They are all Specials

This is how we refer to the ornaments we hang on our Christmas tree. 95% of them are called "specials". Meaning they have a special meaning to us. Not just some random package of balls or other multi-pack ornament. The specials go on the parts of the tree that can be seen.. the multi-pack ornaments go around back cause I don't care if I see them.. and the balls go in the center under the branches as filler. That is Jim's job.. I could seriously chuck every ball in the box. (And we have a good 7 dozen) But he insists they help hide flaws and to reflect the lights inside. Whatever. As long as you're the one hanging them.

My specials are the ones we handle with care. The ones that get re-wrapped in tissue after every season. They are spread out on the dining room table so as not to get stepped on in the decorating process.

They each hold a special memory for each of us. Whether it be the "Baby's First Christmas" ornaments that we have for each of the children. The special little angel we bought after we lost Baby #1. Or the "Our First Christmas Together" from 1998. Even the super silly ones like my hot dog with a face and arms and legs, or the Magic Pickle, or Jim's Howdy Doody ornament. They all bring a smile or a sweet memory or even a somewhat sad memory. But that's why they are special. They invoke thought. I love the ones the kids made also. Those get a spot right out in front so I can look at them and fill up with pride thinking of all their hard work.

We have an 8 foot tree and are usually looking for places for ornaments by the time we are almost done. We have so many special ornaments now that they fill the tree. But gosh it's beautiful when it's done.

Fears Unwarranted

I was thinking the other day, while listening to Aedan sing a few different christmas/holiday songs (without missing a beat on the words) from the back row of the van, about how far we have come in less than 2 years.
When I was pregnant the 1st time I was so very worried about having to put my children in day care. I had this fear that it would be very bad for them. I lucked out and my Mom retired and watched Mr. Man at her house everyday and I could stop there for lunch feed him and just enjoy his company in the middle of an 8 hour day. Then I got pg with Chloe. Mom couldn't watch the kids anymore sot the fear of the unknown was back. I got seriously stressed and started back smoking. At 3 months I was ready to go back to work and we had a spot for both kids at the day care but I was still worried.. in steps Mary (Jim's Cousin) with no full time job. She'll watch them at our house til she or we find something better. Crisis averted.. yet again. So Mary ends up hanging for a good year and a half before things got dicey and she had to quit/we had to fire her. So Aedan is 3 1/2 and Chloe is 18 months. I call the day care and they have spots. *shudder* They start the 1st Monday in May, 2007. Chloe cries every morning as she is pried off my leg for 2 weeks.. Aedan is fine. After the 2 weeks Chloe is fine and Aedan starts that clingy routine. Makes my heart ache.. Is it really that bad ? Do they beat you? Make you sit in a corner for not listening? nope.. We play games and sing songs and learn our letters and numbers and everything.
Fast forward to geez.. 3 months later.. All is well .. they are flourishing. Both kids are way more advanced than I thought they would be.
Then I get pregnant with Alexa. ugh.. 3 in Daycare.. not what we had planned. But hey you take what God gives you and you are thankful. We toss around me quitting work but in the end it is a wiser choice for me to continue working and stretch the limits of our budget for a little more than a year until Aedan goes to Kindergarten.
I am amazed at the progress each child has made while at the center. They have learned so much in addition to the whole social aspect. So when it was time to leave Alexa I didn't even hesitate. I loved all the teachers that would be taking care of her so I pretty much dropped her off with a kiss and an "I love you" and went my merry way. I did call a couple times that first day just for my own piece of mind and she was fine. She has been fine ever since..

Aside from the random pink eye and other lovely transmittable diseases we are really loving the center and the people in it. And I am really loving all the songs I get to hear coming from tiny voices when we are driving or when I'm cooking and Chloe is concentrating on coloring at the kitchen table..

"Ahhhh, it's a marshmallow world in the winter,
When the snow comes to cover the ground.
It's the time for play, it's a whipped cream day,
I wait for it the whole year round!

Those are marshmallow clouds being friendly,
In the arms of the evergreen trees;
And the sun is red like a pumpkin head,
It's shining so your nose won't freeze!"

or from Chloe..

"Winkle winkle little star
how I wonder what you are
up above the world so high
like a diamond in the sky

winkle winkle little star
how I wonder what you are"


Gotta love it.. :) My fears were unwarranted and I am so glad to have been proved wrong. It so seldom happens. :)

The Christmas Lists

And no I don't mean the kid's lists for good ol' Saint Nick.. I mean MY lists of who I need to shop for with ideas of what to buy, the lists of what has been bought, the lists of what needs to be done today, this week, before Thanksgiving and before Christmas. I am a list maker. I like my lists.. I like them neat and tidy and all paper clipped together in my Christmas folder along with catalogs, envelope with receipts (with the names of people who's gift is on the receipt) and cut outs with pictures of ideas etc. . I make at least 2 lists a day. Sometimes I write a list and then rewrite it to make it more concise and neat. The Vacation list can get complicated but it is no where near as complicated as the Christmas list. There could literally be a sub-list from the main list. Now that is called covering the bases. The only down side is when I have no ideas as far as a gift for someone. And that happens every year.. and it's usually our parents.. all 6 of them. So next to their names goes "G.C." and a long blank space. All we hear is "save your money" , "we don't need anything" and yet when we say it we are told to shut-up and what do we want? So the list is unfinished and incomplete.
I like the list of what has been bought. Where I can cross someone's name out (still being able to read it) and say *done*. Now that is a nice neat list. I am 1/2 way there.. I still have a bunch of shopping to do but the list is detailed and I have an idea for just about everyone on it. So now all I need to do is get out and get shopping to finish and call the list complete. :)

Happy Birthday to Me

35 years old and feeling every day of it ... nuff said.

Happy 5th Birthday Monka Monkey !

Tomorrow at 3:52 pm Aedan, my 1st child and only son, will turn 5 years old. Damn time flies when you're having fun. Well at least most of it is fun. After finally getting pregnant after so many struggles and disappointments stretching over a period of 30 months I was blessed with my baby at 3:52 pm on Tuesday, November 11, 2003, Veterans day. All 9 Pounds and .06 ounces of him. Luckily for me he as a c-section baby.. I stopped work 3 weeks before my due date due to BP issues.. and yet he was 8 days overdue.. and still didn't want to come after being induced etc. over a 24 hour period.

He was my angel. A true blessing . God smiled on me that day.

He was an easy baby and yet there were aspects of our life that could have been better. Like the fact that the ONLY night in his 1st year of life that he slept through was Mother's Day Eve. And he would never take a bottle or formula he was a boob man at an early age and it had to be strictly from the tap. Lucky for him Grammy lived close to my office so I could feed him on my lunch hour. And he would hold out. He gets that stubborn streak from me. I was thankful when he started solids at 4 months. But the BF'ing lasted 13 months.

Since then he has grown fast. He didn't really talk til he was 3.. and that had us worried. but now he doesn't shut up. Even when you asked him to.. over and over..

He has an enormous amount of energy. And yet 2 minutes after his head hits the pillow he is out. Wish I could say that for Chloe.

I just hope that he accomplishes whatever his little heart desires and that the disappointments are minimal as he grows up and becomes the respectful, successful and loving man that I know he can be. Mommy and Daddy love you Aedan James.