heater was hungry?

Jacob does this too!! He also calls any slot he is putting something in a *bank*. We have a tower fan that sits unused since it's cooler right now that is the favorite bank around here. DH jokes that we will be millionaires when we open it up because ALL lose change goes in it!!

[Queen of Cups]

I can top all these stories... Ellie filled our Wii with pennies.

DH managed to get almost all of them out and it works again now.

[flapjack]

OMG, Jen. That's- you know- heinous crime material. ESPECIALLY as Wii's are so hard to get hold of over here.
I can just about laugh about the pompom, but the freaky thing is that about the same age Alex did this with a piece of foam that he ripped out of an old sofa, in almost exactly the same circumstances- had a cold, stuck something up there, cold got worse, refused to blow nose,have it touched, etc. We should have known. JIC anyone else'se kid does this, we think what got it out was rubbing some happynose (eucalyptus and geranium e.o. mixed in vaseline) under her nose overnight, which let everything constrict enough for the pompom to fall down. SO, if your toddlers ever stick something up their noses try eucalyptus oil before hospital.
I hear a rumour that it's Christmas soon, and I'm not ready. Anyone else?