Merry everything

I saw that in a card at Target the other day, and it pretty much summed up how I feel about the whole Christmas-Hanukah-Kwanzaa-holiday-whatever debate. Everybody just have a merry everything, and cover all your bases.

So! The big day has come and gone, and Miss Thang is up to her tiny eyeballs in tiny goodies (and we haven't even been to Philadelphia yet). The best part for her was certainly the ribbon, which she ripped off all the packages and wrapped around her neck! (Can you hear the internet's collective jaw smashing into the floor?) Seriously, though, this kid does have a ribbon fetish. I hope this easily-entertained phase lasts a while.

For me, the best part was definitely waking up, putting her in bed with me, and watching the Today show with a wee space heater curled up on my chest. Rob was on call Christmas eve, and being alone wasn't all that fun. But the sweet smell of her head made waking up easier, and her sweet warm softness made staying awake totally worth it.

Now finish hurling and straighten up. There ya go.

Merry everything, internet - I hope your holiday, whatever it was, was as great as ours. We're headed to Hilton Head in the morning, so if this is the only post this week, don't be surprised. It's Christmas vacation, after all. :)

Four

Days until Christmas! Did you notice that November passed pretty quickly this year, and December has been more or less nonexistant? I'm not entirely happy about this (see previous post about lack of time and funds to buy presents) but then again, it's not so bad. We have, after all, scampered right through baby's first cold, baby's first non-scheduled trip to the pediatrician, and baby's discovery of her own bodily functions. Do NOT ask, because wild monkeys with pitchforks couldn't drag THAT experience out of me again.

However, life is still pretty funny, and I'm using my last two minutes to tell you guys that I hope you're managing your holidays, whatever they may be, with the sense of humor I think you need to struggle through. Wait in line, listen to one more person bitch out an innocent sales clerk (and then tell that clerk you love them), watch newscasters tell us what wretched shape we're in... and remember that underneath it all, things are pretty darn good. Smooch.

I get knocked down, but I get up again

I am a good mother. A healer, if you will. Me and my magic friend, the PediaCare nightlight with Soothing Vaportasticness. Norah's feeling much better, and as a result I no longer want to plug my ears with whatever substance is available, crawl into my closet, and die. You wouldn't think a stuffed-up kid could cry that loud, but then YOU WOULD BE WRONG.

Anyway. Days until Christmas = 12! Days I have off between now and then = 4! Number of days of work I need in order to afford unpurchased Christmas presents = 43! I'm getting nervous. Last year at this time, I was finished with the shopping and even 99% finished with the wrapping. This year, I have managed to buy things for four of my eleventeen recipients and to prevent the baby from eating an entire roll of Scotch tape. Other than that, I have had neither the time nor the funding. Some of you may be receiving ornaments made out of wax paper.

Must go eat coffee ice cream, pretend it's caffeinated, and stay up until midnight working on various projects. Bet you wish you were here, don't you?

Baby's learned how to sniffle

Yes, the kiddo has a cold, and I'm a mess. I finally got her to pass out, but only after walking around and around and around the house (silver lining: 15 trips up/down the steps equals buns of steel) and singing every song I could think of at least three times. You really haven't lived until you've made "Tubthumping" into a lullaby.

Anyway, I'm exhausted and I'm going to take my own nap before we go to the pediatrician, so I'll see you guys later. PS - everyone who has snow - wahoo!

Girls who like toys

How cool is this thingie right here?? I learned about Frappr from Miss Zoot, and was instantly fascinated by the thought of bazillions of people putting their little virtual stickypins on my group map. (I know there aren't that many of you, especially since I dumped the old blog a couple of months ago and didn't give out the new address, but humor me here.)

So go add yourself! The four of you who actually read this, anyway.

I went Christmas shopping today and ended up only buying a velour "sleep 'n play," also known as a jumpsuit, for Norah, who already has about eleven velour jumpsuits, but I couldn't stop myself. It has sheep dancing on the front, and it came with a rattle shaped like one of the sheep's heads. And this is how you know the outfit itself was really REALLY CUTE, because the sheep's head reminded me of the horse's head in the Godfather, and there is just something wrong with baby gear that makes one think of the mob.

I also went shopping at Whole Foods today, where I learned that I could happily spend every dollar I'll ever see in my life on really expensive organic hippie food and baby products. And it would be SO WORTH IT. I don't especially like a lot of that stuff - tofu feels a little too much like snot to me - but the beauty of the meat department was completely overwhelming, and I cried, right next to the tofurkey and the Soy Garden spread. The baby aisle is packed with things like $14 lotion (which I bought because it smelled like rain) and an amazingly broad selection of slings (which I did not buy, since I have two already, but all you out there who will eventually have babies? Guess what you're getting.) Me and Whole Foods, we're like this.