Early Christmas presents

Well my little girl (who is not quite so little anymore) gave me two early Christmas presents this week. First she rolled from her back to her belly twice in a row, which my husband says she has done before, but since I am the primary caregiver and I have not seen it before it doesn't count. The second gift was that last night she slept from 9:30 to after six, she probably would have slept longer but the dogs started barking and woke her up. It's amazing to me that she is sleeping so well and she is less than 13 weeks old. At this age my son was waking up practically every hour at night. I think it has to do with the fact that I have to put her down more and let her cry more than I ever did for my son. It's not that I want her to cry, but with two kids you just don't have much of a choice. She is such a happy little girl. Yesterday I went into her room to check on her at about 8am and she was awake in bed happily staring at her hands.

My son got an early Christmas gift yesterday also (although he might not think so). I got him a rocking chair that I plan to use as a time out chair. I have tried to use the couch as a timeout spot before but he thinks it's a game and will jump off as soon as I put him on it. A couple friends suggested a rocking chair so that he could move while in timeout. I got him the chair and within an hour of having it we tested it out and it seemed to work well. I am hopeful that this will be an effective discipline strategy, because what we have been doing is not working and he is getting a bit unruly.

In other news, my mother is doing much better and is hopeful that she will get to go home from the hospital today. Today is her birthday and she really would like to go home. After my last post she had a turn for the worse and had a couple of rough days. Yesterday she was disconnected from all but one thing and able to get up and walk around easier.

It will be another day or two before I can post pictures of what I have been up to. My old laptop was no longer useful and so I got a new desktop computer but my camera software has not been installed yet.

Update

Well my mother's surgery went well and she is recovering in the hospital. Today she has a bit of a fever so she will probably be in for a couple more days until they can get that under control. The doctor didn't think it was cancerous, but has sent the tumor in to be tested just in case.

In quilting news I have just gotten back the first of three quilts that Judy is quilting for me. It is gorgeous. I will post some pictures as soon as I get it bound. I can't wait to see what she does with the other two quilts that she has. I have been making Christmas quilty things like a fiend lately and will post some pictures later this afternoon.

I have been listening to Air 1 a Christian radio station and they have this bit about one familie's tradition of the Christmas elf that comes on Christmas eve and puts a new pair of pj's on the porch for everyone. I think this is a cute idea and I picked up a new pair of pj's for each of the kids today while at Costco. I am thinking of changing the tradition though and doing pillowcases instead. This year I could make Abbie a cute crib sheet since she is too young for a pillowcase. I'll let you know what I decide. I can't quite believe that Christmas is only a week away!

Settling down

Well things are starting to settle down around here. The tree is decorated, all that is left is to put away the boxes. Most of the shopping is done as well as most of the wrapping. I have not been doing much quilty stuff lately but that is because I have been working on projects for gifts. Thankfully most of the big stuff is done I just have a couple little things left that would be nice to give but aren't imperative.

My mom is having surgery tomorrow for a tumor on her kidney. The doctors beleive that the tumor is benign but all of your positive thoughts and prayers would be greatly appreciated. Hopefully she will have an uneventful surgery and a speedy recovery.

My husband is out of town on business again. It's alot of work, but we are into a bit of a routine and things are going pretty smoothly. The only thing that scares me about having him out of town is what if something happens to me. The kids are too little to call for help and it could be a day or more before someone misses me enough to come looking for me. The thought of the kids being on their own like that is a nightmare. I guess I just need to pick a person and check in with them every day so that they at least will know that something is wrong if they don't get their daily call.

Well I need to go to bed now tomorrow is going to be a busy day.

Pandora

Check this out: http://pandora.com/

It is a personalized radio station, it's sooooo cool!

Stressed and Overwhelmed

I am feeling very stressed and overwhelmed lately. I have put up part of my Christmas decorations, but can't seem to get the rest put up and it is really making me feel bad to see the boxes of decorations cluttering up the house. Also I can't seem to catch up with the housework. My island has turned from being a mild hotspot into a raging inferno. I just can't seem to clean the kitchen counters off and keep them clean. Also, I am usually really good about paying bills and balancing the checkbook, but this month I have not only bounced a check I have been late paying several bills because they have just gotten lost in the clutter. I am also stressed about money and not wanting to put Christmas presents on the credit card, but I am not sure that we will have the money to buy everyone's presents without doing so. Another thing that is stressing me out is the fact that none of my clothes fit. I know that I recently had a baby, but I am breastfeeding and I should be loosing some weigh, but I have been stuck at the same weight for weeks now. I know it is because my diet lately has been horrible. I know that if I ate better, not only would the baby weight come off but I would feel better in general, but I am having trouble resisting. Also, I had gotten into the habit of walking for 30 minutes a day, but got out of the habit. It is so easy to know what you should be doing, but sometimes it is not quite so easy to actually do those things. I better go to bed, it is really late and I have a busy day tomorrow.

Packages from home

There is someone I know that recently got back from Iraq and said how much it meant to him and his fellow soldiers to get packages. There is a group called Packages from Home that is sending care packages to military members. I encourage all of you to donate to this group. My small quilt group will be making this a service project and hopefully will be able to put together a twin sized quilt to send with the care package.

Cooler Weather

I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We had a nice time here, our favorite Aunt was in town from Arkansas and her and I spent several very enjoyable hours quilting. We made a very cute wallhanging that was simple but looks very festive. We were able to make two of them out of my stash and I am planning on making a couple more to give as gifts. I also made two very cute santa pillowcases, one for my Aunt and one for my son.

The weater has finally started to cool down here. This morning when I took my son for his first dentist appointment it was in the 60's. The dentist was pretty cool actually, lots of entertainment for the kids plus prizes when we left.

I still haven't been getting much done lately, but have decided that it is mostly because I have been so busy. For example this post has taken me all day to write. I have more that I want to write, but I have a crying baby that I need to convince to go to bed. More later...