Christmas!

This was a different kind of Christmas for us for sure.  The plan was that, because we had done our Lewistown celebration last week, we were going to tuck in at home without the stress of holiday travel on the actual holiday weekend.  As much as I struggled with not being in Lewistown with our family on Christmas Eve, I was really liking the idea of not needing to pack up, load up, and then undo it all when we returned late on Christmas Eve as we have in years past.

It's funny how things work out sometimes, because if that hadn't been our original plan, it certainly would have been once things unravelled at our house late last week.

Joshua ended up being the member of our family who needed a holiday trip to the doctor's office.  For anyone keeping score, we've been to Lewisburg Pediatrics on the days either before or after most of the major holidays in 2011.  Normally it's Lauren who is the culprit, but the goopy, bright red eye that he woke up with on Saturday morning was an obvious issue.  And, although I haven't attended medical school, even I knew he had pinkeye.  Sadly, the doctor's office felt it necessary to collect their $75 to write us the prescription for the drops he needed.  They also advised that we were under quarantine for 48 hours, which pretty much eliminated the few activities we were planning for Christmas Eve/Christmas Day--- church.  I was sad, but we decided we'd make the best of it and tuck in at home without the pressure of having to go anywhere.

Once again-- good move.  Because I was the next one struck.  I cannot honestly recall the last time I have been as sick as I was on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (and Monday and Tuesday and today...and I have a feeling I'm in for it for a while yet) with what started as a head cold.  (The same one that had us in the doctor's office with the kids the past two weeks.  Seriously....I'm counting on catching a break here at some point.  And hopefully soon!)  Despite my begging, I was told by the OB and the second opinion I sought at the pharmacy that there is no over the counter remedy that I could safely try to relieve any of the congestion.  So, given my 37 week pregnant self, I was told to suck it up, put on my big girl panties and suffer through.  Which is what I did.  Suffer.

The good news is that the kids had an absolute blast on Christmas.  They were sweet, well behaved, patient and had a wonderful time with all of the things that Santa brought for them.  I only wish I was feeling a little better to be able to enjoy it even more.  But we did snap some pictures...

Now that they're a little  older, we started hiding the Christmas pickle on the tree on Christmas Eve for them to look for.  They looked and looked until they finally found it.  And Joshua emerged victorious and claimed the $5 prize.  Wonder how long we'll get away with a $5 price tag for the winner?  I don't know how inflation affects these things- nor the tooth fairy, but we've yet to get to that stage.

Bless Joshua's little heart, he was wide awake at 6:00 ready to come downstairs.  Lauren and I had had an awful night, so there was no way I was waking her up that early, so we had to stall him.  Talk about tough work.  We did let him open his stocking and pick one gift, which luckily was something we could play for a while until it was in the safe range to wake up Lauren without being met by a grouchy bear.  It didn't take them both long to dig in to their piles!

One of Joshua's favorite gifts was a pretend office set.  It has been set up one of our end tables since the moment he opened it.  He absolutely loves to pretend things, and if you give him tools to use to make it even more realistic, he just couldn't be happier.  This little set came with a laptop, checks, post its, a stapler, an "I'm the Boss" coffee cup, a name badge and a few other things.  It was fun watching him having a good time with it.

Lauren was very intrigued with her doll house and got right to work setting up all the rooms and putting everyone in their places.  Her first order of business was to get the bathroom functional.  She said sister had to use the potty.  Cracked me up- but obviously, her recent potty training experience has that as an A1 priority in her mind.  And I love it!  We are still going strong with the potty stuff and we're so proud of her!

This was the scene after all of the paper was cleared away.  They both claimed spots on the floor and played for hours.  It was fun to see them having so much fun.

Later in the afternoon Grandma and Grandpa arrived to exchange gits with the kids.  Joshua loved this Batman costume and has had it on quite a bit since he got it.  They also picked out an apron for Lauren that she has really liked to wear.  There must be something about our kids and costumes--- they just love getting dressed up and pretending.  For Lauren, I think the thrill is mostly the rise she gets out of people making a fuss over how cute she looks. 

Sunday evening was more of the same.  We had a ham dinner, just the 4 of us, and got early tubs and tucked in after a long day. 

Monday was exciting too as we were looking forward to Nana, Pap, Aunt Libby, Uncle Zig and Brooke coming for a visit to celebrate together.  We had piles of gifts for everyone and were planning to heat up Nana's leftovers from their Christmas dinner for the annual post-holiday waffle supper.  (All of our favorite!)  It was a great day despite the fact that I still felt pretty lousy, but watching the kids rip into their gifts and squeal when they found something they liked was a real treat.  We were so grateful for all of the packing that went into getting everything here from Lewistown.  It may have been much easier for us to do the travelling, but we were thankful not to have had to this time.

Yesterday I was finally able to get to a doctor to find out what I have been plagued with, and was told I had a nasty sinus infection.  So thankfully, I'm on day 2 of a z-pack praying for some relief soon.  I was also advised to take some Sudafed for my congestion until the antibiotic does its thing.  Which made me want to smack the nurse at the OB office as well as the pharmacist at Walmart who said I had no options.  I guess it's not really recommended to take anything, but at this stage, getting rest and being able to provide oxygen to my unborn daughter is paramount to any questionable risks of the medicine.  And so, I have taken two doses and can report at least a little bit of air flow through my nose at the current time.  Baby steps, folks, but I'm praying for some relief soon.  Either that or that a Mack truck will come barrelling through and put me out of my misery.

So now that Christmas is over, we're getting into full baby swing now.  The nursery is cleaned up and ready to go.  My only major chore left to do there is to wash the load of newborn clothes so that things are fresh and ready to wear.  My next doctor's appointment is tomorrow afternoon with a non-stress test to make sure all still appears well.  Movement of the baby has definitely slowed down, and practice contractions have picked up big time, so I can feel that it's getting close.  I just hope we beat her to the punch with a scheduled delivery, but I also would prefer to be recovered from this plague before I'm trying to recover from a c-section on top of the world's worst head cold.  But stay tuned.  It's getting exciting now.

We hope that everyone had a healthier holiday than we did, and that you were able to spend lots of time with those you love.  I can't believe Christmas has come and gone already and we're able to embark on a brand new year within a few days.  I love the newness of this time of the year, and I can only imagine that welcoming a brand new life into our family is going to intensify the feelings of renewal that I love so much.  Wishing you all blessings as we round out 2011!