Whew! Thanksgiving is officially over . . . I think. This one was a doozy, spread out over days. A lot of it wasn't actually Thanksgiving, of course, but it was a very long week of family related activities that has left me gasping for air and longing for sleep. I am so tired of running from one end of town to another, but it is sooooo hard for me to pass up a party, even a party of 3, that I kept driving and running and running and driving so that I could spend every spare minute with loved ones from far off places. All I want to do today is sleep, and blog, and grocery shop because there is absolutely no food in my house at all, oh - and make a trip to Garden Ridge to supplement some of my Christmas decorations, urgh and get Tyler ready for his big 3-day field trip tomorrow, and finish the laundry so I have another pair of jeans to wear today, and . . . you get the picture. Basically, I put the rest of my life on hold for an entire week in order to enjoy our families, but it was well worth it.
A few highlights:
1 - I got to hold my nephew. I only have one nephew as of this moment and he is 4 months old. Hadn't seen him since he was 2 weeks old because he lives with his parents in Clovis, NM. That's supposed to be an 8 hour drive, but we discovered this summer that with 2 preschoolers in the car it's really 10. Not just a hop, skip and a jump away. With 3 kids between us that are in school and split families and visits with fathers on both sides it's practically impossible to visit each other often. I was super excited to see the girls too, but holding this precious bundle with his chubby cheeks and thighs and super sweet smile was one of the most cherished moments of thankfulness I had this week. Oh - and by the way, he totally loves his Auntie Heather.
2 - We had 2 Thanksgiving dinners, one with my family on Wednesday and one with Scott's on Thursday. Both days were filled with lots of laughter and tons of love. There were loved ones missing on both sides, but we enjoyed the ones we had with us while we had them. The food was amazing and as usual, I was grateful for pumpkin pie and made-from-scratch whipped cream. I was also super thankful that my cousin, Veronica, made it out of the hospital in time to celebrate the holiday with us. 2 more cycles of chemo and hopefully she will be done - she's such a trooper!
3 - The kids behaved themselves - mostly. It was a lot of holiday and there were multiple meltdowns. Some were small, like when Scooter got upset at Thanksgiving because the grapes he wanted to eat were touching all the other fruit in the fruit salad bowl. Others were bigger and more exhausting, all related to very tired and overstimulated kids. The worst was Friday night at a restaurant where Scooter had just had enough and when his chocolate chip cookie didn't have enough chocolate chips, he just lost it. Crying so hard by the time we called an end to the madness to take him home that he made himself puke. I was horrified by his behavior, but I stayed calm and when we got home I did my best to enact some Love & Logic on his tiny, obnoxious butt. I told him he had made me sad because I had to leave my friends and dinner early by misbehaving and he had to pay for dinner. Since he didn't have any money he paid with his very favorite Buzz Lightyear toy. I also didn't let him come out of his room until he had fully calmed down and then apologized to both me and his father. It was a very long, stressful evening, but then my angel returned and stayed for the rest of the weekend. I am thankful for my angels, all 3 of them, even when they are obnoxious and over-tired.
4 - Riley was a mess. I mean really, this kid will be the death of me. After having a minor pouting session when I wouldn't let him raid Aunt Bonnie's fridge 5 minutes before the big dinner was served, we lost our kid. Couldn't find him anywhere. I told Scott he was mad at me and had probably stomped off to pout somewhere. I finally found him, totally calm and happy, but he had followed our host into his master bath when he went there to use the facilities. He was just talking away in the main part of the bathroom. Thank goodness for little door separators to the toilet! I don't know who was more embarrased, me or our host, certainly not Riley. This whole episode was followed by his biggest meltdown of the week when Scott wouldn't let him climb Bonnie's counters to search for his own drinking cup. Riley at 3 is definitely going to be my biggest challenge yet. But, I was thankful for the laughter because after I got over being embarrassed I laughed my butt off at his antics and knew I would be throwing this story back in his face when he's 15 and making me crazy about something else.
5 - I thoroughly enjoyed all the pop-in visits from friends throughout the week and a much-cherished holiday with a sweet foster-child of our dear friends/cousins who will be leaving to start a life with some distant family next week. Sometimes we only have a moment in time to love the ones we are with. Take it, seize it, make the most of it. And take the picture! I shared a video collage with one of my longtime friends this week who was having a rough holiday without hubby or kids after losing 3 close elderly family members within 2 weeks of eachother. She laughed at lots of goofy photos of me as a child in strange clothing and ridiculous hair. I told her that what I learned in the process of helping on that video 2 years ago was that it didn't matter how bad of a hair day you thought you were having, take the picture! Cuz in 20 years, you are going to look back at pictures from days where you thought you looked good and you are still going to hate your hair or clothes anyway. Take the picture, and be thankful you have them.
6 - Christmas began! I did my very first Black Friday shopping excursion ever and saved enough in the first 20 minutes to make it worth the early morning, freezing cold foray into the madness. I am only half-way finished with gift shopping, but I got most of the big stuff for way over half off the original price. Woohoo! I might be addicted since I absolutely love a bargain. If you aren't one of the crazy people standing in line for 3 hours to buy 5 HD televisions then it can be kind of a fun experience. Sunday afternoon was devoted to putting up Christmas lights outside our house and that night we decorated our tree (the new one that I got for 1/3 of original price!!!! :) ). It was insane to cram it into one day, but we had to do it while Scotty was home during daylight hours and Tyler was home for a weekend day. Things are about to get very busy and crazy in preparation for the big holiday, you gotta take the moments you are given. So thankful that we had the moments and time to do some of 'our' family stuff together as a family. The kids comments and faces when we were finished were well worth the effort!
7 - My brother and his family came in yesterday for a late visit since they couldn't travel during the holiday and I got to hold my newest niece, Jocelyn. At 6 weeks, she is just downright adorable. She smiled for me yesterday and I 'bounced/rocked' her to sleep twice last night at dinner. Worth all the extra driving to spend some time with Matthew, Tara and the baby. It was also my last chance to love on my Aunt Kaye before she heads back to Wisconsin on Wednesday. My favorite part of the day was when Riley decided he wanted to help me with the baby. He stood on a kitchen chair next to me with his arms around the baby, trying to help me 'bounce' the baby to sleep, whispering 'Calm down, calm down' to her over and over again. He wanted to hold her, but I had said he had to wait until she was asleep so as soon as she was out he tried to grab her right out of my arms on his own. Told you, death of me. I set him up on the couch and helped him hold her for a good 2 minutes before my back gave out and he was 'done'. I am so thankful for my brother who spent some serious quality time with Tyler last night while I played with his new daughter. Tyler really needed it since this fall has been so long and tough and he never seems to get enough time with his uncle. They played pool together and not only did Tyler finally get how to hold the cue and start playing pretty decent (long arms will do that for you, even when you are 10), but he attempted his first ever behind-the-back shot and made it! Way to go Tyler! And Way to go Uncle Matthew!
And boy, did Tyler need a night that seemed like it was about him for a change! He is surrounded in both his families by younger siblings and cousins. He missed most of our celebrations this week and has had only precious few moments to spend with Aunt Kaye while she was here. Even though he enjoyed his family time with his Dad, he always knows he is missing something and that's hard for him. But more than any of this, I am worried about my little man's heart right now. Turns out, it's breaking. I think that's a blog for another day, but let's just say he's having trouble with a couple of his friends and thinks he's losing their friendship. It was heartbreaking for me to see him cry, especially since he was leaving the next night again for days away from me. He's so sensitive and sweet. I am so thankful to God for bringing me this child, for making me a mother at a time when I didn't think I would ever make that choice intentionally, for blessing me with a reason to keep on going and moving and celebrating all the little moments He gives me.
I am so thankful for my family, near and far, living and living eternally; relations by blood, by marriage and by friendship; friendships current, past and long forgotten; friendships long cultivated and unexpected and lovingly cherished; new babies and 10 year olds; preschoolers, charming and obnoxious; mothers, mothers-in-law, and mothers that stand in when they need to; fathers and uncles and sisters and brothers; children, all the children, yours and mine.
I hope you all enjoyed your holiday as much as I did and I hope you are resting up for the next one like I am. My friend texted me Sunday night 'Are you ready to do this again in a month?' Heck no! It was exhausting. And of course, Heck yes! Cuz it's my favorite time of year and worth every moment of craziness and hard work.
Thanks and God Bless!
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