What to do with my sicko babies??? Cale was a little devil in Magnolia...woke up both nights screaming at one and five...both times we were awake for about an hour before the toot went back to sleep. The second night Shawn and I were almost laughing about it...it was ridiculous! The kid was screaming and bowing his back like he was posessed. The worst part (besides the fact that our little boy obviously didn't feel well) was that we were trapped in a room with him. We tried EVERYTHING to get him to stop crying, and nothing worked. In our own house, it wouldn't be that bad, because he could cry himself to sleep in his own room. At our family's house, we had to keep trying things to quiet him, which was counterproductive and kept him awake. Meanwhile, Shawn and I are fighting the same cold they are and having two nights of no sleep didn't help with recovery!! To make matters worse, his clogged tear duct still hasn't opened on its own, and his eye is goopy and green and disgusting. I love it when strangers go, "Oh, he has a little gunk in his eye." Yeah, no kidding. Thanks for the help, but the kid ALWAYS has green crap in his eye. I am sure people think he has leprosy or something. I hate to even take him to the church nursery because I am thinking they think I am trying to sneak a kid with pink eye into the nursery. I am ready for the eye to clear up and the cold to be over! He is just not a happy boy right now. Funny thing is, Hayden is sick too, but she is so sweet that she just lays there smiling with snot coming out of her nose, wheezing because she can't breathe!
I am enjoying Shawn being home from work....he goes back the second and it will be sad to have him gone after being with him every day for a while. We also have to tackle the job of putting away the three (yeah, count em-three) Christmas trees and all the decorations. As much as I love Christmas, I HATE putting that stuff up. It is depressing to me somehow! Oh well....if you want to have the house all done up for Christmas, I guess that means lots of picking up when it is all said and done! Maybe I'll leave one tree out and make it a Valentine's tree......

After all the running around from house to house, the buying of presents, the putting away of said presents, we are home at last.....AHHHHH. The relaxation won't last long...we are headed to Magnolia tomorrow for a Post Christmas visit with some of our favorite family members....I am looking forward to some girl time with my cousin and dear friend Casey....She and her husband are home in Houston relaxing until it is time to head out again for baseball season....we have to catch them while they are still here!
We promised ourselves we were NOT going to over do the babies first Christmas, but of course everyone had to buy them SOMETHING....the end result was, of course, a monstrous pile of things that made noise or flashed somehow. They had a wonderful time, and we loved watching their eyes light up over all the people, lights, presents and wrapping paper. (Especially the wrapping paper)
One of my favorites of this holiday season (besides hanging out with family) was having some of our high school friends over a few days before Christmas for a little get together....We are still close to many of our friends from high school...rare, I know...which made it that much more special. Everyone brought their kids to visit, and at one point we had 13 kids on our couch....it is amazing how many new people our group of friends has created!!! It is funny how you can go a year or two without seeing someone and the minute they walk in your door it is like it is tenth grade again.....(without the rodeo bangs)
I loved, loved, loved this first Christmas with our new little miracles...it was so much better than any of the past 31....I was amazed at the generosity of our great family and friends who gave us the nicest, most thoughtful gifts...and I am even more aware and grateful for the BEST GIFT, the one that was already given for us all long before we were born, and the reason we celebrate at all!

We hate Santa!

It is official...my kids hate Santa! They have had two encounters with him, and neither went very well. The first was at Shawn's company Christmas party. He was a rental Santa, and pretty authentic looking....the babies had quivery lips right when they saw him walking up to us....we weren't sure how they would react, so of course we handed them both over to sit on his lap. First the staring at him, then the reaching for us, and finally the bloodcurdling scream. We laughed, and took pictures. I sort of understand their horror...every time I walked in the hall, Santa was getting a fresh drink at the bar. Not only was he scary looking, he probably smelled like a booze hound. Not to mention the teeth stained red from all the wine. Not that I wouldn't be a big drinker if I had kids crawling all over me....I'm just saying.
The second time they saw a Santa was at our friends the Zunkers Christmas party. Again, the minute of inspection before the meltdown...we had to physically remove them from the room this time to make the crying stop. Taking them away from Santa wasn't good enough this time...Oh well. At least we got some hilarious pictures!!
We decided early on that we weren't going to go crazy for the babies first Christmas, since they have no idea what is going on....so we bought them a few tiny toys like a miniature sports ball set for Cale and a glow worm that sings for Hayden. But every time we get in a store around baby toys, I can't help myself! The babies just love anything that makes a noise or has flashing lights...Today in WalMart they were fascinated by the dancing hip hop lizard (dressed in a green sweatsuit and iced out with chains.....an odd toy if you ask me) that sang Usher. When I put it back on the shelf, Cale cried....It is funny what they want to play with! Even with all the baby toys they have, they want to play with the trim on the couch pillows, the tags on blankets, and a big plastic strap that held three makeup bags together. I might as well save my money...
Yesterday we started putting them in the bathtub without their bath slings...I bought a non slip mat for the bottom of the tub, and dumped a bunch of tub toys in there....They LOVE bathing this way...no more baby bathtubs for these two...they splash and scream and grab at all the toys. We stayed in so long tonight that Hayden's feet were pruney. They are really good at sitting up by themselves...even catching themselves before they fall back into the water...Even so, I put only about an inch of water in the tub so I could control them better....I cannot believe I have babies that are big enough to sit in a tub alone! It feels like yesterday that I was still 52 months pregnant with them, waiting and waiting for their birthday!