Over the river and through the woods....

We are off to Grandma's house in a few days to celebrate the holidays.

A few things that are "new" for us regarding this trip

1. We will be gone for nearly a week when we do go
2. It will be our first overnight trip with Jack
3. We are making all homeade gifts
4. We are planning to travel with our homeade baby food
5. We are planning to exclusively cloth diaper during the week

There are still gifts to be made, packing lists to be written, projects to plan for (for both the wee ones & myself) & materials to be gathered for those projects.

There is a LOT to do between now and D-day (departure day)---and the thought of traveling with two in the car for several hours is not something I'm excited about.  (We did this in May and our toddler was awake/cried most of the trip)

Black Friday also falls during our time we will be away...and while my in-laws do not embrace this "after Thanksgiving holiday", I do....and my husband has learned to.  There are lists to be made for that day (what am I on the look out for)---and with cloth diaper stores holding specials as well, there are additional lists to be made to correspond with the stores I have gift credit at.

There is a lot to be done---and even with some of the unfavorable factors listed above, my husband and I are excited for this trip.

Yes, we are excited to be with family, to celebrate two holidays in one week....to see if our hard work in gift-giving brings delight to their faces.

But, we are also so excited to just....get away.  These last several months have been hard.  Dealing with Jack's weight gain issues, Lucy's tantrum issues, financial issues and work issues....it's been months of "issues" that we just need an escape from...if even for a little while.

I'm looking forward to the family time, but I'm also looking forward to time with my husband...to have him a part of our days.  I'm looking forward to the possibility of a date night (haven't had one since August!).  I'm looking forward to maybe catching up on a little sleep & tackling some organization projects while we chit-chat with one another. 

I'm praying the kids will cooperate & that we won't overstay our welcome after a few days.

So, today I am thankful....for the opportunity to be with family, a "vacation" away from home...if even for a few days & hopefully an opportunity for both my husband and I to be refreshed

***side note, if you are a burglar and think that this a prime opportunity to rob our house, you are forewarned that it will be a TERRIBLE waste of your time. (Kind of like the time someone broke into my car to steal my car radio & must have been so upset to discover the radio was totally busted) Aside from our laundry detergent stockpile and maternity clothes that span every season, you will find very little of value in our quaint home.  Oh, and we have a dog...a HUGE dog.***

back on the wagon

I've missed two days in a row.  Let me catch you up.

If I had posted Wednesday, it would have read somewhere along the lines of:

"dear friends from MOPS,

Thank you so much for helping me get my screaming toddler into the car today.  By you taking my son (who was in his carseat), I was able to wrangle the toddler and save her from running into the parking lot.  So thankful for you all."

"dear middle-aged woman at craft store that was not wrangling two children under the age of two.

Yes, "god bless my heart" indeed.  And thank you so very much for knowing that I too had been driving around town to find that product only to find it at THIS store.  The fact that you grabbed it and bought the last one while my toddler reached for yet another glass item made me sort of want to punch you in the face....but I'm a little classier than that."

Thursday would have read something like this:

still royally ticked off at the lady from the craft store.  the nerve.....in retrospect, I'm wondering why I didn't tell my daughter to bite her.  Did I mention she started biting recently?  The toddler, not the lady from the craft store....though I suppose she could be a biter since she did snatch the last item on the shelf even though she didn't have two children to drag to YET ANOTHER STORE.


As for today....

My husband had the "day" off.  He's working this evening, but we were able to run errands this afternoon.  After two different craft store visits, I'm happy to report I found the over-priced item I was in need of.  Let the homeade gift-making commence!

Oh yes, we decided this year we would try the "homeade" route.  With minimal sewing skills---and no real ideas on what I'd even sew--I've opted for all gifts that don't involve sewing.  Somehow the homeade gifts are turning out far more expensive....ahem.  Either way, I've nearly finished FIVE whole gifts tonight....which would be amazing except for the fact that we are making multiple gifts per person.

Did I mention we leave to go out of town in a week to spend Thanksgiving with the in-laws and swap those gifts?  It'll happen.

One more thing...

dear lady from the craft store, I'm sorry.  I've moved on.  I don't know what was going on in your day and you had every right to that item.  I apologize for the terrible glances I shot your way.

sincerely,

lady with the two screaming kids.

toddler traditions.

When my husband and I were first married we swapped stories of our favorite traditions growing up and ideas we had for future traditions for our family. As it turns out we didn't have to wait long to begin such traditions. One of the first things we started was purchasing an ornament for our tree. The next was spending Christmas morning together...in our own home.

That first Christmas was a little strange to wake-up in our apartment, away from family, for the first time on a holiday. At the same time, it was simply wonderful. We opened gifts, lounged in our pajamas and ate a healthy amount of cinnamon rolls.

Our second Christmas we were blessed to have a five-month old daughter to celebrate with. New ornaments were purchased & Christmas morning was once again spent relaxed and at home. We videotaped our daughter's reaction to seeing her presents from Santa, though a five month old doesn't really change expressions all that much.... :)

This year we've been able to add many more "traditions" now that we have a toddler who is much more interested! Thanksgiving morning we woke up and ate pumpkin pancakes from the freezer, traced turkey hands, & watched the parade. When December 1st approached, I wrapped up 25 Christmas themed books I had picked up last season/over the summer. Based on an idea from a friend, I wrapped each book individually & Lucy has been allowed to open one each night. She has had SO much fun with this, I can't wait for next year to be able to introduce even more traditions! Her excitement has made me excited for Christmas morning...I'm so looking forward to bringing her out of her room to see what gifts she has to open...

And this year, I know we'll get a great reaction :)

Thanksgiving in a nutshell.

My husband and I have traveled to the in-laws the last two years to celebrate Thanksgiving. This year we stayed put and celebrated the day with my family. I like that each year has looked a little different and that we have modified plans to fit our desires and needs of our growing family.

Wednesday night we headed to my Aunt's house and celebrated with my dad's side of the family over a meal of tacos :) It was so nice to get to catch up with the cousins and see all their kiddos. There were 11 kiddos there, 6 of which were 2 and under! My how we have grown over the years!

Thursday we relaxed all morning (I slept in--thanks to my hubby!) We ate pumpking pancakes from the freezer while my husband cooked sweet potatoes. We headed to my sister's home (with a quick trip to CVS on the way). We celebrated with my parents, sister, brother in law, and my niece and nephews. We didn't have much responsibility in terms of the meal---but overall the day was SO relaxing. No schedule, no place to go or people to entertain...just our small family unit. Enjoying food, conversation, and football! My mom, sister, and I began scanning the black friday ads and making our shopping lists.

Friday I decided to start later than our typical 4-5am departure time, with the hopes that we could meet up later. I didn't leave the house to shop until after 8 am, and I still managed to find most of the things I was hoping to--and then some, of course :) I never did meet up with my sister or mom--which turned out ok. I haven't had that much time out by myself since before Lucy was born. :)

The best way to describe our Thanksgiving this year was...restful. I enjoyed the laid-back nature of those days...and now we're just looking forward to Christmas!