Christmas Chaos

I am settling in to write this blog post, and just thinking about it is exhausting me. As usual, we did some serious running around for the holidays. Michael and I have discussed it and decided that this was our last year. In the future, everyone can come to us. It's just too much to visit so many houses. We love seeing everyone, but the stress overwhelms the joy, and we feel like we hardly see each other.

Festivities started for us on Tuesday the 23rd. My mom, Alex, and Jenna came over for pizza, games and gifts. We played Carcassone, which we fondly call "Pig Risk." In between my turns I was baking a cake for Christmas Eve dinner, making treats for our neighbors, and preparing chicken casserole for 50 for Meals on Wheels. See, you're tired from reading, aren't you?

Wednesday morning (Christmas Eve), I got up around 7 to put my casserole in the oven. At 8:30, I brought it to the church where volunteers packed it into individual meals. I picked up Marlee and Jenna, and we were back at church by 10 to deliver the meals. We got lucky and all of our deliveries were in the same apartment complex. When the last meal was delivered, we headed to my dad's house. Michael was working in the morning, so he met us there. We had lunch and did the present thing with Dad and Wendy. Right before we left, Jessie stopped by with baby Riley, so we finally got to meet the little turkey.

We left Dad's a little after 3 to go to Mass. We got there more than a half hour early but still couldn't get a seat. It turned out to be fine, and we sat on the floor. Marlee's patience was starting to wear thin, so Michael took her out to see all the animals at the live nativity. She was in heaven...we just had to stop her from kissing the animals.

After Mass, we went to my mom's for dinner with some family friends. We had a great time, but we were so tired. By the time we got home around 10, I had been running around for 15 hours.

After the late night, Marlee decided to sleep in on Christmas morning. I walked around the house making a bit of noise so she would wake up :) She was still half-asleep when we walked out to the living room but quickly perked up. She got a play kitchen, play food, a new baby, and lots of other toys and cute clothes. We had breakfast at Waffle House (in our PJs!) so that we could spend some time together, just the three of us. We came home, got ready, then headed up to Nana and Grandpop's to visit for a while. Then we all headed to Aunt Nancy's for Christmas dinner. We got home around 7 and collapsed.

The weekend went by in a flash...it was mostly recovery time! I'll be sure to post some Christmas pictures soon!

Sled Ride

We got this picure taken because we had a coupon for a freebie. I don' love it, but it's cute.

A Visit with Santa

Marlee had mixed feelings about her visit with Santa. We got in line while he was away feeding his reindeer. He came down the escalator, waving to the kids and ringing his jingle bells, and Marlee was ECSTATIC. She squealed and waved back. The entire time we were in line (20 minutes maybe), she couldn't wait to get to the front. She was so excited that I had tears in my eyes...it was precious. I guess maybe it was the excitment of the situation and all the other kids. She was literally bouncing when we were next in line. Then it was our turn...we walked up to Santa...and she cried.

I'm Marlee...Could I BE wearing any more clothes?

This morning MJ kept asking to put more an more clothes on. So here she is, wearing a t-shirt, sweatpants, my sports tank, leggings tied around her waist, her raincoat, her socks, and one of Michael's socks. Fabulous!

Tellin' It Like It Is

Lately, the only thing that makes my ulcer feel better is to put some food on top of it. So I've been snacking a lot. The result is a few extra pounds around my middle. The other day, I put Marlee in her carseat then got in the car. I was fastening my seatbelt and said, "Ugh, I feel like a cow."

From the backseat I heard...

Mmmmmmmmoooooooooooooo!

Talking Up a Storm!

A couple weeks ago, I was concerned (and think I mentioned here) that Marlee seemed to have stopped talking. She wasn't saying ANY of her words...not one. Then, out of the blue, she started REALLY talking. Her words have transformed. "Breakfast" used to be "sheffish," now it's "breffest." "Shoes" used to be "soo," now it's "shoes!" And she's added the "s" to "nack" to say "snack." She's also repeating things we say. Today I asked her, "Marlee, why'd you do that?" She said, "Why do dat?"

It's a whole new aspect of her personality...so fun!

Thanksgiving and Beyond

Hi, everyone! I've been a little out of touch because I've been without a computer...my laptop finally bit the dust. I'll try to catch you up a bit, but I don't have pictures now...I'll post those as soon as I can.

The latest excitment started Wednesday. I woke up in the morning prepared to put the finishing touches on the house before Kacey, Chris, and Pruett arrived for Thanksgiving. My back was sore and I had a sharp pain in my stomach and a bit of nausea, so I called my mom to see if she could come over and help me. By noon, the pain was so bad that I could barely walk, and every time I stood up I felt like I was being stabbed. I called Michael in from work and told him I thought I needed to go to the emergency room. After hours in the hospital and lots of inconclusive tests, the doctor decided I most likely have an ulcer and referred me to a GI specialist. While I was still in the hospital, Michael had to leave to pick up the Mas at the airport. By the time they all got back to the house, I had had some meds and was feeling a bit better. It's still bothering me a bunch, but I can't see the specialist until the 15th. Blurg.

Thanksgiving day was wonderful. We got up early, and my mom came over to watch MJ and Pru. Michael, Chris, Kacey and I went to the church to pack and deliver meals on wheels. We found out that they were set for packers, so we went to Waffle House and returned to deliver. We brought Thanksgiving dinners to 10 families. When we got home, the boys watched football while Kacey and I started cooking. We pulled the turkey out of the brine only to be knocked over by the smell of eggs...the turkey had gone bad. We smelled this when we put it in the brine, but thought it might just be from the pre-packaged brine and that it would go away with a rinse and new brine. We were wrong. So Michael and Chris ran to Kroger and returned with two chickens. We roasted them like turkey, and the result was almost as good. Fortunately, Thanksgiving isn't all about the turkey...we were able to share it with people we love, and it was great. We spent the rest of the weekend just hanging out...it felt like old times.

Marlee and Pru were cute together. MJ is such a peanut, but Pru is even peanuttier...she makes Marlee look big! Pruett was so sweet the whole weekend...Marlee was another story. She is cutting 4 teeth, two of which are molars, so she was a bit of a crab. She finally started to come around on Saturday. I think she misses Pru. On Monday morning she walked into each room of the house calling "Puuuuuuuuuuuuuu! Puuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!" We miss Chris and Kacey daily...now Marlee knows the feeling.

Marlee has really changed a lot in the past weeks. She is so smart :). You can give her a pretty complex command, like "Go into your room, get your crayons, and bring them to Daddy," and she does it. She can also point out her (or your) body parts (head, hair, eyes, nose, ear, mouth, teeth, shoulders, hands, knees, toes). Her animal noises are getting better and better (dog, cat, cow, owl, sheep, duck, lion, "gorilla"). I'm trying to get her to say Santa says HO HO HO, but she's not feeling it. She's also picked up some new gestures, like shrugging her shoulders (complete with hands by ears, palms up), nodding, and shaking her head. I think it's funny, because I didn't teach her. I must do those things more than I realize. Oh, and Tuesday she ate an entire bowl of oatmeal with a spoon. She's been using a spoon and fork for a couple of months now, but her hand inevitably ends up helping. So an entire breakfast with no hands was an accomplishment!

Cute story: Yesterday I had her on the floor in the bathroom playing with her bath toys while I got ready. I look down at her, and she had gotten her soap pump down from the bathtub, pumped some into her hand, and was "washing" her hair! I told Michael about it so he let her help at bathtime that night. She was so cute washing her hair and face...but I don't think I'm ready for that kind of independence!

Speaking of hair, she had her first haircut yesterday! Just a bit off the front so that it doesn't get in her eyes. She held still and didn't fuss a bit.

Pictures coming soon, I promise!