O December

 It’s that non-stop time of year again otherwise known as the holiday season.  We’ve been busy cleaning, decorating, wrapping, baking, and cleaning some more.  Our decorations are toddler friendly with a tree covered in felt ornaments, plastic holiday balls, cardboard gift card boxes, bells, stockings, and Santa’s hat to top it off!  We’ve also lined the hearth with wacky Christmas stuffed animals, many of who play music!  CC’s new favorite pastime is to press all of their on buttons at once so we have a chorus playing in our family room while she dances around! 

Unfortunately this year we won’t be doing as much socializing as years before but we’re definitely keeping busy and having fun!  We took our first trip to Winter Wonderland and loved it!  CC wasn’t ready to test her footing on the rides but she did persuade me to go down the gigantic inflatable slide with her.  Thankfully, my hearing has been fully restored but I may need an extra trip to the chiropractor! 

This past weekend was our first Breakfast w/ Santa of the season.  CC was having fun exploring and laughing with the other kids while we patiently waited our turn to sit on Santa’s lap.  She hugged Mrs. Claus and bounded right up to the Christmas tree only to stop like a reindeer in headlights when she saw the big man in red.  She clung to me, like only a toddler can do, so you can imagine the not so flattering pictures of me trying to console her.  At last I was able to pry her fingers from my sweater and slip away just in time to see her calmly look Santa in the eye.  I breathed a sigh of relief at the stillness of the moment and snapped my fingers to get her attention for the camera….

Next up a week of gingerbread houses, baking, holiday show, zoo lights, and of course another attempt at a picture with Santa!   

My Little CC

I haven’t written in a while.  My recent days have been spent trying to put one foot in front of the other without falling into a black hole.  Every now and then I get a glimpse of the happy, carefree woman I used to be but then she fades away and I feel exhausted once again.  I’m doing better today than I was yesterday and I hope to be even better tomorrow.  My main source of happiness is my CC.  She is my mini-me and keeps me on my toes.  She’s talking a mile a minute and every day is filled with so many new words.  I’m still amazed that she can understand what I’m telling her and lately her several-words-strung-together show me that she’s already talking back! 

When I pick her up at daycare, she runs to me while calling, “mama, mama!”  She honestly can’t get to me fast enough and some days she’s in tears because it took me an extra second to open the door.  She hugs me so tight and clings to me with all her might.  What she doesn’t know is that I need that from her as much as she needs it from me.  Our evenings are a whirlwind of dinner, play, bath, and bedtime but there’s always time for talking and cuddling.  I honestly can’t remember what my life was like before her.  Yes, I remember the uninterrupted sleep.  I remember sleeping past 4am.  I remember having time to get to the gym.  I remember my clothes not having food all over them.  I remember my hair looking nice.  Okay, I guess I do remember but I wouldn’t change a thing! 

Thank you baby girl for adding so much sweetness to my life!! 

Fall is in the air!

We have gone from hot, humid, sweaty days to cold, chill inducing evenings so quickly this year that I have whiplash.  I’m not complaining though because I’ve been asking for it.  However last night while I was running, I realized I should have taken my son’s advice and borrowed his long sleeve under armour!  I love this time of year though.  All the yummy veggies, warm drinks, cuddling under blankets, watching the leaves change colors, the colorful sunsets, and the harvest moon.  I think if I could have one season all year long, it would be fall.  Warm 75 degree days and cool 55 degree evenings…bonfires, football games, sweatshirts, and sitting under the starry sky! 

Daily Lesson – SMILE!!

Sometimes I forget to do this.  I sit here at work, deep in thought, and I notice I’m not really smiling or frowning, just being.  And that’s no way to be.  By simply making a habit out of smiling, I remember funny moments or recall something good and boom, I feel better.  Well not just better, but happy. 

Daily Lesson - Eat Your Veggies!

We’ve all been told this since the day we could eat solids as a baby and yet still we don’t listen to our mothers.  Not only are they nutritious but eating more veggies will make you feel better.  They’re a natural mood enhancer.  So have a salad for lunch or add a little veggie puree into that casserole dish.  No one will know what hit them but everyone will be happier!

What a difference a month makes!

I did it!  I survived 30 days of boot camp classes and I’m going back for more!  I have officially signed up for 3x a week going forward.  I can’t say that I love it but I love the way I feel when I’m done.  I can feel myself getting stronger both physically and mentally with every workout and I’ve never needed it more. 

Before I started the boot camp I had started a running program.  So for many of the past 30 days, I took my class before dawn and then ran at lunch.  I’m proud to say that I’ve also finished the running program as well and am back to running 4 miles with ease.  I guess it’s time to start picking up the pace from 4.0!  Okay, I don’t run THAT slow!  I looked at my calendar and I’ve done 31 workouts in the last 30 days!  Woo-hoo!!  For the first time in a long time I’m doing something for myself every day and damn it feels good!

She did it!!

So I realize that I have complained, bitched, and moaned a lot about my daughter torturing me with her lack of sleep in the midnight hours so I figured it’s about time I tell you that she has slept through the night for the past 7 days in a row!  Yes, 7 days!!  That’s a whole week!!  Unfortunately I have been sick for the past 11 days so my sleep isn’t as peaceful as it should be but I can’t blame her for that.  My little pumpkin wumkin is still letting out a cry here and there, specifically at 4:10am when my alarm goes off, but if I’m patient for the whole 90 seconds it takes her to lie back down, she puts herself back to sleep.  We’re on a 7pm to 5:30am schedule on most days (today she was talking up a storm at 4am) but you know what?  I’ll take it!!  I won’t lie, on the weekends I wish she’d sleep a little later but I love that we’re out for our morning run while the rest of the world is still sleeping.  Not to mention that we have our entire toddler chasing day ahead of us!  I love her so much I could just eat her up and I do every chance I can!!

She’s not this little anymore but she’s still this cuddly!