at long last...

i don't usually do new year's resolutions...but this year i think i am going to: blog more. talking with some mom friends the other day, a friend mentioned that at times moms (or parents) forget as our kids get older that we still need that community we may have created while the kids were babies or toddlers.

& i am so guilty of letting this go...whether blogging community or our playgroup. that community was such a support during some stressful moments. i mean, i received not just words of encouragement, but the knowledge that i wasn't alone when my girlies were beyond frustrating. & i even had other bloggers send me gifts of encouragement (or to my mom! hello, friends). part of the reason i've pulled back from blogging this year is because some of the things most affecting me right now, well, i can't write about them on a blog, they're just too personal for me or someone else. ugh.

so all that to say: i want to be more present in this blogosphere.  not meaning i'll blow the cover on what are the more personal things, but i'll be here more to read what others are going through & offering some of my own stories & such.

there is my resolution! hold me to it!

***

now for the fun part: pictures!

 millie-bean's preschool christmas performance

 while the class sang "up on the housetop" amelia & her co-reindeer (summer, our neighbor!) got to jump out of the line onto the platform. then when santa is mentioned, that kid dressed as santa also jumped out. i didn't think amelia would do that, but she did. so cute, so proud.

the train

 addy's addy doll clothes gifts from grandma sue & paw paw bruce.

wes wearing one of amelia's gifts: belle's tiara. 

post-gift play time

amelia is one of the speediest gift openers ever. she was through her gifts in no time, then began playing immediately, usually with a huge smile & lots of jumping on wes & i squealing: i love you! thank you for my gifts! *smile*

 

 the gift i searched the most for...

a large, stuffed pinkie pie. *sigh* AND crumbs sugar cookie lalaloopsy (not pictured here) of which i somehow bought THREE. 2 were ebay mistakes, 1 i found very cheap at a thrift store!  anyway, this smile & addy's love of them this month has made it all worth it...

 after opening gifts the girls immediately went & packed for gramum & pop pop's house. & then they laid by the door, begging wes & i to "be ready" or "what's taking you so long?!" "can't we just eat breakfast in the car?" etc etc. wes even had to take them out of the car once...

by far, adeline's fav gift of the christmas: a guitar. she now walks around the house doing performances, & is actually pretty musical. (must fine piano & guitar lessons for her)

what its all about: cousins!

shock & awe: a mini doll castle!

tea party the day after christmas. my mom even provided fancy hats!

more of the tea party...

loveliest of all: my deariest friend, holli & newborn, Aoife (ee-ffa). both are so sweet & doing well.

i think i need to visit these two again...very, very soon.

& another friend, stephanie & brice had a wee adorable baby, crimson. who is totally adorable & all & whom i also want to visit with soon...gee, what a lucky friend i am to have all these babies around! 

***

what a month, eh? i'm hoping january goes by  just as fast as december, mostly because of my annoying cleanse. folks have asked if i'm doing this for weight loss. big answer: no!!! it's been suggested by my doctor & a new dietician. the purpose is to detoxify my body/cells. so my cells are apparently very elderly, according to a test done by the dietician. so hopefully by the end of the 28 days, my cells will be more hydrated & larger, meaning that toxins are taking less out of my cells. i hope this is making some sense, *smile*. so today starts the intense part of the cleanse: 7 days of specific fruits & veggies only, in addition to this DISGUSTING medical food that i mix with fresh apple juice, 3 times a day (plus some detox pills). kinda unique for a home baker to not be able to eat sugar or carbs (or caffeine!). supposedly this week i should begin to feel better, maybe even amazing...but so far i am gassy & bloated & grumpy &  my fibro still is loud & proud. argh!

***

enough of that...i think i could complain about it for a very long time. ah well. so now i must get amelia her lunch, then pick up addy, then take amelia to the neighbor's house (carpool is awesome, eh?), then get addy her lunch, then do some housework crap, then pick up the preschoolers, then...sudoku? somewhere in there is a lot of laughing & chasing down little girls from their hiding places & forcing socks & coats on & reading books to them & having them read books to me & playing legos... good stuff mixed with the BLAH.

things to know!

first, this week is 'nude recreation week' apparently. so, folks, go outside & play in the nude! i know at my house, adeline has already embraced this celebration, lol.

second, amelia is 11 months old today! yes, this is truly unbelievable. it's as if yesterday i was holding my 2nd baby girl, so tiny i hardly believed she came from me. here's some pictures (of course, would you not expect pictures?)

if you look closely, (hhm, click on the picture?), this is when her left eye started to swell shut on friday. lovely, eh?

ballerina toes

i couldn't decide which i liked better, so...i'm just putting them both up.

she has 4 teeth (& we know a few more are working the way out), 1 dimple, is crawling & cruising, & knows how to seriously annoy her sister, lol. she is quite the spunky little one & is easily distracted by nearly everything...which is adorable to mess around with her.

third, wow, my surgery is tuesday. wow. wow. wow. so wes is going to possibly be doing some updates while the surgery is going on through the blog. i don't know, i think it's just something to keep him occupied. after my afternoon on friday turned sour, the evening perked up. saturday morning we went to soaking prayer at the vineyard & is was amazing. it's as if our anxiety bubble was popped & we could relax. to sum it up: god was there & lavished some lovin' on us.

fourth, i went out with a group of my friends saturday night. lol. what a time, what a time. i was having such a hard time on friday trying to even *think* of what to do, so two of my friends just planned it for me (thank you, thank you carol & erin!). so we wined & dined at an italian restaurant in bexley, then per my friend christine's suggestion, we went to this small bar near her place in the victorian village. she ordered a pitcher, i think we were hit on by some ladies?, the music was loud, etc etc. the manager bought us another pitcher of beer...did i mention there was a dance floor w/ a disco ball? & i was like oh noooo, i'm not dancing, i suck at dancing, blah blah blah. christine decided it was high time to order harold a goodbye irish car bomb.

so...the last time i chugged an irish car bomb, well, it didn't end so well (puking at the base of a dumpster outside of barley's is pretty low...but i chugged two of them that time b/c my friend holli refused to drink hers, so, uh it was paid for & couldn't be wasted, right?!).
anyway, i somehow agreed to do this irish car bomb (which is a terrible name for a drink, eh?) with christine (a-hem, the mama of two beat the no-kids, college lady, ahem) & oh say 10 minutes later there were christine & i dancing under the stupid disco ball. yup, funny. i am sooo glad no one has a video. so glad.

carol, erin, christine, holli, kara, & judy (who drove me, thank heavens & boy does she have some interesting stories about me talking about planets on our ride home, lol)...thanks for a wonderful night out, even if it meant i had to take a few ibuprofen this morning.

fifth, wes & i went on a mini date tonight & out freakin car died! we so give it all up. i was ready to walk home, so serious. thankfully wes is knowledgeable with cars (growing up with your dad as a car dealer could do that to a person) & he figured out the problem (hhmm, the thing that holds the battery in place keeps loosening? so there was wes under the hood, yelling for me to 'turn the key' & i did & well, he was only shocked a few times. poor guy. it's nothing a call to AAA won't fix, thankfully (he would fix it himself, but i assured him we have enough stuff going on right now, just call AAA, why else do we pay them?!).

six, i keep telling myself: don't think of the surgery, don't do it, don't do it. we'll see; that works sometimes. i don't think i'm as anxious as i was last week. but my stomach is in a permanent knot & not a whole lot of food gets down there before it starts rumbling. there you have it: to lose some weight, get a brain tumor! anyway, my last day with harold...i just can't believe the surgery is upon me already.